276 THE HARMONIES OF NATURE. 



shortness of its stiff neck, this deficiency is amply compensated 

 by the wide range of its vision, each eye being able to move 

 about in all directions independently of the other. Thus, while 

 one of them gazes upon the heavens, the other minutely ex- 

 amines the ground ; or while one of them rolls in its orbit, 

 the other remains fixed : nay, their mobility is so great, that 

 without even moving his stiff head, this wonderful saurian, like 

 Janus, the double-faced god of ancient Rome, can see at the 

 same time all that goes on before and behind him. This 

 mutual independence of the eyes is owing to the imperfect 

 sympathy which subsists between the two lobes of the brain and 

 the two sets of nerves which ramify throughout the opposite sides 

 of its frame. Hence, also, one side of the body may be asleep 

 while the other is vigilant one may be green while the other 

 is ash-blue ; and it is even said that the chameleon is utterly 

 unable to swim, because the muscles of both sides are inca- 

 pable of acting in concert. Thus, whatever to the ignorant eye 

 seems strange or grotesque in the organisation of the chameleon, 

 is in reality most admirably adapted to its wants. 



In the crocodile the structure of the tongue is no less remark- 

 able than in the chameleon, though of a very different character ; 

 as, far from being extensile, it has not even a moveable extremity, 

 but is attached by its whole circumference to the under-jaw. 

 At the posterior part of the organ a broad fold of the skin can 

 be applied against a corresponding fold of the palatal membrane 

 that descends from the roof of the mouth, so that the two when 

 approximated form a valve that completely closes the commu- 

 nication between the mouth and the posterior fauces. By this 

 curious and provident arrangement, the crocodile is enabled to 

 keep its mouth open under water, without danger of suffocation 

 from that fluid getting into its windpipe ; whilst by means of its 

 long tubular nostrils, which open at the very apex of its snout 

 and are continued backwards to behind the valvular apparatus 

 above described, it is enabled to breathe with facility whilst 

 only the tip of its nose is above the surface of the water. 



As the crocodile preys chiefly on fish, it is admirably organised 

 for swimming, by means of its long oarlike tail, and its short 

 strong webfpoted legs; while the length of the body, which mate- 

 rially assists its progression in the water, renders it unwieldy on 

 land. Thus this large and ferocious monster, which when full- 



