ALLIGATORS. 45 



notched on each side to receive the fourth lower tooth, when the 

 mouth is shut. The most celebrated and longest known species, 

 is the Crocodile of the Nile, an animal that is sometimes twenty- 

 five, and even thirty feet in length : it is bronze green, spotted 

 and marbled with brown above, yellowish green below, and is 

 distinguished by the square plates nearly equal in size, which 

 form six rows along the back. We find from Senegal to the 

 Ganges, and even beyond it, Crocodiles very similar to that of the 

 Nile, which seem to be only varieties of this species. Formerly 

 this reptile descended the Nile to its delta, and according to Pliny, 

 passed the four winter months there, in caverns ; but in our time, 

 it never quits Upper Egypt, where it does not hibernate. The 

 Ancient Egyptians, particularly the inhabitants of Thebes, and 

 the environs of the lake Moeris, rendered great honours to these 

 reptiles ; they even made them objects of religious worship, and 

 embalmed their dead bodies. At Arsinoe, the priests raised one 

 of these reptiles, which they kept in a temple, and adorned with 

 jewels, and fed with great care. 



19. Crocodiles properly so called, also exist in America : the 

 Caiman of Saint Domingo, and other parts of the West Indies, 

 belongs to this genus, and has received the name of Crocodilus 

 acutm, or sharp nosed Crocodile, from the form of its head : it 

 has four rows of plates on its back, and its length sometimes 

 exceeds sixteen feet. It is a fierce and dangerous animal. At 

 birth, the young are from nine to ten inches long, and growth 

 continues for twenty years. 



20. The CAIMANS, or ALLIGATORS, are readily distinguished from 

 Crocodiles properly so called, by the disposition of the fourth tooth 

 of the lower jaw, which, when the mouth is closed, is lodged in 

 a hole, and not in a notch of the upper jaw. Their hind feet, in 

 place of being notched on the external edge, and palmate to the 

 end of the toes, are unprovided with notches, and are only semi- 

 palmate. Many species are known, but all seem to belong to 

 America. One of them, the Pike-nosed Alligator, Crocodilus 

 lucius, inhabits the southern parts of North America, and, 

 during the season of ice, buries itself in the mud, and remains 

 benumbed until the return of a milder temperature. In Guiana 

 and Brazil, there is another, the Spectacle Alligator, Crocodilus 

 sclerops, so called from the ridge which unites the projecting 

 edges of the orbits in front. Like other Crocodiles, the last lays 

 its eggs in the sand ; but covers them with straw or leaves, and 

 instead of abandoning them, defends them courageously ; it is 

 from twelve to fifteen feet in. length, and rarely attacks man. 



19. Are there any Crocodiles in America ? 



20. How are Alligators distinguished from Crocodiles? 



