CLASS REPTILIA, THE REPTILES. 



CHAPTER II. 

 ORDER CROCODILIA. THE CROCODILES. GAVIALS, AND ALLIGATORS. 



THE CROCODILE FAMILY. Worshipped by Ancient Egyptians The Crocodile of the Nile Appearance Peculiar 

 Nature of the Tooth-growth Arrangement for Sinking with its Prey without allowing Water to Pass into 

 the Throat How it Obtains Fresh Supplies of Air How it Disposes of its Food Remarkable Eye "Crocodiles' 

 Tears " Distribution Other African Forms The Eggs of the Crocodile The Baby Reptiles The Indian Species 

 The Salt-water Crocodile Description How it Procures its Food The Marsh Crocodile Appearance Worshipped 

 by Fakirs Ferocity of the Indian Crocodiles after their Torpidity The Victim's only Way of Safety Crocodile of 

 North-east Australia The American Kinds Crocodilus Acutus The Cuba Crocodile THE GAVIAL FAMILY 

 The Gavial Distinctive Features Habits Second Forms of the Family THE ALLIGATOR FAMILY 

 Difference between Crocodiles and Alligators Characters of the Alligator The Mississippi, or Pike-headed Alligator 

 Habitat Origin of its Name Appearance The Caimans Characters The Jacares Bates's Account of the 

 Alligators of the Amazons Other Kinds of Jacare FOSSIL CROCODILIA- Number in Secondary and Tertiary 

 Ages Antiquity of the Group Marine Group not handed down Characters Terrestrial Forms of the Trias The 

 Theriodontia Hyposaurus and Bottosaurus Classification of the Order. 



THE CROCODILE FAMILY. 



THE Crocodile is so associated with the Nile of Egypt at the present time, that it is not 

 surprising to find that it was well known to the ancient Egyptians, who worshipped, symbolised, 

 and mummified this monster of their great river. It was one of the symbols of Typhon, the 

 brother of Osiris, who was considered by the Egyptians to be the cause of every evil. One of 

 their deities was a man with a Crocodile's head, called Souk. In some parts the Crocodile was 

 eaten, whilst in others it was fed up when young with cakes and roast meat, and these, with wine, 

 were crammed down their throats, whether they liked it or not. The name is of Greek origin, and the 

 Egyptians gave it an appellation which sounded like x^ al - Champsa lasts still in modern Egyptian 

 as Temsa. The large adults were sometimes caught and sent to Rome, and Augustus introduced 

 thirty-six into an amphitheatre, where they were all killed by gladiators. Pets were made of the young 

 Crocodiles of the Nile in the olden time, and the Egyptian priests hung rings of gold and precious 

 stones in the protecting membi-ane of their ears, which they pierced for the purpose ; they put bracelets 

 on their fore-feet, and presented them, thus adorned, to the people, who looked at them with great 

 veneration. 



The Crocodile of the Nile* may be considered as the type of the order to which it belongs. The 

 body is depressed, long, and protected on the back with solid keeled scales or scutes ; the tail is longer 

 than the body, and is compressed laterally and has crests above. The limbs are short and exceedingly 

 powerful, and the toes are united, more or less, by a web. There are five digits on the fore limbs 

 and four on the hinder, and nails are found on three digits fore and aft. The head is broad behind, 

 depressed, with a muzzle, the nostrils being near the front and capable of being closed. The gape of 

 the jaw reaches back beyond the skull, and the tongue is fleshy, not protractile, and is attached to the 

 sides of the lower jaw within the mouth. The tympanic membrane has a valve or ear-lid. 



The body of the Crocodile is carried near the ground in walking, and the hinder part of the 

 belly drags usually, so that the limbs are set so as to permit the long bones to spread out as it 

 were. The hind legs have a toothed crest behind, which is formed of about twelve scales. The limbs 

 are covered with squarish and simple small scutes, and the digits also. The fore limbs are the shortest, 

 and the two outer digits are without claws. The colour of the skin of the Nile Crocodile differs 

 with the varieties of the species. In one the back is olive-green speckled with black, and there 

 are two or three oblique bands of this colour on each flank. In another the upper part of the 

 body is olive-green sprinkled with black on the head and neck, and marked with the same colour 

 on the back and tail ; two or three large oblique black bands show themselves on each flank, 

 and the xinder part of the body is of a greenish-yellow colour. The nails are brown. A third 

 has the upper part of the body sprinkled with black angular stains. 



The head of a Crocodile strikes the observer more than any other part, on account of its length 

 of jaw and the number of teeth exposed to view along the often festooned, rather than straight, jaws. 

 The canines of the lower jaw, having a groove in the upper jaw-bone for their reception, are very 



* Crocodilus vulgar is (Geoff.). 



