124 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS.—CLASS III. REPTILIA. 
shown where he lay, with his head above water, immovable as a log, and 
for which I should have taken him but for his small, savage eyes, which 
glittered so that they seemed to emit sparks. He was, the fakir said, 
very fierce and dangerous, and at least twenty feet in length.” 
There are several species of crocodiles peculiar to Africa and Asia, but 
in characters and habits they do not materially differ from the Crocodile of 
the Nile. That of the Ganges, however, “which attains a large size, is re- 
markable not only for the length of its muzzle, but for a large cartilaginous 
prominence surrounding the nostrils, which throws these backwards, and 
led Elian to assert that the Gangetic Crocodile had a horn at the tip of its 
snout.” 
The crocodiles are carnivorous, but unable to swallow under water, and 
their habit is to drown their prey, and conceal it in some hole beneath the 
surface till it putrefies, when they devour it. The female is very prolific, 
guards her eggs with care, and continues to protect her young until they can 
support themsclyes. Yet, with all her vigilance, she cannot prevent the 
greater portion of her eges from being devoured by the ichneumon, trionyx, 
and vulture. Were it not for this provision of nature, these frightful ani- 
mals would overrun the countries which they frequent, and render them 
uninhabitable by human beings. 
Genus ALLIGATOR. — Cuvier: The American Crocodile. —The Cay- 
man. This animal is distinguished from its Oriental congener by a broader 
and more obtuse muzzle, and feet undentelated, and only semi-palmated. 
These powerful animals are found in great numbers in lagoons and rivers of 
Georgia, Florida, and most of the warmer countries of the American Con- 
tinent. Their body is as large as that of the horse, and in shape is not 
unlike that of the lizard: their head is described as resembling a “large 
clump of wood floating about upon the water.” They grow to the length 
of fifteen or twenty feet, are covered by a dense harness of horny scales, 
impenetrable to a musket ball, except about the head and shoulders, and 
have a huge mouth, opening about three feet, armed with two rows of 
strong, unequal, conical teeth, some of which shut into cavities of the upper 
jaw-bone. They swim or dart along through the water with wonderful 
ceelerity, impelled by their long, laterally-compressed, and powerful tails, 
which serve as very efficient oars. On land, their motions are proportion- 
ally slow and embarrassed, beeause of the length and unwieldiness of their 
bodies, the shortness of their limbs, and the sort of small, false ribs which 
reach from joint to joint of their necks, and render lateral motion very dif- 
ficult. The Alligator is generally considered as disposed to retire from man, 
but this is only to be understood of alligators frequenting rivers or waters 
where they are often disturbed. In situations less visited by man, they are 
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