122 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS.—CLASS HI. REPTILIA. 
ORDER II. SAURIA (Crocodiles, Alligators, Lizards). 
The animals included in this order are all of lizard shape, and vary in 
size, from the gigantic Crocodile, which often attains the length of thirty 
feet, to insignificant creatures of a few inches. They have a heart consti- 
tuted like that of the Chelonians ; lungs, which extend towards the hinder 
part of the body; mouths invariably armed with teeth; tails more or less 
lenethened, and thick at the base, and skins covered with thick, hard, ser- 
rated scales, or scaly granules. Most of the Saurians have four legs, but 
some have only two. Their eggs are enclosed in a hard envelope, and the 
forms of the young are perfectly developed before they issue therefrom. 
In a former period of the earth the Saurians peopled the vast abysses of 
the ocean, and individuals, like the Ichthyosaurus, huge and rapacious mon- 
sters, ruled the seas, remorseless tyrants of all the other inhabitants of the 
deep. But changes in the temperature of the elements have swept them 
from the scene of existence, and it is from fossil remains only that we gather 
the story of their life and mode of living. No members of this race now 
frequent the sea, but the larger representatives of this once formidable 
family now inhabit the lagoons, rivers, and swamps of tropical climates, 
while the others are distributed over the whole surface of the globe, with the 
exception of the frozen regions. The order is divided into six families, the 
first of which comprises the Crocodiles and Alligators. 
Genus Crocovitus. — Brongniart. The Crocodile is a gigantic beast, 
of prodigious strength, found in the rivers of the warm regions of the East- 
ern Continent, especially in the Nile and Niger. The back and tail are’ 
covered with great square scales, constituting an armor of extraordinary 
strength, and the jaws are furnished with a row of pointed teeth. It often 
reaches the enormous length of thirty feet, and will sometimes seize the 
most powerful animals, such as the tiger, and draw them under the water. 
Yet it is affirmed that this formidable monster may be tamed, and made to 
serve its master with the obedience of the ox. In Siam, the Crocodile is 
taken when young, subjected to discipline, and managed “ like a horse, the 
rider directing it as he thinks proper.” This subjugation of the Crocodile 
to human control is confirmed by travellers who have had opportunities of 
observing the strange spectacle. The author of Dry Leaves from Young 
Lyypt relates the following adventure : — 
“One of my first exhibitions, after reaching Karachi, was a visit to the 
Magar Talao, as it is called, or Lake of Crocodiles, This curious place is 
about eight miles from Karachi, and is well worth inspecting to all who are 
