168 DR. J. B. GRAY’'S SYNOPSIS OF THE SPECIES = 
Section II. The ventral scutelia thin, the dorsal scutella bony, not articulated together. 
The eyelids fleshy, smooth. The cervical scutella in pairs, separate. Nasal bone 
elongate, separating the nostrils. North America. 
3. ALLIGATOR. 
Head depressed, broad, without any ridges in front of the orbit. Snout very broad, 
flattened and rounded at the end; the ninth maxillary tooth the largest. The eyelids 
smooth, fleshy. The dorsal scutella not articulated together, in six longitudinal series ; 
the ventral scutella thin; the gular and abdominal shields smooth ; nuchal scutella one 
pair, small; cervical scutella three pairs, hinder smallest. Nostril separated by a bony 
septum. The feet webbed. Dorsal plates in six longitudinal series, the two vertebral 
closer together. The sides with a short series close to the others, sometimes reduced to 
only one or two shields. 
Alligator, Gray, Cat. Tort. B. M. 66; Ann. Mag. N. H. x. 330, 1862. Huxley, Proc. Linn. Soc. iv. 3. 
Champsa, Wagler, Syst. d. Amph. 140. 
ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPENSIS. (Alligator.) 
Alligator, Catesby, Carol. t. 63. 
Crocodilus mississippensis, Daud. Rept. u. 412. : 
Crocodilus lucius, Cuvier, Ann. Mus. x., and Oss. Foss. v. t.1.f.8; t.2.f. 4. Tiedem. Amph. 58, t. 4. 
Merrem, Zool. 34. Owen, Cat. Osteol. Spec. in Coll. Surg. p. 165. n. 760, 761. Blainy. Ostéog. 
Crocod. t. 2. f.1,t.5.f.1. Briihl, Skelet. Krokod. t. 8. f.5,6, t. 9. f.3,t. 10. f. 3, 4, t. 11. f. 2, 3, 
t. 20 £. 
Alligator mississippensis, Gray, Cat. Tortoises B. M. 66; Amn. & Mag. Nat. Hist. x. 331, 1862. 
Crocodilus cuviert, Leach, Zool. Mise. 11. 117, t. 102. 
Alligator lucius, Merrem, Tent. 34. Dum. & Bibr. Erp. Gén. ii. 75, t. 25, 26. 
Alligator cuvieri, Bory de St. Vincent, D. C. H. N. v. 104. 
Hab. North America, New Orleans, Texas. 
Var. 1. The nose very broad and short. The largest specimen of this variety in the 
British Museum is nearly 4 feet long. 
Var. 2. The nose narrower and longer. The largest specimen in the British Museum 
is of the same size as the former, which is nearly 4 feet long. Are they the two 
sexes ? 
The young specimens in spirits have the back black, with narrow white cross bands. 
The head pale brown, black-varied. Ventral shields in eight or ten longitudinal rather 
irregular series. 
There is a very young specimen of this species in spirits, from New Orleans, in the 
British Museum. It is black, with white cross bands. The beak is short, rather 
slender, with a ridge of skin in front of each eye, giving the appearance of a frontal 
ridge. 
