ORDER CHELONIA. 33 



legions of long-legged aquatic birds, which come to devour 

 the reptiles in their turn. Thus the ibis performs this pur- 

 gative operation on the alluvial depositions of the annual 

 inundation of the Nile. The stork performs the same office 

 for the marshes and stagnant waters of Holland ; as do 

 likewise for other places the flocks of cranes, which transport 

 themselves into the various climates of the earth. It may 

 be superfluous, however, to refer the philosopher to these 

 and such like conditions of existence ; he knows that the 

 system of being, in all its changes and modifications, is a 

 system of necessity ; he knows that the laws of physics are 

 just as immutable as those of mathematics. It is nothing 

 but our own ignorance, short-sightedness, or inattention, that 

 ever makes us imagine them to be othermse. 



It is most particularly in warm climates that reptiles mul- 

 tiply to the greatest extent, that they arrive sometimes to an 

 enormous size, and that the poison of the venomous races 

 becomes most acrid and pernicious. There are marine tor- 

 toises in the Antilles so large, that fourteen men may stand 

 at once upon their backs. The missionary Labat tells us, 

 that he has been repeatedly carried in this way. A tortoise 

 of this size would suffice for the repast of a hundred men : it 

 is cooked in its shell, as in a great dish. Enormous croco- 

 diles are found in Africa ; and these animals, which are very 

 small when born, continue to grow for so long a time, that 

 they arrive at last to those exceeding dimensions. Those of 

 the Nile, adored by the ancient Egyptians, attained even to 

 forty feet in length ; but they have been seen in Madagascar 

 as long as sixty. The gavials, or crocodiles of the Ganges, 

 have jaws five or six feet in length — all bristling with long, 

 sharp, and curved teeth. The alligators, or caymans of Ame- 

 rica, are extremely numerous in the lakes : they howl fero- 

 ciously night and morning. All these animals, though agile 

 enough, cannot turn themselves with facility. 



VOL. IX. D 



