196 CLASS REPTILIA. 



flesh of negroes, and that of dogs, and that they never eat it 

 until it is in a state of putrefaction. 



It is reported, that to escape from this crocodile, the dogs 

 bark, and horses strike the water, at a particular place, to 

 attract the crocodile thither, and then hurry off, to drink at 

 some greater distance. 



The colonists and negroes give to this species the name of 

 Cayman. 



We cannot terminate the history of the crocodiles, without 

 noticing the threrapeutic qualities, anciently attributed to 

 them. Their blood was supposed to cure opthalmia, and to 

 hinder the development of accidents caused by the bite of 

 serpents. Persons labouring under fever were rubbed witJi 

 their fat, and the ashes made from their skin when burned, 

 and steeped in the lye of oil, were esteemed to be a powerful 

 narcotic. Assertions such as these could only be opposed by 

 facts, and, unfortunately, there is nothing of the kind to jus- 

 tify them. Another specimen of these absurdities, but of a 

 different kind, was, that the crocodile itself furnished an 

 antidote to its own bite. The reputation of these, and a 

 multitude of other specifics, have been utterly destroyed by 

 the progress of the philosophy of medicine. 



The tribe of the Caymans, as far as it is known at present, 

 is confined to the continent of America. But the word 

 Cayman is generally employed by all the European colonists 

 to designate the crocodiles which are most common around 

 their habitations. Thus the Cayman of St. Domingo is a 

 true crocodile. Authors are but little agreed on the origin 

 of this name. Bontius will have it to be aboriginal to the 

 East Indies, and Schauten is of the same opinion. Mar- 

 grave tells us that it comes from Congo, and Rochefort that 

 it was peculiar to the old inhabitants of the Antilles. M. 

 De Tussac considers the assertion of Mara;rave to be the 



