HABITS OF CERTAIN REPTILES. 223 



water, but I have not been able to obtain really reliable evidence 

 on this point. 



In connection with the whole subject I find a most interesting 

 reference in Livingstone's account of his first expedition to 

 Africa. 



In December 1853 he encamped on the banks of the river 

 Leeba, a tributary of the Zambesi, and his statement runs as 

 follows :- — 



" We saw 60 eggs taken out of a single nest. They are about 

 the same size as those of a goose, but perfectly round. The shell 

 is partially elastic from having a strong internal membrane and 

 but little lime in its composition. 



"The spot was about 10 feet above the water, and the broad 

 path leading down to the river -side furnished evidence of its 

 having been used for a similar purpose in former years. The 

 dam after depositing her eggs covers them up, and returns to 

 assist the young out of their place of confinement. Assistance 

 seems necessary, for besides the tough membrane of the shell, 

 they have fovir inches of earth upon them. 



" They do not, however, require immediate food, because they 

 retain a portion of the yolk equal to that of a hen's egg in a 

 membrane in the abdomen as a stock of nutriment. When this 

 is expended, the dam leads them to the water's edge and lets them 

 catch fish for themselves." 



It will be noticed that Dr. Livingstone described the eggs as 

 being " perfectly round." The eggs which I saw were distinctly 

 elliptical, and the measurements recorded were taken with 

 callipers. I have seen still larger crocodile eggs which were also 

 elliptical. They were 80 mm. in length and 51 mm. in diameter, 

 and were found in a shallow nest covered with dead leaves and 

 other debris at the foot of a large tree near the water. 



Prof. Poulton has kindly furnished me with a translation by 

 Mr. E. A. Elliott, F.Z.S., of a paper read by Dr. A. Voeltzkow in 

 1899 before the Berlin Academy of Sciences, " On the development 

 and habits of Crocodihos madagascariensis on the East Coast." 



The translation of the section dealing with points that I have 

 mentioned runs as follows : — 



" In the workroom (study) of my house I kept crocodile eggs 

 in some boxes filled with sand, which I had always under obser- 

 vation, in order to observe the emergence of the young reptiles. 

 One day I heard sounds issuing from one of these boxes, and 

 supposed that possibly a young one had emerged and had emitted 

 these sounds while being suffocated in the sand — which would 

 not have surprised me, as I had long known that the young are 

 capable of emitting sounds. 



" On digging down the astonishing fact was revealed that the 

 sounds proceeded from unbroken shells. 



" The sounds were so loud that if the eggs were exposed they 

 could be heard distinctly in the adjoining room. If, as in nature, 



