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CROCODILUS CATAPHRACTUS 



XVn. NOTE UPON CEANIA OF CEOCODILUS CA- 

 TAPHEACTUS, AND CEOC. MAEGINATUS, 

 IN THE BELFAST MUSEUM. 1 



The existing Crocodiles are still but imperfectly denned, and 

 there is little agreement among systematic authors regarding 

 the number and characters of the species. This remark aj>- 

 plies with especial force to the Crocodiles of the Nile and of 

 the Ganges. Geoffiroy assigns five species of true Crocodile 

 to the Nile, all of which are considered by Cuvier as varieties 

 of a single species, G. vulgaris. Dumeril and Bibron, in their 

 ' Erpetologie,' published in 1836, follow the view taken by 

 Cuvier, although it would appear from a verbal communication 

 of M. BibrOn, that their opinions have been considerably 

 altered since Mr. J. E. Gray, in his ' Synoptical Catalogue,' 

 published in 1844, admits two species, G. vulgaris and C. 

 marginatus. In like manner, the Crocodiles proper of the 

 Ganges were restricted to a single species by Cuvier, G. bi- 

 porcatus, in which view, also, he is followed by Dumeril and 

 Bibron, although G. palustris of Lesson is inserted with 

 doubt as a variety of C. vulgaris in their systematic work ; 

 but it would appear from the labels of the specimen in the 

 Paris Museum, that they now recognize it as a distinct species. 

 On the other hand, Mr. Gray gives three species to the Ganges, 

 viz., G. biporcatus, G. palustris, and G. bombifrons. It is of 

 interest therefore to record the existence of any specimens 

 bearing upon the disputed or ill-determined species ; and 



1 This memoir was communicated by 

 Dr. Falconer to the British Association at 

 Southampton in 1846, and is reprinted 

 from the Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist for 

 Dee. 1846, vol. xviii. p. 361, "where it ap- 

 peared with the following note : — ' Com- 

 municated by Mr. W. Thompson, Presi- 

 dent of the Society to which the Museum 

 belongs, with the following remarks : — 

 The crania which form the subject of the 

 present notice were presented to the Na- 

 tural History and Philosophical Society 

 of Belfast by Dr. MeCormac, of that town. 

 They were taken in the waters of the 

 Sierra Leone river or its tributaries, and 

 given to that gentleman by his brother, 

 Mr. John MeCormac, of Freetown, Sierra 



Leone. My friend Dr. Falconer, on 

 visiting the Museum with me early in 

 1 845, called my attention to the rarity 

 of these crania. On leaving home for 

 London, a few months afterwards, I took 

 the specimens with me for the purpose 

 of comparison with others in the collec- 

 tion there, and the result is set forth in 

 the paper. To the kindness of Mr. 

 Grattan (Treasurer to the Society already 

 named) we are indebted for drawings of 

 the specimens made by means of a 

 camera-lueida. These, for the sake of 

 comparison with the figures in Cuvier's 

 " Ossemens Fossiles," have been drawn 

 of the same size.' — [Ed.] 



