CHAPTER IX 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALLIGATOR 
(A. mississippiensis) 
INTRODUCTION 
ITH the exception of S. F. Clarke’s well- 
known paper, to which frequent refer- 
ence will be made, practically no work 
has been done upon the development of the 
American alligator. This is probably due to the 
great difficulties experienced in obtaining the nec- 
essary embryological material. Clarke, some 
twenty years ago, made three trips to the 
swamps of Florida in quest of the desired ma- 
terial. The writer has also spent parts of three 
summers in the Southern swamps—once in the 
Everglades, once among the smaller swamps 
and lakes of central Florida, and once in the Oke- 
finokee Swamp. For the first of these expeditions 
he is indebted to the Elizabeth Thompson Science 
Fund; but for the more successful trip, when 
most of the material for this work was collected, he 
is indebted to the Smithsonian Institution, from 
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