334 The Alligator and Its Allies 
The embryo now begins to exhibit some of the 
external characteristics of the adult alligator. 
STAGE XXII 
FIGURE 25 (PLATE XXVIII.) 
This embryo needs no particular description. It 
has reached in its external appearance practically 
the adult condition, although there is still con- 
siderable yolk (not shown in the figure) to be 
absorbed, and the embryo would not have hatched 
for many days. Pigmentation, begun in the last 
stage, is now complete. The umbilical stalk is 
clearly seen projecting from a large opening in the 
body wall. The long loop of the intestine that 
extends down into the yolk sac is here evident, and 
it is hard to understand how it can all be drawn up 
into the body cavity when the umbilical stalk is 
withdrawn. No sharp shell-tooth at the tip of the 
snout, such as is described by Voeltzkow (78) in 
the crocodile, is here seen. 
STAGE XXIII 
FIGURE 26 (PLATE XXVIII.) 
This figure shows the relative sizes of the just- 
hatched alligator and the egg from which it came. 
It also shows the position of the young alligator in 
the egg, half of the shell having been removed for 
that purpose. The blotchy appearance of the 
