262 THE CROCODILE 



thick skin of the upper portion of the body, 

 this monster occasioned much alarm among 

 such of my people as were engaged upon the task 

 by making a most life-like nervous movement 

 of the tail whilst practically in pieces, and with 

 the whole of his inside removed. So sudden 

 and violent was the movement as completely 

 to trip up one of the operators, who fell under- 

 neath the remains and yelled dismally for 

 several moments in the full belief that his last 

 hour had assuredly come. 



At the commencement of this chapter I 

 made some reference to the peculiarities of 

 crocodiles' teeth. These are sixty-eight in 

 number, thirty-four in either jaw. They fit 

 accurately into spaces provided for them above 

 and below on the same principle as a rat-trap. 

 The two largest teeth of the lower jaw, some 

 3 inches in length, fit snugly into hollows pro- 

 vided in the bone of the upper jaw. It is clear, 

 therefore, that the crocodile's teeth are designed 

 more for the purpose of seizing and holding his 

 prey than for the ordinary purposes of food 

 mastication, for which they appear to be entirely 

 unsuited. It would thus seem that crocodiles, 

 instead of feeding by the usual means of chewing 

 their food, either tear it to pieces and bolt it in 

 huge lumps, or swallow it whole. These teeth 

 are hollow and, on becoming worn out, are 

 pushed out of place by new ones which slowly 

 form beneath to replace them. I have examined 

 the teeth of a great many of these reptiles, but 

 never remember to have seen one in a state 



