THE CROCODILIANS 73 



we want are the cold facts — a tape line down the mon- 

 ster's back. Alas, indeed, for romance and tales of ad- 

 venture, if that could be frequently done ! — how quickly 

 would the bottom drop out of innumerable thrilling 

 stories which so distort the study of natural history. In 

 the tabulated list the writer believes he has quoted the 

 maximum length of the crocodiles — has been generous 

 at that and must explain that the enormous size applied 

 to several of the species is quite exceptional ; such giants 

 are so few thej^ would create as much interest if exhib- 

 ited in their native countrj^ as in one of the zoological 

 gardens in the midst of civilization. A fifteen-foot croc- 

 odile is a big fellow — in India, in Africa — and a giant in 

 the New World. From the list it will be also seen that 

 the typical crocodiles are by no means confined to the Old 

 World. At the same time it should be noted that while 

 some of the New World species grow to a large size, 

 they are greatly outclassed by the huge crocodiles of 

 India, Malaysia and Africa. 



Now, once launched well upon our subject, we will 

 again take up the crocodile versus alligator query and 

 note, with more detail, the differences between them. 

 We have already studied the varying outlines of heads 

 and understand that part of the argument. 



With the crocodiles, the fourth tooth — a large one — • 

 on each side of the lower j aw, pro j ects slightly outward, 

 fitting into a notch of the upper jaw when the mouth 

 is closed ; thus, these two teeth are visible like the others 

 in front and behind them. With the genera Alligator 

 and Caiman^ the fourth tooth on each side of the lower 

 jaw — an enlarged tooth — fits into a j^it or cavity of 

 conical shape on the upper jaw; thus these two large 

 teeth are hidden, except on very old examples having 

 very long teeth, when the two in question pierce each 



