ALLIGATOR AND THE CROCODILE. 141 



E.— THE ALLIGATOR AND THE CROCODILE. 



33. THE ALLIOATOB AND THE CBOGODILE. 



The North Ambkioan Alligator and Crocodile. — We have in the United States two 

 reptiles of the Crocodile family, one a true Crocodile, Orocodiliis acutus, Cuv., and the other the 

 well-known Alligator Alligator mississippiensis, Daudin.' The former animal is of rare occurrence, 

 only a few specimens having been captured in the United States, and it can, therefore, scarcely 

 claim attention from a commercial standpoint.^ I shall confine my remarks to the Alligator. 



Origin op the name "Alligator." — The origin of the name "Alligator" is involved 

 somewhat in obscurity, but several theories have been entertained regarding it. "Some," says 

 Holbrook,' "have supposed it derived from the word 'Legateer' or 'A116gater,' a name by 

 which the young Crocodile is distinguished in some parts of India. Cuvier says it is much 

 more probable that it is a corruption of the Portuguese 'Lagarto,' derived from the Latin -Lacerta,^ 

 as Hawkins writes it 'Alagartos,' and Sloan, in his 'History of Jamaica,' spells it ' AUagator.' " 



The matter was undoubtedly set right by Cuvier. In the writings of all the very early 

 English explorers which I have been able to consult the terms "Crocodile" and "Cayman" are 

 generally used in alluding to the Alligator. Under the name " Cayman " it would seem that the 

 Alligator and the true Cayman of South America have been confounded. In Sir Walter Raleigh's 

 account of his travels in 1595, however, he used the name " Lagartos" for the Alligator. He says: 



" Vpon this riuer there were great store of fowle, and of many sorts : we saw in it diuers sorts 

 of strange fishes, and of maruellous bignes ; but for lagartos it exceeded, for there were thousands 

 of those vgly serpents ; and the people call it for the abundance of them. The riuer of Lagartos, in 

 their language." * 



The name Alligator, with its present orthography, seems to have been adopted about 1730. 



Geographical distribution. — The geographical range of the Alligator has not been very 

 accurately defined. Holbrook ^ fixes the northern limit on the Atlantic coast at the mouth of the 

 Feuse River, North Carolina, although at the present day it is doubtful whether any specimens 

 could be found so far north. It occurs in increasing numbers southward, and is comparatively 

 abundant on the northeast coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It ascends the Mississippi River as far 

 as the mouth of the Red River. In regard to the western limit of its range, Cope states that " it 



'A recent writer, the place of publishing of whose article I have forgotten, raises the question of the occurrence 

 of two species of Alligator in the South. No herpetologist, however, so far as I am aware, has made such a distinction, 

 and I cannot, therefore, give the matter more than a passing notice here. 



*I have been able to gather but few references to instances of the actual capture of C. acutus in Florida. Wyman, 

 I beliere, first pointed out its existence in that state, in 1869, bas>ing his remarks on the features of a skull sent from 

 the Miami River by Mr. William H. Hunt. (See Amer. Journal of Soi. & Arts, xlix, 1870, pp. 105-106.) 



Another specimen, this time a full-grown animal, was obtained by Mr. H. A. Ward, of Rochester, New York, 

 in Bascayne Bay, Florida. This specimen is now in the National Museum. 



Still another Crocodile was said to have been captured in North Lake, Florida, in 1875, by a Mr. William Butler, 

 but whether this specimen was ever sent to a museum, or was identified by a professional herpetologist, I am unable 

 to say. (See Forest and Stream, iv, 1878, p. 167.) Two other writers, Mr. 0. J. Maynard, of Newtonville, Mass., 

 and a gentleman concealed under the pseudonym "Wanderer," claim to have seen the Crocodile in Florida, the former 

 in 1867. (See Forest and Stream, xiii, 1880, p. 867.) 



•Holbrook: North American Herpetology, ii, 1842, p. 61. 



''Rai.eigh : The Discoverie of the large, rich, and beautiful! empire of Guiana. <Hakluyt'8 Collection of Voyages, 

 iv, 1811, p. 137. 



• Op. mt. 



