5?T0 Trochilus and Crocodile of Herodotus. [July, 



Art. V. — Note on the " Trochilus and Crocodile" of Herodotus. 



To the Editor of the Asiatic Journal. 



Dear Sir, — As the recent very curious and instructive work of 

 Mr. Wilkinson on the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egypti- 

 ans is likely to attain a deserved celebrity, it may be as well to 

 correct a mistake into which he has fallen, as to a fact in natural his- 

 tory, particularly as it affects the credit of the Father of History, 

 whose work, notwithstanding its imperfections in many other res- 

 pects, will generally be found correct in all matters that came under 

 the author's personal observation. 



Mr. Wilkinson says, vol. iii. p. 79, 



" Herodotus enters into a detail of the habits of the Crocodile, and 

 "relates the frequently repeated story of the Trochilus entering the 

 "animal's mouth during its sleep on the sand banks of the Nile, and 

 "relieving it of the leeches which adhere to its throat. The truth of 

 " this assertion is seriously impugned, when we recollect that leeches 

 " do not abound in the Nile ; and the polite understanding supposed 

 " to exist between the Crocodile and the bird, becomes more impro- 

 vable, when we examine the manner in which the throat of the 

 "animal is formed; for having no tongue, nature has given it the 

 "means of closing it entirely, except when in the act of swallowing, 

 "and during sleep the throat is constantly shut though the mouth 

 f< is open." 



Now on this passage I have to observe, first, that I have seen many 

 Crocodiles caught, but very few that had not many leeches adhering 

 to the inside of their mouths, and that these insects also infest the 

 Argeelah, and other animals which feed in the Ganges. Secondly, 

 these leeches are not the Hirudo medicinalis, which Mr. Wilkinson 

 is probably correct in asserting not to be common in the Nile, as that 

 species is not usually found in running streams. The leech in ques- 

 tion seems to me (I speak with diffidence, being no entomologist) to 

 belong to the genus Pontobdella, one species of which infests Cod, 

 Skate, and other fish on the coasts of England. I have no doubt these 

 insects will be found as abundant in the Nile as they are in the 

 waters of Bengal. Thirdly, Herodotus says nothing about the throat 

 of the Crocodile, though his translator Mr. Beloe does. Herodotus says, 

 " the Trochilus entering the Crocodile's mouth devours the leeches, 

 for his words are, zvuavra o rpo^iXog zaSvvwv eg to (rrojua avrov 

 Karawivei rag fidtWag'* 



* Herod. Euterpe, dxviii. 



