November i, 1891] 



THE HUMMING BIRD. 



83 



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Crocodile, Snake and Fish Skins for 

 Industrial Purposes. 



In North America, alligator farming is carried on 

 in Louisiana and other southern States, and it pays 

 well, the skins of young individuals having a good 

 market value for morocco leather manufacturers and 

 others. 



After being dressed, these skins are soft and last 

 very long. They are used extensively for dressing 

 cases, purses, pocket-books, slippers, etc., also for 

 shoes and boots, in fact, they can be employed for 

 all fancy articles made of leather and are as highly 

 appreciated as the well-known Russian morocco. 



The skins of the large American snake (Boa 

 murina) is also employed for the same purposes and 

 make skins softer and more nicely marked. 



Up to date, skins of old alligators can be dressed, 

 but do not soften enough, and for that reason are 

 scarcely used for industrial purposes, but they could 

 probably be made into war-shields, strong boots, etc. 

 They are sometimes sold as curiosities. 



Besides leather, oil can be extracted from the adult 

 animals. The tail of an alligator twelve feet in 

 length, on boiling, furnishes from fifty to seventy 

 pints of excellent oil which in South America is used 

 for lighting purposes, and in medicine. The oil has 

 been recommended for a variety of diseases, but is 

 considered as a sovereign remedy for rheumatism. It 

 is given both inwardly and outwardly. 



Crocodiles and alligators are found in all parts of 

 the world, but more especially in the hot climates. 

 They inhabit Africa, Southern Asia, the tropical 

 parts of Australia, North, Central and South America 

 and the West Indies. The Indian crocodile (Croco- 

 dilus porosus) is very common in the East Indies and 

 in tropical Australia. It grows exceptionally to a 

 length of thirty feet, but the ordinary size of an adult 

 specimen is from twelve to twenty feet. 



The African crocodile (Crocodilus vulgaris) attains 

 nearly the same size. It was worshipped by the 

 ancient Egyptians, and mummies of these animals 

 are commonly found in that country. 



The Gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) is abundant in 

 the river Ganges and its tributaries, and attains a 

 length of twenty feet. It is easily recognised by their 

 extremely long and slender snout. It feeds chiefly 

 on fishes, for the capture of which its long and 

 slender snout and sharp teeth are well adapted. Old 

 males have a large cartilaginous hump on the ex- 

 tremity of the snout containing a small cavity for the 

 retention of air, by which means they are enabled to 

 remain under water for a longer time tham females or 

 young. 



In the alligators, which, with the exception of one 

 species found in China ate all found in America, the 



fourth lower tooth is received in a pit in the upper 

 jaw, when the mouth is shut They do not grow to 

 the large size of the true crocodiles. The species 

 most generally known is A. mississippiensis, which 

 abounds in the southern parts of North America. It 

 is the species which is bred extensively in domesticity 

 since a few years. Some other species of alligators 

 are also very abundant on the rivers of the Atlantic 

 and Pacific Oceans from Mexico to Argentine 

 Republic and Peru on the Pacific. I have seen large 

 numbers of them on the River Papaloapam in the 

 State of Vera Cruz, " Mexico." The crocodilians 

 differ in many anatomical characters from the true 

 lizards. The organs of their chest and abdomen 

 'are separated from each other by a muscular 

 diaphragm, their heart is divided into four cavities as 

 in the higher vertebrates. The ribs are provided 

 with two heads for the articulation with the vertebras, 

 and with processes directed backwards ; and their 

 abdomen is protected by a series of transverse bones. 

 The teeth are implanted in sockets, while in other 

 recent reptiles they are united to the jaws. The 

 tongue is completely adherent to the floor of the 

 mouth. The nostrils are situated close together at 

 the upper side of the extremity of the snout ; the 

 eyes and the ears likewise are near to the upper pro- 

 file of the head, so that the animal can breathe, see 

 and hear whilst its body is immersed in the water, the 

 upper part of the head only being raised above the 

 surface. When it dives, the nostrils are closed by 

 valves, a transparent membrane is drawn over the eye 

 and the ear, which is a horizontal slit, is shut up by a 

 moveable projecting flap of the skin. The limbs are 

 weak, the anterior provided with five, the posterior 

 with four digits, of which three only are armed with 

 claws and which are united together by a more or less 

 developed web. The tail is long, compressed, 

 crested above, very powerful, and admirably adapted 

 for propelling the body through the water. The 

 back tail and belly are protected by a dermal armour 

 formed of quadrangular shields, of which the dorsal, 

 and in several alligators, also the ventral, contain 

 true bone imbedded in the skin. 



The crocodilians are thoroughly aquatic in their 

 habits and the most formidable of all the carnivorous 

 freshwater animals. 



They feed chiefly on fish ; but large crocodiles 

 attack every animal which they can overpower and 

 which they drown before devouring. They attack 

 man, and many people have been killed and devoured 

 by crocodiles. After having killed their prey they 

 carry it into holes which are supposed to be their 

 abode, and feast upon it until it is entirely devoured. 



In the State of Vera Cruz (Mexico) where these 

 animals are very abundant, it is said of alligators 

 that they can live for a considerable time, buried in 

 the dry mud. I don't know how much such an 

 extraordinary fact can be relied upon, but when 

 residing at Tlacotalpan and Cosomaloapam, State of 

 Vera Cruz (Mexico), I was told many times that 

 alligators had been found in dry fields, apparently dead, 

 and that after a more or less prolongated immersion in 

 water they had returned to life. They account for it in 

 this way : In the rainy season, May to September, the 

 fall of rain is sometimes so great that the River 



