YOUNG CKOCODILIAJSS IN CAPTIVITY. 173 



are less marked than tlie anterior pair, and occur over the 

 fifth or sixth maxillary teeth, running parallel to the 

 former ones. On the ventral surface of each scale of this 

 crocodile we find a minute spot, not raised, resembling 

 the opening of a pore : it is a sensory pit, and is not seen 

 in C. cataphractus or C. americanus* One specimen in my 

 collection is peculiar in being very black on the back. It 

 is probably older than its actual size would lead us to 

 believe, as its total length is under twenty-six inches. 



The American or sharp-nosed crocodile (C. ameri- 

 canus, PI. I., fig. 2) is another fairly-frequently 

 seen specimen, found in the Southern States, Cuba, 

 and Central America. Its snout measures less 

 than two and a quarter times its basal width, 

 and has a longitudinal ridge on its upper surface. 

 The eyes are rather small, and altogether its build is 

 slighter than most crocodilians. There are usually four 

 nuchal shields in a square ; and there are sixteen trans- 

 verse dorsal rows, the widest containing six shields. Its 

 snout looks much longer than the Egyptian's on account 

 of its slender build, and the shielding on the neck, while 

 resembling the latter's, is less pronounced. The colour of 

 the young is a dirty ochreous yellow, with shields shewing 

 a lighter tint of the same colour. The sides are lighter, 

 and the under surfaces whitish. Across the back are 

 three irregular arrow-head-shaped black marks, pointing 

 forwards, and on each side are six or eight blackish spots. 

 On the upper surface of the tail is a transverse series of 

 alternating blackish and ochreous bars, and its sides ar*e 

 blotched heavily with large dark marks. The hides are 

 light yellow ochre, and the outer and under surfaces of 



:: M. Boulenger says, in a recent letter : " I do not think there is 

 much in the sensory pits of the ventral shields of young crocodiles, 

 from the species point of view, as I find them quite distinct in some 

 C. americamis and absent in some C. niloticus." 



