776 The American Naturalist. [September, 
greater part of the manuscript, however, is still unpublished, 
and not long ago it was debated whether the ornithological 
observations should not be issued by the Institute, accompan- 
ied by a selection from the colored drawings. This project 
after consultation with an experienced ornithologist, was 
abandoned, at least for the present, as so large a portion of the 
manuscript consists of elaborate descriptions which would 
practically duplicate those in existing works. Had these de- 
scriptions been published when Dr. Robinson wrote them, 
their value would have been very different. 
The extracts from the manuscript by Gosse in his well 
known works sufficiently testify to the scientific zeal and 
knowledge of Dr. Robinson, although his methods were rather 
those of an age now past. I brought with me from Jamaica 
copies of several unpublished portions of the manuscript, and 
will give a few extracts, both to illustrate the character of the 
man and put on record observations which, although so old, 
have not lost their value. 
1. The Alligator (so-called) of Jamaica, Crocodilus ameri- 
canus. The following selections are from a long account of 
this animal : 
“ A very small alligator was put into rum by Mr. Walker, 
then of Old Harbour, now of Kingston, and according to the 
nicest reckoning with a watch or other time’s measure, liv’d 
about a quarter of an hour in that spirit.” 
Of another specimen, “the stomach’s contents were bird’s 
feathers (aquatic most probably), joints of crabs claws, and 
little living white slender worms, with some small pebbles.” 
The parasitic worms deserve attention; have they been de- 
scribed? In the horned lizard (Phrynosoma) of this part of 
the world (N. Mex.) one finds also such worms. 
Dr. Robinson proceeds to describe the crocodile’s external 
features and anatomy: “The guts measuring from the stom- 
ach to the end of the intestinum rectum were fifteen feet long, 
uncoil’d. 
“The time the young alligator continued under water was 
to the outmost but two minutes, as we proved by repeated 
trials, puddling and disturbing the water in order to keep him 
under thro’ fear as long as his nature would admit. — 
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