656 



as a bait. The animals scent this clay from 

 afar ; and are fond of the smell, as the clays of 

 bucaros, known in Portugal and Spain by the 

 name of odoriferous earths (tierras olorosas), 

 have an odour agreeable to women # . Brown 

 relates, in his History of Jamaica, that the croco- 

 diles of South America swallow small stones, 

 and pieces of very hard wood, when the lakes 

 which they inhabit are dry, or when they are in 

 want of food. Mr. Bonpland and I observed in 

 a crocodile, eleven feet long, which we dissected 

 at Batalley, on the banks of the Rio Magdalena, 

 that the stomach of this reptile contained fish 

 half digested, and rounded fragments of granite 

 three or four inches in diameter. It is difficult 

 to admit, that the crocodiles swallow these stony 

 masses accidentally, for they do not catch fish 

 with their lower jaw resting on the ground at 

 the bottom of the river. The Indians have 

 framed the absurd hypothesis, that these indo- 

 lent animals like to augment their weight, that 

 they may have less trouble in diving. I rather 

 think, that they load their stomach with large 

 pebbles, to excite an abundant secretion of gas- 

 tric juice. The experiments of Mr. Magendie 



* Bucaro, vas fictile odoriferum. People are fond of drink- 

 ing out of these vessels on account of the smell of the clay. 

 The women of the province of Alentejo acquire a habit of 

 chewing the bucaro earth $ and feel a great privation, when 

 they cannot iudulge this vitiated taste. 



