CROCODILE. 
43 
the neighbouring inhabitants. It is usually found 
from the length of fifteen to twenty feet, and some- 
times longer, as is mentioned by Brue in his Voyage 
to Senegal. This gentleman found them in great 
abundance about Ghiam, where they are very dan- 
gerous and of a large size, some of his attendants 
having killed one which measured twenty-five feet. 
We must conclude, however, that this was of an 
extraordinary magnitude, since the natives were 
overjoyed at his death, supposing him to be the 
father of all the rest, and that his defeat would 
alarm the others and make them leave the place. 
Although the crocodile in his general form resem- 
bles other lizards, yet he has many characters which 
sufficiently distinguish him. His long flattened 
head, with his enormously large mouth set with 
two rows of formidable teeth, would be enough to 
separate him from the rest of the genus, inde- 
pendent of any other peculiarity. It has been as- 
serted, that the upper jaw in this animal is move- 
able ; but a very little attention will convince us 
of the contrary, and that in fact the crocodile has 
precisely the same motion in the jaws as other 
quadrupeds. It was likewise supposed that the 
creature had no tongue ; this, however, is not the 
case, though it is so firmly attached to the two 
sides of the lower jaw by means of a membrane, 
that it cannot be thrust out of the mouth. The 
fiery appearance of his eyes, which are placed ob- 
liquely, together with the wrinkled eyelids, increase 
the natural malignity of his aspect, and seem to 
