S 26 
Gas Lights^ 
[Nov. ii 
and have, like him, five fingers termi¬ 
nated with sharp claws; like liini also, the 
'division is of three inwardly and two 
outvvards, the thumb and little finger 
being of the same magnitude. i he hind 
legs are webbtd strongly, and th.e claws 
birurigest; in other respects the body 
resembles the coats of a turtle, but the 
afms are scaled and well defenoed. 
Like the turtle, its belly is pale straw- 
colour, inclining to green, quite flat, the 
scales polished and squared, and each 
scale has a mark as if it had been 
pinned like a tile. The hinder legs in 
construction are much like those of a 
Log, and he goes very fast by their aid. 
In general, when out of water, it sits 
with the head elevated a great deal 5 in 
the water, with it supine. It ea.ts the 
guts of chickens, or any offal; its sm.ell 
is rather fisbv, but nut very disagreeably 
so. 
What variety there is of this tribe, I 
believe we are but little acquainted witii; 
neither has it been as yet well ascer¬ 
tained, what 13 tbs distinction between 
tfie Gangetic, that of fhe IS’ile, and these 
of the West Indies. Should any of your 
correspondents have observed the habits 
of either of them, I hope they will secoiui 
mv endeavours, by sending their remarks 
to accompany these, in order that there¬ 
by we may know how to distinguish the 
Greek, or Asiatic, crocodile, from the 
American, when reposited in niuseunis. 
Ilow far this aiiigator of the West Indies 
agrees with that at the Brilisli i\j.useum, 
nr in what respect it accords with the 
fossil of Mr. C. Kawker, I shall be glad 
to know, as in that fossil, i have ob¬ 
served a process of bony rings resembling 
those that surround the ejes of turkies ; 
but, as I have never seen an alligator 
skinned, if is impossible to decide as to 
that peculiar defence against the pres¬ 
sure of air or water; and, as this annular 
"fionv ring has not, 1 believe, bee,n as yet 
descriotc nimutely, A sfiad conciode this 
paper with the particulars of its con¬ 
struction* It consists of seventeen scale- 
jike bones mat, when united, form a 
circular iris, broader ori one side than 
the other, four of whicii have double 
cavities, two sides of each separate scale 
tbrm circular prrjectious, w'hile the other 
two sides are segments of a circle that, 
t.hen united, compleac tlie annular 
boundery, ' whose projecting^ force is 
curvets tovvarris the light, each of about 
the thickness of a sheet of cartridge 
Gr. GU MSERLAI'* it. 
■Brijto!^ 25, a8U, 
To the "Editor of the Monthly Magazine, 
SIR, 
ADMIRE the eloquence of your cor¬ 
respondent’s observation on Chris- 
tianus. But he did not observe that the 
15th chapter of John is written wholly 
in metaphor. And what about the quo¬ 
tation from the 10 th chapter of Hebrews? 
To understand aright verse 28, 29, we 
need only read them in tlie context^ 
verse 27, 28, 29, and 30. Szntiva. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine, 
SIR, 
FjX famo dare Lucem. 
IGHLY delighted as I profess to 
__ be with the prospect held fortii 
in your last number, by your corre¬ 
spondent “ Common Sense,” of this 
country becoming independent of the 
“ northern barbarians,” for the supply 
of tallow, by the introduction of a more 
wholesome and economical artificial 
light from vegetable wax; I cannot re¬ 
frain from setting that gentleman right, 
ill respect to some errors he appears to 
be in concerning the scheme of Mr. 
Vv^nsor, (copied from the late M. Le 
Bon, of Paris; himself again a copyist 
from Van Helmont, Lavoisier, Bishop 
Watson, Dr. Priestley, and others,) for 
the introduction of gas-lights. In the 
first place, your correspondent seems at 
a loss to comprehend how, after the 
beautiful demonstrations he, Mr. W. 
afforded the public iu Pall-Mall, his ex¬ 
cellent svstem miscarried. 
Mr. Winsor’s system, if so it may be 
called, has not miscarried. It is founded 
on the ever-beautiful, undeviating, ope¬ 
rations of nature,or, I would rather say, 
on the eternal chemical operations of 
the divine cause, and consequently can¬ 
not miscarry or fail. Like the latent 
heat of Dr. "Black it slumbers, and that 
from causes it w'ould be difficult, and 
perhaps improper, it possible, to explain 
in a miscellaneous publication; but it 
will assuredly, under the benign influence 
of an enlightened prince, shortiy emerge 
from the obscurity under which, owing 
to the prejudices of ignorance, and the 
causes above alluded to, it has hitheri* 
been clouded. 
As to the calculations of*Mr. Vvinsor, 
generally supposed to be greatly exag¬ 
gerated, (but by means of which, and the 
assistance of that two-edged sword, 
ridicule, thev being unfairly taken with¬ 
out their context, a w’orthy member iov 
a large northern county, caused the bdl 
to be thrown out of the honourable 
lioiiss 
