OCR Text |
Show 16 REPTILIA. Croc. biporcatus, Cuv.; Le Crocodile a deux aretes, Ann. Mus. X, 1, 4 and 11, 8, and Oss. foss. 2d part, same plates and fig., bas eight rows of oval plates along the back, and two projecting crests on the upper part of the muzzle. It is found in several islands of the Indian Ocean, and most pFobably exists in the two peninsulas. Croc. acutus, Cuv.; Crocodile a museau ejfite, Geoff. Ann. Mus. II, xxxvii, has a longer muzzle, arched at base; the dorsal plates arrang~d in four lines; the external ones disposed irregularly, and with more salient ridges. :From St Domingo and the other great Antiles. The female places her eggs under ground, and uncovers them at the moment they are about to be hatched. ( 1) ALLIGATOR, Cuv.(2) Alligators have a broad obtuse muzzle and unequal teeth, the that I dare not elevate the Crocodiles sent from Bengal by M. Duvaucel to the rank of species, although they have a more convex head than any of the others. There is another point in which I am compelled to differ from the learned natu. ralist I have just named. He supposes that the variety or species with thenarrow muzzle remains smaller, is gentle and inoffensive, and that the smallness of ~ts size causes it to be soonest thrown upon the shores by inundations, of which it IS thus .t~e precursor, and, from these ideas, is' of opinion that it was the object of the reh~wus honours of the Egyptians, and that Suchus, or Sue/tis, was its specific appellatwn. On.the contrary, I think I have proved, both by Aristotle and Ciceror that the Crocodiles venerated by the Egyptians were not less ferocious than the others; it is also very certain, that the species with the narrow muzzle was not the exclusive object of priestly care, for, from the very exact researches of M. Geoff· roy himself, it appears that the three embalmed Crocodiles now in Paris are not the Suchus, but the complanatus, the marginatus, and the lacunosus· in fine 1 am forced to b_elieve that Souc, or Souchis, which, according to M. Cha:npollio~, was the _Egyp.ban name _of Saturn, was also the specific name of the Crocodile fed at Arsmoe, JUSt as .B.pts was the name of the sacred bull at Memphis, and Mnevisthat ~f~.he bul\o_f'Hermopolis. With respect to this point of ancient history, see the "Vanous wutmgs of M. Geoffroy, and particularly in the grent work on Egypt, as well.as my Oss. foss. tom. 'V, part 2, p. 45. This last article having been written previous to that o~the great work on Egypt, I could not profit by the argument drawn from tbe dtfference of the embalmed Crocodiles, an argument furnished me by l\1:. Geoffroy, and one which seems to me strongly to corroborate my view of the matter. (1) The Croc .. acutus has been particularly observed by M. Descourtils.-Add the Croc. rhombifer• Cuv · A nn. Mu s. X II, pl. 1, 1 ;-the Croc. d casque (C. galeatm). Perrault, Mem. po. ur servir a l'H1' s t · d es A n. pl. lx1. v, I. f I. t should prove (ben. lg only known by tlns figure) a const ant spec. tes;-the Croc. bt.s Qutatus Cuv. Ann. Mus.. X, 11 ' 6' and Oss · fos s., t · v , part 2, pl. 11, f. 6, of which only" o ne or two slpecllmenf.slhaved ever been seen;-the Croc. cataphractus, Cuv. Oss. foss. V, part , P · v, . an 2. (2) Or Cai'man ' the name gt· ven t o C rocodt· les by the negroes of Guinea. The SAURIA. 17 fourth lower ones entering into holes in the upper jaw, and not into notches; their feet are only semi-palmate and without emargination. They have hitherto only been certainly found in America. Croc. scle1·ops, Schn.; Seb. I, civ, 10; Cuv. Ann. Mus. X, 1, 7 and 16 and 11, 3 (The Spectacle Alligator), so named from a transverse ridge, which unites in front the salient borders of its orbits, is the most common species in Guiana and Brazil. Its neck is defended by four transverse bands of strong plates. The female lays in the sand, covers her eggs with straw or leaves, and defends them courageously.(!) Croc. lucius, Cuv.; Caiman a museau de brochet, Ann. Mus. X, 1, 8 and 15, and II, 4, so called from the shape of its muzzle, is also distinguished by four principal plates on its neck. It inhabits the southern parts of North America, forces itself into the mud in severe winters, and remains torpid. The female deposits her eggs in alternate layers with beds of earth.(2) French colonists employ it to designate the species of Crocodile most common about their plantations. The word .Jllligator is used by the English and Dutch colonists in the same sense. It is a corruption of the Portuguese word Lagarto, which is itself derived from Lacerta. (1) There are also several sorts of Caimans or Alligators, which have this transverse ridge front of the orbits, and which, like the Crocodiles, allied to the common one, perhaps form distinct species, but difficult to characterize. Some of them have a shorter and more rounded muzzle; the transverse ridge concave before, and extending to the cheek on each side. They have thirteen teeth on each side above; their cranium is not widened behind; their body is green dotted, and spotted with black, with black bands on the tail. Others have the same kind of head and the same teeth, but their body is black, with narrow bands that are yellowish, as in the Jacare noir, Spix, pl. iv. Others again have a muzzle less broad, and the concave ridge does not extend so far: they have fifteen teeth, and their neck is more completely defended by plates; I should willingly consider them as the Cr. fissipes of Spix, pl. iii. l~inally, there are some with a still narrower muzzle, and the cranium somewhat widened behind, whose transverse ridge is convex in front, and does not extend on the cheek; the ridge of their dorsal plates is less salient, and the bands on their tail are more faintly marked: can they be the Cr. punctulatus of Spix, pl. ii ? That gentleman, unfortunately, has not insisted upon the characters drawn from the transverse ridge. (2) See the paper of Dr Harlan, Ac. of Nat. Sc. of Philad. IV, 242.-Add the Cai'man a paupi,res osseuses, ( Croc. palpelJrosus, Cuv.) Ann. Mus. X, pl. 1, 6 and 7 and 11, 2; and the Croc.trigonatus, Schn., Seb., I, cv, 3; or the Jacaretinga mos· chifer, Spix, pl. i. The whole thickness of the eye-lid in this species is occupied by three osseous lamell<E:, of which, in other Crocodiles, there is scarcely a vestige. VoL. II.-C \ |