man,' and there are two species well-known, viz
the spectacled caiman of Guiana, and the alligator of the Mississippi.
No doubt, when the great rivers of South America have been properly
explored, it will come to light, that there are other varieties than
these. I have heard of a species that inhabits the Lake Valencia in
Venezuela, and which differs from both the American species mentioned.
It is smaller than either, and is much sought after by the Indians for
its flesh, which these people eat, and of which they are particularly
fond. It is probable, too, that new species of crocodiles may yet be
found in Africa and the islands of the Indian Ocean.

"Now I think it is a well-ascertained fact, that all these varieties of
the crocodile family have pretty much the same habits,--differing only
where such difference might be expected by reason of climate, food, or
other circumstances. What I shall tell you of the alligator, then, will
apply in a general way to all his scaly cousins. You know his colour,--
dusky-brown above, and dirty yellowish-white underneath. You know that
he is covered all over with scales, and you see that on his back these
scales rise into protuberances like little pyramids, and that a row of
them along the upper edge of his tail give it a notched, saw-like
appearance. You notice that the tail is flattened vertically, and not
like the tail of the beaver, which is compressed horizontally. You
observe that the legs are short and very muscular--that there are five
toes on the fore-feet, slightly webbed or palmated, and four on the
hind-feet much longer and much more webbed. You notice that his head is
somewhat like that of a pike, that the nostrils are near the end of the
snout, the eyes prominent, and the opening of the ears just behind them.
His eyes have dark pupils, with a lemon-coloured iris; and the pupils
are not round, as in the eye of a man, but of an oval shape, something
like those of a goat.

"All these things you may observe by looking at an alligator. But there
are some things about the structure of the animal which are peculiar,
and which may not strike you so readily. You observe that his jaws open
far back--even beyond the ears--where they are hinged or articulated
into each other. Now this is a peculiar formation, and the effect is,
that when the alligator opens his mouth, his neck becomes somewhat bent
upwards, giving him the appearance of having moved the upper instead of
t