he under jaw."

"Why I have often heard that that was so," remarked Francois.

"Many have thought so, and said so, since the time of Herodotus, who
first propagated this absurd idea. It is not the fact, however. It is
the lower jaw that moves, as in other vertebrated animals; but the
appearance I have described leads to the mistake that has been made by
careless observers. There is another point worth speaking of. The
opening of the alligator's ear is guarded by a pair of lips, which he
closes the moment he goes under water. His nostrils, too, are protected
by valves, which he can also close at will. There is also a peculiarity
about his vertebrae. These are so jointed to each other, that he cannot
turn without describing a circle with his body. He can move his head
but slightly to one side or the other; and this is a fortunate
circumstance, if not for him, at least for his enemies. Were he able to
turn short round, or twist himself about, as serpents do, he would be a
most dangerous creature to encounter. As it is, the great length of his
body, combined with the shortness of his legs and the impossibility of
his getting round quickly, renders him an easy antagonist on land,
provided you keep out of reach of his great jaws, and beyond the sweep
of his powerful tail. This last is his true weapon of offence or
defence; and as _it_ is not restrained by any vertebrae, he can use it
with such effect as to knock the breath out of a man with one single
flap. Many of the habits of the alligator are known to you. How the
female lays eggs as big as those of a goose, and buries them in the
sand, where they are hatched by the heat of the sun. Sometimes she
cannot find a sandbank to suit her purpose. She then raises a circular
platform of mud mixed with grass and sticks. Upon this she deposits a
layer of eggs, and covers them over with several inches of mud and
grass. She then lays a fresh tier of eggs, covering these also with
mud, and so on until she has laid her whole hatching, which often
amounts to nearly two hundred eggs, of a dirty greenish-white colour.
In the end she covers all up with mud, plastering it with her tail until
it assumes the appearance of a mud oven or beaver-house. All these
pains she takes to protect her eggs from raccoons and turtles, as well
as vultures and other birds, that are very fond of them. She haunts
near the spot while the eggs are hatching, so as to keep off these
enemies. Wh