Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1869-12-10
NUMBER AZ.

are slOu'S unu Tue suTIdcc IOuSn Tor tie
insertion of stout muscles. The nose is
round, while that Of the crocodile is point
ed. He turns the upper jaw back. His
teeth, like those OF reptiles, generally
enter sockets, but they are never pronged.
The teeth of fishes are soldered to the
bony plate and have no socket. The
lower jaw is smaller than the upper, so
that the teeth all shat within the contour
Of the upper jaw. This distinguishes all
the Western reptiles of this order from
the Eastern crocodiles. The back is
covered with rows of square, bony-like
plates The skin is tough and sometimes
tanned for leather. They are cold-blood-
ed. By means of a drawing he showed
how the inculating is carried on. Reptiles
have bu. three cavities to the heart. The
impure venous blood and the pure arterial
blood are both poured into the yentriclc,
where they are mixed, and in that con.
dition distributed over the system. This
induced a low order of vitality. Conse-
quently they are sluggish in their move
ments, 90 n long time without food, and
their incubation is slow and the blood Of
OF the same temperature rs the surround
ingmed.um. They perish when the tenn
peraturc is at the freezing point OF water.
They are generally described as very
ieroCious, but this is not so. They are
naturally sluggish, but swim rapidly with
the tail, and can strike down a calf with
their powerful tail and drag il under wa
ter. prof Cruttenden, who was present
said he had heard Of their striking pig
with their tail and whisking it into their
mouth, all with one motion.) They swim
in the water exposing only their eyes
and the tip OF the nose, forming triangle.
They will lie on an old log from which
they cannot easily be distinguished. They
lie there with the upper jaw turned up
ward, rs il they were watching for some-
thing 10 turn up or down. When fired at
they DO not crawl off the log, but tumble
off into the water. They hybernate in the
mud and make their appearance in April.
The female lays her eggs, about the size
of a goose egg, in the earth on the bank
of the bayous and streams, where she
leaves them to be hatched by the heat Of
the sun. When near the time ofhatchlng
she makes her appearance and appears
very restless and watchful She digs
them out OF thei' holes, by which many
OF them are destroyed. As soon as they
are hatched they present all the traits ofa
fullgrown alligator; they viii snap and
yclp like n young puppy, and Immediate
" seek the water, where they are cared
forby the parent, for the tirstthree months,
when thev take care OF themselves. The
younc are web-footed, but lose that charac-
ter in adult age.
The President th5n exhibited the Gar
Pike from the Mississippi river, and
showed that it connecting link be-
tween reptiles and fishes. 1t had con.
cave convex rctebra like reptiles, and
could turn its head independent of its
body. which other fishes could not do.
After considerable discussion of much
interest TO the members, on the subject,
the next paper wasread by f. Foster Esq,
on the Hardness of Minerals. After de-
scribing the characteristics Of mineral
he said that mncralogists had divided
minerals into ten different degrees OF
harlncSs. The SofteSt was that which
could be scratched with the nail. The
diamond was the hardest, which could
not be scratched by any other substance.
Quartz possessed the hardness Oft. No
stone not harder than quartz was was re-
glrded rs a precious gem, though many
softer minerals were employed in jewelry.
The President stated that a diamond can
be detected from other gems by placing
it in huorc acid If 4 diamond 1t would
not be affected: if any siliccous gem 1t
would be etched on its surflcc. Mr.. j.
4. Smith stated that precious gems are
often n de- partially of glass The French
paste was set on the bottom and on it
was fastened 4 thin plate OF the emerald,
thus presenting the external appearance
of real gem. The only place in this
country for cutting the diamond was in
Boston.
The next paper vas on the min
eral resources of Colorado, byJ. Alden
Smith of Denver City, Colorado. He
said that Colorado was where tho
Great American Desert was located 20
years ago, bnt now more wheat had been
raised to the acre the last year than in
any other part ofthc Union. Its agricll-
tural resources were excellent aud rapid
IL developing. The continuous paying
mineral region embraced territory from
10 ,D II miles square, while another belt
800 miles long and from 10 to 80 miles
wide. paid we'll ut times. This part Of
the subject he would endeayor to present
at the next meeting. There are no forests
except among the mountains. The prin-
cipal growth is pine, spruce, fir, and
! little cedar and little cottonwood along
the streams. There are no hard woods,
except little scrub oak for a distance OF
5O8 miles. but they have the ligneous
coal in large quantities. He had visited
one vein y feet thick and nearly horizon
tai so that horse and carriage could drive