Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-05-14
CROCoDILEs.
THERE ARE ONLY TWO MAN
EATING VARIETIES.

Crocodiles.
.Of all the many kinds of crocodiles,'
said scientist connected with the smith
sonian Institution to a Star reporter,
ssthere are only two really dangerous
man eating varieties--both Of them
belonging to Asia, over which continent
they are widely distributed. They are
brackish water saurians, inhabiting
the rivers near the sea, and
they sometimes grow to be as much as
eighteen feet in length. One reason
why they are so dangerous is that they
are given to hiding, never doing more
than to poke q nose and an eye above
water, so that one might live for some
time alongside a pool infested with them
and yet not suspect their presence. The
worst of all crocodiles are OF the Kind
known to science as the 'Porosus, from
the remarkable roughness of their heads.
Speaking of the way the crocodile
has of floating with only an eye and q.
nose above the surface, reminds me OF
wonderful provision which nature has
made for the animals convenience. In
seizing duck, for instance, and swal-
lowing it, the creature would be choked
by the water were il not for the fact that
its palate so acts as to form plug for
the windpipe, and thus Keeps rne ffuftt
out while the morsel passes down the
alimentary canal. Some other peculiar
tiles of structure the great lizard has
among them heart with four cham
bers to it. The lower jaw is so arranged
mechanically, being attached to pro
cess extending backward from the skull,
as to give it an extraordinary cape, like
that Of a snake. Herodotus, who was
no anatomist, was led on this account to-
assert that the crocodile, unlike alb
other animals, "opens its upper jaw as
well as its lower one. The teeth replace
themselves in curious way, so that
when one is lost another one grows up
in the same socket.
"You have often read about a croco-
dies biting man in half or chewing
his leg off; but that is not the way In
which the beast operates. Its teeth are
made for Selling prey and not for cutting
it. Consequently when it gets hold OF
a man or any other animal too big to
Swallow whole it plants the tidbit in the
mud and laaVas il there until 1t has he
come sufficiently decomposed to tear
apart The female lays eggs-from
twenty to sixty in number and each one
inclosed in shell-in holes made in the
sand or mud by the side of river or la.
goon, where they are usually left to be
Matched by the heat of the sun. 1t is
the habit of the alligator, however,
sort OF crocodile exclusively belonging
to America-to make hillock, which it
hollows out and fills with leaves and
other decayingVegetable matter, where
in, by the heat generated in the decom-
posing mass, the eggs are incubated.
''On quitting the eggs the infant croc-
odiles are led TO the water by the mother,
who feeds them with food which she
herself disgorges and otherwise Shove
great solicitude for their safety. The
/ male takes no part in rearing the young,
but is said, on the contrary, to attack
and devour them when he can. Fishes
and turtles are also very fond of young
crocodiles, and even by human beings
the eggs, in regions where they are
found, Notwithstanding their musky
| flavor, are much priced as comestible,
being nearly as large as those of a.
goose.
"Of course every one has heard, what
is quite trne, of the bird-a small black
headed plover-which is welcomed by
the crocodile as a guest who will rid it's
mouth of leeches by walking in and
pecking them out. Humboldt, the great
naturalist, speaks of having frequently
seen the huge reptiles lying basking i'm
the sunshine with open jaws, motion
less, their uncouth bodies covered with
birds. Even the flesh Of crocodiles is
often eaten as food, though European
epicures have declared that il has a COM
| 81 Hoh
1.-THE crocodile of the Nile was re-
| garded by the ancient Egyptians as a
| divinity. At Memphis and other cities
temples were raised in its honor, where
live crocodiles were kept, and the sacred
reptiles we're reared with the greatest
care, fed luxuriously and adorned with
costly t-inkets. They were made per-
fectly tame and took part in the religious
professions aud other ceremonies per-
formed in their honor. When dead
their bodies were embalmed. and extern
sive catacumbs filed with such reptiliap
mummles Rave been discovered at
Maabdeh.
"Where the dangerous crocodiles
abound the natives nave very effective
method of taking them, fastening upon
the end of strong rope piece of wood
sharply pointed at both ends, with meat
bait wrapped around it. The reptile,
when the bait is thrown into the water,
swallows it whole; a strong jerk by the
fisherman fixes the wooden continuance
crosswise in the throat or stomach, and
it only remains to pull the beast to shore
and dispatch him with a bullet in the
eye or a knife thrust behind the forearm,
taking care to keep clear of the swing of
his formidable tail meanwhile. Croco-
die leather is valuable-likewise the
creatures teeth, which are of very good
.ivory-.and- the NEGROES Of the Southern
Mississippi are said to be extremely ronu
of the flesh of the alligator's tail.
''During the period when the crocodile
was worshiped by Cleopatra's loyal sub
jects as god the inhabitants of some of
the Egyptian cities, such as Apollin-
opolis, believed quite the contrary, and
were of the opinion that the beast was an
incarnation Of the devil himself. They
used to go upon annual hunts for the
creatures, Staying them by thousands and
offering them as sacrifices. In Florida
there are two varieties of crocodiles as
well as five varieties of alligators. II is
said that in Louisiana and Florida the
alligator is the inmate of many lonely
swamp dwellings and is sometimes used
for the purposes of a watch dog, fire.
quently emitting sort of barking sound.
Ages ago crocodiles twenty feet in length
or more were common in the region Of
the Potomac. and il would have been