The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-01-02
THE CLASSICAL CROCODILE
IFroun the london Globe.1

7
To say that the crocodile has seen his
best days is but feebly to express the
rapidity with which he is lapsing into
the class of extinct animals. AS a fea-
ture of modern Egypt he is perhaps
rather a curiosity than a plague; and
the traveller has to get far beyond the
regions of the Delta before he can be-
gin to hope for the chance of being in
troduced to one. Crocodile stories are
no longer told; in fact, it is safer to
trust to the sea serpent. Nothing can
make the crocodile attractive, and even
the man with the camera is shy of
treating him as a subject, whether for
personal or artistic reasons is not quite
clear Possibly the crocodile resentS be-
ing focused as he formerly shrank from
conformation with a mirror-an ordeal
which often led to his dying of chagrin,
as was supposed, at the sight of his own
ugliness. Moreover, the experienced
photographer is wise in taking no
risks remembering that the crocodile's
tears are only a natural solvent which
the saurian applies to the tougher
forms of animal food.
And this is where the legend of the
toothpick properly comes in. Herodotus
noticed the fact, but seems to have been
misled as to the motive. He discovered
that the crocodile made friends with a
particular bird, which he allowed to en-
ter his mouth, in order, as the writer
supposed, to rid the reptile of the
leeches which infested his jaws. Pliny
says nothing of these pests, but consid-
ers the complaisance OF the crocodile
to be due to the satisfaction he felt in
having his teeth picked by the zird;
HE taketh so great delight in this her
Scraping and securing of his teeth and
claws" Both authors speak of the bird
as a wren; later naturalists describe IL
as being as large as a thrush; while it
has been reserved for the present gen.
H., g. 4 t.
full friend of the crocodile as the spur
winged plover. OF fact of the al
lance there not the least doubt The
operation has been frequently witnessed
by numerous independent observers, one
of the latest of whom considers that the
bird does actually perform the functions
of a tooth-pick, "a process which the
crocodile enjoys" With such corrohor-
alton the narratives of Herodotus, sub
ject to qualifications as 1t must be, IS
at least to be taken seriously, and no
longer regarded as the visionary idea of
a mere fabulist.
In the Egyptian hieroglyphtcs the
crocodile is represented by single WaVy
line, so perfectly suggestive of the con-
tour of the animal that it is quite inn
| possible to escape from it's meaning. It
might stand as an excellent contempt
| rary illustration of the text of HerOdO-
| tus, neither author nor artist overStep-
ping the modesty of nature. This was
| reserved for later times, in which arose
so many of the myths and extrava-
gances which we are ready to impute to
the lack of practical knowledge by the
classic writers. When Fuller 1ucubrate ted
so learnedly of the crocodile he doubt
less felt that he was correcting the err
roneous ideas of an earlier period, and
the following example of his erudition
may serve to show how he set about the
task: 1.-THE sovereign power of saffron
is plainly proved by the antipathy of
the crocodile thereto; for the crocodile's
| tears are never true, save when he is
forced where saffron groweth; whence
he hath the name of saffron-fearer,
knowing himself to be all poison, and it
all antidote." AS to this legend of the
crocodiIe's tears, it can only be regard
ed as myth grated upon some of the
reptiles observed habits. Probably be-
cause they could offer less resistance
to his attacks, women and children were
especially liable to them, the office of
the former as water carriers bringing
them often to the Nile and the children
naturally finding a playground on its
shores.
Herodotus gives an amusing account
| of the manner in which the Egyptian
| brothers of the angle used to fish for
crocodile, from which it would seem
that they had taken a leaf out of the
reptiles own book of strategy. They
baited the hook with large piece of
hogs flesh with which they made a
real anglers cast into the middle of
the river. And they employed very
special and alluring form of ground
bait, consisting of a vigorous young
| porler, whom they anchored, Irish
fashion, on the bank, and melted by
| divers irritating arts into energetic
squealing Entranced with the melod-
! ious sound, the crocodile was drawn in
| the direction from which it came, and
being unable to get at the pig, put up
with the baited hook instead.