Leather and morocco in Baktshissarai, Karasubazar, and Kos- | lof, and to cutlery and sadiers' and shoemakers' work at Bakt-hissarai. In some places coarse earthenware is made. The Greeks in the neighbourhood of Kaffa extract soda from some saline plants. The chief exports of the Crimea by sea are salt, wheat, soda, butter, and hides: the imports, raw and manufactured cotton of different kinds; silk stuffs of various patterns and in the eastern fashion; wines of the Archipelago, and the straits of Constantinople; brandy, Turkish leaf-tobacco, and a variety of fresh and dried fruits. To Russia are sent, chiefly by the way of Perecop, salt, grey and black lamb-skins, sheep's and bullocks' hides, wool, camels' hair, leather, hare-skins, wines, walnuts, fruits, together with the dry fruits imported from other parts, and fish. The imports are grain, provisions, iron, and different manufactured goods of Russia. As fact of few words being universally understood in the se The Greeks became early acquainted with this peninsula, probably soon after the Ionian Greeks and especially the inhabitants of Miletus had begun to form settlements on With respect to criticism and to the art of disputatan, ti a the northern shores of Asia Minor, about six centuries be- well as the ordinary disputes and differences of life, the toe fore the Christian æra. Panticapaeum is called by Strabo lowing remark may be worth consideration as tending a colony of the Milesians. Besides this place they built unite criticism, as a species of wisdom, with one of the Theodosia, now Feodosia or Kaffa, and some other places greatest virtues, toleration. Every subject or object o..... on the peninsula forming the west side of the strait of to be considered in two different ways: first, abstracte." Yenikale. They preferred this part of the peninsula, from or as regards itself; secondly, in connexion with other its containing a large tract fit for agriculture, and projects or objects: the former is the absolute, the latter a ducing very rich crops-Strabo says thirty times the seed. relative point of view. A Hottentot beauty, regarded on: It was at one tine considered the granary of Greece, espe- in the first mode, might safely be pronounced ugly. cially of Athens, whose territory being of small extent and were the human race entirely composed of Hottentots, st 2 | of indifferent fertility, was unable to maintain its great a beauty would be considered a master-piece of creati population by its own produce. At one time Athens annu- notwithstanding the resemblance of her physiozno ally imported from the Crimea between 300,000 and 400,000 that of a monkey. The writings of the antient philoso medimni of grain, as Demosthenes informs us, in his are of comparatively little value in themselves, but es Oration against Leptines (c. 9). Strabo says, that in one sidered relatively, they are admirable and everlasting mo year the Athenians received 2,100,000 medimni from Theo- numents of the human intellect of those remote ages. Ai dosia, but the text is evidently corrupt. [BOSPORUS.] intelligent critic therefore never forgets both mos (Strabo, vii.; Pallas; Lyall's Travels in Russia; Captain viewing the subject under investigation; and thus crum Jones's Travels in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and is opposed to controversy. First principles, in which bo@ Turkey.) author and critic coincide, being agreed on, the matter has to be examined: thus in a criticism of Okens Nat Philosophy, the premiss to be granted would be that in h beginning nothing existed but æther, out of which by → grees everything arose. In poetry it is requisite to is tain the object of the author, whether the poet me with Crabbe, Goethe, &c., to portray human life e this or that aspect; or, as with Schiller, &c., to deume the ideal. Criticism thus understood will not degenen) into a mere captious habit of finding fault, nor wal disp tation assume the appearance of a quarrel. CRINOIDEA. [ENCRINITE.] CRIOCE'RIDE (Leach), a family of Coleopterous insects, of the sub-section Eupoda and section Tetramera, distinguished by the following characters:-mandibles truncated at the apex, or presenting two or three notches: labium generally entire, or but slightly emarginated: antennæ of moderate length, filiform, somewhat thickened towards the apex; the joints mostly of an obconic form; tarsi with the penultimate joint bilobed; femora often thick, especially towards the apex. The principal genera contained in this family areDonacia, Hemonia, Ptauristes, Crioceris, Zeugophora, Auchema, and Megacelis. The species of the genus Crioceris have the posterior femora of the same thickness as the others: the antenna gradually enlarged towards the apex, the joints of which are scarcely longer than broad; the eyes are emarginated on the inner side: the thorax is narrower than the elytra, short, and usually of a somewhat cylindrical form: the siytra are elongate, About eight species of this genus have been found in England, of which the most common is the Crioceris Asparagi, sometimes called the Asparagus Beetle, which is Beany a quarter of an meh in length, and of a blue-black autour the thorax is red with two black spots; the elytra are vellow, win the suture, two transverse bands, and a spot at the base, back The pretty little beet'e is found in abundance in the south of England, on asparagus plants: the larva are of a greenata die, zemerrube ditle masses of jelly, and inhabit the same a tuations as the perfect insect; they subsist upon the love and soft part of the stalk of the asparagus CRISTA 'CALLAWA. vol. vi, p. 404] In philosophy the word 'critical' signifies that mex of reasoning which is opposed to dogmatism. Ar matist maintains an assertion without proof; the cran inquirer not only endeavours to prove every e which he makes, considering fully both sides of subject, but also commences his investigation by an m lysis of the powers of the human mind, in order to ascera. what can be known and what cannot. Upon this prisi Kant's celebrated work, Kritik der Reinen Virs or Criticism of pure Reason,' was written. Criticism must not be confounded with seep tinsm object of which is to show that truth is not attamane philosophical inquiry. CROATIA, called by the natives HORVATH CAS ZAG,' comprising several countries and districts 12 southern part of Austria, has the title of kingdom, th the greater part is now incorporated with that of Hu gires which it forms the south-western division. It hes 44° 5' and 46° 25′ N. lat., and 14° 20′ and 17° 03′ E £ and extends in a north-easterly direction from the st the Adriatic to the banks of the Drave (Drau) and It is bounded on the north by Lower Styria and H27 on the east by Sclavonia; on the south by Turkish (~4= and Dalmatia; and on the west by the kingdom of I Croatia has the following subdivisions: fe are more frequently N.W. The county of Agram...... 873 Croatia contains 7 towns, 16 market-towns, 1680 villages, and 7 prædia. The surface of Croatia is extremely irregular. It is traversed by chains of mountains, chiefly continuations of the Julian Alps, is intersected with deep valleys, and also contains extensive plains. The loftiest ridge, that of the Velebich, is in the southern part of the country, and extends for about 70 miles from Zermanya to Zeugg. Its general altitude is from 3000 to 4000 feet: its highest summits are the Badany, which is 4164 feet, and the Velika Viszochicza, 4338 feet above the level of the sea. The second chain, called the Capella, likewise commences in the south-western extremity of Croatia, and runs towards the north-east to the banks of the Unna: it exceeds the Velebich both in breadth and length, being above 80 miles long; and the elevation of its highest summit, the Plessioicza, on which the snow scarcely melts throughout the year, is more than 5550 feet above the sea. The mountains which compose the chain from the banks of the Kulpa to those of the Unna are much lower and less rugged. To wards the Save they gradually decline, and at its confluence with the Kulpa terminate in a plain. The greater part of these mountains consist of limestone, with various kinds of beautiful marble, porphyry, serpentine, &c. which furnish excellent materials for building; all the bridges and parapets of the great Josephine Road,' and most of the houses at Fiume, Zeugg, and Porto Ré, are constructed with this stone. The most common is a blackish grey marble, which emits a fetid smell on being rubbed, and when portions fall down from the mountains, diffuses a highly offensive odour throughout the neighbourhood. Many of the valleys, especially on the southern ridge, are entirely closed, and the streams which traverse them, not having a vent, find their way to different rivers by subterraneous channels, and often inundate the surrounding country. Among the most striking of these valleys are those of Korbavia and Licca, which are inhabited by a half-savage race, and abound in picturesque waterfalls. The Szluinchicza forms above forty beautiful cascades. Besides its two boundary rivers, the Drave and the Unna, Croatia is watered by many other rivers and streams, of which the Save only does not rise within its confines; the others take their rise in the country; such as the Kulpa, Longa, Krapina, Korana, Odra, &c. nearly all of which flow into the Drave or Save, except the Zermanya and Fiumara (or Reka), which fall into the Adriatic. Croatia contains many mineral springs, which possess medicinal properties. It is however poor in metallic ores, except iron-stone, which occurs in great abundance in several places. Copper has been obtained for centuries near Czambor, the mines of which yield annually about 400 tons. Coal is found in various parts; as well as sulphur, lead, salt, &c.; occasionally also silver; gold is obtained from the sand of several of the rivers, especially the Drave. The climate of Croatia varies considerably in different parts. The southern and more sheltered districts, such as those of Zermanya, and the narrow tract between the mountains and the coast about the gulf of Guarnero, which are defended against the north wind, enjoy an Italian climate, and produce the olive, fig, grape and almond. Here the vintage takes place in August, but in the western highlands beyond the Kulpa, the harvest does not commence till the end of August or beginning of September, when the snow begins to fall, which does not melt till April or May. On the higher summits it frequently lies the whole summer. But even in the southern regions, the winter is very severe, owing to the vicinity of the high Alps. The scourge of this country is the wind called Bora or Bura, which blows from the north or north-east, and generally sets in between seven and eight A. M. and ceases at four or five P. M. It is accompanied by excessive cold, and blows with such violence that large stones are carried by it to a great distance. Malte Brun says that the district of Rudaicza is rendered uninhabitable and nearly inaccessible by it. There is also a very hot south or south-west wind, called Jug, which blows from Africa, but does not set in at any stated times. I cene plum furnishes the favourite drink of the Croatians Croatia has immense forests of oak and beech. Flax, hemp, and tobacco are only grown in sufficient quantity for domestic consumption. Croatia produces about 3,700,000 metzen of various sorts of grain, and about 400,000 kilderkins of wine. Horticulture and gardening are very little attended to; the same may be said of the rearing of horned cattle and horses, except in the counties of Agram and Warasdin. The flocks are neither numerous nor of choice breeds; but an establishment for the improvement of sheep of superior wool has lately been formed at Merkopaly, which promises to be successful. Considerable herds of swine are reared, for which the forests afford plenty of food. There are likewise extensive fisheries; and much wax and honey are produced. Timber is obtained in abundance, as the whole country abounds in forests. Only a very small portion of the inhabitants are engaged in manufactures, and these are of the rudest description. As Croatia does not raise more produce than suffices for its inhabitants, its commerce is chiefly confined to the transit trade. The three great roads for trade are the Louisa, from Fiume to Carstadt, and the Caroline and Josephine, leading into Illyria and Bosnia. The inhabitants profess the Roman Catholic and GrecoCatholic religions. The adherents of the former are under the bishop of Agram, one of the richest prelates of Hungary, and those of the latter have their own bishop, who resides at Creutz. The public system of education is that of the national schools, which are divided into elementary, head, and normal. There are two gymnasia at Agram and Warasdin, and a superior academy or college at Agram, which has also a seminary of theology for candidates for orders in the Roman Catholic and Greco-Catholic church. The Croatian language is a dialect of the Sclavonian; it nearly resembles the Bohemian and Moravian, and of all the Illyrian languages bears the greatest affinity to the Polish. The antient inhabitants of Croatia were the Pannonians. after the conquest of whom by Augustus it became a pro vince of Illyria. The Goths took possession of it A. D. 489 then the Avares or Abares, and in 640 the Croatians, a tribo of the Wends from Bohemia, who were antiently called Horwather, Hrowathes or Chrobates, settled in it, and gave their name to the country. They subdued the former inhabitants of Illyria and Noricum, and being reinforced by bodies of their countrymen, they founded the Duchies (or in their idiom Zupanies) of Carinthia, Friuli, Liburnia, or Croatia Proper, Jadra in Dalmatia, Sclavonia, &c. These small states submitted to Charlemagne, but they generally allied themselves with the Greek emperors, although they continued to acknowledge the supremacy of the church of Rome. Their first Archizupan of whom history makes mention, is Crescimer, who lived in the tenth century, and whose son Dircislav I. took the title of king of Croatia, which then extended over the western part of Dalmatia and Bosnia; its capital, called Biograd, appears to have been situated on the shores of the Adriatic, at the place called by the Vene tians Zara Vecchia, although Büsching and some other authorities fix upon the modern Biograd, Belligrad, or Bielgrad, on the small river Pliva, as its site. Towards the year 1100 Croatia was incorporated with Hungary. After the middle of the fifteenth century it suffered greatly from the incursions of the Turks, but the Croatians being a warlike people, ravaged in their turn the Ottoman territories, and returned to their villages laden with spoils. Croatia was afterwards annexed to the Austrian empire, and, together with Sclavonia, Dalmatia, and some parts of Hungary, was governed by a special board at Vienna under the common title of States of Illyria. More recently Croatia has preserved the name only of a kingdom, Agram, Warasdin, and the Litorale having been incorporated with Hungary, and the Generalats of Creutz and St. George with the Military Frontiers, having each of them its distinct military jurisdiction. Although brought into more regular discipline by the Austrian government, the Croatians still retain their taste for war. Those who live at some distance from the Turkish frontiers have adopted more industrious habits. Their untutored state is accompanied by many traits of virtue The eastern and northern parts of Croatia, which are and generosity, and great fidelity to their sovereign. Notmore level and less mountainous, and especially the parts withstanding their revolt against Austria in 1755, on acwatered by the Drave and Save, are very fertile in various count of certain innovations, their despair was indescribable kinds of grain, particularly barley, maize, and oats; the soil when they found themselves united to France in 1809. is also very favourable for fruits, among which the Damas-Their dwellings are merely large barns, without either win No. 487. [THE PENNY CYCLOPÆDIA.] VOL. VIII.-Y dow or chimney, where the family and the swine lodge under the same roof. CROCKET, an ornament of very frequent use in Gothic architecture. It consists of leafy buds growing out of the angular sides of pinnacles and the label moulding of windows and doors. There are no examples of crockets in the Norman or arched style. In the early pointed style they are meagre, as in Lincoln cathedral, but afterwards they become fuller, and a more natural representation of a bursting bud. The later examples however are larger, and have not so much the appearance of nature. CROCODILE, CROCODILE-TRIBE, CROCODI'LIDE, a family of Saurians, comprising the largest living forms of that order of reptiles. Duméril and others distinguish the family by the appellation of Aspidiot (shielded) Saurians; while many modern zoologists have considered them as forming a particular order. They form the Lorirata of Merreia and Fitzinger, and the Emydosaurians of D- Blainville. the tooth destined to replace it, and which is to be ! greater volume; so that, in crocodiles, the number of ar teeth does not vary with age as in many other animals Cuvier in his Règne Animal' describes the peculiarities of the family. The tail is flattened at the sides; there are five anterior and four posterior toes, of which the three inner ones only on each foot are armed with claws; all the [Tooth of crocodile, showing the incipient absorption of the hul. ☛ assi toes are more or less joined by membranes. There is a cone from the effect of the rising pressure of the advancing to single row of pointed teeth in each jaw, and the tongue is Great solidity and strength are the results of this duri fleshy, flat, and attached very nearly up to the edges, which gomphosis, and the alveoli are moreover directed obisque. made the antients believe that the crocodile wanted that from front to rear. The bony edges of the jaws were organ. The intromittent male organ of generation is single; these insulated teeth spring, are covered by a kind of r.2 the opening of the vent longitudinal. The back and tail Another peculiarity of admirable adaptation to the tere are covered by great and strong squared scales, elevated sities of the animal, may be observed in the interor of the into a ridge on their middle. There is a deeply dentilated mouth of the crocodiles. Their palatine vault is near erest on the tail, at the base of which the crest becomes flat, and is not pierced by the extremities of the nasal ta e double. The scales of the belly are squared, delicate, and as in the majority of other reptiles. The posterior smooth. The nostrils are opened at the end of the muzzle apertures open in the pharynx behind the veium pu „ by two small crescent-shaped slits, closed by small valves, which is sufficiently long to overspread that portion of tor and lead by a long and straight canal pierced in the pala-roof which is in front of the orifice of the glottis. T tine and sphenoidal bones to the bottom of the back part of are probably the only reptiles which have a true parą" 1. the mouth. As the lower jaw is prolonged behind the skull, that is to say, a vestibule common to the posterior na the upper jaw has the appearance of mobility, and so the the mouth, the larynx, and the oesophagus. This e- !^antients wrote; but it only moves in concert with the whole mation, joined to the muscular structure of the tongue a . of the head. The external ear is shut at will by means of a peculiar expansion of the body of the os hyoides, produ two fleshy lips; and the eye has three lids. Under the a kind of cartilaginous disk or valve, which can be ras throat are two small glandular orifices, whence issues a and applied to the relum palati above, so as to protect musky secretion. glottis, to which it serves the office performed by the glottis in mammifers, while it confers on the reptile a erun liar power of deglutition and respiration, of the greet consequence to its economy when it is below the surtare a the water and has seized its prey in that situation; or, wren the muzzle alone is above the surface, in carrying ch spiration. The following is a summary of the The vertebrae of the neck bear upon each other by means of small false ribs, which render lateral motion difficult. Crocodiles, therefore, change their direction not without trouble, and they may be easily avoided by doubling, and escaping while they are employed in the laborious operation of turning round. They have no true clavicles"; but their coracoid apophyses are attached to the sternum, as in all the other Saurians. Besides the ordinary and the false Character of the Family-Body depressed, eiorgett ribs, there are a set which protect the abdomen without protected on the back with solid and carinated seussens reaching up to the spine, and which appear to be produced or shields; tail longer than the trunk, compressed latera .. by the ossification of the tendinous portions of the recti annulated, and furnished with crests above; feet fur, st re muscles. Their lungs are not sunk in the abdomen like the toes of the posterior feet united by a natatory Be those of other reptiles, and there are fleshy fibres adhering brane: each foot with three claws only; head depressed, to the part of the peritoneum which covers the liver, and elongated into a muzzle, in front of which are the natu which present the appearance of a diaphragm, which, approximated upon a fleshy tubercle, furnished with mess joined to their trilocular heart, where the blood which able suckers (soupapes): gape of the mouth extending comes from the lungs is not mingled with that venous por-yond the skull; tongue fleshy, adherent, entire, not tion of it which comes from the body so completely as it is tractile; teeth conical, simple, hollowed at the base in the other reptiles, slightly approximates the crocodiles to towards the root, unequal in length, but placed in a serie the warm-blooded quadrupeds. The auditory bone (caisse) row; male genital organ simple, having its exit fr and the pterygoid apophyses are fixed to the skull as in the cloaca, which opens longitudinally. (Duméril et Biberoni From the first cut in the following page a generai k¬ The eggs of the crocodiles are hard, and as large as those ledge of the osseous structure of the crocodiles may be com of the guose; and these reptiles are considered to be ani-rived; and, from the second, a fair notion of the exterma mals in which the extremes of size, taking that of the appearance of the adult reptile. newly-hatched young and that of the full grown adult as the most remote points, present the widest difference. The females guard their eggs, and when they are hatched take care of the young during some months. (Cuvier.) tortoises. The dentition of the crocodiles is peculiar. The teeth are numerous, large, of unequal length, conical, hollow at the base, disposed in a single row, and planted in the thickness of the edges of the superior and inferior maxillary bones, in separate cavities which may be considered as true alveoli. These teeth are hollowed at the base in such a manner as to serve for the case or sheath of the germ of • Covar observes, that they are the only Saurians which want the clavithey are of a diferent shape, oblong rather than oval. : An observation male by Iferatus, IL. 69. Geographical Distribution.—Of the three genera er vu genera which compose the family, no living species is fruta in Europe, nor has any been yet detected in Austra'ass The first of these genera, Alligator, is peculiar to Amena the second, Crocodilus, is distributed in the Old and N World; and the third, Garialis, seems to be hites! *stm Ganges, and the other large rivers of Continental Ir...a Asia, besides the Gavial of the Ganges, produces at yeni three true crocodiles, viz., Crocodilus vulgaris, Cromad Guleatus, (C. Siamensis, Schneid.; C. Stamensis, Gras and Crocodilus biporcatus. Siam seems to be the p cipal, if not the only locality, where the first of these bu Malte Brun (Syst. Geog, vol, vill, p. 13 states, t'at a crow a preserved at Lyons that was taken from the Rhone about twu ceainɛtimp but as Mr. Lyell observes, no particulars are given [Outline of the head and anterior parts of Alligator Lucius seen from above.] been found; while the other two appear to be natives of those rivers which have their mouths in the Indian Ocean and the Ganges. Africa, where neither Caimans (Alligator) nor Gavials have yet been discovered, is the native country of the Crocodile à bouclier, and Crocodilus vulgaris: it may also be the locality of Crocodilus planirostris of Graves and of Gray (Crocodilus Gravesii, Bory de St. Vincent); and Crorodilus intermedius of Graves and of Gray (Crocodilus Journei, Bory de St. Vincent), though their geographical position does not seem to be determined: these may perhaps come from the coast of Guinea. The only part of Africa whence the Crocodile à bouclier has been received is Sierra Leone; while Crocodilus vulgaris seems to be spread over the whole of Africa, and is also an inhabitant of Madagascar. Numbers have been taken in the Nile, and one in the river Senegal. (Duméril et Bibron.) America is most fruitful in crocodiles, and possesses more species than Asia and Africa put together, seven in all, viz., five species of Alligator, and two of Crocodilus. True crocodiles have never been detected on the Continent. Crocodilus acutus has been found at Martinique and St. Domingo, and Crocodilus rhombifer at Cuba. The northern part of America is inhabited by one species only, Alligator Lucius, while four species, viz., Alligator palpebrosus, Alligator Sclerops, Alligator punctulatus, and Alligator cynocephalus, inhabit the south. (Duméril et Bibron.) notches of the upper jaw when the mouth is shut, and are not lodged in hollows. The skull behind the eyes has two large oval holes. The hind feet have a dentilated crest of their external border: the intervals of the toes, the externa ones at least, are entirely paimated. The late Mr. Bennett, in September, 1×35, called the attention of a meeting of the Zoological Society to a specimen of a crocodile which he had regarded, while it was living in the Society's Gardens, as referrible, on account of the length of its head and the extent of the shielding at the back of its neck, to Crocodilus cataphractus, Cav. A Nothing, observe MM. Dumerd and Bibron, better d more close examination of it, however, subsequently to its tinguishes the Crocodes from the Alligators than the .: death, had shown him that its head was still more prolonged rowness of the muzzie behind the nostrils, a narrow than that part is described to be in Crocodilus cat iphractus, which is produced by the deep notch on each side of it its length being to its breadth as 3 to 1. instead of as to upper mand.ble serving for the passage of the fourth love 1: it was also deficient of the second post-occipital series of tooth. The Garials, it is true, have similar notebes, w: four small plates noticed as occurring in Crocodilus cata are destined for the same purpose. But at the extre Thractus, and he characterized the species under the name of the muzzle they have also two others for the receptca of Crocodilus leptorhynchus. It came from Fernando Po, the front lower teeth: in ieu of this the front lower tort and Mr. Bennett observed, that notwithstanding the ap- in the Crocodies pierce the upper mandible through an proximation of this species to the Gavals by the elongation through. The horizontal contour of the head of the Cre of its jaws, and by the extent to which the back of the neck des represents, in genera.. the figure of an isosceles trais protected by bony plates, it has all the essential genere gle more or less elongated, depending upon the size t characters by which the crocodiles are distinguished. The jaws; but in no case is the muzzle wider than that of two posterior pairs of nuchal plates were much smaller than Camas, nor more slender than that of the Grials. 1.. the two pairs anterior to them. (Zool. Proc., 1935, part 3.) Crocodiles have, like the former, their jaws festooned, as Habits, Reproduction, &-Cuvier says that the Croco were, on their sides, and their teeth unequal, but in ies dilide inhabit fresh water, that they cannot swallow while number, because they have never been observed with mre in the water, but drown their prey, and place it in some than nineteen on each le above, and sixteen on each s.dnook under water, where they suffer it to putrefy beture below. The ernal holes are larger than they are in 'lac they eat it. This account seems to require some mod.fica- Camins, and less wide than they are in the Gurials. Toeg tion. Mr. Lyell, in his Principles of Geology,' observes diameter is always found to be less than that of the orb.'s that the larger Gangetic species descends beyond the The nasal aperture is oval or subcircular. There is a very brackish water of the Delta into the wa: and other in- small bony plate in the thickness of the upper eyelid. stances are recorded of the true crocodiles (but not of the allizators) frequenting the mouths of large rivers, and even passing between different islands at considerable distances from each other. (ALLIGATOR, vol. i. p. 350.) This should be remembered by geologists. Then, as to their inability to swallow while in the water, those auth rs who describe their collective fishing expeditions, entirely contradict it. True it is, according to them, that the alligators, after they have seized the fish from below, rise to the surface and toss the fish into the air to get rid of the water which they have taken in with it, catching it again in its descent: but it is clear that they swallow it without resorting to the land, though they go thither for the purpose of devouring those land animals which they have succeeded in capturing and drowning, after they have undergone some degree of decomposition. This mode of proceeding, and a general view of the habits of the Caimans, which may be taken as an example of those of the whole tribe, is stated in the article ALLIGATOR, in the first volume. We here subjoin some information from an eye-witness, M. Ricord, as to the mode of reproduction of the crocodiles of St. Domingo, and transmitted by him to MM. Duméril and Bibron. L'accouplement m' a semblé se faire de préférence au bord de l'eau; la femelle se place sur le coté, et tombe quelquefois sur le dos, ainsi que j'ai pu le voir une fois; l'intromission dure assez long temps, puis ils se longent tous deux dans l'eau.' The laying of the eggs takes place in April and May, and the number amounts from twenty to twenty-five, more or less, laid at many times. The female deposits them in the sand with little care, and scarcely covers them. I have met with them in the lime winch the masons had left on the bank of the river. If I have reckoned right, the young come forth on the fortieth day, when the temperature is not too cold. At their birth they are five or six inches in length. They are hatched alone, and as they can do without nourishment while eming out of the egg, the female is in no haste to bring it to then: she leads them towards the water and into the a1, and disgorges for them half-digested food. The male takes no account of them.' The young preserve for some fine the umbilical mark or cicatrice on the abdomen, whereby the vitellus was absorbed. Position in the animal series. The Crocodilide are generally considered as forming a natural passage from the Sauri na to the Chelonians, the last genera of which, in certain points of their conformation and habits, approxunate nearly to the family under consideration. Genera. Alligator. (See the Article, vol. 1. p. 349.) Crocodilus. Muzzle oblong and depressed, teeth unequal, the front teeth of the lower jaw at a certain age pierce the upper jaw, the fourth on each side, which are the longest, pass into lateral a. skull of Crocodilus vulgaris, seen from above; A, skull of fighte portion to its width at the three principal epochs of 2 |