Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/687

* CROCKETT. 593 CROCODILE. 4 'Narrative of the Life of David Crockett (1834) ; A Tour to the North and Down East (1835); Exiiloits and Adfcntiiics in Texas (183U) ; ami Ulcetchcs and Ecnnlricities (1847), all of wliieli me fhariiclerized by crude wit, lack of graniiiiar, and shrewd common sense. CROCKETT, Samuel Rltherford (18G0— ). A Scotch novelist, born at Duchrae, New Gallo- way. He graduated at Edinburgh University in 1879, and for several years traveled in Eu- rope, North Africa, and Asia. His first publica- tion, Dulce Cor, a book of poems, apjjcared in 1886. He went to Penicuik in 188G, where he was a Free Church minister until the close of 1894, when he resigned his charge to devote him- self whollv to literature. His most popular works are': The Stickit Minister (1893): The Eaidcrs (1894); Mad Sir Vf/htred of the Uilh (1894) ; The Lilac Sunhonnei (1894) ; The I'laij- Actress (1894); Botj-Mi/rtle and Peat (189:5); The Grey Man (189G) ; Lad's Love (1897) ; The Standard Bearer (1898): The Black Douglas (1899) ; Kit Kcnnedi/ (1899) ; Joan of the Sieord Hand (1900); The' Dark o' the Moon (1901); and The Banner of Blue (1902). CROCODILE (Lat. ei-ocodilus, Gk. KpoMei- /lof, krokodeilos). An aquatic lacertiform car- nivorous reptile, comparatively gigantic in size (several feet in length), representing the exten- sive subclass Crocodilia. regarded as the most highly organized of reptiles : more strictly one of the type-genus Crocodilus, of the family Croco- the internal anatomy generally is much advanced. The heart has four distinct chambers, preventing an admlxtiire of arterial and vonmis liluud; and the organs of scn.se iuc well develo])ed. Their limbs are of much more use to them in walking than are those of either turtles or lu'wls, yet their real home is in the water, where they swim by means of twisting strokes of their compressed tails, which are also powerful weapons, and of aid in gaining food, since animals standing at the edge of a piece of water deep enovigli to ])crmit a crocoilile to swim close to the shore unol)sered are frequently swept into the stream by a blow of the tail, then seized iind drowned. All crocodilians are oviparovis. The eggs are about the size of those of a goose, and are Iniried in the sand or mud to be hatched by the heat of the sun ahme. The females of some, if not all the species, guard them an<l take care of their young; yet the eggs and very young are jireyed on by civets, a monitor-lizard, and iii:iny other enemies. In warm countries crocodiles bury themselves in nmd in times of drought, .and in cold Countries during winter. They feed on fish, biijls, and mammals, and many hunian beings lose their lives to them in certain regions. The necessity of taking small pieces of food, induced by their rigidly articulated jaws and unelastic throat, comjM'ls them to sink all their large prey and keep it until it is sufficiently macerated to l)e torn into small pieces. All the species have a voice, described as a loud short bark or croak, heard at night, or when SKULLS AND TEETH OF CROCODII.1ANS. t. Teleosaurus (extinct). 2. Gavial. 3. Nile crocodile. 4. American alligator. .■). Back part of the series of teeth o! the lower jaw of an alligator, with the inner wall of the alveolar grove cut away, showiii}.? the absence of partitions and the germs of the succesHiona! teeth. 6. Middle part of the same yeries, showing the partitions, forming here distinct sockets from which the teeth are raised to show germs of successional ^?eth and dentiparous cavities : a, a tooth turned around to show the effect (a hole) of the new germ on its base: b, shell of an old tooth and two successors. dilid.T, typical of the order Eustachia. Croco- dilians difl'er from lizards in many points of structure, and prominently in the horny plates within the thick skin which form a dorsal armor, and the firm setting of the strong teeth into .al- veoli, the fourth tooth often being much enlarged as a seizer. The skull has greater solidity and the reptile is angry. The age to which they liv£ is unknown, but they arrive at reproductive ma- turity when about ten years old. and seem to con- tinue to grow for a century or more. Captives, and those often alarmed, show an ability to learn from experience. "The recent geographical distribution of the