Animal life in the sea and on the land . ecreatures ever came to be regarded with favor by the na-tives, who must often have suffered from their attacks,but, strange as it may appear, they were considered sacredby the ancient Egyptians, and were trained by them totake part in their religious processions. 3. The Ferocious Mouth. — The mouth of the crocodilelooks particularly ferocious, as there are no lips to coverthe grinning, pointed teeth, which are always are real, strong, biting teeth, too, and they arefirmly set in pits in the jaw, and below the root of eachtooth there is a
Animal life in the sea and on the land . ecreatures ever came to be regarded with favor by the na-tives, who must often have suffered from their attacks,but, strange as it may appear, they were considered sacredby the ancient Egyptians, and were trained by them totake part in their religious processions. 3. The Ferocious Mouth. — The mouth of the crocodilelooks particularly ferocious, as there are no lips to coverthe grinning, pointed teeth, which are always are real, strong, biting teeth, too, and they arefirmly set in pits in the jaw, and below the root of eachtooth there is a little new tooth started, ready to grow upand take the place of the old one if it should fall this way vacancies are soon filled, and no matter howold a crocodile may be, its mouth is always supplied witha full set of teeth. As if to add to this hideous effect,the fourth tooth in the lower jaw is longer than its neigh-bors, and when the mouth is closed it extends up over theupper jaw. 236 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE SEA AND ON THE 154.—Crocodile-hunting. 4. The Tough Hide.—The crocodiles hide is exceeding-ly tough, composed of plates of bone covered with hornyscales. These plates are raised into ridges on the backand tail, where they form various patterns. 5. How Crocodiles capture their Prey.—Their powerfultails, besides being useful in swimming, are very conven-ient for striking down and sweeping into the water manyof the large animals upon which they feed. Having thussecured their prey, they hold it under water until it isdrowned, being careful, however, to raise their own snouts CROCODILES. 237 above the surface once in a while for air. The mouth ofthe crocodile is necessarily open during this time, but bya peculiar arrangement of valves, shown in Fig. 155, thethroat and nostrils may be instantly closed, so that watercannot run down the throat; and the process is perfectlysafe for the crocodile, although disastrous to its wily crocodile then drags t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1887
