Animal life in the sea and on the land . 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 the lifeless body ashore,often hiding it until it is partly deca
Animal life in the sea and on the land . 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 the lifeless body ashore,often hiding it until it is partly decayed before eating Their Difficulty in Turning. — It is generally knownthat crocodiles have great difficulty in turning quickly,and when persons are pursued by them they very fre-quently profit by this knowledge and make their escapeby rapidly changing their course. The want of flexi-bility noticed in such cases is caused by the small ribswhich are attached to the vertebrae of the neck, andwhich interfere with its free Fig. 155.—Mouth of the Crocodile. rf, tongue; e, glands; /, inferior, and a, superior, valves separating the cavity ofthe liioiuh from tiie throat, h. 23S ANIMAL LIFE IN THE SEA AND ON THE LAND. 7. The Heart and the Circulation of the Blood. — Wemust not fail to examine the heart of the crocodile, for we shall find in it a decided step in advance of the Otherreptiles. The change which we had reason to expect hasat last taken place. You will remember that we noticedan incomplete partition in the ventricle o( the snake, but
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1887
