lity. Its great favorite, however, was a cat; and the friendship
was mutual. When the cat was reposing herself before the fire, the
alligator would lay himself down, place his head upon the cat, and in
this attitude go to sleep. If the cat was absent, the alligator was
restless; but he always appeared happy when puss was near him. The only
instance in which he showed any ferocity was in attacking a fox, which
was tied up in the yard. Probably, however, the fox had resented some
playful advances which the other had made, and thus called forth the
anger of the alligator. In attacking the fox, he did not make use of
his mouth, but beat him with so much severity with his tail, that, had
not the chain which confined the fox broken, he would probably have
killed him. The alligator was fed on raw flesh, and sometimes with
milk, for which he showed great fondness. In cold weather, he was shut
up in a box, with wool in it; but having been forgotten one frosty
night, he was found dead in the morning.

THE SALAMANDER.

Recently, as David Virtue, a mason in Scotland, was dressing a heavy
barley millstone from a large block, after cutting away a part, he
found a lizard of this species imbedded in the stone. It was about an
inch and a quarter long, of a brownish-yellow color, and had a round
head, with bright, sparkling, projecting eyes. When first found, it was
apparently dead; but after being about five minutes exposed to the air,
it showed signs of life. It soon became lively, and ran about with much
celerity; and about half an hour after the discovery, was brushed off
the stone, and killed. When found, it was coiled up in a round cavity
of its own form, being an exact impression of the animal. There were
about fourteen feet of earth above the rock, and the block in which the
lizard was found was seven or eight feet in the rock; so that the whole
depth of the animal from the surface was twenty-one or twenty-two feet.
The stone had no fissure, was quite hard, and one of the best which is
got from the quarry of Cullaloe; the stone is reckoned one of the
hardest in Scotland.

ORDER III.

OPHIDIA,

SERPENTS.

This order of animals is greatly diversified in their size, color, and
qualities. Some are but five inches in length, and others reach the
enormous extent of thirty feet. Some are inoffensive, and others are in
the highest degree venomous. They are in general regarded with horror
by mankind, and a universal inst