n about it. Now what is the
value of such a knowledge? What is it to compare with a knowledge of
the appearance, the structure, and character of the plant--of its
properties and the ends for which nature designed it--of its uses to the
birds and beasts around--of its uses to man--how it makes his mattress
to sleep on, stuffs his sofas, and saddles, and chairs equal to the best
horse-hair, and would even feed his horse in case of a pinch? In my
opinion, these are the facts worth knowing; and who are the men who
publish such facts to the world? Not your closet-naturalists, I fancy."

"True, very true, brother; but let us not vex ourselves about such
things; go on, and tell us what you know of the crocodiles."

"Well, then," said Lucien, returning to his natural tone and manner, "as
I have already said, the crocodiles are divided into three
genera--_crocodiles_, _gavials_, and _alligators_. It is Baron Cuvier
who has made this distinction; and he rests it more upon the shape of
the head and the set of the teeth, than upon any real difference in the
appearance or habits of these animals. The crocodiles have long,
pointed, narrow snouts, and a large tooth in each side of the lower jaw,
which, when the mouth shuts, passes into a groove in the upper. `These
are the _true_ crocodiles,' says Monsieur Cuvier. The gavials have also
long, pointed, narrow, roundish snouts, but their teeth are nearly
equal-sized and even. The alligators, on the contrary, have broad
pike-shaped noses, with teeth very unequal, and one large one on each
side of the lower jaw, that, when the mouth shuts, passes--not into a
groove as with the crocodile--but, into a hole or socket in the upper
jaw. These are Monsieur Cuvier's distinctions; which he takes a world
of pains to point out and prove. He might, in my opinion, have spared
himself the trouble, as there are so few varieties of the animal in
existence, that they might have been treated of with greater simplicity
as so many species of the genus `crocodile.'

"Of the true crocodiles there are five species known. Four of these are
found in the rivers of Africa, while the fifth is an inhabitant of the
West Indies and South America. The gavial is found in Asia--
particularly in the Ganges and other Indian rivers, and is the crocodile
of those parts. The alligator belongs to America, where it is
distributed extensively both in North and South America. In the Spanish
parts it is called `cai