ice."

"But, brother," inquired Basil, "why do the alligators eat stones and
such substances? I have seen one that was opened, and his stomach was
nearly quarter full of stones as big as my fist, and pieces of sticks
and glass. They looked as if they had been there a long time, for the
sharp edges were worn off. This I never could understand."

"No wonder, for wiser naturalists than we do not know the reason of
this. Some think it is upon the same principle, and for the same
reason, that birds and other creatures swallow gravel and earth--to
assist the process of digestion. Others have affirmed that it is for
the purpose of distending the stomach, so as to enable the reptile to
bear his long fast while torpid during the winter. This latter reason I
look upon as very absurd, and worthy only of the fabulous Buffon. For
my part, I believe that the rubbish usually found in the alligator's
stomach is collected there by accident--swallowed, from time to time, by
mistake, or along with his prey; for his organs of taste are far from
being delicate, and he will devour anything that is flung into the
water, even a glass bottle. These substances, of course, remain in his
stomach--perhaps accumulating there during his whole lifetime--and as,
like most reptiles, his stomach being very strong, they do him little,
if any, injury. We must not judge of an alligator's stomach as we would
that of a human being; nor, indeed, of any of his organs. If our brain
is seriously injured, we die; but an alligator's brain may be altogether
removed, even in the most violent manner, and the animal will crawl off
and live for days after. Instances have been known of alligators having
had their brains blown out by a shot, and yet for hours after they would
give battle to any one who might approach them. Their brain, like that
of all reptiles, is exceedingly small--proving them lower in the scale
of intelligence than birds and mammals."

"But, Lucien, you tell us that the habits of the crocodile family are
alike, or nearly so: how comes it that the African crocodiles are so
much more fierce, as we have heard, often attacking and devouring the
natives of Senegal and the Upper Nile? Our alligators are not so. It
is true they sometimes bite the legs of our negroes; and we have heard
also of some boys who have been killed by them; but this was when
through negligence they came in the animals' way. They do not attack
one if they are left alo