Note 5 — Chapter V

This is another very common and ancient error, which has been repeated from the days of Herodotus, who said it of the Egyptian crocodile, to the present. The deceptive appearance is produced by the manner in which the lower jaw is articulated; the joint being situated very far back, when the mouth is opened, casual observers easily mistake the part actually moved. See the article Alligator, in the lately published Encyclopædia Americana.—T.