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Show The Chinese Alligator. Two examples of the Chinese alligator alliga-tor has reached the zoological gardens. They are the first that have ever been exhibited here alive. The alligator is so distinctively an American animal that the proof, so recently as 1879, of the species in China was extremely Interesting. In-teresting. Nevertheless, the Chinese classics contain numerous references to the creature, and even pictures, which could be easily recognized as being a crocodile of some sort. It is to be hoped that the specimens atthe zoo will bear out the notion of the extreme longevity of the reptile. Its name is apparently used in certain parts of China in the same sense as Methuselah in this country. Marco Polo wrote about this animal and recommended rec-ommended its gall ns an excellent rein- edy for the bite of a mad dog and for various other complaints, so that it seeiuB to have been the medieval equivalent of Borne of our much advertised adver-tised remedies of the present day. Curiously enough, the beast is even now made use of in Chinese medicine. London News. |