of the United States of America. 63 



found a fourth one yet in its shell, but struggling to get free. The nest con- 

 tained five eggs. One egg was addled. 



" The last young one, still in its shell, I replaced into the earth, near the 

 surface ; and in the afternoon it succeeded in disengaging itself, and came 

 forth. It is rather larger than any of the rest. The one first hatched is the 

 smallest of all. The difference between the age of the first and that of the 

 last is worthy of note ; it being no less than twenty-one days. The first 

 remained in the shell eighty-eight days ; the last, one hundred and nine days. 

 But this difference may have been owing to the first egg's having been near 

 the surface of the earth, and, consequently, having possessed the advantage of 

 the sun ; and yet the egg which I opened on the 28th of September, and which 

 contained a living young one, was also near the surface, in a warm spot. If 

 I had not opened this egg, I doubt whether its embryo would have been 

 matured much before this date. 



" The old tortoises are now preparing to latibulize. They conceal them- 

 selves in their retreats during the cool weather, and come out on a warm 

 day. 



" October 21. Examined the eggs which I placed in a box of earth on the 

 24th of September. Found them heavy and plump ; opened one of them : it 

 contained a living young, not quite so large as that mentioned on the 29th of 

 September. The yolk-bag was considerably larger than that of the other ; 

 and so great was the quantity of albumen, that the moment I made an orifice 

 with my penknife, it spouted out with force. The albumen did not entirely 

 fill the cavity of the egg opened on the 28th of September ; there was a large 

 dint in it when I took it from the earth. 



" December 1 . The old tortoises have all retired into their winter quarters. 



" Finding that no more young ones came forth, I took up all the eggs that 

 I had any knowledge of. Every egg contained a foetus, each having a pretty 

 large yolk-bag, showing that they were not yet sufficiently matured for exclu- 

 sion. One contained an embryo hardly a fourth part as large as the rest, 

 though its form was nearly complete. Two only of the eggs contained living 

 young ; the rest appeared to have been dead for some days, as the yolk-bags 

 were disengaged from the animals, and showed signs of decomposition, although 

 they had not become putrid. We have had some severe frosts this season : the 



