COLLECTING REPTILES. 



69 



shell " upon his back, is " a thing- of beauty " and "a joy for- 

 ever," price, $15. Wherever you go collecting- in the tropics or 

 sub-tropics, turtles are your lawful prey. 



How to Kill a Turtle. Mr. Lucas says the best way is to do it 

 with chloroform, by tying a saturated cloth over the victim's 

 head, and keeping it there until death ensues. This is un- 

 doubtedly the most merciful way, but somehow I never had the 

 chloroform to spare. 

 My plan was to do 

 the killing in a short, 

 sharp, and decisive 

 onslaught with the 

 knife. With a small, 

 sharp saw (a dissect- 

 ing saw with an ad- 

 justable back, for the 

 small specimens), 

 saw through the 

 bridge which unites 

 the shell of the back 

 (carapax) with that 

 of the under surface 

 (plastron) at B, B 

 (Fig. 19) ; then, with 

 the quickest of work, 

 divide the skin 

 around the plastron, 

 as shown by the dot- 

 ted line A, A, A, A ; 

 with half a dozen quick strokes of the knife detach the plas- 

 tron from the flesh of the body, and lift it up until the inte- 

 rior of the body is exposed. Except for the sawing through 

 the shell, the rest is but the work of a moment. Now pierce 

 the heart instantly, and cut the nerk in two, which ends all 

 pain at once. The only merit of this method of killing is that 

 the victim is disposed of and put beyond the power of pain in 

 about three or four minutes. Very often it is better to make an 

 incision on the dotted line shown immediately behind the fore- 

 leg, and through this pierce the heart and lungs. 



Flo. 19. How to Open a Turtle. 



