12 



TESTUDINATA. TESTUDINIDiE. 



of truncated mass, " callous in its periphery, on 

 the outside of which one distinguishes only horny 

 cases, a sort of hoofs, which for the most j)art 



FOOT OF TORTOISE. 



correspond with the last phalanges [or joints] they 

 incase, and consequently shew that these animals 

 live only on the land, never in the w^ater."* 



The feet, as well as the head, are capable of 

 being completely drawn within the bony shell. 

 Some of the species have the hinder part of the 

 carapace flexible, so that it can be brought down 

 to the plastron ; while others have the front plates 

 of the plastron jointed to the rest by an actual 

 hinge, so that they can shut up the head as in a 

 sort of box. 



The food of the members of this Family con- 

 sists exclusively of vegetables : their motions are 

 slow and awkward : they live to an immense age, 

 individuals having been ascertained to be above 

 two hundred years old. In temperate climates, 

 they burrow into the earth on the approach of 

 winter, where they remain inert. 



* Dumeril et Bibron. 



