62 Mr. Ord's Notes on the Habits of the Box-Tortoise 



" Monday, September 24. This day one of the eggs of the deposit of the 

 28th of June was hatched ; it was the uppermost egg. I took notice of the 

 young just as it struggled out of the shell : it seemed to be almost blind ; 

 its case was very soft or cartilaginous ; and in the centre of the under shell, 

 or between the abdominal and the femoral shields, there was a large um- 

 bilical process. This animal was tolerably active, although the earth was 

 cold from the effects of a north wind : it could crawl with ease. It measured 

 an inch in length on the upper shell. I looked at four other deposits, and 

 found the eggs in an apparently good state. I have removed eight of these 

 eggs, and secured them in a box of loose earth, in the hope that the embryos 

 will be matured. From the foregoing dates, it appears that the egg laid eighty- 

 eight days in the ground before it was hatched. 



" Saturday, September 29. I examined yesterday the deposit of the eggs of 

 the tortoise which laid on the 26th of June. I could not perceive that any of 

 them were hatched. The ants having commenced eating the shell of the upper- 

 most egg, I removed it and opened it : it contained a perfectly-formed foetus, 

 attached to a yolk-bag, which, from the size of the latter, together with the quan- 

 tity of albumen, wherein the whole floated, led me to believe that the animal 

 would not have come forth for some days yet : it is alive : it measures an inch 

 in length on the upper shell : the yolk-bag is three quarters of an inch long. 



:i September 30. The young tortoise, mentioned yesterday, which I had 

 placed carefully in a bed of cotton, died last night. 



" Examined another deposit, and found all the eggs addled. 



< October 14. This morning another young tortoise appeared, from the 

 deposit of the 28th of June. It is livelier and larger than that first hatched, 

 measuring an inch and three quarters in length on the upper shell: its eyes 

 are completely open. It is probable that this tortoise has been brought forth 

 some days, although it did not succeed in working its way to the surface of 

 the earth until this morning. When I first observed the one which appeared 

 on the 24th of September, it had the shell adhering to it. 



« Monday, October 15. This morning another young' tortoise made its ap- 

 pearance : it is of a size between the other two. All three seem to be in good 

 health. 8 



" I inspected the deposit from which the three tortoises proceeded, and 



