174 OUR REPTILES. 



and placed in his father's fish-ponds, where it lived 

 till winter. In 1849 a large specimen was found 

 floating on the sea, off Eedcar, but it was dead. 

 This is all the evidence, slender as it may be, upon 

 which the present species is included in the Fauna 

 of Great Britain. This we shall not in the present 

 instance much regret, as it is a very interesting 

 species, and one which possesses a commercial value, 

 so that we shall avail ourselves of the example of 

 our predecessors, and include it amongst our 

 number. 



The Chelonians are divided into families for the 

 purposes of classification ; one of these includes the 

 Thalassians, or Sea-Turtles, to which both species 

 we shall have occasion to enumerate belong. 

 In this family the fore-limbs are considerably 

 lengthened, and all are modified into flappers, or 

 paddles, for swimming. Turtles seldom leave the 

 sea, except to deposit their eggs, though some 

 accounts state, " they will crawl up the shores of 

 desert islands in the night, and clamber up the 

 edges of isolated rocks far at sea, for the purpose of 

 browsing on certain marine plants." They may be 

 met with far out at sea, floating motionless upon the 

 water, as if dead. They are good divers, and can 

 remain a long time beneath the surface of the 

 water. Their food consists chiefly of marine plants, 

 whilst some of them do not object to a delicate 



