48 THE VIVARIUM. 
do very well in a Vivarium with Snakes, but they should then be 
provided with means of retiring into shade. Water ought to be 
so placed that they can drink it witheut difficulty. 
When at liberty in an English garden they hibernate, by 
burying themselves, about the beginning of autumn, either in the 
ground or under a heap of rubbish, where they will remain, 
unless disturbed, until the latter part of the following spring. 
Soon after leaving their winter quarters they recommence to feed. 
A few days, however, generally elapse before they recover their 
appetite. This may be due to the fact that the meal they partook 
of just before hibernation is still undigested. The late Mr. 
Thomas Bell, in his ‘‘ History of British Reptiles,’”’ says that he 
has ‘‘known a Tortoise, which had fed largely upon grass imme- 
diately before it became torpid, retain the grass unchanged in the 
stomach during the whole of the winter, so that on opening the 
body after its death, which took place immediately on its awaking 
in the spring, and before it had any access to food, the stomach 
was found filled with a large quantity of grass wholly undigested.” 
Perhaps in this country, the most readily obtained Land 
Tortoises and the most suitable for confinement here, are those 
which belong to Europe, e.g., Testudo Graeca, T. mauritanica, and 
T. marginata. The last-mentioned, the Margined Tortoise, 
though when fully grown does not exceed a foot in length, is the 
largest of the three. This Reptile may be distinguished from its 
near relative, 7. mauritanica, by the flattened and extended hind 
margin of its carapace; hence its specific name. The Greek 
Tortoise can be known from either of the other two, by remem- 
bering that its tail is long and fitted with a kind of nail or claw 
at its end, while theirs is so short that it hardly reaches beyond 
the covering of the carapace. Again, 7. mauritanica and T. 
marginata have a single caudal plate, or only one plate just over 
the tail, and a plastron which is movable behind; but 7. graeca 
has a double caudal plate and a plastron which is immovable 
behind. 
Of course, other Land Tortoises, besides those which are indi- 
genous to Hurope, are often imported into this country, but then 
their price is higher than that of the European Chelonian. There 
are numerous species of Land Tortoises. The Moorish Tortoise 
