300 AMERICAN TESTUDINATA. Part II. 



has become still freer than in Lizards ; and secondly, the head moves indepen- 

 dently of the neck, which was not yet the case in Lizards. With this structural 

 condition, the foundation is laid for a higher and more conscious relation to the 

 surrounding mediums than is observed in Lizards. The ability to move the head 

 freely upon the neck furnishes a larger horizon for the senses, which are situated 

 in tlie head, and by this a more extensive and more accurate perception of the 

 surrounding world may be obtained than we can suppose in those animals in which 

 the neck is buried in the body, as in Fishes and Snakes, or in which the head 

 at least is buried in the neck, as in Lizards. But even the legs, which, as in 

 Lizards, seem to be subservient only to locomotion, perform in addition, in Tur- 

 tles, functions which we would hardly suppose in these animals. Professor Jeffries 

 Wyman had once the rare opportunity of Avatching two Chrysemys picta while 

 making love, and he saw the male^ caressing and patting the head of the female 

 with its fore feet for several minutes. Thus among Eeptiles the fore feet have 

 become, in Turtles, organs for sympathetic motions ; but we are not aware how far 

 this is extended to the whole order. Moreover, the voice of Turtles is superior 

 to that of Lizards, which are only able to emit that hissing sound which is com- 

 mon to all Reptiles. 



In conformity with this higher psychical endowment of the Turtles, their brain 

 is much more developed than in the other Reptiles, particularly tlie large hemi- 

 sphei'es.^ Still it is true, that Turtles are in some respects more insensible than 

 other Reptiles, or at least than Lizards. They resist hunger and thirst, and the 

 effect of wounds, easier than Lizards. This shows, no doubt, a slower process 

 of change in the materials of which the body is Ijuilt up, and accordingly also 

 a lower vital energy generally. But, on the other hand, we must not forget that 

 our observations of the habits of Turtles have for the most part been made upon 

 individuals kept in captivity. If we walk along our ponds, and watch our Emy- 

 doidre, sunning themselves on the shore, or on logs floating upon the water, they are 

 by no means so slow and lazy as they are so generally supposed to be. They may, 

 on the contrary, be seen attentively looking around and stretching out their neck 

 to the utmost, as if listening. At the slightest noise of our ste2)s, and with a 

 quick motion of their paddles, they disappear under the surface of the water. 

 If, now, in captivity, the same animal becomes more or less awkward and slow, 

 we ought to remember, that the higher an animal stands, the more it feels 

 the privation of its liberty; and my long experience with Turtles has satisfied 

 me that they do feel the change, when confined in narrow enclosures. 



' See above, Sect. 8, p. 274. 



