CHARACTERISTICS OF REPTILES. 1s 
are inserted by means of sutures into these plates, and united with 
each other. A three-branched shoulder and cylindrical shoulder- 
blade are characteristic of the Tortoises. 
In tropical regions enormous Serpents are found, which are as 
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Fig. 3.—Skeleton of a Turtle. 
large in diameter as a man’s thigh; and some are reported to have 
almost reached forty feet in length. Roman annals mention one 
forty feet long, which Regulus encountered in Africa during the 
Punic Wars, and which is fabulously said to have arrested the march 
of his army. These gigantic Reptiles are not, however, enemies which 
man has most cause to fear, for their very size draws attention to 
