NATURE STUDY I^ESSONS. 79 



Count the toes on the fore feet and on the hind feet, no- 

 ticing whether there are the same number all round. As 

 you find other turtles, particulaaly in different parts of the 

 country, if you travel about, or in such museums as you 

 can visit, see what differences you can find in this matter 

 of the number and arrangement of turtles' toes. It is not 

 so silly as it may appear to some people. Notice also that 

 some turtles have webbed feet, to enable them to swim the 

 better. 



Manage in some way to open the turtle's mouth and find 

 whether it has teeth, or only hard and rather sharp cut- 

 ting edges along the jaws.. Touch the eyes gently with a 

 small stick, and see the turtle draw a thin skin over them. 

 This is the third eyelid, the same as in hens, pigeons and 

 birds generally. Notice that the feet and tail are covered 

 with scales ; then sometime examine the foot of a hen or 

 pigeon, and see that they are scaly also. In this matter of 

 the third ej^elid and the scales the birds and the turtles 

 have features in common. Perhaps sometime you will 

 learn how it happened, and will find it a very interesting 

 story . 



The upper part of the shell is. called the carapace, and 

 the under part is the plastron. Examine the carapace of a 

 turtle and see that it is covered with plates, placed closely 

 together. Notice the row of plates along the middle, the 

 row of plates on each side of this, and the narrower plates 

 on the edges, which are called the marginal plates. Count 

 all these plates in as many turtles as you can find in your 

 walks. Notice that they differ in size, some pairs being 

 larger and others smaller in different kinds of turtles, but 

 that they are alwaj^s the same in turtles of the same sort 

 or species. 



When 3^ou find a wood turtle, notice that the plates on 

 the carapace have black lines which are said to radiate — 

 that is, extend from the center towards the edge of each 



