318 Mr Murray on the Torpidity 



Matterof the Glow- Worm, — on the Luminosity of the Sea, — on 

 the Phenomena of the Chameleon,— on the Ascent of the Spi- 

 der into the Atmosphere, — and on Torpidity, as connected 

 with the Testudo Grceca, or Common Tortoise, 11 &c. From 

 the last of these we extract, with the author's permission, his 

 observations on the Torpidity of the Tortoise and Dormouse, 

 referring to the book itself for the previous details, and much 

 curious information on the subjects of the different essays. 



The tortoise may be occasionally met with in gardens in 

 this country. The Testudo geometrica I have certainly seen 

 here ; but the occurrence is rare. One of three tortoises (the 

 common,) laid three eggs in a garden at Montrose— one of 

 these I forwarded to Professor Jameson, of Edinburgh. The 

 size to which this creature occasionally attains is quite mon- 

 strous. I remember, some years ago, to have seen one, then 

 semi-torpid, exhibited near Exeter "Change, London, which 

 weighed, if I recollect aright, several hundred weight. Its 

 shell was proportionally thick, and its other dimensions bore 

 a corresponding ratio. It was stated to be about 800 years 

 old. In the library at Lambeth Palace is the shell of a land 

 tortoise, brought there about the year 1623 ; it lived until 

 1 730, and was killed by the inclemency of the weather during 

 a frost, in consequence of the carelessness of a labourer in the 

 garden, who, for a trifling wager, dug it up from its winter 

 retreat, and neglected to replace it. Another tortoise was 

 placed in the garden of the Episcopal Palace at Fulham, by 

 Bishop Laud, when Bishop of that See, in 1628 : this appears 

 to have died a natural death in 1753. It is not known what 

 were their several ages when placed in the gardens. That of 

 which I am about to give an account, I saw in the Bishop's 

 garden at Peterborough, adjoining the Cathedral, in the sum- 

 mer of 1813. It died only four or five years ago. Wliy this 

 Episcopal predilection is a question perhaps not unworthy an- 

 tiquarian research ! The Testudo grseca is found in the Island 

 of Sardinia — generally weighing four pounds, and its usually 

 computed age is about sixty years. 



From a document belonging to the archives of the Cathe- 

 dral, called the Bishop's Bam y it is well ascertained that the 



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