EYES OF MACROCLEMMYS 



to themselves, and not to their " shell " for protection 

 in the hour of need. The Testudo grceca, for instance, 

 has only to retire into its shell, and wait patiently until 

 the enemy has rolled by, even if it rolls over the tor- 

 toise on its way. The fiercer terrapin can resent any 

 attack by a sharp bite ; it has no more teeth than its 

 pond relatives, but the beak is more hooked, and with 

 sharper edges. In spite of its ferocity, and Prof. 

 Louis Agassiz said that these tortoises " are as 

 ferocious as the wildest beast of prey," a large speci- 

 men at the Zoo appeared to remain quiescent for weeks 

 together. So quiet indeed was it that a copious growth 

 of green algae had collected upon its shell. It lay at 

 the bottom, often with its mouth open, in which 

 flickered little tags of skin, which possibly act as an 

 allurement to little fishes to wander in and to meet 

 with their death. Many animals are betrayed by 

 their eyes ; the puzzle is in this terrapin to find the 

 eyes at all, for they have an apparently unusual forward 

 position, and are coloured like the skin. A relentless 

 and gazing eye might be supposed to warn off prey ; 

 the glittering eyes of a snake, for instance, might be 

 held to be of the nature of a " warning coloration," 

 to small birds and mammals. When urged to " Gouge 

 him, gouge him, darn ye, gouge him," the hero of the 

 snapping turtle incident might have well been unable 

 to comply. It is dangerous to generalize from single 

 cases, and the ancient Greeks, or at least the sculptor 

 Phidias, would not have placed the tortoise at the feet 

 of Venus as the symbol of gentleness had he been 

 acquainted with this martial beast. 



ORDER CROCODILIA 



The principal features of this Order are described 

 on the following pages. 



2JI 



