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THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



of <; self-knowledge " to the turtles. The animals are certainly 

 conscious of one weak point in their organisation that if flung 

 on the back the recovery of the right position is almost an 

 impossibility unless the tide should reach them. When two 

 turtles are engaged in battle, each endeavours to throw his foe 

 on the back, as if quite aware of the helplessness of a rival 



English Channel the seamen said that " Lord Nelson " was in 

 a bad way and likely to die. The turtle was therefore thrown 

 into its own element, in the hope that it might revive. Two 

 years and more passed away, when the former owners of " Lord 

 Nelson " were amazed to hear that he had been again caught at 

 Ascension Island. It seemed almost beyond belief that the 



when in that position. Probably, then, these animals are not so 

 stupid as some may suppose. There are, indeed, naturalists 

 who contend that the turtles, at least, are really clever, and are | 

 never tired of quoting the case of the one which found its way 

 back to its native haunts through thousands of miles. As some 

 readers may not have met with the incident, we will give the ' 

 facts as reported. A ship carried away some turtles from ! 

 Ascension Island, in the South Atlantic Ocean. One became i 

 the pet of the sailors, who named it Lord Nelson, and marked | 

 the carapace with a hot iron. As the ship was beating up the i 



turtle had found its way back through such an expanse of ocean. 

 The marks made by the hot iron seemed, however, to place his 

 "lordship's" identity beyond a doubt. 'Mr. Jesse evidently 

 believes the turtle did really find its way back. 



Many interesting topics connected with tortoises have been 

 unavoidably passed over, and we are now compelled to conclude 

 this paper. We may easily infer from the above brief remarks, 

 that there is not an animal on the land or in the waters which 

 does not disclose to an inquirer some fresh glimpse of endless 

 diversity in structure, combined with beautiful unity in plan. 



