88 



LEAVES FROM THE NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST. 



those, consequently, more exposed to observatioi 

 and attacks, is in the turtles modified to suit the 

 element in which they principally live. The 

 carapace forming the roof is less highly arched 

 and both it and the floor or plastron are lighte 

 and less completely ossified ; but as the head can 

 not be drawn back under the carapace, as in the 

 land tortoises, it is fortified by an additional bonj 

 helmet. 



Besides these true turtles another marine genu, 

 exists, differing remarkably from chelone ; this is 

 the coriaceous turtle, Sphargis, which has the 

 body incased in a sort of leathern armor, and has 

 no nails on the paddles. This form seems to 

 represent the soft fresh-water tortoises in some 

 degree. 



The green turtle, (Chelone mydus,) now the 

 cynosure of every aldermanic eye, owes its Eng- 

 lish name to the hue of the delicate fat which 

 enriches the soup and various savory dishes that 

 form a course of turtle. Whether the Latin specific 

 name was conferred on it by the Knight of the 

 Polar Star from any punning justiciary allusion, 

 does not seem to be certain. Notwithstanding 

 the French names with which it is now the fash- 

 ion to adorn every plat, be it at city feast, great 

 club dinner to the lion of the day, or the more 

 refined repast served in the Apollo chamber of a 

 modern Lucullus, England may claim the honor 

 of availing itself of the resources of its West 

 Indian possessions, and making " turtle" famous. 

 The French were a long way behind. In Le 

 Cuisinier des Cuisiniers* there is not a single 

 receipt for dressing real turtle. 



What the ideas of a Frenchman on the subject 

 of Potage en Tortue were, may be gathered from 

 the following :^ 



Potage en Tortue. Ce potage, qui est aujour- 

 d'hui tres a la mode dans les grands maisons et 

 chez les bons restaurateurs, manque dans la plupart 

 des traites sur la cuisine. Beauvilliers, et Viard 

 dans le Cuisinier royal, sont les seuls qui en expo- 

 sent la recette, mais avec des variantes. 



After this exordium one is hardly prepared for 

 the receipts themselves. 



Maticres employees par Beauvilliers. Mouton, 

 e"paule ou gigot, ou parures de Carre's, debris de 

 poissons, en quantite suffisante, dans un marmite, 

 blond de veau, bouquet de persil, aromates, basilic ; 

 la cuisson separe la chair des os. Le bouillon 

 pass6 au travers d'une serviette, et clarifie' avec des 

 blancs d'oeufs ; faire bouillir, reduire, ajouter du 

 vin de Madere ; la moitie d'une tete de veau, 

 echudee de^ la veille, desossee, cuite dans un 

 blanc, coupee par petits morceaux ; dans le bouil- 

 lon, vin de Madere ; poivre de cayenne, de kari ; 

 dans le potage, des morceaux de veau; jaunes 

 d'oeufs frais, durcis, a 1'instant du service. 



Now for the Matter es employees par Viard: 



Tranches de bceuf, parure de veau, poule ou 

 parure de volaille, moitie consomme et moitie' 

 blond de veau, carottes, oignons, cloux de girofle, 

 dans une marmite ; moitie" de tete de veau, degor- 

 gee et blanchie, coupee par petits morceaux dans 



* Paris, 1825. 



une autre marmite, petits piments enrage"es, macis 

 de muscade, consomme, vin de Madere, champig- 

 nons, ris de veau en tres petits morceaux, cre.tes 

 de cpqs, rognons, quenelles de volailles ; dans la 

 soupiere, ceufs poches et le potage dessus ; si le 

 potage n'est pas assez corse ou assez fort en piment, 

 glace de volaille, beurre de piment. 



Fire burn and caldron bubble ! 

 Very good potage no doubt but no more like 

 tortue than I to Hercules ; and, even for the mock- 

 turtle here presented, any one may safely back 

 Birch of Cornhill against N the French artist. 

 When Cuvier last visited this country, and was 

 feasted by some of our philosophers at the Albion, 

 nothing struck him so much as the tortue, upon 

 which his memory long dwelt ; and yet he had 

 had the opportunity of testing the abilities of the 

 first cooks of his own country. Soyer and other 

 compatriots of his may have shone since that 

 time ; but formerly turtle was eminently English. 

 Nor is it of remote antiquity as an English dish 

 Not much more than a hundred years have passed 

 since its general introduction, and for a long time 

 it was comparatively rare. But steam, which 

 annihilates both space and time to make epicures 

 as well as lovers happy, now brings a regular and 

 rapid supply of really " fine lively turtle," very 

 different from the wasted invalids which our West 

 Indiamen of the olden time landed after their lag- 

 ging voyage. Bristol was famous for it ; and 

 some years ago the Montague Tavern bore away 

 the bell. There was the best turtle I ever tasted, 

 and thither did George IV. send for that which 

 graced his royal table. Whether the mantle has 

 descended on the shoulders of the present priest 

 of Comus who officiates at the Montague, those 

 of my readers, if I happen to have any, may 

 ascertain who go to that ancient town, and make 

 a pilgrimage up the hill to the " Parade," which 

 used to be odoriferous with the savory emanations 

 "rom the tavern redolent of sweet basil, the grosser 

 "umes of the kitchen sublimed by the perfume of 

 ftme-punch, /z/ne-sangaree, and limes themselves : 

 accompaniments, by the way, rarely, if ever, seen 

 in London ; where the lemon, fragrant as it is, 

 unsatisfactorily does duty for the lime, two or 

 three of which supreme condiments were placed 

 n the napkin of every guest when turtle was pre- 

 sented at Bristol. 



Our own lamented Chantrey, who, though fully 

 alive to the merits of the good things of this 

 world, was one of the most unselfish and liberal 

 of men, had a story of a passage during one of 

 he city feasts at which he was present. The 

 jreat national sculptor for truly great and truly 

 national he was sat next to a functionary before 

 whom stood a large tureen of turtle-soup. This 

 -itizen instantly possessed himself of the ladle, 

 arefully fished out the coarser parts, and offered 

 he plate containing them to Chantrey, who de- 

 lined. 



" I watched," said he, " the progress of the 

 )late : at last it was set down before the lord-may- 

 r's chaplain ; and the expression of that man's 

 ace, when he beheld it, I shall never forget." The 



