REPTILES. 



277 



esteemed as food, especially the green Turtle. Dr. 

 Baird, in his Cyclopaedia of the Natural Sciences, under 

 the article " Chelonia," gives a good description of these 

 creatures, from which the following is extracted : 



" The Green Turtle (Chelonia viridis, or midas, fig. 50) 

 is five or six feet long, and weighs from seven to eight 

 hundred pounds. It is principally found in the Atlantic 

 Ocean, and is often met with seven or eight hundred 

 leagues from land. They are easily caught when asleep 



FIG. 50. TURTLE (Chelonia viridis). 



on the surface of the water, to which they come to 

 breathe. In the West Indies, the Bahama Islands, 

 and the Island of Ascension, the capture of Turtles 

 gives employment to many people, and affords food for 

 thousands. 



" The Hawk's-bill Turtle (Caretha imbricata) is a 

 smaller species, scarcely ever exceeding two hundred 

 pounds' weight, and is a native of the Atlantic and Indian 

 Oceans. The flesh is not good, but the shells, which 

 are formed of a considerable number of scales over- 

 lapping each other at their extremities, in the manner 

 of tiles on the roof of a building, are of great importance 

 as an article of commerce, and are much superior to 

 that of any other species. It is extensively used in the 



