278 THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



manufacture of combs, snuff-boxes, &c., also for inlaying, 

 and other ornamental work. 



" In the family of laud Tortoises (fig. 51), the feet are 

 club-shaped, and their habits are terrestrial. The shell is 

 very solid, thick, ovate, and (in the adult state) covered 

 with horny concentrically -grooved shields, marked with 

 a permanent areola. They have a short thick tail, are 

 very slow in their motion, and live upon vegetables 

 and roots. Most of the species are natives of the 



FIG. 51. TORTOISE (Testudo sulcata). 



warm regions of the globe, but those that live in colder 

 regions burrow and sleep during the winter. They are 

 quiet, inoffensive animals, extremely tenacious of life, 

 and remarkable for longevity. Individuals are stated 

 upon good authority to have lived upwards of two hun- 

 dred years. 



" The common Tortoise, or Taragua (Testudo Graca), 

 is a native of the south of Europe, and almost all the 

 countries bordering on the Mediterranean ; it is found 

 in the islands of the Archipelago, Corsica, Sardinia, and 

 in Africa, but is thought to be more common in 

 Greece than elsewhere. It is from six to eight inches 

 long, and weighs about forty-eight ounces. This 

 species is often brought to this country and kept in 

 gardens. One was brought to the Archiepiscopal 

 garden at Lambeth, in the time of Laud, in 1633, 

 where it lived till 1753, owing its death then, more to 

 neglect than the effects of age." 



