NOTE-BOOK OF A NATUEALIST. 2G1 



in the Arcadian woods ; and it very "probably was tliat 

 now known as Testudo OrcGca. Others declare that it 

 was an African species (whose carapace and dried ten- 

 dons gave out a sound when struck by Mercury, who 

 found it after an inundation of the Nile) that furnished 

 the hint for the lyi'e. 



The Elodians, or marsh-tortoises, are gifted with far 

 greater activity than their terrestrial relations. They 

 swim with great facility, and make a much cj[uicker 

 march on land, leading a predatory, quisquilious, amphi- 

 bious life, and frequenting sluggish streams, the lake, 

 the pond, and the marsh. Their food consists principally 

 of fresliAvater molluscous animals, tailless and tailed ba- 

 trachians,* and annelids, or worm-like creatures. 



The honeymoon of these elodians endures for many 

 weeks at a certain time of the year ; and their prolonged 

 loves are blest with a goodly batch of spherical eggs, 

 without any calcareous shell, but as white as those of 

 the other cbelonians. The nest is a shallow cavity in 

 the earth, scraped out by the female ; and the banks of 

 the waters, wherein she spends much of her time, are 

 generally selected ; for her instinct teaches her that such 

 a locality offers a place of security to the young, who 

 take refuge in the waters from their numerous enemies 

 as soon as they are hatched. 



And here it may be observed that the Chersians, or 

 land-tortoises, are, as a general rule, feeders on vegeta- 

 bles; the Thalassians, or sea-tortoises, commonly known 

 as turtles, both vegetarian (in some cases almost entirely 

 so) and carnivorous ; while the Elodians, or marsh tor- 

 toises, and the Potcmiians, or river-tortoises, which may 

 both be classed under one common head, the gradation 

 being almost insensible, are supported on animal food, 

 the prey being generally taken in a living state. In 



* Anurous and urodele hatrachians of the learned. 



