C H E L O N I A. 



17 



grow at the bottom, from which it is said to spring 

 suddenly on its prey. This consists of small water 

 animals, and in some places, more particularly of 

 young crocodiles, of which this species is extremely 

 fond. They seize their prey by suddenly darting 

 forward their long and strong neck, which they do 

 with great celerity. 



This species is among the strongest and most 

 active of its tribe, and as its trivial name implies, is 

 possessed of ferocity and courage. When attacked, 

 it boldly defends itself, rising on its hind legs, and 

 leaping forward to seize on its assailant ; and if once 

 it fixes with its jaws on any part, it is scarcely made 

 to let go its hold without cutting off its head. 

 Though the fierce tortoise does not form so exten- 

 sive an article of commerce as the green turtle ; and 

 perhaps on account of its activity, does not accumu- 

 late the soft and luscious green fat which epicures 

 prize so much, yet its flesh is wholesome and is 

 eaten with avidity, especially by the Indians in those 

 parts of America where it is most abundant. 



The Mud Tortoise (Testudo lutaria). The mud 

 tortoise is the smallest of the fresh-water tortoises ; 

 its whole length, .from the snout to the tip of the tail, 

 seldom exceeding eight inches, while in breadth it is 

 not more than three or four. It is of a blackish or 

 dark brown colour. Its tail is nearly half the length 

 of the shield, and is stretched out when the animal 

 walks. Hence the mud tortoise has been sometimes 

 called by the ancients mus aquatilis, or water rat. 



This is a very frequent inhabitant of lakes and 

 muddy rivers in the south of Europe, and in many 

 parts of Asia. It is very plentiful in France, espe- 

 cially in the provinces of Languedoc and Provence. 

 It lives almost entirely in the water, only going on 

 land to lay its eggs, which it covers with mould. 

 It moves with a quicker pace on land than many of 

 this tribe ; when disturbed it utters a kind of inter- 

 rupted hissing sound. It feeds on fish, snails, and 

 worms, and often proves a troublesome inmate in 

 fish ponds, killing many of the fish, and biting others 

 till they are nearly exhausted from loss of blood. 



It has been proposed to employ the mud tortoise 

 for destroying vermin in gardens ; but it is necessary 

 to have a pond or large vessel of water for its ordi- 

 nary residence. With such a convenience, it may 

 be rendered tame and domestic. 



The young of this species, when first hatched, are 

 not an inch in diameter. They continue to grow 

 for a long time, and are known to live for many 

 years. 



There are many other species of tortoise, which 

 inhabit the fresh water, of which we shall only men- 

 tion the Painted Tortoise ( Testudo picta), which is an 

 American, and a very handsome species, at least in 

 so far as colour is concerned. It is smooth, of a 

 brown colour, and each of the scales is surrounded 

 by a yellow band, which is broader at the anterior 

 edge than any where else. It is found in North 

 America chielly, and is more active than many of 

 the others, often climbing rocks, and even trees, in 

 search of insects, which constitute the principal part 

 of its food ; but the moment that it is observed, it 

 drops into the water, and so escapes. 



The land tortoises have in general the shell harder, 

 and thicker in proportion to their size than any of 

 the aquatic ones. In this way they follow a very 

 general law of all animals, part of which inhabit the 

 land, and another part the water ; for even the bones 



NAT. HIST. VOL. II. 



of aquatic animals contain a much smaller portion 

 of salts of lime than those of the most nearly allied 

 species which dwell upon land. 



The land tortoises have the shield on the back 

 supported by a frame-work of bones, which is united 

 into one solid structure, so as to admit of little or no 

 motion in the several parts ; and the sides of it are in 

 great part firmly soldered to those of the breast-plate, 

 the whole forming a complete sheath of immense 

 strength. The legs arc very short, and so are the 

 toes, which have five on the fore-feet and four on the 

 hind. The nails or claws are strong and conical, and 

 well adapted for digging ; but their motion is exceed- 

 ingly slow. They can, however, move under the 

 load of a much greater weight, in proportion to their 

 size, than any other known animals. They are capa- 

 ble of living for a long time without food ; and, in- 

 deed, they are the very models of animal endurance. 

 They are inoffensive in their mariners, and seldom or 

 never attack any animal, except those insects, mol- 

 lusca, and worms on which they feed, and many of 

 them eat green vegetable matter. The greater num- 

 ber of them, and perhaps the whole, spend part of the 

 year in a state of hibernation, and bury themselves 

 in the earth for this purpose. They do not construct 

 a burrow with an entrance, as is done by the burrow- 

 ing mammalia, but fairly sink down the body, throw- 

 ing the earth on the back as they descend. This 

 process is performed very slowly, but the progress of 

 it is abundantly sure. In the course of their digging 

 the head and tail are drawn within the shell, for all of 

 them have the capacity of bringing both these and 

 the feet within that covering. Their ascent to the 

 surface is rather a more curious matter, and one 

 which cannot be so well observed, but it may be pre- 

 sumed to be performed by bringing the earth gra- 

 dually under the feet, and forcing upwards the strong 

 and convex shield, with that powerful action which 

 enables them to bear so great a weight. Some of 

 them have the power of enclosing all the moveable 

 parts of the body entirely within the shell, by draw- 

 ing firmly moveable pieces of the anterior and poste- 

 rior parts of the breast-plate against the correspond- 

 ing portions of the shield. Those which can do this 

 are called box tortoises ; and they shut their box with 

 as much firmness as the whole race are capable of 

 shutting their jaws. There are a good many species, 

 but we must restrict our notice to one or two. 



The Common Land Tortoise ( Testudo Grcsca). This 

 species seldom attains a foot in length. It is of an 

 oval form, with a very convex shield, broader behind 

 than before. The breast-plate is nearly of equal size 

 with the shield, and is of a pale yellow colour, with a 

 broad dark stripe down each side, while the middle 

 part of the shield is of a blackish brown mixed with 

 yellow. The head is small, and covered on its upper 

 part with irregular scales ; the mouth is small, the 

 legs short, and the feet pretty broad, and covered 

 with strong ovate scales. The tail is very short, 

 scaly, and terminated at its extremity with a curved 

 horny process. It seldom weighs above three pounds. 



This species is entirely confined to the land, and 

 prefers elevated woody situations. It is found in 

 Europe, Asia, and Africa, and is very common on all 

 the coasts of the Mediterranean sea, especially in 

 Sardinia, Barbary, and probably in Egypt. It is not 

 a little curious that, even in the warmer climates, this 

 species regularly retires to its subterranean quarters 

 during the winter months ; thus proving, what we 



