REPTILIA 139 



more nutritious than hen's eggs; a dozen of them may be eaten at 

 once. The eggs, which are carefully buried and concealed by the 

 female, are found by prodding in the sand, along the shore, with a 

 sharp stick. 



Owing to the decrease in their numbers it has been suggested that 

 these turtles be artificially propagated; it is thought they would reach a 

 marketable size in three years. 



Along the Amazon and Orinoko Rivers the eggs of various turtles 

 form a very important article of food; they are preserved by rolling and 

 packing in salt, an<jin other ways. A kind of oil, much esteemed by the 

 natives, is made from them, preserved in jars, and used like butter. 

 The collection of such enormous numbers of eggs has nearly extermin- 

 ated the apparently limitless numbers of turtles in some places. The 

 eggs of many of our common fresh-water turtles are good as food 

 if taken from the animal or obtained soon enough after being laid. 



The Loggerhead Turtle, Thalassochelys caretta. This is another 

 large, marine form, somewhat similar to the preceding that is sometimes 

 found in the markets, though it is of much less value. 



The Diamond-back Terrapin, Malacoclemmys palustris, Fig. 96. 

 This species is supposed to be the most delectable of all the turtles. 

 It is a comparatively small animal, seldom exceeding a length of 

 7 inches, that is found in the salt marshes of our coast, from 

 Massachusetts to Texas, those of Chesapeake Bay being, perhaps, the 

 most famous. It has been named because of the angular areas made by 

 the concentric lines on the carapace. 



The diamond-backs hibernate .by burying themselves in the mud 

 along the shore, whence they are tracked and dug out for sale in the 

 markets. Their rarity and comparatively small size, combined with 

 their unusual flavor, cause these turtles to be among the most expen- 

 sive of our food products. A single animal of 7 inches length is 

 worth about $6, and the price increases at the rate of about $i 

 for each additional half inch in length; a 7-inch specimen weighs 

 about 4 pounds. 



At such prices it would seem highly profitable to raise these turtles 

 under artificial conditions. The experiment has been and is still 

 being tried, but the slow growth of the animals and the small number of 

 eggs produced each year make the enterprise a doubtful one from a 

 financial point of view. 



