ORDER CHELONIA. TESTUDINID^. 



549 



fasting with impunity ; there are some species, however, which 

 are carnivorous, and which show much ferocity of disposition. 

 They are extremely tenacious of life ; surviving the severest 

 mutilations for days or even weeks. Their movements are 

 usually slow and awkward ; but they continue them with great 

 perseverance, and for a long time, apparently without fatigue, so 

 as to produce effects which would not have been anticipated. 

 Their sensations appear to be very obtuse ; and altogether they 

 may be said to live very slowly. Connected with this slowness 

 appears to be the remarkable length of their lives ; which has 

 been known to exceed (in the case of a Garden Tortoise) two 

 hundred and twenty years, and may have been much more. 

 The Chelonia are divided, according to the form of their shell 

 and extremities, into four families: 1. TESTUDINID^E, or Land- 

 Tortoises ; 2. EMYD^E, or Marsh- Tortoises ; 3. TRIONYCID^E, 

 or River-Tortoises; and 4. CHELONID^E, or Turtles (Marine 

 Tortoises). 



487. The TESTUDINID^ are slow, quiet, inoffensive animals ; 

 feeding upon vegetable substances, and seldom wandering far 



FIG. 326. 



FIG. 327. 



from their usual haunts. They are for the most part inhabit- 

 ants of the warmer regions of the globe ; though many species 

 will bear removal to colder climates, passing the winter, how- 

 ever, in a torpid state. The Testudo Grceca, of which the 

 upper and under surfaces are shown in Figs. 326 and 327, is 



