550 TESTUDINID^E J EMYDJE. 



the species best known in this country ; it is a native of the 

 South of Europe ; but it will live in our gardens for many years 

 without any particular care. It digs a pit in the ground, in 

 which to hybernate; and it also buries its eggs in the soil, 

 lightly covering them with earth. Some very large species of 

 this group are found between or near the tropics. Thus the 

 Gallipagos Islands are inhabited by great numbers of gigantic 

 Tortoises, weighing above two hundred pounds each ; which are 

 described as wholesome and palatable articles of food. And in 

 the Zoological Gardens of London, at the present time, is an 

 immense Tortoise, originally brought to the Mauritius from the 

 Seychelles Islands, in 1766 ; the length of which, taken along 

 the curve of its back, is four feet four inches ; its breadth, four 

 feet nine inches ; and its weight, two hundred and eighty-five 

 pounds. The EMYD^E, or Marsh Tortoises, form an extensive 

 family, diffused through the warmer latitudes of both the Old 

 and the New World, and occurring in Australia, where hitherto 

 no Land Tortoise has been detected. They have a more flattened 

 shell; and their feet are expanded and webbed between the 

 toes, which are armed with sharp claws. These animals tenant 

 swamps, lakes, ponds, and small rivers ; and swim with con- 

 siderable facility. On land they are more active and alert than 

 the species of the previous family ; but they never venture far 

 from the water, and invariably seek it as a refuge from danger. 

 The plastron is generally less developed than in the Testudinidse, 

 and is frequently united to the carapace by cartilage only : in 

 some species, as the Emysaurus serpentinus, the carapace and 

 plastron are so small, that the head and limbs cannot be 

 drawn within the shell. The Emydae are carnivorous in their 

 habits ; pursuing fishes, newts, frogs, and insects with eagerness. 

 Some of them are formidable from their size and ferocity ; this 

 is the case with the species just named, which is commonly 

 known under the name of the Alligator Tortoise. It is a native 

 of the lakes, rivers, and morasses of Carolina ; and is remark- 

 able for its activity, and for the strength of its jaws, darting 

 snddenly upon aquatic Birds, Fishes, or other animals that 

 come within its reach, and snapping them up between its 



