SEA TURTLES 51 



the water, dig holes in the sand high above tide-mark, from 

 15 to 18 inches deep, and in them lay their eggs, to the num- 

 ber of from 80 to 220. The period required for incubation 

 is about sixty days. When first hatched the young are only 

 2>2 inches long, but the moment they emerge from the nest 

 they start for the ocean. 



LEATHERY-SHELLED SEA TURTLES 

 Dermochelydidae 



The Harp Turtle, or Lyre Turtle, 1 is the giant of the 

 Chelonians of the present day. Sometimes it is called the 

 Leather-Backed Turtle. I once dissected and preserved 

 a specimen which weighed 740 pounds, and the oil and the 

 toil of it are yet vividly remembered. 



This remarkable creature has a very feeble bony shell, 

 which is buried under a one-inch layer of fatty material which 

 looks quite like the blubber of a whale. It is easily cut with 

 a knife, and contains about a pint of oil for every square 

 foot. The back of this strange creature is marked by five 

 sharp ridges that run lengthwise, and are separated by con- 

 cave, wave-like depressions. The front flippers are very long, 

 and it seems quite certain that even in its native element 

 this great animal is slow and clumsy. Its flesh is quite unfit 

 for food. 



This turtle is found very sparingly along the Atlantic 

 coast from Long Island southward, but is abundant nowhere. 

 One may travel all around Florida, and all through the West 

 Indies without seeing even one specimen. 



1 Sphar'gis co-ri-a'ce-a. 



