iM:i'riij:s ;>:>;; 



snake-skill b^allicrs. tlic tortoise slicll of (-•omniorco, and tlie 

 flesh of some ul' ilic niaiine turtles and fresh-water terra[>ins. 

 Here is a wicU', ahiiost new, lidd. and anyont^ who will make 

 careful studies of haliits and life histories, espeeiallv of feedinj^ 

 tests with snakes, lizards, or turtles, and even tests of ('(lihilitv 

 in case of likely forms, lias a j^iuxl ehame of advaiicin;^ the 

 cause of valuable knowledge and common sense. 



Crocodilia. Tlie warm regions of the world contain nin»'te«*n .s|M*cii*s 

 of Iti;;, hiirly, hony-annori'd reptiles, with Ioiilj tails, powerful jaws, and 

 tt'iniiers as ugly as their own rough hacks. — II<»i;n \ i. \^ . 



To see a Vwo AlantosaKnis imiiKinIs ll.'> ftrt long — said to 1m* the 

 "bigge.st and l>ulkiest of all animals" ((iadow) — wouM make us real- 

 ize that our hirgest 20-foot crocodiles are mere pigmy survivals of the 

 huge reptiles that ruled the world during the Upi>er Jurassic. Accord- 

 ing to Ilornaday only three of the nineteen species are dangerous man- 

 eaters — the ^Malayan salt-water crocodile and two African forms. 'Die 

 two that are natives of America, Crocodilus acudts and AUhintor niissis- 

 sippiensis, are not man-hunters. Still, to keep such hulks in food — con- 

 sisting of fishes, waterfowl and poultry, i»igs, and other animals such as 

 they can catch — is expensive and must eventually limit their ran-jf to 

 zoological gardens and alligator farms. 



Turtles — Chelonia. Senseless waste and even cruelty have too often 

 characterized man's treatment of these defenseless and valuahh* crea- 

 tures. Tlieir nests have been i>lundere»l for the egi^s, whose value is 

 slight compared with that of the turtles which they might have j»rt>- 

 duced; the mother turtles, when they draw out of the sea to lay, have 

 been turned on their backs in iiuiiibers that could nof l>e utilized, an<l 

 most of them left to struggle under the hot sun until they died; the 

 hawksbill, in some countries, is liuiig o\rr a slow lire ami roasted until 

 the ])recious slu'll plat(\s loosen iVoiii tlif bone, when they are stripped 

 off ami till' tiiitle is put back into the water under the probably fiil.se 

 idea that it may IInc to pioduce. another crop of shell. These are .some 

 of the abu.ses that ought to be stojiped in the name (tf humanity. ^^'hiIe 

 it may be a far cry to ask savages of cannibal islands to treat sea turtles 

 with humanity, we might, at lea.st, see that turtles of our own coasts are 

 treated in humane and c(^)mmon-sen.se fashion. They range the tropical 

 and sul)tropical oceans the world around, but (Jadow says that tlu'V prolv 

 ably return to the same beaches to lay. Hence, if we protect the turtles 



