6 NATURALISl's CABINET. 



__ , iii . 



Solitary In a torpid state during winter. 



some species are covered with a hard calcareous 

 shell, whilst those of others have a soft tough 

 skin or covering somewhat resembling parch- 

 ment; the eggs of several are perfectly gelati- 

 nous. As soon as the parent animals have depo- 

 sited their eggs in a proper place, they take no 

 further care of them, but leave them to be hatch- 

 ed by the sun. In those few species tnaf*are 

 viviparous, the eggs are regularly formed, but 

 batched internally. 



The amphibia, though they are sometimes 

 found in great numbers together, cannot be said 

 to congregate, since they do nothing in common, 

 and in fact do not live in a state of society. The 

 flesh and eggs of some of the species form a 

 palatable and nutritious food. These animals, 

 for the most part, pass the winter in cold and 

 temperate climates in a torpid state. During this 

 season they are often found perfectly stiff, in 

 holes under ice, or in water; they continue thus 

 till revived by the returning warmth of spring; 

 when they become re-animated, change their 

 skin, and appear abroad in a new coat. Many 

 of them cast their skins frequently in the year; 

 but those reptiles that have an osseous covering 

 never change it. 



The? Linnaean order of reptilia commences 

 with r.he tortoise; but as the land tortoise is 

 by many called an oviparous quadruped, we 

 have s.;iven a description of it in our second 

 volume, p. 288, and shall commence the present 



