SHORT STUDIES OF TURTLES. 251 



all cause the passer-by to gaze at it for a while ; though 

 these tortoises seldom have been closely followed up and 

 their peculiar lives made familiar to the world at large. 

 To most of us, it is best known as a convenient object upon 

 which to exercise our ingenuity in rude sculpture ; and 

 the " under shell " not unfrequently bears the initials, with 

 the date of carving, of some idler who pauses for a few 

 moments thus to cut what will perhaps prove to be the 

 most durable mark that he will ever make in this world. 

 This curious fancy, however, has proved to be not alto- 

 gether devoid of interest to the naturalist; for, assum- 

 ing that the dates are correct, it has been shown thereby 

 that this tortoise lives to a great age, and remains 

 throughout its life in one neighborhood. While there is 

 great danger in basing conclusions upon such uncertain 

 data, still it is highly improbable that in most cases 

 these dates are incorrectly given. There are far too 

 many instances known to families living in the country, 

 of marked tortoises being seen at intervals, year after year, 

 for several generations. My father recently informed me 

 that, when a boy, he frequently found a tortoise upon the 

 plastron of which were carved the letters " W. W." ; and 

 that his father had stated to him that, when he was a 

 young man, this tortoise had frequently been found by 

 him. The letters were known to be the initials of one 

 who had lived near by many years previously. It was 

 known that eighty years had certainly elapsed since the 

 letters were carved. The tortoise was fully grown, and 

 probably was an old one when marked by William Wat- 

 son with his initials. In this connection it may be men- 

 tioned that the late Professor Agassiz stated the growth 

 of turtles to be " exceedingly slow. ... I have col- 

 lected data which prove satisfactorily that our common 

 Chrysemys picta does not lay eggs before it is ten or 



