VERTEBRATA. REPTILIA. 



while it positively rejected asparagus, parsley, and 

 spinach. In the early part of the season its favourite 

 food was the flowers of the dandelion, of which it 

 would devour twenty at a meal, and lettuce ; of the 

 latter, a good-sized one at a time ; but, if placed be- 

 tween lettuce and the flowers of the dandelion, it 

 would forsake the former for the latter. It was, also, 

 partial to the pulp of an orange, which it sucked 

 greedily. 



" About the latter end of June it looked out for 

 fruit, when its former choice was forsaken. It ate 

 currants, raspberries, pears, apples, peaches, nectar- 

 ines, &c., the riper the better ; but would not taste 

 cherries. Of fruits, however, the strawberry and 

 gooseberry were the most esteemed; it made great 

 havoc among the strawberry borders, and would 

 take a pint of gooseberries at intervals. The gar- 

 dener told me it knew him well, the hand that 

 generally fed it, and would watch him attentively at 

 the gooseberry-bush, where it was sure to take its 

 station while he plucked the fruit. 



" This animal moved with apparent ease, though 

 pressed by a weight of eighteen stone : itself weighed 

 thirteen and a half pounds. In cloudy weather it 

 would scoop out a cavity, generally in a southern 

 exposure, where it reposed, torpid and inactive, 

 until the genial influence of the sun roused it from 

 its slumber. When in this state the eyes were 

 closed, and the head and neck a little contracted, 

 though not drawn within the shell. Its sense of 

 smelling was so acute that it was roused from its 



