16 



titefor food 



HERPETOLOGY. 



to cease, and their temperature 



want of sensation, that they may l>e cut, torn, and in 

 some cases broken to pieces, without expressing the 

 ieat degree of pain, or showing any signs of motion. 



In this state they continue generally during the 

 whole winter : and, as the genial heat of the spring re- 

 turns, or in those climates where the changes of season 

 are not so remarkable, when the analogous revolution 

 of the season takes place, the animal begins to shew 

 signs of returning life, gradually recovers sense and 

 motion, it* heart beats with a gradually increased velo- 

 city, its respiration becomes more frequent and regular, 

 its't'emperature increases, it quits its retreat, resumes its 

 ordinary functions, searches after prey, and seeks a 



mate. .. 



It is remarkable that this hybemation of reptiles is 

 not confined to those species which inhabit a cold or 

 tempi-rate region, but seems to extend even to the hot- 

 ter climates of Barbary, Egypt, and South America. 

 It is also worthy of remark, that this continued state of 

 torpor, unlike the winter sleep of bears, marmots, and 



other hybernating quadrupeds, does not produce any Anatomy 

 very evident emaciation or loss of weight in the torpid ' 

 animal. Land tortoises have been repeatedly weighed 

 just before retiring to their winter quarters, and after 

 emerging from them, and were found in some cases 

 not to have lost above two ounces. 



It is found that when some of these animals, as tor- 

 toises, in a state of domestication, are taken from their 

 winter retreat, and exposed to a more elevated tempera- 

 ture, they recover, in some degree, their sense and mo- 

 tion, though they scarcely ever take food during this pe- 

 riod. We have known a land tortoise kept, in a room 

 where there was almost a constant fire, lie for several 

 weeks together in the box that formed its retreat, with, 

 out making any attempt to come out, and though when 

 taken from the box, it opened its eyes, moved its head, 

 and sometimes walked a little, it could not be prevailed 

 upon to eat till its usual period of hybernation was com- 

 pleted. The person with whom it lived, with officious 

 kindness, would sometimes force a little broth or soup 

 into its mouth ; but the animal never showed any desire 

 to eat of its own accord. See HYBERNATION. 



PART II. CLASSIFICATION AND NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SPECIES. 



ORDER I. CHELONIAN REPTILES. 



_ have seen that most of this order, comprehending 

 fiitioxi. tne animals called turtles and tortoises, are inclosed 

 within a horny covering, consisting of two parts, one 

 covering the back, and usually called the shield ; the 

 other supplying the place of a sternum, and called the 

 brentplnte. Each of these is composed of numerous 

 platet ; thoe of the shield being most numerous, and 

 divided into those of the dix, or middle part, and those 

 of the margin. The plates of the disc are generally 

 tlu'rteen in number; and those which are ranged along 

 the back from head to tail, are denominated vertebral 

 plates. The plates of the margin vary in the different 

 species from 2 1 to 25. There are several terms appli- 

 cable to these plates, which occur in the following cha- 

 racters, and therefore require explanation here. When 

 the plates rise in a ridge in the middle, they are said to 

 be carinated ; when they have depressions in the con- 

 trary direction, they areforrowed ; when they are uni- 

 formly highest in the centre, they are convex or sub- 

 convex, according to the degree of elevation; when 

 they lie upon each other like tiles or slates upon a roof, 

 they are imbricated ; when they are notched about the 

 edge like the teeth of a saw, they are serrated. 



The shield and breastplate of these animals are more 

 or less firmly united together at the edges, leaving open- 

 ings for the head, legs, and tail. Some species have 

 the power of withdrawing all these parts within the 

 shell, where they lie as if shut up in a box, safe from 

 the attacks of almost every animal but man. 



The legs of these animals are very short, but so strong, 

 that one of the larger turtles has been known to walk 

 with apparent ease, while several men stood on its back. 

 In their motions they are slow and awkward, and, with 

 very few exceptions, they are inoffensive, and submit, 

 without resistance, to the most cruel treatment. They 

 past the winter in a torpid state. 



GENUS I. CHBLONIA. TURTLES. 

 Tke feet flattened, M as to resemble the broad part 



of an oar ; the toes of unequal length, united together 

 so as to form a broad expanded surface, with flat nails 

 inserted into its margin. 



The Chelonice comprise the largest species of this or- 

 der; some having been found that weighed seven or 

 eight hundred pounds. They are inhabitants of the 

 ocean, and feed partly on fuci or sea- weeds, and partly 

 on the mollusca and other small sea-animals that har- 

 bour among these submarine plants. The eggs of all 

 the species, and the flesh of most of them, afford a deli- 

 cious repast even to the epicure. 



Of this genus only six species are distinctly marked 

 by naturalists, though it is understood that Schoepff, 

 the Prussian naturalist, was acquainted with eight. 

 These six species may be thus distinguished. 



vSpEciKS 1. Chelottia mydas. Green turtle. Plates 

 of the shield neither imbricated nor carinated, in num- 

 ber thirty ; four feet, furnished with two nails. See 

 Plate CCXCVI. Fig. 1. 



La Tortue Franc/ie. Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Reptiles, 

 par Sonnini, i. p. 10. Lacepede Hist. Nat. des Quad. 

 Ovip. i. Art. 1. (Translation by Kerr.) 



Tesiudo mydas, Linn. Syst. Nat. a Gmelin, p. 1037. 

 Schoepff, Hist. Nat. Testudinum, p. 73. pi. xvii. fig. 2. 



Green turtle, Shaw, General Zoology, iii. pi. xxii. 



2. C. ruortsa. Wrinkled T. Plates marked with 

 three transverse black furrows ; body of the shield ches- 

 nut-coloured, with a yellow margin. 



T. ridve, Daudin, i. p. 3?. 



3. C. caretta. Caret, or Hawksbill T. Shell ellip- 

 tical, subcarinated, serrated; dorsal plates 30, imbri- 

 cated. 



T. caret, Daudin, i. p. 39- Lacepede, i. Art. 5. 

 T. imbricata, Linn, a Gmelin, p. 1036. Schoepff, p. 

 83. pL xviii. 



Imbricttted turtle, Shaw, iii. 89. pi. 26. xxvi. 



4. C. cepediana. Cepedian T. Feet thin shaped, 

 furnished with one nail; plates of the breastplate 14% 



T. ccpedienne, Daudin, i. p. 49. 



5. C. caouamta. Loggerhead T. Shell ovato-cor- 

 date, serrated ; plates of the disc 1 5 ; vertebral plates 

 gibbous behind. 



Mydas. , 



PLATE 

 CCXCVJ, 

 Fig. 1. 



Rugose. 



Caretfa. 



Cepediaaa. 



Caouantu. 



