178 REPTILIA. 



TESTUDO, Lin. 



They have since been divided into five subgenera, chiefly from the forms 

 and teguments of their shell, and of their feet. 



TESTUDO, Brog. 



The Land Tortoises have the shell arched and supported by a solid, bony 

 frame, most of its lateral edges being soldered to the sternum; the legs, as 

 if truncated, with very short toes, which are closely joined as far as the 

 nails, all susceptible of being withdrawn between the bucklers; there are 

 five nails to the fore -feet, the hind ones have four, all stout and conical. 

 Several species live on vegetable food. 



EMTS, Brongn. 



The Fresh-water Tortoises have no other constant characters by which 

 they can be distinguished from the preceding ones, than the greater sepa- 

 ration of the toes, which are terminated by longer nails, and the intervals 

 occupied by membranes; even in this respect there are shades of difference. 

 They likewise have five nails before and four behind. The form of their 

 feet renders their habits more aquatic. Most of them feed on Insects, small 

 Fishes, Sec. Their envelope is generally more flattened than that of the 

 land Tortoises. 



Among the fresh- water Tortoises we should remark THE BOX-TORTOISES, 

 the sternum of which is divided by a movable articulation into two lids, 

 which, when the head and limbs are withdrawn, completely encase the ani- 

 mal in its shell. 



CHELONIA, Brongn. 



The envelope of the Sea Tortoises is too small to receive then 1 head, and 

 particularly their feet, which are very long (the anterior ones most so), and 

 flattened into fins. The toes are all closely united in the same membrane, 

 the two first ones of each foot being alone furnished with pointed nails, one 

 or other of which at a certain age is usually lost. The pieces of their ster- 

 num do not form a continuous plate, but are variously notched, leaving 

 considerable intervals which are filled with cartilage only. The ribs are 

 narrowed and separated from each other at their external extremities; the 

 circumference of the shell, however, is surrounded with a circle of pieces 

 corresponding to the ribs of the sternum. 



Test, mydas, L. (The Green Tortoise) is distinguished by its greenish 

 plates, thirteen in number, which are not arranged like tiles; those of the 

 middle range are almost regular hexagons. It is found from six to seven 

 feet long, and weighing from seven to eight hundred pounds. Its flesh is 

 highly esteemed, and furnishes a wholesome and palatable supply of food 

 to the mariner in every latitude of the torrid zone. It feeds in large troops 

 on the sea-weed at the bottom of the ocean, and approaches the mouths of 

 rivers to respire. The eggs it deposits in the sand to receive the vivifying 

 influence of the sun, are excellent food; its shell is of no value. 



