THE LUTH, OR LEATHERY TURTLE. 19 



the head, which lay about three or four feet from the tub, on the ground, opened its inouth 

 with a slight hissing sound, let go its hold on the stick, and the part of the neck adhering 

 to the head expanded, as if also wind was blown into it, and both body and head lay 

 motionless and dead. After having taken out thirty-four eggs, I took out the heart, which, 

 strange to say, was still throbbing with life, contracting and expanding. I put it upon 

 a plate, where it kept on beating until about noon the following day." 



The shape and general appearance of this creature may be learned from the engraving 

 better than by a page of description, and it is only necessary to poini out that, in this 

 species, the front edge of the carapace is furnished with a great number of tooth-liKt" 

 points, all radiating from the shell. These teeth, or tubercles, distinguish it from another 

 American species, appropriately termed the Unarmed Trionyx (Trionyx mtiticus). 



BEFORE taking leave of the Soft Turtles, we must cast a casual glance at two rather 

 curious species. The one is the TYESE (Tyrse, or Trionyx Niloticus), a native of Africa, 

 as its name imports. This animal is found in the Nile, and other African rivers, and is a 

 good representation of the American reptile, being very fierce, strong, and voracious, and 

 said to devour the young crocodiles, just as the snapping turtle eats young alligators. 

 The shell of the Tyrse is rather convex, but often is flattened along the line of the vertebrae, 

 and its back is olive-green spotted with yellow or white. 



The other species is the DOGANIA (Dogania subplanus, or Trionyx subplanus). This 

 curious-looking reptile is an Asiatic species, and is found in India. Its neck seems 

 preternaturally long, and supports a very large head, broad behind, and produced into a 

 conical muzzle in front. The shell is rather oval, much flattened, and quite conceals the 

 conical tail. Its colour is brown, mottled largely with yellow ; the head is also yellow 

 and brown. The ribs are not fully united together until the animal has attained a rather 

 advanced age. 



WE now arrive at the TURTLES, a group that can be distinguished by many unmistake- 

 able marks. Their feet are very long, those of the fore limbs being longest, flat, expanded 

 at the end, and often furnished with flattened claws. In fact the feet are modified into 

 fins or paddles, in order to suit the habits of these reptiles, which only feel themselves at 

 home in the water, and are often met at sea some hundreds of miles from the nearest land. 

 The ribs of the Turtles, instead of being united throughout their length, as in the tortoises, 

 are only wide, flat, and united for part of their length, the remaining portions being free, 

 and radiating like the spokes of a wheel. 



These reptiles inhabit the seas of the torrid and the temperate zones, and their food is 

 mostly of a vegetable nature, consisting of various seaweeds, but there are a few species 

 which are animal feeders, and eat creatures such as molluscs, star-fish, and other marine 

 inhabitants. Several species are remarkably excellent for food, and caught in great 

 numbers for the table, while others are equally useful in supplying the beautiful 

 translucent substance known by the name of tortoiseshelL Their head is rather globular, 

 and their jaws are naked and horny, and are capable of inflicting a severe wound. 



THE first example of the Turtles is the LUTH, or LEATHERY TURTLE, so called from the 

 soft leather-like substance with which its shell is covered. 



This species is found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, where it grows to a 

 very large size, often weighing more than sixteen hundred pounds, and measuring eight 

 feet in length. Being a very good swimmer, owing to the great development of the limbs, 

 especially the fore legs, it ventures far out to sea, and is occasionally driven to strange 

 countries. Specimens of this reptile have been taken on the coast of France, and one or 

 two on our own shores. These individuals were rather large, weighing about seven or 

 eight hundred pounds. 



The Leathery Turtle feeds on fish, Crustacea, molluscs, radiates, and other animals, and 

 its flesh seems to be hurtful, causing many symptoms of poisoning in those who eat it. 

 It resorts in numbers to the Tortugas, or Turtle Islands, of Florida, for the purpose of 

 laying its eggs, which are generally about three hundred and fifty in number, and are laid 

 in two sets. 



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