178 



CHELONIANS. 



unpalatable from its musky flavour. On the other hand, its eggs 

 are excellent when fresh, and eagerly sought after. 



In order to prepare the shell, it is softened by means of boiling 

 after being torn from the animal's back. It is then flattened by 

 being passed through a press, previous to being polished. In 

 this condition it is ready for all sorts of ornamental work. The 

 Loggerhead Turtle, or C. caouana (Fig. 43), like the Green 

 Turtle, has its scales placed side by side. Its colour is brownish 

 or deep maroon. It is found incidentally on the French and 

 English coasts, and abounds in the Atlantic and Mediterranean 

 seas. Its length is about four feet ; its weight, from three to four 



Fig. 44. Leather-back or Corded Tortoise (Spargis coriacea). 



hundred pounds. It is very voracious, and feeds principally on 

 mollusks. Its shell is much valued, but its flesh is indifferent, and 

 its fat altogether uneatable ; however, it is used in some localities 

 to make lamp-oil. 



The Leather-back or Corded Tortoise, Spargis coriacea, differs 

 from every other genus, its body being enveloped in a coriaceous 

 hide ; tuberculous in the young, perfectly smooth in adults. The 

 feet are without claws. Seven longitudinal grooves extend from 

 the neck to the tail, which remind one of the seven chords of the 

 ancient lyre. Only one species of Sphargis is known (S. coriacea, 



