ORDER I. CHELONIA.— TORTOISES AND TURTLES. 117 
resemblance to those of an elephant. The anterior part of the shell is mov- 
able on a transverse hinge, and shuts up the head and fore limbs. Slow, 
quiet, and inoffensive, this reptile seldom wanders far from its haunts, and 
trusts only to its passive means of defence when molested. 
T. Greca. — This animal is about a foot long 
Bo? 
and frequents the regions 
round the Mediterranean ; it is also found in other parts of Europe. It lays 
four or five eggs in spring, and burrows a hole, where it passes the winter. 
Its food is fruit, leaves, insects, and worms. <A specimen resembling this, 
but a little larger, I have scen in the State of Maine. 
T. Ladiata. — This species is a native of New Holland. It is of a large 
size, but otherwise resembles the one mentioned below. 
T. Geometrica. —This is a small species, with a black shell, pleasingly 
relieved with yellow lines radiating from a disk of the same color. 
Fresu-water Torroises. — These do not differ from the above in gen- 
eral characters, with the exception that their feet are more adapted to aquatic 
habits, and the armor of the back is flatter than in the land tortoises. 
T’. Picta. — This species is the most widely diffused, and is found on both 
continents. It is of a brown color, and each scale is encircled with a yel- 
low ribbon. It is common in all parts of North America, and is often seen 
among reeds, upon rocks, or the trunks of trees, from which it falls into 
the water when alarmed. 
T. Europea inhabits all the south of Europe, and is about ten inches in 
leneth. Its flesh is good, on which account it is captured and fattened 
on bread and tender herbage. According to Morsigni, its egg requires a 
year to hatch. There are many other species, among which are the well- 
known Terrapin, or Box-tortoise, and 7. serpenténa, which approximates 
some of the turtles. It is known by its extremely long tail. “It inhabits 
the warm regions of North America, is very destructive to fish and water- 
fowl, ascends far up the rivers, and sometimes attains a weight of twenty 
pounds.” 
Genus CHeLontA.— The Turtles. This family comprises a large num- 
ber of species, most of them of large size, and many of them valuable for 
their flesh, which is esteemed a great luxury, and their shells, which are 
employed in the arts. 
The turtles are distinguished from the land tortoises particularly by their 
large and long fin-shaped feet, and also by a longer tail, which serves them 
as arudder. They have no teeth, but the horny upper jaw closes over the 
lower like the lid of a box, thus serving them as excellent shears, either for 
crushing shells or dividing the tough fibres of the sea-grass. 
They are at home in all the warmer seas, but sometimes they are carried 
by oceanic streams far away from their accustomed haunts. Thus, in the 
NO. XIV. OS 
