Land Toktoises.- 



-REPTILES.- 



-The Greek Tortoise. 



C9 



port upon which the body rests. All but one genus 

 {Homojms) have five claws on the front feet, and four 

 on the hind ones ; or if tiiey have five on the latter 

 also, the last is merely rudimentary, and remains con- 

 cealed under the skin. They are in some species 

 elongated, nearly straight, and sharp ; in others they 

 are short, blunt, and resflmble in a slight degree the 

 hoofs of some mammalia. These claws are useful to 



Fore and bind legof T> ; ■ ies. 



the animals, in holding down substances w-hile they 

 tear them with their jaws, and in burrowing or digging 

 holes in which to deposit their eggs, or to take refuge 

 from their enemies or from the cold in situations where 

 they cannot obtain the use of burrows previously 

 made by other animals. The skin which clothes the 

 legs is generally covered with scales — fig. 22. The fail 

 is covered with tubercular scales, and varies very much 

 both in length and form. Sometimes it is very short, 

 scarcely extending beyond the carapace, whilst in other 

 species it reaches nearly to the extremity of the hind 

 feet ; and occasionally it terminates in a kind of spur 

 or horny sheath enveloping the last joint. The female 

 tortoise is generally larger than the male. The eggs 

 remain a long time within her body, and are there 

 Covered with an external calcareous shell previous to 

 their exclusion. They are all laid nearly at the sane 

 time, are of a spherical form, and the shell is pretty 

 solid, not flexible like those of serpents. The newly- 

 hatched young dilVer considerably in appearance from 

 what they are when adult. Just previous to their 

 birth, they possess at the extremity of their beak a 

 horny point or protuberance, which enables them to 

 break the shell, and thus make their escape from it. 

 Though the Land tortoises never take to the water, yet 

 they are generally found living near it. Their chief 

 places of abode are woods and places well furnished 

 with herbs, and where they can either find or make 

 shallow holes or burrows, into which, when the cold 

 weather comes, they are able to retreat, and in which, 

 in cool climates, they remain during the winter in a kind 

 of torpidity. Their food consists chiefly of slugs and 

 snails, and vegetables. In a state of domesticity, they 

 have been observed to prefer lettuce to any other kind 

 of food. The species appear to be scattered nearly all 

 over the globe, except in Australia, where none have 

 yet been found. 



Only two species of Land tortoises are found in 

 Europe : — 



THE GREEK TORTOISE, TARTARUGA, 015 COMMON 

 LAND TORTOISE (T<;ste(ij(//-acu)— represented ia Tlate 



6, fig. 1 — is the best known. One of the first naturalists 

 who has given a description of this species was our 

 countryman, John Kay. It was well-known, however, 

 to the ancient Greeks ; and it is said to be the tortoise 

 which the celebrated Phidias sculptured, and placed at 

 the feet of his statue of Venus, as the symbol of gentle- 

 ness. The Tartaruga appears to be peculiar to the 

 northern part of the Mediterranean basin, and the 

 opposite coast of Africa. It is extremely common in 

 the Morea, is abundant in Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia, 

 and Corsica, and is found all along the Barbary coast, 

 especially in the neighbourhood of Algiers. It is said 

 also to be found in Spain, in 'the province of Andalusia, 

 and even to extend eastward to the shores of the 

 Caspian Sea and the foot of the Caucasus. The shell 

 is of an oval figure, a little broader behind than in front, 

 and is swollen or convex. The plates of the carapace 

 are generally smooth, or occasionally striated concen- 

 trically, and are generally of a yellowish- green and 

 black colour, with black triangular spots and rings. 

 The tail is rather long, in the European individuals 

 being terminated by a rather long and pointed claw ; 

 and in the African variety (which has been described 

 by some authors as a distinct species, imder the name 

 Testudo Mauritanica, or the Moorish tortoise) being 

 bhuit and clawless. The ordinary size of this animal 

 appears to be from sis to eight or ten inches in length. 

 Wherever it is found, it occurs in considerable abun- 

 dance, and it seems to prefer sandy and woody spots 

 as its places of abode. Its food consists of herbs, roots, 

 worms, and snails, the shells of which it breaks with 

 facility, and swallows the animal. During the cold 

 weather of winter, these tortoises retire into holes, 

 which they dig for themselves in the ground to the 

 depth of two or three feet, and in which they remain 

 in a sort of torpid state till the warmth of the months 

 of April and May revivifies them. Like the generality 

 of reptiles, they delight in warmth, and love to bask in 

 the rays of the sun. In Sicily and Italy these tortoises 

 are sold in the markets as food ; but their flesh is less 

 esteemed than the soup made from it. In Paris the 

 soup made from the individuals sent from Algiers, 

 known as soupe a la tortue is much esteemed by 

 many people. The habits and disposition of the Tar- 

 taruga are very gentle, and it is easily domesticated. 

 It is often kept in gardens, where it is very useful, as 

 it destroys insects, slugs, and snails, which are often so 

 pernicious to the flower-beds. It never does any harm 

 provided it is furnished occasionally with nourishment. 

 Lettuce leaves, according to Messrs. Dumeril and 

 Bibron, are its favourite food, preferring these to any 

 other kind of sustenance. According to some Italian 

 writers, these tortoises breed in the gardens of Italy, 

 where they are often kept. They appear to grow very 

 slowly, and live for a considerable time, individuals 

 having often been kept for upwards of forty years. 

 Who has not read of the " old family tortoise," so 

 exquisitely described by the inimitable author of the 

 " Natural History of Selborne ?" 



Though the land tortoise is generally very slow in 

 its movements, at the pairing season it becomes much 

 more active. When several males assemble in one 

 place, they attack eacli other fiercely, butting with 



