THE LUTH, on LEATHERY TURTLE. 



21 



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

 advanced age. 



We now arriA'e at the Turtles, a group that can be distinguished by many unmistakable 

 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, tlie 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. Tlie 

 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. 



DOGANIA. — Dogaiiia subplanus. 



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 moUusks, 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 tortoise-shell. 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 true Turtles is the Lutii, or Leathery Turtle {Dermatochelys 

 coriacea), 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 liundred 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. Speci- 

 mens of this reptile have been taken on the coast of France, and on other shores. These 

 individuals were rather large, weighing about seven or eight hundred pounds. 



