220 ANIMAL FOOD RESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



pound, it represents the whole price of the animal ; the 

 flesh being obtained for nothing. 



The salt water terrapin of North America {Ckmmys 

 terrapin, Schoepf) is in great request, its flesh being 

 highly esteemed as a delicacy for the table, especially at 

 the close of the summer, when the animals have retired 

 to their winter dormitory. They are then fat, and con- 

 sidered as a delicacy. 



The painted terrapin ( Clemmys picta) and the red-bellied 

 terrapin (Clemmys Muhlenburgii, Schweigg, Pseudemys 

 ricgosa, Shaw) are now less common in Central New 

 Jersey, being sought after by restaurant keepers, who 

 palm them off on their customers as the diamond-back 

 terrapin {Malacoclemmys palustris, Gmelin), but no cooking, 

 however skilful, can deceive those who are accustomed 

 to the genuine article. The latter is met with on the 

 American coasts, from New York to Texas, the red-belhed 

 from New Jersey to Virginia. The Southern terrapin is 

 Pseudemys mobiliensis, HoUbrook ; the Florida river terra- 

 pin (P. concinna). 



The American box tortoise (Cistudo Carolina) has a 

 wide distribution. Its flesh is said to be excellent. 



The terrapins inhabit North America, from Hudson's 

 Bay to the Moridas. There are so many species that it is 

 difficult to enumerate those which are eaten. They are 

 found at the mouths of rivers and in salt marshes in 

 North America, and their flesh is considered a very 

 delicious article of food. To show the importance of the 

 tortoise trade in the United States, I may quote the 

 following account of a Baltimore establishment from an 

 American paper : — 



" The most novel feature in the house is, the terrapin 

 department. This room is kept warm and the terrar 

 pins luxuriate in air-tight chests, each from Ave to ten 

 bushels capacity. These are packed full of terrapins, 

 which number many hundreds in the aggregate. The 

 most of them are the Chesapeake diamond-back variety, 

 and all are at least seven inches across the under shell, 

 that being the measurement the terrapin must reach 



