222 ANIMAL FOOD RESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



Tiver and streams adjoining. An active terrapin catcher 

 sometimes makes fifty dols. a week, but the find varies, 

 and often runs down as low as five dols. The reptile is 

 discovered by probing the mud in the shallows with a 

 stick. He is dormant and easily captured. 



The females are more highly prized and are known as 

 "' cow " terrapin. They are generally fatter and contain 

 about thirty eggs, some of which a visitor has a right to 

 expect to garnish the dish at 1 dol. 25c. a plate. Many 

 restaurateurs, reckless of their fair fame, have resort to 

 the eggs of the pigeon made into a paste and rolled 

 into a substitute for the genuine article. Thirty years ago 

 the largest dealer in Baltimore found it difficult to dis- 

 pose of the terrapin he received at six dols. a dozen. The 

 negroes who bring them to market say that they are 

 gro'v^ing scarcer yearly, and nothing but the high price 

 stimulates them to keep up the supply by a more ex- 

 tended and persistent search. 



The painted turtle {Chrysemys picta, Henma and Gray) 

 may be found in many of the American ponds, lakes, 

 creeks and rivers, from New Brunswick to Georgia. 

 Though not considered eatable, it is nevertheless sold 

 along with several other tortoises, and figures as a 

 " diamond-back " in the famous terrapin supper. Indeed 

 in some seasons there are more wood turtles (Chelopus 

 iiisculptus, Le Conte) and red-bellied terrapins sold in 

 the Philadelphia markets than edible salt water terra- 

 pins or diamond-backs. In examining a netful of terra- 

 pins at a game store a short time ago, all of them were 

 of the rugosa species. Many of them were dead, and 

 two were so " very dead " that their eyes had dried up 

 and sunk deeply into their sockets. And yet the wily 

 caterer will buy them and stew them with wine and 

 spices, and the epicure will smack his lips over this 

 reptilian carrion, and exclaim, " How delicious ! " 



Emys tecta, Gray, abounds in the Hooghly, and is sold 

 for food. The flesh of an Emys is eaten in China, and is 

 considered medicinally pectoral and emollient. The shell 

 cut up in small pieces is given in decoction. The cara- 



