510 ZOOLOGY. 



the carotis (car), and snbclaTian artery of the same side. The 

 veins are two in number, as they enter the heart : 1st. The 

 pulmonary veins [pv) unite to form a very short trunk 

 emptying into the left auricle ; while ("M) the two venm 

 cavce sHjjeriores unite with the cava inferior (F) to empty 

 thronjrh the .^^iiucs venosu-i into the ria'bt auricle. 



The kidneys lie at the posterior end of the body against 

 the vertebral column. In the figure they are concealed by 

 the bladder and oviducts. (Minot.) 



There are about forty species of Chelonians in America 

 north of Mexico. The lower forms of turtles are the marine 

 species. Such is the great sea-turtle {Spltargis coriacea 

 Grav) of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, which is the 

 largest of all existing turtles, and is sometimes eight feet 

 long, weighing from eight hundred to twelve hundred pounds. 

 Xext to this species is the loggerhead turtle {Thalassochelys 

 cnouana Fitzinger), which is sometimes seen asleep in mid- 

 ocean. Still another is the hawk-bill or tortoise-shell turtle 

 {Eretmocltelys imbricata Fitz.), the plates of whose shell is 

 an article of commerce. The green-turtle of the Vest 

 Indies weighs from two hundred to three hundred pounds, 

 and is used for making delicious soups and steaks ; being 

 caught at night when laying its eggs on sundv shores. All 

 the foregoing species have large, fiat, broad flippers or fin-like 

 limbs, while in the pond and river turtles the feet are webbed, 

 and the toes distinct. A very ferocious species is the common 

 soft-sl;elled turtle {Asj)idonerfes .^pinifer Lesueur), whose 

 shell is covered with a thick leathery skin. It is carnivorous. 

 voracious, living in shallow muddy water, throwing itself 

 forward upon small animals forming its prey. The snap- 

 ping-turtle {CJidijdra serpentina Schweigger) sometimes 

 becomes four feet long; its ferocity is well known ; the flesh 

 makes an excellent soup. 



The terrapins belong to the genus P-^eudemi/s ; the pretty 

 painted turtle {Chrysemys piiia Agassiz) is common in the 

 Eastern States, while the Xanemys guttatus (Agassiz), or 

 spotted tortoise, is black, spotted with orange. In the land 

 tortoises the feet are short and stumpy. The Testudo Indica 

 of India is three feet in lensTth. The sreat laud tortoises of 



