228 E. H. Barbour — A young Tortoise with two heads. 



hands ; but a fly or cricket is often a bone of bitter contention. 

 The first to seize its food becomes at once involved in a stub- 

 born tug of war with its other self, which ends only when the 

 morsel separates. The two heads eat with equal readiness, yet 

 often the appetite of one is greater than that of the other. 

 Sometimes one head turns slowly around and snaps at the yellow 

 eye of the other, obviously mistaking it for something to eat. 

 Of course the head and neck of the one assailed is straightway 

 withdrawn into the common protecting shell, where they can 

 find shelter, one at a time or together ; but in the latter case it 

 is plainly crowded, and the encroachment on tortoise preroga- 

 tives means a renewal of hostility, and a beating of their heads 

 together till a compromise is effected. These little misunder- 

 standings are always settled in a spirited way, and are exceed- 

 ingly ludicrous. Although rather frequent, they never arise 

 save when the two heads are disposed to withdraw to their 

 shell simultaneously ; at other times each in his turn enjoys 

 the privilege. One often withdraws and sleeps while the 

 other is perfectly wide awake. And then the one awake, 

 looking about to the right and left, sometimes starts off vigor- 

 ously, but only to find itself describing a circle, round and 

 round as if on a pivot, for such in fact the sleeping side 

 actually becomes. And generally it continues to use its two 

 feet as best it can, scurrying around in an endless circle, until 

 the sleeper, aroused by the commotion, puts out its head, looks 

 about, and then shuffles off with its companion. There is 

 no concerted action whatever in the use of the feet, as in 

 the normal tortoise, which first puts one fore-foot forward and 

 follows this with the diagonally opposite hind-foot, and so on. 

 But, as should be expected, the two-headed tortoise, with its 

 two ambulatory systems, puts out both fore-feet at once, leav- 

 ing its fore-parts without support, so that they drop and rest 

 on the plastron; then the hind -feet advance, and the hinder 

 extremities, left in their turn without support, drop, and thus 

 it advances by an awkward rocking gait. 



But these twin heads have finally learned to adapt them- 

 selves in various ways to their circumstances. This is espe- 

 cially striking in the matter of walking. By repeated failures, 

 each had discovered that when its companion sleeps, or is not 

 disposed to move, any activity on the part of either is circum- 

 scribed by the narrow circle whose radius is the breadth of 

 their common body. Accordingly, now, when either has made 

 a few bootless revolutions, it stops short and extending its two 

 feet laterally, seizes with its claws anything offering resistance, 

 and so slowly and laboriously drags itself sideways, crab-like. 

 By this device, to which they resort so repeatedly that it can- 

 not be counted mere chance, they can travel on indefinitely. 



