LECTURE Vir. 
21 
curved than in the Loggerhead Turtle, is another 
mark of distinction. The colour is a beautiful 
variegation of blackish brown and yellow, vary- 
ing greatly in diiferent individuals. This species 
is a native of the Asiatic seas, but is also found, 
though much more rarely, in the Atlantic, and 
even in the Mediterranean. Its general length 
is about three feet, but sometimes it is found 
much larger. The Greeks and Romans appear 
to have been highly partial to the use of Tortoise- 
shell as an ornamental article, decorating their 
doors, the pillars of their houses, and their beds 
with it. The great consumption of it at Rome 
may be guessed at by what Velleius Paterculus 
has related, who tells us that when the city of 
Alexandria was taken by Julius Caesar, the ma- 
gazines or warehouses were so full of this article, 
that he proposed to have made it the principal 
ornament of his triumph, as he did of ivory 
afterwards, during his triumph after the African 
Avar. 
We now pass to the genus called Rana or Frog, 
consisting of all the animals comprehended un- 
der the general names of Frog and Toad. This 
is a singularly curious race of animals, though 
from prejudice often considered in an unfavourable 
