LAND TORTOISES. 1 45 



In the valuable " Erpetologie " of Messrs. Dumeril and Bibron, 

 the Chelonians are divided into — 1. Land Tortoises, Chersites. 2. 

 Marsh Tortoises, Elodites. 3. River Tortoises, Potamites. 4. Sea 

 Tortoises, or Turtles, Thalassites. 



This arrangement being the most simple, is adopted as being 

 best adapted to our purpose.] 



Land Tortoises. 



Terrestrial Tortoises are distinguished by their short, oval, and 

 convex bodies, covered by carapace and plastron ; four feet, and the 

 absence of teeth ; short, stumpy, unshapely legs ; nearly equal toes, 

 armed with claws, united by a thick skin, so as to form a clumsy 

 foot, the periphery of which forms a sort of hoof, which seems 

 adapted for the land. 



In this group the carapace is very convex, its height sometimes 

 exceeding its breadth ; it forms a solid generally an immovable arch, 

 under which the animal can completely conceal- its feet and tail. 

 This buckler is covered with large horny plates. 



Land Tortoises have been known from the earliest time, repre- 

 sentations of them being found on numerous monuments of anti- 

 quity. Moreover, ancient writers tell us that the carapace of the 

 tortoise contributed its substance to the formation of the first lyre ; 

 it was consequently sacred to Mercury as the deity of music and 

 inventor of that instrument. 



The Land Tortoises are divided into four genera, which Dumeril 

 and Bibron again divide into three sub-genera and thirty species. 

 The most interesting species, however, to which we must limit 

 our remarks are — the Marginate Tortoise, Testudo marginata; the 

 Moorish Tortoise, Testudo mauritianica; the Greek Tortoise, Testudo 

 Grceca; and the Elephantine Tortoise, Testudo elephantina. 



The Marginate Tortoise, which was long confounded with the 

 Greek Tortoise, is found abundantly in Egypt. The carapace is oval 

 in form, oblong, convex, and much dilated at the posterior margin, 

 and nearly horizontal; the plastron is movable behind, which is 

 its chief sub-generic character ; the tail is thick, conical, and 

 scarcely issues from the carapace. The plates of the disc are of a 

 blackish-brown, presenting towards the centre certain spots of a 

 beautiful yellow colour; the marginal plates are habitually orna- 

 mented with two triangular spots, one yellow, the other black. 

 The under part of the body is of a dirty yellow, with one large 

 triangular black spot upon six or eight of the sternal scales. This 

 Tortoise is of medium size. 



