SPECKLED TORTOISE. 31 



crooked : the tail is almost half the length of the 

 body, and is thin, attenuated, compressed, and 

 scaly ; it is also spotted in the same manner as the 

 body. 



This elegant species is a native of many parts of 

 Europe, being found in Italy, Sardinia, France, 

 Hungary, Prussia, &c. inhabiting lakes and mud- 

 dy waters^ and feeding on aquatic plants, insects, 

 snails, and small fish. Its flesh is said to be 

 esteemed as a food, and is, in some places, sold in 

 the markets : the animal is also occasionally kept 

 in appropriated ponds, and fed or fattened with 

 lettuce-leaves, bread, &c. &c. It may be also 

 conveniently kept in a cellar, and fed with oats 

 scattered on the floor, which it readily eats 

 when they begin to germinate. It deposits its 

 eggs in sandy and sunny places in the beginning 

 of spring ; and it is pretended that they are not 

 hatched till the succeeding spring. It is an animal 

 of extremely slow growth, and seems somewhat to 

 vary in colour, according to the climates in which 

 it is found ; the ground-colour being either green- 

 ish, blackish, or of different shades of brown or 

 chesnut. 



It seems doubtful whether the species called T, 

 lutaria by Linnaeus was intended for this animal 

 or not; and the same doubt remains with respect 

 to the T. 07^bicularis of that author ; since his cha- 

 racters of both will be found in some points to 

 agree, and in others to disagree with the present 

 animal 



