AFRICAN TORTOISE. 
In the Linnaean system, the Tortoise forms a 
distin£l genus of animals of the class of am- 
phibia, and order of reptiles ; the charadlers 
of which are — that the body has four feet, is 
defended by a thick crust, and furnished with 
a tail, and the naked mandibles a;re without 
teeth. Of this genus, Linnaeus enumerates 
fifteen species. ... . 
Ida tiiu ii:> 
It has been customary to divide Tortoises 
into two classes; those which live on land, 
and those which subsist in the water. Use 
has also made a distin6tion in the name: the 
former being called, the Tortoise, or Land 
Tortoise, and the latter, the Turtle, or Sea 
Turtle. 
Seba, however, has satisfadorily demon- 
strated, that the Land Tortoise will live in 
the water, and that the Sea Tortoise, or Tur-^ 
tie, can exist on the laud ; consetjuently, that 
they are both, ampliibious,. though their gene- 
ral 
