AFRICAN TORTOISE 
smaller and longer than those of the domestic 
hen. Swammerdam, on comparing the size 
of the eggs, with the diameter of the passage 
through which they are protruded, was of 
opinion that the bones separated for the pur- 
pose, and again closed : but it seems more 
probable that the eggs give way on the occa- 
sion. All the eggs have a yolk and a white; 
but the shell is like those soft eggs which hens 
occasionally drop before their time. TheshelU 
however, is much thicker, as well as stronger, 
and is longer coming to maturity prior to ix'^^s. 
exclusion. 
Though the Turtle is well known to lay 
from a hundred and fifty to two hundred eggs 
in a season, the Tortoise, from the scarceness 
of the animal, is suppovsed not to produce any 
great number. The female, when ready to 
lay, scratches a slight cavity in the earth, ge- 
nerally in a smmy situation ; there depositing^ 
her eggs, and covering them with grass and 
leaves, she abandons them to be hatched by 
the, warmth of the season.. Tlie young ge- 
nerally appear in about twenty^six dayj; ^ r^nd 
they no sooner <juit the eggs, than tliey seek 
therr 
