OF 8ELB0BNE. 277 
noon, with the thermometer at 50**, brought forth troops of 
shell-snails ; and, at the same juncture, the tortoise heaved 
up the mould and put out its head ; and the next morning 
came forth, as it were raised from the dead ; and walked 
about till four in the afternoon. This was a curious coin- 
cidence ! a very amusing occurrence ! to see such a simi- 
larity of feelings between the two (pspgoixoi ! for so the 
Greeks call both the shell-snail and the tortoise. 
Summer birds are, this cold and backward spring, un- 
usually late : I have seen but one swallow yet. This con- 
formity with the weather convinces me more and more that 
they sleep in the winter.^ 
More particulars respecting the old family tortoise. 
THE SHELL OF GILBERT WHITE's TORTOISE. 
Because we call this creature an abject reptile, we are 
too apt to undervalue his abilities, and depreciate his powers 
of instinct. Yet he is, as Mr. Pope says of his lordj 
" Much too wise to walk into a well : " 
and has so much discernment as not to fall down a haha ; 
but to stop and withdraw from the brink with the readiest 
precaution. 
Though he loves warm weather, he avoids the hot sun ; 
because his thick shell, when once heated, would, as the 
poet says of solid armour — scald with safety .^^ He 
therefore spends the more sultry hours under the umbrella 
^ In the original 4to. this letter ends here, and the " particulars" 
which follow are given by way of supplement at the end of tht. Antiquities. 
It seems more appropriate, however, to reprint them here. — Ed. 
