364: 
YERTEBRATA. 
THE M0SK-TORTOISE. 
of an olive-brown or green color ; has a strong musky odor, is very active and vigorous, and is 
found in most of the ponds and ditches from Maine to Florida, It has the various popular titles 
of Musk-Tortoise^ Mud-Turtle, Mud-Terrapin, and StinJc-Pot, In this species the plastron is 
bivalve, the anterior section only being movable. 
THE TESTUDimD^ OR LATO TOETOISES. 
In these the carapace is convex and solid, the ribs being united together throughout their 
length \ the plastron is also solid, the feet short, stout, and somewhat clubbed, the toes being 
almost entirely concealed under the skin, and terminated by blunt nails, of which there are usu- 
ally five upon each of the anterior, and four upon each of the posterior feet. The head is rather 
small, and covered with shields ; the jaws are horny, and destitute of lips. The head, limbs, 
and tail can be completely retracted within the cavity of the shell, and in some cases the plas- 
tron is furnished with movable lobes, by which the aperture can be completely closed. The 
surface of the carapace is covered with horny shields, which touch each other at the edges, and 
• exhibit concentric lines of growth ; at the hinder part of the carapace, immediately over the 
tail, the caudal shields which in the preceding families are usually separate, are here united into 
a single broad plate. The Land Tortoises are generally of small size. They are terrestrial in 
their general habits, although most of them can sAvim immersed in the water. They retire to 
holes which they find or dig in the earth, and remain in a torpid state through the winter, even 
in climates where this season is not severe. They are very slow in their movements, and live 
entirely upon vegetable matter. Like the rest of the Chelonian reptiles, they are far more abund- 
ant in warm than in temperate climates. There is no kind of tortoise in the British Islands or 
in Ireland. 
Genus TESTUDO : Testudo. — The Common Land Tortoise of Europe, T. Orceca, is the only 
species found in that quarter of the world, and there it is not common, except in the southern 
parts. Its length is eight to eleven inches, and it seldom weighs over three pounds. It lives 
on roots, fruits, and insects. The flesh is extensively used in Greece. The eggs, about five in 
number, the size of those of a pigeon, are laid in June. The upper shell is composed of thirty- 
six parts or plates ; it is convex, and so strong that a cart may pass over it without injuring it. 
This species is very tenacious of life ; one kept in the garden of Lambeth Palace, near London, 
lived to the age of one hundred and twenty years, and other cases are recorded of still greater 
longevity. In winter, even in warm climates, it retires to some hole or cavern, where it remains 
till spring, imbedded in grass, leaves, or moss. It is common around the Mediterranean, as well 
in Africa as Asia. Forbes, in his Travels in Asia Minor, says: "Among Lycian reptiles, the 
tortoise is the most conspicuous and abundant. The number of these animals straying about 
the plains, and browsing on the fresh herbage in spring, astonishes the traveler. In April they 
commence love-making. Before we were aware of the cause, we were often surprised, when 
wandering among ruins and waste places, at hearing a noise as if some invisible geologist was 
busily occupied close by, trimming his specimens. A search in the direction of the noise dis- 
covered the hammer in the shape of a gentleman tortoise, who, not being gifted with vocal pow- 
ers, endeavored to express the warmth of his affection to his lady-love by rattling his shell against 
her side. The ardor of the tortoise is celebrated by .JSlian. In ditches and stagnant waters the 
