20 
THE DOGAN1A. 
dragged from the water, seems possessed with tenfold ferocity, writhing its long, flexible neck 
darting its head furiously at its foes with the rapidity of a serpent’ s stroke, and snapping 
shsSrply with its formidable jaws, one bite of which would shred away the fingers from the 
hand, or the toes from the feet, as easily as the gardener’s scissors sever the twigs and leaves. 
Such a misfortune has indeed been known to occur. Mr. Bell records an instance where a 
Snapping Turtle, that was being conveyed to England, contrived to reach the hand of one of 
the sailors in its fierce struggles, and bit ofi one of his fingers. 
The eggs of the Snapping Turtle are very spherical in form, and brittle of substance. The 
female lays a large number of these eggs, from fifty to sixty being the usual average, and 
always deposits them in some dry situation. In order to find a suitable spot for the deposition 
of her eggs, the female leaves the water, and is often forced to traverse a considerable distance 
before she can find a spot sufficiently dry for her purpose. Sometimes she will even ascend a 
very steep acclivity in her anxiety to find a locality that is quite dry, covered with sandy soil, 
and exposed to the full rays of the sun. She begins her task about May, and the little Tor- 
toises are hatched in July. 
The following curious account of the tenacity of life possessed by these creatures has been 
kindly forwarded to me 
u As regards the tenacity of life of the Snapping Turtle, and the sympathy {rapport) 
which seems to exist between its severed limbs and main trunk, for some time after the separa- 
tion has taken place, I witnessed a very curious incident when staying at a farm in Massa- 
chusetts. 
“ When I had brought the animal home, suspended by its tail, I killed it by chopping its 
head off, yet the head would open and shut the mouth, and roll its eyes. When I held a stick 
between the open jaws it closed them with violence, and kept hold of it. Meanwhile the 
headless body was crawling on the ground. 
“About a quarter of an hour after having severed the head from the body, my mother 
had got boiling water, which I threw over the body, placed in a tub, in order to make the 
horny matter separate from the flesh ; the moment this was done the back heaved and the 
sides were puffed out as if wind were blown between the skin and flesh, and instantaneously 
the head, which lay about three or four feet from the tub, on the ground, opened its mouth 
with a slight hissing sound, let go its hold on the stick, and the part of the neck adhering 
to the head expanded, as if also wind was blown into it, and both body and head lay motion- 
less and dead. After having taken out thirty-four eggs, I took out the heart, which, strange 
to say, was still throbbing with life, contracting and expanding. I put it upon a plate, where 
it kept on beating until about noon the following day.” 
In this species, the front edge of the carapace is furnished with a great number of tooth- 
like points, all radiating from the shell. These teeth, or tubercles, distinguish it from two 
other American species, appropriately termed the Unarmed Trionyx {Tribnyx muticus), and the 
Mississippi Snapper {Macrochelys lacertind). This species is common in the Grulf States, and 
as far north as Illinois. It is regarded as one of the strongest and most ferocious of reptiles. 
Holbrook records a Turtle under the name of Temminck’s Snapper ( Oiielonura temmincki). 
Before taking leave of the Soft Turtles, we must cast a casual glance at two rather 
curious species. The one is the Tyrse ( Tyrse , or Tribnyx nilbt' i native of Africa, as its 
name imports. This animal is found in the Ml e, and other ivers, and is a good repre- 
sentation of the American reptile, being very fierce, st 1 racious, and said to devour 
the young crocodiles, just as the snapping tu? t alligators. The shell of the 
Tyrse is rather convex, but often is flattened une of the vertebrae, and its back 
is olive-green spotted with yellow or white. 
The other species is the Dogaxia {Dogania subplanus , or Tribnyx subplanus). This 
curious-looking reptile is an Asiatic species, and is found in India. Its neck seems pre- 
ternaturally long, and supports a very large head, broad behind, and produced into a 
conical muzzle in front. The shell is rather oval, much flattened, and quite conceals the 
conical tail. Its color is brown, mottled largely with yellow ; the head is also yellow 
