THE TORTOISES 
325 
ishecl a marvellous series of gigantic reptilian 
forms. Beside some of these extinct creatures 
our largest reptiles are mere pygmies, and to-day 
they are equalled in bulk only by the rhinoce- 
ros, hippopotamus, elephant, and whale. The 
great Brontosaurus, whose fossil remains were 
found in the bad-lands of Wyoming, was sixty 
feet long, and some of the great Dinosaurs, or 
kangaroo-like lizards, stood over thirty feet in 
height ! 
Beside the Giant Tortoises, our Gopher Tor- 
toise , 1 the largest allied species of tortoise we 
possess, seems insignificantly small. The largest 
specimens weigh only fifteen pounds. This 
Excepting these and similar forms, the small 
Chelonians find refuge from danger in the watery 
depths of the ponds and streams they inhabit. 
The Box Tortoise, however, formed for life on 
land, is so small it has required a special inven- 
tion for its protection. 
Its shell is high, and contains sufficient room 
to permit the head, legs and tail to be fully with- 
drawn within it. Across the centre of the lower 
shell, or plastron, a practical double hinge has 
been provided. Thus, in time of danger, the 
animal completely withdraws its head, legs and 
tail, at both ends it draws the lower shell tightly 
against the upper, and all the soft parts are en- 
BOX TORTOISES. 
species is found from South Carolina to Florida, 
and westward to-Texas. It has a very thick and 
strong shell, and burrows in the earth of the 
sandy pine-forests in which it lives. Its shell is 
smooth, and unmarked by bright colors, and its 
flesh is palatable food. 
The IJox Tortoise 2 is, to my mind, one of the 
small wonders of Nature, the special purpose of 
which is to point out how far “ specialization ” 
can go in fitting an animal to survive. After 
all, the most interesting things about animals 
are the lessons they teach bearing upon the devel- 
opment of the world and its inhabitants. 
1 Tes-tu'do pol-y-phe'mus. 
2 Cis-tu'do Carolina. 
t-irely out of reach, behind strong walls of bone. 
The box of bone is as tightly closed at all points 
as a strongly made cigar-box with the cover 
nailed down. 
The Box Tortoise is an illustration of the fact 
that several species of tortoises are quite hand- 
somely colored, in geometric patterns of black 
or red lines, on lighter ground-colors. A repre- 
sentative specimen of this species is covered with 
an open fret-work of black bands laid in a me- 
chanical pattern on a lemon-yellow ground-color. 
North of the range of the gopher tortoise, the 
Box Tortoise is our only genuine tortoise, — living 
only upon land, and never inhabiting water. It 
is common all around New York City, and is 
