THE TERRAPINS 
327 
Nine times out of ten it is Slider, no more, no less; 
and a very good dish it makes, too. 
Of the genus to which this animal belongs, 
there are in North America at least six other 
species, all of them habitants of the southern 
half of our country. The Slider ranges north- 
ward only as far as Delaware, and the Susque- 
hanna River in Pennsylvania, but is frequently 
seen in the New York markets. Of the terrapins 
that are in the habit of sunning themselves on 
logs within diving distance of rivers, creeks or 
ponds, this species is, I think, the largest we are 
accustomed to see. Even at quite a distance it 
can be recognized by the height and narrowness 
of its shell, as compared with species of other 
genera. 
The Painted Terrapin , 1 hitherto called at 
random the Painted “Turtle” and Pond-“Tor- 
toise,” is perhaps the most widely distributed 
species, and the one available to the greatest 
number of school-rooms, in the United States. 
It inhabits the whole region east of the Missis- 
sippi River except the extreme southeastern 
states, or about one-half of the entire country. 
Its shell is from 6 to 8 inches in length, and its 
contour is rather flat. The plates of the cara- 
pace are greenish-black, edged with yellow, and 
those around the margin are marked with bright 
red. The under shell (plastron) is yellow with 
brown markings; and the legs and tail are dark 
brown, marked with bright red lines. The upper 
jaw is notched in front. 
This small boy’s favorite is a very common 
species, and nine times out of ten when a nice, 
well-behaved little Terrapin is seen sunning it- 
self on the hurricane-deck of a derelict log, ready 
to drop into the water with a gentle plash when 
Small Boy approaches dangerously near, that is 
It. It is called the Pond-Terrapin because it 
dislikes the nerve-wrecking hilarity of a river 
which rushes past at two or three miles per hour, 
but prefers a nice, quiet little 4x5 pond, where 
it can vegetate quite unmolested. In captivity 
its food consists of chopped fish and meat and 
angle-worms. 
The Ellachick , 2 of the Pacific slope, from the 
Sierra Nevadas to the coast, and from southern 
California to Vancouver, is the most important 
species in that region. It is good for food, and 
1 Chri/s-em'ys pic'ta. 
2 Chel'o-pus mar-mo-ra'tus. 
is frequently seen in the markets of the large 
cities on or near the coast. It is about the size 
of the painted terrapin. 3 
The Diamond-Backed Terrapin 3 of the 
salt marshes is, most unfortunately, famous for 
the flavor of its flesh, and its association with 
champagne. From the unlucky day when the 
epicures of Maryland pronounced terrapin stew 
a particularly delicious dish, the doom of this 
species has been sealed. Its price has risen from 
the original 25 cents each for large ones to $70 
per dozen for small ones, and the supply is rapidly 
dwindling to nothing. It is now a difficult mat- 
ter for a zoologist to procure for exhibition a speci- 
men that is more than half grown. 
In appearance the Diamond-Back is neither 
beautiful nor striking, and in flavor I think it 
has been greatly overpraised. At the same time 
PAINTED “TURTLE.” 
A good example of the Smooth-Shelled Terrapins. 
as reptiles go (for human food), its flesh is really 
very good; but, with all the good things that go 
into a terrapin stew, and champagne for sauce 
at three-fifty a bottle, almost any animal would 
taste good. 
The Diamond-Back Terrapin is a habitant of 
salt water, and at one time was found in the 
shallow bays and salt marshes along our Atlantic 
and Gulf coast from Massachusetts to Texas. 
Chesapeake Bay has always been a sort of centre 
of abundance of this species, and when it flour- 
ished the markets were supplied chiefly from the 
region lying between New York and Pamlico 
Sound. 
This Terrapin is small, rather flat, rounded 
3 Mal-a-co-clem'mys pa-lus'tris. 
