98 
LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
species of Emys /—and I could not but admire the 
adaptation of the form for swift swimming, the 
carapace or back-shell ■ being flattened, arching 
slightly in the middle, and thinned to an edge 
all round, so as to present as little resistance as 
possible to the water; and also the efficient protection 
'which the integument affords against most ordinary 
casualties, the back and belly being encased in 
bony solid shields, and the neck and limbs covered 
with a loose skin so dense as to resist the edge of 
a knife. The strong, cutting jaws, shutting into 
each other just like the notched mandibles of a 
hawk, and the curved claws, likewise show how 
well furnished the creature is for taking its prey* 
There are sometimes found in the swamps and 
in the wider rivers other Turtles of larger size and 
more formidable character, which I hear reports of, 
but have not yet been so fortunate as to see. The 
name of Snapping Turtle is given to one, but it is 
frequently called' in books the Alligator Tortoise 
( Glielydra serpentina ) , It is said to be three feet 
in length, and as ferocious as the mailed leviathan 
after whom it is named. Concealing itself under 
the broad floating leaves of aquatic plants, it sud- 
denly darts out its great head, and makes a snap at 
any intruder with fatal precision ; while such is 
the force of the muscles which move the jav/s, 
such the strength of their substance, and the keen- 
ness of their cutting edges, that any object less 
firm than metal is pretty sure to be divided. In- 
stances have not uiifrequently occurred of unwary 
persons having their fingers amputated at a single 
snap of this vicious creature. The allusion to the 
alligator in the name given to this animal, does 
not refer so much to this ferocity, as to the form. 
