524 
Reptiles. 
THE LEATHERY TURTLE, (SpJiargis coriacea,) 
Has its back covered with a sort of leathery skin, 
instead of the horny plates of the other turtles. It is 
a very large species, measuring eight feet or more in 
length, and weighing as much as a thousand pounds. 
It is chiefly found in the Mediterranean ; it is, however, 
occasionally found on the other coasts of Europe, and a 
few specimens, some of them weighing seven or eight 
hundred pounds, have been caught in England. The 
flesh is not considered good, and in some cases great 
suffering has been occasioned by eating it. In 1748, a 
Leathery Turtle, which had been caught near Scar- 
borough, was purchased by a gentleman, who invited 
several friends to taste it. Though warned that the 
flesh was unwholesome, one of the guests ate some, but 
was seized soon after with dreadful sickness. This 
should be a warning to the curious to be careful how 
they " eat strange flesh." 
