of one hundred and twenty-three. Other remarkable age records have been 
obtained by Nichols who has marked the plastrons of Long Island specimens 
for many years. 
However, the custom of marking box turtles is not always in the 
interests of science. Once a European savant was visiting at the home of 
a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer. In his rambles through the countryside, he 
picked up a box turtle on whose plastron was inscribed, “G. W. 1732.” 
He naively rushed to his host with this “discovery”— a turtle not only two 
centuries old but also bearing Washington’s initials and date of birth. After 
seeing the specimen, the farmer went into the yard for a few minutes and 
returned with another box turtle inscribed, “Adam, 1.” 
The box turtle is remarkably hardy, and can go for a long period 
without food or water. In captivity this pleasant creature is clever enough 
to be taught to come to a water faucet and beg for a drink. 
These turtles are rarely used for food. There is one example, cited 
by Babcock, of striking Scranton coal miners, in 1902, who ate box turtles 
and were poisoned. It is believed that the turtles themselves had previ¬ 
ously eaten toadstools which do not injure them but poison humans. 
Miss Bush tells a story which indicates that although box turtles do 
not quarrel with man, they are not so pacific among themselves. “A curi¬ 
ous instance of fighting, for sheer love of fighting, came to my attention 
some years ago. In walking through the fields I collected a number of 
box turtles, which I set free almost immediately. One was an unusually 
handsome male, quite unblemished except for a curious scar across his 
nose. 
“After carrying him a little I put him down in company with a smaller 
but older male. Chancing to come upon them later, I found the one with 
the scarred nose making the most furious onslaughts on the other, who had 
wisely shut himself up and was impervious to attack. The attacker con¬ 
tinued to make lunges until his nose was torn and bleeding from the contact 
with the other’s shell. Finally he succeeded in turning his victim upon 
its back, whereupon he planted his feet firmly upon the closed plastron 
and stood with neck outstretched, lacking only the voice to crow over his 
victory.” 
The largest of the nine species of box turtles is the southern box turtle, 
inhabiting the pine forests and palmetto tangles of Florida, southern Geor- 
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