218 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
in his way. Walking also quickly tires him, so that at every rod of his jour¬ 
ney he sits down, with hind legs drawn up and front ones straight, in which 
position he presents a comical aspect. His appearance at best is far from pleas¬ 
ing ; his shell is a dusty black, without markings; his tail is long and knotted, 
legs long and large, terminating with powerful claws. The head is prominently 
large, covered with thick wrinkled skin, neck long and studded with wart-like 
tubercles, while the mouth is armed 
with sharp jaws and hooked beak. 
When irritated the creature gives off a 
penetrating odor resembling musk, 
from which fact, together with its cor¬ 
rugated back and generally saurian 
aspect, the term Alligator terrapin has 
been given. A more appropriate name 
is applied to him in the West, where 
he is universally known as snapping 
turtle , though the snapping turtle proper 
is more common in the swamp regions 
of the tropics. It is a most savage 
snapping turtle. reptile, with jaws powerful enough tO' 
bite off a finger at a single snap. In 
making an attack it is more tenacious of its hold than a bull-dog, for which 
reason it is said not to quit its hold until it thunders. Its vitality is truly 
remarkable, having been known to live for a week with the head wanting. 
Notwithstanding its disgusting appearance and habits, its flesh is highly 
esteemed by some people whose appetites are evidently not very delicate. 
The Snake-Tortoise (Hydromedusa maximiliani) is a species found only 
in the marshes, 
stagnant waters, 
and occasionally 
in streams of 
Australia. Its 
most pro¬ 
nounced charac¬ 
teristic is an ex- 
tremely long 
and snake-like 
neck. The head 
is also of un¬ 
usual length, 
with the eyes, 
which are dis¬ 
proportionately 
large, set almost 
at the nasal ter- the tiger, or snapping turtle of south America. 
minus. When 
the body is hidden from view and the long neck exposed to observation, this 
tortoise has an astonishingly serpentine aspect, which is increased by a habit 
which the animal has of moving the head with arched neck in wonderful simili- 
