220 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
in that instead of the ribs being united throughout the length, as in the 
tortoise, in the turtle the ribs are flat, only a part of which are attached to the 
carapax, the others radiating concentrically. 
The Hawk’s-bill Turtle (Testudo imbricata ) is the best known because 
the most valuable of all the turtle species, since from its shell are produced 
many beautiful and high-priced articles known as tortoise shell. It still exists 
in considerable numbers in the Indian Ocean, and especially on the islands of 
Oceanica, but a merciless pursuit and destruction which every year grows more 
persistent, has caused a perceptible decrease, and in a few years more, like the 
whale and seal, it will no doubt become very scarce. At the present time it 
is most numerous on the shores of New Guinea. A variety of this turtle is 
also found in the Caribbean Sea, but its shell is not so valuable as that taken 
from the East Indies species. 
The hawk?s-bill turtle gets its scientific name from the arrangement of the 
plates, which overlap each other like the tiles on a roof; and it gets its 
common English name from the partial resemblance of its mouth, seen in 
profile, to the bill of a hawk. Its 
head, neck and legs are longer in 
proportion to their thickness than 
those of the other turtles; it is 
more active, swimming with greater 
velocity, and righting itself .when 
turned. Its eggs are eatable, but 
its flesh is not good, and the chief 
value of it to man are the plates 
on its back, which are the true tor¬ 
toise-shell of commerce, and have 
been highly esteemed from the earl¬ 
iest ages. There are thirteen plates 
in the central part, surrounded b}^ 
twenty-five smaller ones. The large central plates are the finest shell, and 
they are often of considerable thickness; but the plates of shell do not 
form the entire case of the animal. The inner or supporting part is bony, 
and may be considered as part of the skeleton. The true skin is between 
the bony substance and the plates of shell. The plates are a production 
of that skin, and in the living state they are covered by an epidermis, 
or scarfskin. The common way of obtaining the plates is to heat the entire 
backpiece of the animal, by fire applied under the hollow on the inside. 
By that means the gelatine of the skin is dissolved, the skin itself swells, 
and the plates are easily detached entire. A turtle of about 300 pounds 
weight will produce about ten or twelve pounds of shell; but in the common 
way of obtaining the shell, the animal, which is otherwise useless in the arts, 
is sacrificed. In the eastern isles, where the hawk?s-bill turtle is very abun¬ 
dant, the Malays, who procure large quantities of shell for the Chinese, pursue 
a different method. They catch the turtle alive, and retain it while they detach 
the central plates, so dexterously as not to lacerate the skin. The helpless 
creature manifests little uneasiness during the operation, and when divested it 
is released and makes at once for the sea where after a lapse of several 
months the plates are reproduced, but these are never considered so valuable. 
SHIELD PLATED, OR HAWK’S BILL TURTLE. 
