In many of the northern cities they are brought in numbers to market and are esteemed excellent food, though I think that they are far inferior to the green turtle, the soft-shelled, or even several of the emydes. They are kept for months in tubs of fresh water, and feed on such offal as may be given them, though they never become fat or increase much in weight."

Though a very valuable and curious reptile, the Alligator Terrapin is far from beautiful, with its little dusky shell, its long knob-covered tail, its singular legs and feet, and its great sharply toothed jaws. On account of its habit of snapping fiercely at its opponents, it is often called by the name of Snapping Turtle, a title, however, which rightly belongs to a species which will shortly be described.

Its head is large and covered with a hard wrinkled skin; the neck is long, thick, and furnished with a number of projecting tubercles. Under the chin are two distinct barbels. When adult, the shell is so formed that a depression runs along the centre, leaving a kind of keel at each side of the central line; but when young, the shell forms three distinct keels. It is rather flat, oblong, and at the hinder portion is deeply cleft, so as to form a row of blunt teeth, but while young the teeth are sharp. The tail is stout, long, and is furnished with a series of large blunt tubercles along its central line.

We now arrive at another family of Tortoises, termed Chelydes, an example of which is the remarkable MATAMATA, the acknowledged type of its family.

All the Chelydes have broad flattened heads, long broad contractile necks, and when in repose have a curious custom of bending their necks under the side of the carapace. Their feet are webbed in order to enable them to pass rapidly through the water, and there is always a lobe between the claws. They are aquatic Tortoises, carnivorous, and voracious, and only feed while in the water. When swimming, the whole of the shell is kept below the surface.

The Matamata is certainly the most remarkable of aspect among all the Tortoises, and perhaps may lay claim to be considered one of the oddest-looking animals in the world, far exceeding in its grotesque ungainliness even the wild and weird creations of the middle-age painters.

This Tortoise inhabits Southern America, and is most plentiful in Cayenne. Formerly it was very common, but on account of the excellence of its flesh, it has been subject to such persecution, that its numbers have been considerably diminished. It haunts the lakes and rivers, where it swims well and with some speed. As is the case with most aquatic tortoises, it is carnivorous, and feeds on fish, reptiles, and other creatures, which it captures by a sudden snap of its sharp beak. In general, it appears not to care for chasing the intended prey, but conceals itself among the reeds and herbage of the river-side, and from its hiding-place thrusts out its neck suddenly upon its victims as they pass unsuspectingly within reach of their destroyer. On occasion, however, it will issue from its concealment, dart rapidly through the water and seize a fish, reptile, or even a water-fowl, and then retire with its prey to its former hiding-place.

It is a large and formidable creature, attaining, when adult, to a length of three feet. The head of the Matamata is most singular in shape, and remarkable for the strange appendages which are placed upon it. The head itself is much flattened, and rather broad, and the snout is prolonged in a most extraordinary manner, so as to form an elongated and flexible double tube.

On the top of the head are two membranous prolongations of the skin, standing boldly from the head, and having much the appearance of ears. From the chin hang two curiously fringed membranes, and the throat is decorated with four similar membranes, but of larger size and more deeply fringed. The neck is long, and bears upon its upper surface two rows of small membranous tufts, deeply fringed, and greatly resembling, in every point but that of size, the tufts on the chin and throat. The limbs are powerful, and the tail is short.

The shell of the Matamata is rather convex, broader before than behind, and rather flattened in the middle of the back. The shields are elevated, rather sharp at their tips, and are arranged so as to form three regular keels along the back.

A NEARLY allied species of river Tortoise is worthy of a passing notice. It is the NEW HOLLAND CHELODINE, sometimes called the YELLOW CHELODINE, from the oliveyellow colour of the plastron.

This remarkable reptile may almost deserve the name of the Snake Tortoise, its long flexible neck, and flat, narrow, and pointed head, having a very serpentine aspect. As its name imports, it is an inhabitant of Australia, and is found most commonly in New Holland. It is a water-loving creature, not caring much for rivers and running streams, but haunting the pools, marshes, and stagnant waters, where it lives in the midst of abundance, finding ample food among the fishes and aquatic reptiles which generally swarm in such localities. It is an active animal, traversing the water with considerable speed, and capturing its prey by means of its sharp jaws.

The gape is very large, and the jaws are comparatively slender. The shell is broad, rather flattened, and the shields are thin and smooth, not being elevated as in the preceding species. The general colour of the shell is brown above and yellow below, each shield having a black line round its edge.

We now arrive at another family of the Tortoises, known popularly as Soft Turtlesa rather inaccurate title, inasmuch as they are not turtles but Tortoises-and scientifically as Trionycidae. The latter title is of Greek origin, signifying three-clawed, in allusion to the fact that, although the species belonging to the family have five toes on each foot, only the three inner toes of each foot are armed with claws.

These Tortoises are rather interesting to the careful observer, because the peculiar structure of the external covering permits the formation of the skeleton to be seen without the necessity for separating the shells. In particular, the method in which the breastbone is developed into the broad flattened plate which forms the plastron, can clearly be

18

THE SNAPPING TURTLE.

seen through the skin, and even the position of the sutures can be made out without much difficulty.

The head of these creatures is rather oval and flattened, the jaws are horny, but covered with hanging fleshy lips, and the mouth is lengthened into a cylindrical trunk. The neck is long and can be contracted, the feet are short, very wide, and the toes are connected together by strong webs. They all live in warm climates, and are found in rivers and lakes.

The typical species is the celebrated FIERCE TRIONYX, or SNAPPING TURTLE, a reptile which derives its former title from the exceeding ferocity of its disposition, and the latter from the method in which it secures its prey or attacks its foes. It is found spread over many parts of North America.

This fierce and determined marauder of the waters is even more formidable than the two previous species, and not only causes terror among the smaller creatures which inhabit the same localities, but is even dreaded by man, whose limbs have often been severely wounded by the bite of these ferocious reptiles. Like the aquatic Tortoises, it is carnivorous in its habits, and is terribly destructive among the fish, smaller quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles. Lurking on the banks it snatches away many an unfortunate animal as it comes to drink, or seizes the water-fowl that have ventured too close to their terrible neighbour. So fiercely carnivorous is this Tortoise, and so voracious is its appetite, that it will even catch young alligators, and devour them in spite of their teeth and struggles.

The flesh of this species is very delicate, tender, and richly flavoured, so that it often meets the doom which it has inflicted on so many other animals. As it is so voracious, it will take almost any kind of bait, provided that it be composed of animal substance, but it prefers fish, and cannot resist a hook so baited.

Its captor's work, however, is not confined to hooking and drawing it ashore, as the Snapping Turtle, when it finds itself with a hook firmly fixed in its jaws, and itself being irresistibly dragged from the water, seems possessed with tenfold ferocity, writhing its long flexible neck, darting its head furiously at its foes with the rapidity of a serpent's stroke, and snapping sharply with its formidable jaws, one bite of which would shred away the fingers from the hand, or the toes from the feet, as easily as the gardener's scissors sever the twigs and leaves. Such a misfortune has indeed been known to occur. Mr. Bell records an instance where a Snapping Turtle, that was being conveyed to England, contrived to reach the hand of one of the sailors in its fierce struggles, and bit off one of his fingers.

The eggs of the Snapping Turtle are very spherical in form, and brittle of substance. The female lays a large number of these eggs, from fifty to sixty being the usual average, and always deposits them in some dry situation. In order to find a suitable spot for the deposition of her eggs, the female leaves the water, and is often forced to traverse a considerable distance before she can find a spot sufficiently dry for her purpose. Sometimes she will even ascend a very steep acclivity in her anxiety to find a locality that is quite dry, covered with sandy soil, and exposed to the full rays of the sun. She begins her task about May, and the little Tortoises are hatched in July.

The following curious account of the tenacity of life possessed by these creatures has been kindly forwarded to me :

"As regards the tenacity of life of the Snapping Turtle, and the sympathy (rapport) which seems to exist between its severed limbs and main trunk, for some time after the separation has taken place, I witnessed a very curious incident when staying at a farm in Massachusetts, U.S. America.

When I had brought the animal home, suspended by its tail, I killed it by chopping its head off, yet the head would open and shut the mouth, and roll its eyes. When I held a stick between the opened jaws it closed them with violence, and kept hold of it. Meanwhile the headless body was crawling on the ground.

About a quarter of an hour after having severed the head from the body, my mother had got boiling water, which I threw over the body, placed in a tub, in order to make the horny matter separate from the flesh; the moment this was done the back heaved and the sides were puffed out as if wind were blown between skin and flesh, and instantaneously

THE LUTH, OR LEATHERY TURTLE.

19

the head, which lay about three or four feet from the tub, on the ground, opened its mouth with a slight hissing sound, let go its hold on the stick, and the part of the neck adhering to the head expanded, as if also wind was blown into it, and both body and head lay motionless and dead. After having taken out thirty-four eggs, I took out the heart, which, strange to say, was still throbbing with life, contracting and expanding. I put it upon a plate, where it kept on beating until about noon the following day."

The shape and general appearance of this creature may be learned from the engraving better than by a page of description, and it is only necessary to point out that, in this species, the front edge of the carapace is furnished with a great number of tooth-like points, all radiating from the shell. These teeth, or tubercles, distinguish it from another American species, appropriately termed the Unarmed Trionyx (Trionyx múticus).

BEFORE taking leave of the Soft Turtles, we must cast a casual glance at two rather curious species. The one is the TYRSE (Tyrse, or Trionyx Nilóticus), a native of Africa, as its name imports. This animal is found in the Nile, and other African rivers, and is a good representation of the American reptile, being very fierce, strong, and voracious, and said to devour the young crocodiles, just as the snapping turtle eats young alligators. The shell of the Tyrse is rather convex, but often is flattened along the line of the vertebræ, and its back is olive-green spotted with yellow or white.

The other species is the DOGANIA (Dogania subplanus. or Trionyx subplanus). This curious-looking reptile is an Asiatic species, and is found in India. Its neck seems preternaturally long, and supports a very large head, broad behind, and produced into a conical muzzle in front. The shell is rather oval, much flattened, and quite conceals the conical tail. Its colour is brown, mottled largely with yellow; the head is also yellow and brown. The ribs are not fully united together until the animal has attained a rather

advanced age.

WE now arrive at the TURTLES, a group that can be distinguished by many unmistakeable marks. Their feet are very long, those of the fore limbs being longest, flat, expanded at the end, and often furnished with flattened claws. In fact the feet are modified into fins or paddles, in order to suit the habits of these reptiles, which only feel themselves at home in the water, and are often met at sea some hundreds of miles from the nearest land. The ribs of the Turtles, instead of being united throughout their length, as in the tortoises, are only wide, flat, and united for part of their length, the remaining portions being free, and radiating like the spokes of a wheel.

These reptiles inhabit the seas of the torrid and the temperate zones, and their food is mostly of a vegetable nature, consisting of various seaweeds, but there are a few species which are animal feeders, and eat creatures such as molluscs, star-fish, and other marine inhabitants. Several species are remarkably excellent for food, and caught in great numbers for the table, while others are equally useful in supplying the beautiful translucent substance known by the name of tortoiseshell. Their head is rather globular, and their jaws are naked and horny, and are capable of inflicting a severe wound.

THE first example of the Turtles is the LUTH, or LEATHERY TURTLE, so called from the soft leather-like substance with which its shell is covered.

This species is found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, where it grows to a very large size, often weighing more than sixteen hundred pounds, and measuring eight feet in length. Being a very good swimmer, owing to the great development of the limbs, especially the fore legs, it ventures far out to sea, and is occasionally driven to strange countries. Specimens of this reptile have been taken on the coast of France, and one or two on our own shores. These individuals were rather large, weighing about seven or eight hundred pounds.

The Leathery Turtle feeds on fish, crustacea, molluscs, radiates, and other animals, and its flesh seems to be hurtful, causing many symptoms of poisoning in those who eat it. It resorts in numbers to the Tortugas, or Turtle Islands, of Florida, for the purpose of laying its eggs, which are generally about three hundred and fifty in number, and are laid

in two sets.