without auricles. The principal tribes are; the tortoises, lizards, and frogs.-Serpents are destitute of feet, but move by the assistance of scales and their general powers of contortion. Their jaws are dilatable, and not articulated. They have neither fins nor ears.

THE TORTOISE TRIBE*.

THIS is one of the dullest and most sluggish of all the animated tribes. Those species that live on land subsist on worms and snails; the others, that inhabit the ocean, feed principally on seaweeds.

Their body is defended by a bony covering, coated with a horny, scaly, or a cartilaginous integument. This consists of two plates; the one above, and the other below, joined together at the edges. The upper one is convex, and, in general, is made up of thirteen plates in the middle, surrounded by a margin containing twenty-four. The ribs and backbone are ossified into this, and the other, the breastplate, contains the breast-bones or sternum. At each end of the two united shells is a hole; the one for the head, neck, and fore-feet to pass through, and the other, at the opposite end, for the hind-feet and tail. From these shells the animal is never disengaged, and they defend it sufficiently from every enemy but man.

The head is small, and, in the place of teeth, has hard and bony ridges. The upper jaw closes

* This tribe commences the Linnean order of REPTILES.

over the lower, like the lid of a box, and their strength is said to be so great that it is impossible

to

open them when once they have fastened. Even when the head is cut off the muscles retain a surprising degree of, rigidity.

The legs are short, but inconceivably strong: one of the larger species has been known to carry five men, all at the same time, on his back, with great apparent ease and unconcern.

However clumsy and awkward these animals may appear in their manners, they are, for the most part, extremely gentle and peaceable; and few, except the Loggerhead and Fierce Turtles, make any resistance when taken. No animals whatever are more tenacious of life: even if their head be cut off, and their chest opened, they will continue to live for several days.-They pass the cold season in a torpid state.

The Marine Tortoises, or Turtles, are distinguished from the others by their large and long finshaped feet, in which are inclosed the bones of the toes; the first and second only of each foot having visible or projecting claws. The shield, as in the others, consists of a strong bony covering, in which are embedded the ribs in one or two species this is much thicker and more strong than that of Land Tortoises.

Of these animals, there are in the whole about thirty-six species; four marine, eighteen inhabiting the fresh waters, and the rest residing on land.

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THE COMMON TORTOISE*.- si di

The Common Tortoise is found in most of the countries near the Mediterranean sea, in Corsica, Sardinia, and some of the islands of the Archipelago, as well as in many parts of the North of Africa, and efti

The length of its shell is seldom more than eight or nine inches, nor does its weight often exceed three pounds. The shell, which, as in most of the other species, is composed of thirteen middle pieces, and about twenty-five marginal ones, is of an oval form, extremely convex, and broader behind than before. The middle part is blackish brown varied with yellow. The under part or belly of the shell is of a pale yellow, with a broad dark line down each side, leaving the middle part plain. The head is not large, nor does the opening of the mouth extend beyond the eyes: the upper part is covered with somewhat irregular scales. The legs are short, and the feet moderately broad and covered with strong ovate scales. The tail is somewhat shorter than the legs; it is also covered with scales, but terminates in a horny tip.

This species resides principally in burrows that it forms in the ground, where it sleeps the greatest part of its time, appearing abroad only a few hours in the middle of the day. In the autumn it hides

* SYNONYMS.-Testudo Græca. Linn. Common Land Tortoise, Greek Tortoise.. ·Shaw's Gen. Zool. vol. 3. tab. I.

itself for the winter, remaining torpid for four or five months, and not again making its appearance till the spring. About the beginning of June, the female scratches a hole in some warm situation, in which she deposits her four or five eggs. These are hatched in September, at which time the young are not larger than a walnut*. done

The Common Tortoise is an animal that, for the extreme slowness of its motions, has been ever notorious, both in antient and modern times. This seems principally occasioned by the position of the legs, which are thrown very much to the sides of the body, and are considerably spread out from each other. It may likewise be in some degree caused by the great weight of the shell pressing on this unfavourable position of the legs. In walking, the claws of the fore-feet are rubbed separately, and one after another against the ground; when one of the feet is placed on the ground, the inner claw first bears the weight of the body, and so on along the claws in succession to the outermost. The foot in this manner acts somewhat like a wheel, as if the animal wished scarcely to raise its feet from the earth, and endeavoured to advance by means of a succession of partial steps of its toes or claws, for the purpose of more firmly supporting the great weight of its body and shellt.

These animals have often been brought into England. The Rev. Mr. White, of Selborne, attended accurately to the manners of one that was in posses

*La Cepede, i. 193.

† Ib. 1. 184. 186. Jusdy