TORTOISES AND TURTLES

The) Pa aro, | order Chelonia, comprising the tortoises Sicily, most: and turtles, forms one of the distinct orders of reptiles. They are) state fully represented in N. America, and | subare widely distributed in Europe and| Asia. They may be distinguished from of a all other reptiles by the ‘shell’ or carapace’ been comprising a dorsal and ventral shield,, case formed of bones firmly cemented to-- and gether, and enclosing the body as in volume. a box, from which only head, limbs, and! to tail protrude. The horny scales over-- the lapping the upper shield form the: required tortoiseshell of commerce. Chelonian! in a limbs resemble those of lizards, but the: when toes are shorter and blunter. The neck: the is extremely flexible, and is curiously’ that long in the snake-necked tortoises. The: easily strong, hard, and horny jaws are without! of a teeth, but po e : great powers off mater I nastic at i on. of the The term. ‘tortoise’ is confined to the: is truly terrestrial species of Chelonia,, more while ‘turtle’ is usually applied to in, it marine or aquatic members of the group., of The Amer. term ‘terrapin’ has beem torsional used somewhat indiscriminately, but usually indicates the freshwater, hard change shelled edible species. The members of the group, while generally sluggish in their mode oft life, vary greatly in habits. Some are vegetable feeders, others are solely; <A carnivorous. All are oviparous, the limy center shelled eggs being generally laid in with hollows or furrows in sand. Among the each best known may be mentioned the strength. land tortoises, found in Asia, America, and Africa, comprising many marsh-: when at a loving web-footed species, as well as: others which, like the burrowing gopher tortoise, inhabit arid and desert places; COUNT, Others again are the well-known commom of European tortoise (Testudo groeca), with Jankau; olive-colored and black-bordered shield Sweden, and gigantic tortoises inhabiting the small islands of the Pacific and Indl] Oceans, which call for remark not only to a on account of their colo al proportions: of an —for they weigh sometimes over 30C may lb.—but also for the great age, in some from instances over 150 years, to which they and inmay attain. actual The aquatic turtles include the to law snapping turtle, common in N. ang by the Central America—a very vicious species causes living on waterfowl and fish, which if should crushes and eats with its powerful (4) hooked jaws; the soft-shelled turtles: bound, entirely lacking in horny scales, known <A t. both in the Old and New Worlds, and property; adapted for their aquatic life by the po e ion of broadly webbed feet; and Sphargis, the leathery turtle, with flexible carapace, which sometimes reaches a length of 6 ft.