A popular history of reptiles; or, An introduction to the study of the class reptilia

the carapace is oval, or somewhat heart-shaped, and has a marked central keel, and one on each side less elevated; the margin of the carapace presents saw-like points, formed by the projection of the posterior angle of each scale. The colour of the carapace is deep chesnut brown.

This Turtle is found in the warmer seas, and about the shores of the intertropical regions both of Asia and America. But its range is not limited to those latitudes; it is found, also, in the Mediterranean, and is taken abundantly near the shores of Sardinia and Sicily. Rondelet kept one for some time, which was taken on the coast of Languedoc; it occasionally emitted a loud hissing sound, produced by the forcible expiration of the breath.

The thinness of the scales of this Turtle renders them useless; besides, they are neither clear, nor beautifully

coloured.

The Loggerhead feeds upon fish, mollusks, and the like, and its flesh has a most unpleasant flavour of musk. It is, therefore, never eaten, being both disagreeable and unwholesome; but, as the animal yields an abundance of oil, which may be used for various purposes, it is captured for the sake of that alone. Latreille states, that the oil is only employed in the preparation of leather, and for greasing the hulls of vessels.

As this Turtle is more carnivorous than the preceding species, so it is bolder, and more savage, and is said to attack even the crocodile, seizing him in such a manner, that he cannot turn upon his assailant, and defend himself with his teeth. We know, indeed, that the Loggerhead will defend itself with great resolution; its bite is very dangerous, as it always takes out the part it has got between its jaws, which are capable of crushing a conch-shell with ease; so that a man's hand would be mutilated at a single snap. As this species is not a vegetable feeder, it approaches the land less closely than the Green Turtle, excepting at the time in which the females deposit their eggs; and it is more frequently

met with out at sea, being often seen six or eight hundred leagues from any shore.

GENUS SPARGIS.

We now arrive at the last genus of the present family, namely, the genus Spargis. This genus has the osseous structure of the carapace and plastron covered, not with scales or plates, but with a thick layer of leathery skin, which in adult individuals is quite smooth, but which in young individuals is tuberculous. The paddles have no distinct nails.

One species only is known, namely, the LEATHERY TURTLE, or LUTE TURTLE, (Spargis coriacea.) The Leathery Turtle, or Tortue luth, of the French, (see engraving,) is one of the most extraordinary animals of the marine group of the Chelonia. In the circumstance of the carapace and plastron being covered with skin, it bears the same relation to the Turtles, as the Trionyx (Gymnopus) does to the marsh Tortoises; and, like the Trionyx, may be regarded as the representative of a separate section.

The muzzle of this Turtle is pointed, the form of the head, viewed above, being triangular; the jaws are of immense strength, and the upper has an acute, toothlike prominence on each side, with a deep indentation behind; while anteriorly a

similar indentation, occupying the point of the jaw, separates these teeth from each other, as in the accompanying sketch, from Professor Bell's work on British Reptiles.

The lower jaw is sharp

edged, and turns up at its point, which, when the jaws are closed, is received into the central indentation of the upper.

The carapace is heart-shaped in form, and has seven longitudinal ridges, at equal distances from each other;

one runs down the middle of the carapace, and three are placed at regular intervals on each side; these ridges are slightly dentated, or notched, and between them the skin is smooth. The anterior paddles are twice as long as the posterior, but the latter are broader in proportion; the tail is short and compressed, and does not extend beyond the posterior point of the carapace.

The expression of the eye is very singular, from the almost vertical opening of the eyelids; and when the eyelids are closed, the edge of the posterior, or inferior, covers altogether that of the anterior, or upper.

The Leathery Turtle exceeds all the rest in magnitude. Examples have been seen, weighing from fifteen to sixteen hundred pounds; and many have been taken of seven and eight hundred weight. It is found in the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Oceans, and also in the Mediterranean. It annually visits the Tortugas, or Turtle islands of Florida, for the purpose of depositing its eggs; but arrives there, according to Audubon, later than the other species, and is less cautious in choosing spots for their concealment. The average number which it lays is said to be about three hundred and fifty, in two sets. Its food consists of marine plants, fishes, mollusks, echini, etc.

According to M. Latreille, this Turtle breeds on the desert and sandy shores of Barbary; still it is by no means common in the Mediterranean, nor does it often wander up the Adriatic, or through the sea of Marmora into the Black Sea. It has, however, been captured both on the shores of France and England. Rondelet saw one taken at Frontignan, which was five cubits long, (about seven feet, six inches.) Amoureux describes another, taken in the port of Cette, which was seven feet, five inches in length. Another was killed, in 1725, near the mouth of the Loire; it was nearly as large as the preceding, and was despatched by blows on the head with pieces of iron. The cries it uttered were so piercing, as