Читать книгу Natural History: Reptiles - Philip Henry Gosse - Страница 9

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In this genus all the feet are furnished with five toes, but the inner toe of the hind foot is destitute of a nail: the plastron is wide, and oval, and is furnished with twelve plates; the marginal plates of the carapace are twenty-five. The jaws are strong and cutting, the mandibles notched, and toothed in a manner closely resembling the beak of a Falcon.

The most common European fresh-water Tortoise belongs to a genus allied to Emys, but distinguished by having the plastron attached to the buckler by a cartilage, allowing it some degree of mobility. It is named Cistudo Europæa, and is extended over the whole south-east of Europe, as far north as Prussia. It attains the length of nine or ten inches; the carapace is oval, of a blackish hue, marked with yellowish specks; the skin of the neck and breast is similarly spotted. It is a species of some elegance, but it is most esteemed for the excellence of its flesh, and is commonly sold in the markets of Germany. To improve its flavour, colonies of these animals, kept in ponds, are fattened upon ​lettuce and other leaves, bread, &c. "It may be even conveniently kept in a cellar, and fed on oats, which, being scattered on the floor, take root there, and as they begin to sprout up, afford a wholesome nutriment to this reptile." We are informed by Wolff that the peasants in Prussia keep numbers of these creatures in troughs for a year or two, and fatten them up.

EUROPEAN MARSH TORTOISE.

On approaching a pond where these reptiles abound, numbers of them may be seen of various sizes, from that of a penny upwards, sitting motionless on the twigs and branches of fallen trees, or the projecting points of any other substance that is partly submerged. They are very ​watchful, and on the slightest alarm they drop almost imperceptibly into the water, and sink to the bottom, whence they soon emerge if all is quiet. They are voracious: their living prey is taken, by stealing slowly towards it, and seizing it with a sudden snap.

It is a curious fact that whenever this Tortoise eats a fish, it rejects the air-bladder; and the peasants, who seek these animals for the market, judge of the number that are to be found in any pond, by the number of fish-bladders floating on the surface. Professor Bell has mentioned to us that he had a Tortoise of this species in his possession, to which he once threw six small living fishes; the next morning there was one fish remaining, and five air-bladders on the surface, told the fate of the rest.

Several genera of fresh-water Tortoises are distinguished by their not being able entirely to retract the head between the shields; but they obtain a partial protection by bending the long neck to one side. In general the head in this group is depressed, and the eyes are seated somewhat on the upper surface, so as to look obliquely upwards instead of sidewise. These Tortoises are, by some Naturalists, considered to form a distinct Family by the name of Hydraspidæ.

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