the Tortoise, in zoology; a genus belonging to the class of amphibia, and order of reptilia. The body has a tail, and is defended with a bony or coriaceous covering. The mouth has naked mandibles without teeth. There are 33 species, of which the midos or common sea-turtle is the most remarkable. It is found in the island of Ascension and other places in the South Sea. The shell is so very strong that it can carry more than 600 lbs. on its back, or as many men as can stand on it loaded. It digs round holes in the sand, in which it lays a vast number of eggs yearly, to the amount of 1000, it is said. It broods on them during the night. Its flesh is of a greenish colour, makes excellent food, and is the favourite dish of sailors as well as of epicures. It lives on cuttle and shell fish, and grows to a prodigious size, some having been found to weigh 450 lbs.

The Americans find so good account in catching turtle, that they have made themselves very expert at it; they watch them from their nests on shore, in moon-light nights; and, before they reach the sea, turn them on their backs, and leave them till morning; when they are sure to find them, since they are utterly unable to recover their former posture; at other times they hunt them in boats, with a peculiar kind of spear, striking them with it through the shell; and as there is a cord fastened to the spear, they are taken much in the same manner as the whales.

Mr White, in his Natural History of Selborne, mentions a land-tortoise which had been kept for 30 years at Ringmer near Lewes. It retired under ground about the middle of November, and came forth again about the middle of April. At its first appearance in spring it showed little inclination for food; in the height of summer it became voracious; its appetite again diminished toward autumn, so that for the last six weeks it scarcely ate anything at all. It lived chiefly on milky plants, such as lettuces, dandelions, and low-thistles. Nothing surprized Mr White more than the extreme timidity it always showed for rain; for though it had a shell that would secure it against the wheel of a loaded cart, yet it discovered as much solicitude about rain as a fine lady dressed in her best attire, shuffling away on the first sprinklings.