Tortoises are broadly divided into three species, namely, land
tortoises; fresh water tortoises, of which there are no less than
forty-six varieties; and marine tortoises, well known to the citizens
of London, in the shape of turtle-soup. The land tortoises subsist on
vegetables, and are said to live occasionally more than two hundred
years. The two first cases devoted to Testudinata (18, 19) contain the
American, Indian, and African varieties of the land tortoise. Here is
the gigantic tortoise from Galapagos, for the flesh of which many a
sailor has been grateful. The visitor will remark that the shells of
some of the sub-families are handsomely marked. The fresh water
tortoises, having the greatest number of sub-families, occupy three
cases (20-22). This species is found in the marshes or rivers of warm
climates, where they prey upon small fishes and frogs. The thurgi
tortoise of India, and the American snapping-tortoise, grow to a great
size. In the lower part of case 22 are specimens of those tortoises
which sleep with their heads bent under the margin of their shell. In
the last case devoted to tortoises, are those hard tortoises known as
the three-clawed terrapins of Asia, Africa, and America. These are the
strictly carnivorous family that feed in the water; and may be seen
preying upon the human remains that float down the Ganges. Under these
terrible epicures are the marine tortoises or turtles; and among them
the green turtle of the tropics. Shellfish and sea-weed are its chief
food; of its flesh, all Londoners who have not tasted it, can speak
pretty confidently from hearsay. It grows occasionally to a great
size; those smaller ones which the citizens prize weighing generally
about 600 lb. Here too are the turtle of the Mediterranean, and the
hawksbill turtle of Arabia, to which ladies are indebted for the
choicest of their tortoise-shell combs. Having sufficiently dwelt upon
the interesting histories of the tortoises, the visitor's way lies
forward in the direction of the two cases next in order of succession,
which are devoted to the Loricata, or