Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/843

 TORTOISE thick, and obtuse, covered with plates; the eyes are large, with a dark iris ; the jaws cov- ered with horny, serrated plates; the neck short, and its skin granulated ; the fore limbs very large and thick, compressed antero-pos- teriorly, with five fingers armed with strong nails; along the outer edge of the forearm is a row of projecting horny points ; the hinc limbs are short, thick, rounded, with four toes armed with strong nails. The general color is brownish yellow, with darker brown tints, the head almost black, the lower parts dirty yel- low, and the limbs dusky. It is found in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, but does not appear to go north of the Savannah river. Like the rodent gophers, they burrow in the ground, preferring such dry and sandy places as the pine barrens, where they exist in troops ; they live entirely on vegetable food ; they are fond of basking in the sun, though they cannot bear its full summer heat, and cannot endure rain; they become torpid in winter. The adults are very strong, moving with a weight of 200 Ibs., and the females are the largest ; the flesh and the eggs are esteemed as food. In the European land tortoise (testudo Grceca, Linn.) the carapace is oval, somewhat widest and gibbous behind, marbled with black and yellow; plastron pale yellow with a wide blackish band down each side ; legs short, and tall ending in a horny tip. It is found in Spain, Italy, Greece, and other countries bor- lering on the Mediterranean; in England it ms been domesticated and known to live more a century. The Galapagos tortoise (mega- lochelys Indica, Fitz. ; testudo elephantopus, "larlan) is the largest of the order, frequently leasuring 1 2 ft. in circumference ; the shell is rery convex and of a deep brown color. It is rery fond of water, drinking large quantities, md delighting to wallow in the mud like a mchyderm; some live in the mountains and ids, and the latter in their journeys after rater in the elevated regions have worn well saten paths, which led mariners to the dis- >very of the springs, often at a great distance rom the si i ore ; they drink by immersing the lead up to the eyes, and swallowing great mthfuls, about 10 a minute, according to vin; their flesh is excellent and largely both fresh and salted, and a very clear oil made from the fat. -They feed on succulent )lants and vegetables, and in captivity are fond )f cabbage, lettuce, and marrows. They were formerly very numerous in these islands, and probably live for centuries. Their gait is very slow, about two miles in 24 hours, though ley have been known to travel four miles i the same time. The eggs are laid in Oc- )ber in the sand, and are about 8 in. in ircumf erence ; the young are devoured by irds of prey ; in Great Britain, where num- s have been kept alive, they go under >und in November and reappear in the mid- le of April ; many have been seen in the Uni- TORTOLA 813 ted States. The tortoise shell of commerce is the product of the hawk's bill or imbricated turtle. (See TURTLE.) TORTOISE PLANT, a plant of the yam family from the Cape of Good Hope, also called ele- phant's foot, these two common names being equivalent to its systematic name, testudinaria elephantipes. While its habit is strikingly unlike that of the yam (dioscorea), it is so close to that in flower and fruit that a descrip- tion of one will answer for both. (See YAM.) The yam makes an underground, thin-skinned tuberous root, or rootstock ; but in this the same portion is above ground, and very large, while the stem proper is slender ; several stems from the same rootstock climb to the height of 20 to 40 ft., throwing off numerous branches, which bear bright green heart-shaped or kid- ney-shaped leaves. It is often cultivated as a greenhouse climber for its pleasing foliage, and for its curious rootstock ; this is hemispherical or nearly globular, and sometimes 3 ft. in diam- Tortoise Plant (Tcstudinaria elephantipes). eter ; its exterior is covered with a thick cork- like substance, which cracks and forms many- sided protuberances, separated by deep fissures, giving the whole much the appearance of the shell of a large tortoise ; the brown color and apparently lifeless character of this mass form a striking contrast with the vigor and lively green of the rest of the plant. The dormant rootstocks as imported from Africa are to all appearance dead, but when placed upon the ground soon throw out small roots from the 'ower surface, and stems start from the upper surface and grow very rapidly. When not growing, the plant is kept quite dry. It is called in Africa Hottentots' bread, but it is said that the natives do not eat it, though the 3eshy interior of the rootstock affords food to jaboons and other animals. One or two other species are known, but are not cultivated. TORTOLA, the most important of the Vir- gin group of West India islands, belonging to
 * hers in the low lands of the Galapagos isl-