nks of trees in time broaden and bulge outward.

The shell has the power of regeneration, and when a portion is crushed or
torn away the injured parts are gradually cast off, and from the
surrounding edges a new covering of horn grows out. One third of the
entire shell has been known to be thus replaced.

Although so slow in their locomotion and actions, turtles have
well-developed senses. They can see very distinctly, and the power of
smell is especially acute, certain turtles being very discriminating in
the matter of food. They are also very sensitive to touch, and will react
to the least tap on their shells. Their hearing, however, is more
imperfect, but as during the mating season they have tiny, piping voices,
this sense must be of some use.

Water tortoises can remain beneath the surface for hours and even days at
a time. In addition to the lungs there are two small sacs near the tail
which allow the animal to use the oxygen in the water as an aid to
breathing.

All turtles lay eggs, the shells of which are white and generally of a
parchment-like character. They are deposited in the ground or in the sand,
and hatch either by the warmth of the decaying vegetation or by the heat
of the sun. In temperate countries the eggs remain through the winter, and
the little turtles do not emerge until the spring. The eggs of turtles are
very good to eat, and the oil contained in them is put to many uses. In
all the countries which they inhabit, young turtles have a hard time of
it; for thousands of them are devoured by storks, alligators, and fishes.
Even old turtles have many enemies, not the least strange being jaguars,
which watch for them, turn them on their backs with a flip of the paw, and
eat them at leisure--on the half shell, as it were!

Leathery turtles--which live in the sea--have been reported weighing over
a thousand pounds! This species is very rare, and a curious circumstance
is that only very large adults and very small baby individuals have been
seen, the turtles of all intermediate growths keeping in the deep ocean
out of view.

Snapping turtles are among the fiercest creatures in the world. On leaving
the egg their first instinct is to open their mouths and bite at
something. They feed on almost anything, but when, in captivity they
sometimes refuse to eat, and have been known to go a year without food,
showing no apparent ill effects. One method which they employ in capturing
their food is interesti