The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-23

be 50 years old. weighed SO pounds, and
was still growing at the time of its death
Inc structure of the tortoiscs contrib
utes large share to their pre-eminence
IN length of life. Their bodies are SHARED
the Wnole of that eXhausting process OF
coiapse and expansion which we call
breathing The cruel wear and tear of
inns lhcessant motion, involving work of
lungs, muscles, ribs and air-passages. I'M
noticed in health, but one of the most dis
tfeSslng Facts revealed by illness does not
IAN on the happy tortoise His shell &"
Dackplece and breastplate alike. is as rigid
as piece OF concrete. The "armor" Of
an armadillo rises and fails on his back
at each respiration. That Of the tortoise
being an outside skeleton" instead of a
process of the epidermis," he is kindly
saved all this trouble. He sucks in air by
making a vacuum with his tongue and
swallows it like water. the reservoir in
stead OF stomach being his capacious
lungs. In addition to this enormous saw
ing of energy. the tortoise enjoys two
other structural advantages. He has no
teeth 10 break, decay get out of order,
ana ultimately starVe him to death like
those OF an old horse or a broken-toothed
rabbit Instead he has sharp horney
edges TO his mouth which do not break or
get out of order And, lastly. there is his
impenetrable shell. In reference to this
size is of real advantage for though
small tortoises may live for centuries in
bishops gardens. they have their enemies
in the outer world. Adiutant storks swal-
low them whole and digest them shell
and all, and in California the golden eagle
carries them up TO hight and lets them
fan on the rocks, thereby smashing their
shells as the Sicilian eagle was trying to
do when he dropped the tortoise on the
skull of AEschylus. But when tortoise
grew to a weight of 200 pounds there was
no living animal which could injure ID in
any way. As il can swim il cannot drown;
its limbs are so constructed as TO be little
liable to fracture, and its interior is 50
arranged that it can fast for long periods.
and has an internal reservoir of water,
though II Is naturally rather thirsty an
imaL Charles Darwin when among the
giant tortoses of the Galapagos Islands.
saw the newly Matched young carried Off
by buzzards and carrion hawks. but the
full-grown animals of 200 pounds weight
seemed beyond the chance of any danger
He surmised that their deaths, when such
took place, were only due to accident
such as falling over precipices. and in
habitants of the islands corroborated this
conclusion.
Being built TO last" the tortoises hab-
Its and character have to conform I'm some
sort to the limitations set by its form. 1t
as not tempted TO waste emery
gy in useless motion. on
the other hand. the disposition of the land
tortoises is eminently placid. This Is by
no means an inseperable accompaniment
of slow and sOlidy built reptiles Toads
for example, have dreadful tempers, which
induce them to fight battles on dusty
roads and lose their lives untimely. Then
there is huge fat frog in Argentina which
can only hop an inch az a time. but which
Is so irritable that ne positively barks
with fury and almost bursts In his en-
deavors 10 come 10 close quarters and bite.
But the tortoise leads the life Of tran
guilty on the carpet of prudence" and
neither wears OUT nor trusts out" Yet
they are less apathetic than might be sup
posed from the habits Of the small species
kept in English gardens. on the Galapa-
gos Islands Darwin found that the giant
tortoises were really not only the oldest
Inhabitants" but the representative crea-
lures of the archipelago They We're Nv
ing their own life very much at their
ease; but his was not quite as devoid OF
incident as one might imagine Both food
and water are more common on the higher
parts of the islands-which are extinct
Volcanoes-than near the coast. Fresh wa
ter, indeed, Is only found up in the hills,
and as the tortoises are very fond OF wa
ter they have to make long and uphill
journeys 10 reach u. They make broad
and wcll-beatcn paths from the coast to
the springs, and It was by following the
tortoises roads that the Spaniards first
found the springs they needed TO water
the ships. when ] landed at Chatham
Island" writes Mr.. Darwin. II could not
imagine what animal Travelled so metho-
Ideally along the well-choscn tracks. Near
the springs II was a curious spectacle TO
behold many Of these great monsters-one
set eagerly travelling onward with out
stretched necks. and another set return
ing after having drunk their ON. When
az. frfa at "a milf Va
gardless Of any spectator, Il buries it's
head IN the water above us eyes. and
greedily swallows great mouthfus at the
rate Of ten minute" on the dry lower
ground the explorer found the giant tor
toises munchng up succulent cactus On
the higher ground they ate leaves. fallen
berries and lichen.