THE HAWK’S-BILL TURTLE, (Chelonia imbricata,)
Has received its name from the peculiar formation of the upper jaw, which terminates in a curved point, like the beak of a bird of prey. It is smaller than the Green Turtle, the largest specimens being about three feet in length. Its flesh is a very indifferent, if not unwholesome, article of food; but the horny plates with which its back is covered, and which lie over one another like the slates on the roof of a house, are beautifully mottled, and constitute the well-known tortoiseshell of commerce, which is so much used for making combs and various ornamental articles. It is only the best kind of tortoiseshell, however, that is taken from the Hawk’s-bill Turtle. The shell that is usually seen is taken from commoner kinds. A very large quantity of tortoise-shell is imported into Europe every year, and the traffic in it forms a very important part of the trade of those countries in which turtles abound.
THE LEATHERY TURTLE, (Sphargis coriacea,)
Has its back covered with a sort of leathery skin, instead of the horny plates of the other turtles. It is a very large species, measuring eight feet or more in length, and weighing as much as a thousand pounds. It is chiefly found in the Mediterranean; it is, however, occasionally found on the other coasts of Europe, and a few specimens, some of them weighing seven or eight hundred pounds, have been caught in England. The flesh is not considered good, and in some cases great suffering has been occasioned by eating it. In 1748, a Leathery Turtle, which had been caught near Scarborough, was purchased by a gentleman, who invited several friends to taste it. Though warned that the flesh was unwholesome, one of the guests ate some, but was seized soon after with dreadful sickness. This should be a warning to the curious to be careful how they “eat strange flesh.”