TORTOISE-SHELL.
[To THY EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Perhaps the following extracts may be of interest to your correspondent. I had hoped that someone better informed than myself might have thrown some light upon the possible cruelty in the production of tortoise-shell under modern conditions. It seems plain that in 1863, when the Rev. T. G. Wood pub- lished the volume of his Illustrated Natural History, from which these extracts are taken, that the method of procuring tortoise-shell was anything but humane. One can only hope that the beautiful material is not purchased at the cost of such suffering now, the very thought of which takes away all pleasure in the ornament.—I am, Sir, &c., " The Hawksbill Turtle is the animal which furnishes the valuable tortoise-shell' of commerce. . . . The removal of the plates [of the turtle's shell] is a very cruel process, the poor reptiles being exposed to a strong heat which causes the plates to come easily off the back. In many eases the natives are very rough in their mode of conducting this process, and get the plates away by lighting a fire on the back of the animal. This mode of management, however, is injurious to the quality of the tortoise-shell. After the plates have been removed the turtle is permitted to go free, as its flesh is not eaten, and after a time it is furnished with a second set of plates. These, however, are of inferior quality and not so thick as the first set."—(Illustrated Natural History, Rev. T. G. Wood, "Reptiles," p. 21. Published 1863.)
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