“A land-tortoise, which has been kept for thirty years in a little walled court belonging to the house where I now am visiting, retires under ground about the middle of November, and comes forth again about the middle of April. When it first appears in the spring it discovers very little inclination towards food; but in the height of summer grows voracious: and then as the summer declines its appetite declines; so that for the last six weeks in autumn it hardly eats at all. Milky plants, such as lettuces, dandelions, sow-thistles, are its favourite dish. In a neighbouring village one was kept till by tradition it was supposed to be an hundred years old. An instance of vast longevity in such a poor reptile!”
– The Rev. Gilbert White, The Natural History of Selborne, Letters to Daines Barrington, Letter VII, Oct. 8, 1770.
Upon beginning to read this passage again recently, I laughed out loud when I found myself exclaiming “Timothy!” with the enthusiasm of a child seeing the appearance of a favourite character appear upon a stage.
