FAMILY CHELONID.E. 13 



outer margins, form a dark blotch, with a few lighter spots within. Neck, feet and tail black, 

 more or less distinctly striped with red intermixed with yellowish. Sides of the head striped 

 with yellow, and with four yellow blotches above. Eyes small ; pupil black, with golden 

 irides, and a black stripe running horizontally through their centres. 



Total length, 5-0-6-5. 



Height, 2-0. 



For the variety and beauty of its markings, this is unquestionably the handsomest of our 

 fresh-water species. It is a timid, inoffensive animal, and dies in a few days when kept out 

 ot the water. It feeds on insects and the smaller aquatic reptiles, and also eats the leaves of 

 the Alisma plantago, or water plantain. It is found in every part of the State, and next to the 

 guttata or Spotted Tortoise, is the most common, preferring tranquil ponds of water to clear 

 running streams. Although occasionally eaten, it is not much esteemed. It ranges from 

 Canada to Georgia along the coast, and has been observed near Lake Superior. It is enu- 

 merated by Kirtland among the Reptiles of Ohio. 



THE SPOTTED TORTOISE. 



Emys guttata, 

 plate vi. fig. 12. — (state collection.) 



Tesludo guttata. Schneid. Naturforsch. Vol. 4, p. 264. 



T. punctata. ScHCEPFF, p. 25, pi. 5. 



T. punctata. Le Conte, Ann. Lye. Vol. 3. p. 117. Say, Ac, Sc. Vol. 4, p. 212. Harlan, Med. and Phys. p. 151. 



Clemys punctata. Wagler, Nat. Syst. der Amph. p. 137. 



Emys guttata. Holbrook, N. Am. Herp. Vol. 2, p. 25, pi. 4; Vol. 1, p. 81, pi. 11, Ed. 2da. 



E. guttata. Dom. & Bib. Hist. Rep. Vol. 2, p. 295. Storer, Mass. Rep. Vol. 1, p. 295. 



Characteristics. Black, with rounded distant dots above ; varied with black and yellow beneath. 

 Length 3-4 inches. 



Description. Shell ovate, (in the young, narrowed before, and widely emarginate in front ;) 

 slightly emarginate behind ; higher behind than in front. First vertebral plate pentagonal, 

 the following hexagonal, the last seven-sided, all subequal. Of the four lateral plates on each 

 side, the anterior is irregularly quadrate, the others pentagonal. Marginal plates twenty-five ; 

 the anterior impair, small, linear ; (in the young, broader ;) the others sub-quadrate ; the fourth, 

 fifth, sixth and seventh on each side smallest, and more vertical. The sutures are accompa- 

 nied with deep concentric furrows, which in the adult become nearly or completely effaced. 

 Sternum emarginate behind ; the anterior pair triangular, with the external angle projecting 

 beyond the margin ; the next pair irregularly triangular, and larger ; the two following pair 

 oblong ; the femoral pair enlarged on their outer margins ; caudal pair trapezoidal. The 

 junction of the sternum with the shell occurs with the fourth to the seventh marginal pair in- 

 clusive. All the sternal plates have angular concentric lines near the sutures. Head mode- 



