310 Mr. Bell on the Box Tortoises, 



Shell subglobose^ subcarinated, black with whitish spots; 

 plates sulcated, the sulci distant : sternum entire, and rounded 

 behind. 



Species 4. 

 NEBULosA. T. testa ovatay interrupte carinata^ fusco Jlavoque 

 nebulas a ; sciitis striatis, Sterno postice subcoarctato. 



Habitat ? 



Mus. Nost. 



Shell ovate, interruptedly carinated, clouded with brown and 

 yellow ; plates closely striated : sternum contracted towards the 

 back part. 



It is difficult to establish the synonymes of the last three spe- 

 cies. They have hitherto been so completely confounded, if 

 indeed they have all been described, that it is scarcely possible 

 to ascertain which species is intended by any particular authour 

 who has mentioned either of them. They are however suffi- 

 ciently distinct, and I have endeavoured in the specific character 

 given to each, to obviate as far as possible the confusion which 

 has hitherto attached to them. As the term clausa is equally 

 applicable to them all, and indeed to all the Tortoises capable of 

 completely shutting the shell, I have omitted it wholly ; and have 

 retained the trivial name Carolina^ (which was first applied by 

 Linneus to the species since designated by the former term) for 

 that species which in form and markings is in some measure 

 intermediate between the other two. T. nebulosa is much longer 

 than the others in proportion to its breadth ; the plates are more 

 prominent, and finely striated. The markings, instead of being 

 distinct, are clouded, and in some measure softening into each 

 other. The sternum also differs remarkably in not being capable 

 of entirely closing the shell, in consequence of being narrowed at 

 the posteriour part. T, maculata differs from Carolina princi- 

 pally in the want of striae on the scales, and in the line between 

 the lateral and vertebral rows of dorsal scuta, which in the former 

 is nearly straight, and in the latter is very deeply indented, in 

 consequence of the more angular form of the scuta. 



