12 TOETOISES, TEREAPINS, AND TURTLES. 



34. EMYDA PUNCTATA, Gray. 



Tab. LV. & LVI. 



Emyda ceylonensis. Gray, Cat. Sh. Eept. Suppl. p. 117. 



Hab. India ; Ceylon ; Goa. Common in tanks, and breeding in tliem, and in ditches. 



The figure is taken from a specimen in spirits ; and I do not believe that it, or any species of the 

 genus, has ever been imported alive into this country; but it is figured from life in Gray and 

 Hardwicke's ' Illustrations of Indian Zoology.' 



35. CHELONIA IMBRICATA. 



Tab. LVII. & LVIII. (young). 



Caretta imbricata. Gray, Cat. Sh. Rept. Suppl. p. 119. 



Hab. The Ocean. 



According to Dr. Holbrook this animal is only esteemed for the substance it aff'ords, called 

 "Tortoise-shell," which is but the laminse or plates that cover the bony shell. Other species of 

 Chelonia have a similar covering ; but in no other are these plates sufficiently thick to be of any value 

 in the arts. 



" These laminae are obtained by exposing the convex portion of the shell to a certain degree of heat, 

 which destroys the connexion between the plate and the shell ; it is now recurved from the borders to 

 the centre, and can then be easily removed. These plates vary in thickness and in transparency, and 

 are consequently arranged in classes of different value. Tortoise-shell is not considered of the best value 

 unless the Tortoise has reached a certain size, about one hundred and sixty pounds ; before that state 

 it is too thin. The quality obtained varies much in weight in different animals ; fifteen pounds is the 

 most obtained even from animals of the largest size ; yet this substance is so valuable that a Chelonia 

 imbricata, of the same dimensions as the Green Turtle, would sell for ten times as much." " I am 

 not aware that the habits of this animal differ from those of the Chelonia caretta ; they seek similar 

 localities and the same food, but in confinement they seem much more ferocious. I have seen them 

 bite severely the Chelonia myclas, when swimming together in the same reservoir, though the other 

 gave no offence ; nor did he offer retaliation for the injury received." 



Mr. Darwin gives, in his 'Journal of Uesearches' (p. 459), a curious account of how they catch 

 and treat these Tortoises in the Chagos archipelago. 



