TESTUDO POLYPHEMUS. 29 



from the scorching rays of the sun under the shade of broad-leaved plants. A 

 tanyer, (Arum esculentum,) that grew near their holes, was a favourite haunt. 

 They could not endure rain, and retreated hastily to their burrows or to other 

 shelter at the coming on of a shower. As winter approached they confined 

 themselves to the immediate neighbourhood of their holes, and basked in the 

 sunshine. As the cold increased, they retired to their burrows, where they 

 became torpid; a few warm days, however, even in winter, would again restore 

 them to life and activity. The adults are remarkably strong, sustaining and 

 moving with a weight of two hundred pounds or more. The female is generally 

 larger than the male, with the sternum convex; the sternum of the male is 

 concave, especially on its posterior part. The eggs are larger than those of a 

 pigeon, round, with a hard calcareous shell: they are much esteemed as an article 

 of food. 



General Remarks. This is the only species of Testudo hitherto observed in 

 the United States; and was first described by Bartram, under the name of Gopher. 

 Daudin subsequently called it Testudo polyphemus; which name has since been 

 generally adopted by Naturalists. Leconte has endeavoured to prove this animal 

 to be the Testudo Carolina of Linnteus; which is considered by most authors as 

 the Box Tortoise. From the very short description of the Testudo Carolina 

 contained in the twelfth and last edition of the Systema Naturse, by Linnaeus 

 himself, it is not so easy at first sight to determine the point; but if we consult 

 the earlier editions, and compare the descriptions with the plates to which he 

 refers, his meaning becomes evident. In the tenth edition he says, "Testudo 

 pedibus digitatis, testa gibba, cauda nulla;" and the only reference given is to the 

 figure of the Testudo tessellata minor caroliniana of Edwards,* which is certainly 

 the Box Tortoise. Indeed, the figure given by Edwards is so correct and so 

 well coloured, that Shaw afterwards copied it into his General Zoology, observ- 

 ing "that there is no particular necessity for any other description than that 

 given by Edwards himself."t 



* Edwards, Av. p. 205. f Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. part i. plate 7. 



