30 CHELONIA. 



small and shallow. Sternum rounded on the sides in adult females, and angularly bent in 

 young males ; its breadth between the front and hind incisions is nearly equal, and one-half 

 of its length ; it is subtruncated anteriorly, its posterior notch being rectangular. 



Plates. — The areolae are finely granular, situated on the posterior margins of the plates ; 

 those of the vertebrals as well as of the costals are divided into two by the longitudinal 

 ridges. The costal ridges are narrow, but very distinct, near to the vertehral ndge, and 

 remote from the lateral edge of the shell. Nuchal plate longer than broad. Vertebrals as 

 broad as long in adult specimens, rather broader in young ones ; the last vertebral a little 

 broader than the caudal, which is divided into two by a groove. Marginal plates of moderate 

 width, with the outer edge slightly reverted in adult specimens. Gulars longer than broad, 

 the suture between them being twice as long as that between the postgulars. Postgular and 

 pectoral of equal length, the latter square. The abdominal plate is the longest plate on the 

 sternum, its sternal j^ortioii being considerably longer than broad. Suture between the anals 

 longer than their posterior margin. 



This description is taken from the shell of an evidently old and full-grown individual, 

 7 inches long, sent by Dr. Kelaart from Ceylon. In a specimen 3^ inches long the shell is 

 shorter, broader, more depressed, and the lateral margins are much reverted. All the plates 

 are proportionally shorter, and the abdominal is rather broader than long. Finally, in a 

 very young specimen, 2 inches long, in which the umbilical cicatrix is still visible, the plates 

 are very broad, the lateral margins of the shell being subhorizontal, not reverted. The notch 

 at the sternal extremity is shallow, obtusangular. 



Head covered with undivided skin ; jaws not denticulated. Tail shorter than the head. 



Feet. — Fingers and toes completely webbed ; claws pointed, five anteriorly and four pos- 

 teriorly. The front side of the forearm and the dorsal side of the toes are covered with large, 

 not prominent, scales, the remainder of the limbs being granular. Wrist with a transverse 

 series of four large scales on its inner side. 



Colour. — Shell nearly uniform brown, the ridges somewhat lighter; sternum brownish 

 black, in young specimens with broad white margins ; head and feet browTi, the former with 

 numerous red or yellow spots. 



This Pond Tortoise is rather common in the peninsula of India and in Ceylon, and a 

 thoroughly aquatic and carnivorous species, as I have convinced myself by observation of 

 a specimen living for some time in the Zoological Society's menagerie, and as may be 

 inferred from the structure of the shell and of the feet. It appears to be full-grown at a 

 length of from 7 to 8 inches. I cannot assure myself of the specific distinctness of the 

 Ceylonese specimens. It is very doubtful whether this species is also found in the East 

 Indian Archipelago. Schlegel and Dumeril and Bibron mention specimens from Java ; but 

 an example in the British Museum, received from Holland with the name of E. siibtrijuga, 

 and probably from one of the Dutch colonies, belongs to a distinct species, which is distin- 



