22 CHELONIA. 



They are easily kept in capti\ity, provided that they are placed in a tank and fed with 

 meat cut into small pieces or with frogs. In Europe they soon succumb to the climate, 

 which forces them into a state of hibernation, whilst in their native country they bury 

 themselves in the mud, remaining in a state of torpor during the extreme drought. 



Most of the species attain only a small size ; but all are more or less ferocious, turning 

 round with their flexible neck and trying to bite, or scratching with their sharp claws. 

 The head and feet can be completely retracted within the carapace. 



Synopsis of the Species. 



* A more or less distinct vertebral ridge ; no costal ridges. 



Each vertebral and costal plate with a chestnut-brown^ light-edged, ocel- 



lated spot E. ocellata, p. 22. 



Shell yellowish brown, with numerous linear dark brown specks . . . E. bealii, p. 23. 

 Upper shell more or less deep brown ; nuchal plate triangular, narrower 



in front ; abdominals longer than praanals E. thurgi, p. 24. 



Upper shell brown ; each sternal plate with a large square black spot ; 



nuchal plate of moderate size ; abdominals shorter than prseanals . . E. mutica, p. 25. 

 Upper shell brown ; nuchal plate very narrow (absent) ; abdominals 



shorter than prseanals E. nigricans, p. 26. 



** A pair of more or less distinct costal ridges, beside the vertebral ridge; 



ridges without nodose prominences. 

 Shell not serrated, costal ridges indistinct ; nuchal plate nearly as broad 



as long ; each marginal plate with a brownish ocellus on the lower side . E. sinensis, p. 27. 



Shell with the posterior margin serrated E. crassicollis, p. 28. 



Shell not serrated ; the costal ridges run at an equal distance from the 



vertebral ridge and from the lateral edge of the shell E. reevesii, p. 29. 



Shell not serrated ; ridges not interrupted, very distinct ; those of the 



costal plates are narrow, near the vertebral ridge and remote from the 



lateral edge of the shell E. trijuga, p. 29. 



The ridges do not extend on the last plate of the vertebral and costal 



series ; they are swollen posteriorly on the third and foui-th vertebral 



and on the second and third costal plates E. macrocephala, p. 31. 



*** Shell with three ridges, each vertebral and costal plate being elevated into a 



nodose prominence. 

 Shell serrated behind E. hamiltonii, p. 32. 



Emts ocellata. The Ocellated Pmid Tortoise. 



Emys ocellata, Dtim. ^ Bibr. Erpet. gen. ii. p. 329. pi. 15. fig. 1 (not good). Blyth, in Journ. As. 



Soc. Beng. xxii. 1854, p. 645, & xxiv. p. 481. 

 Batagur ocellata, Gr-ay, Shield Rept. p. 36 ; Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856, p. 182. pi. 10 & 10 a. 

 Emys berdmorei, Blytk, I.e. 1859, p. 281. 



For7n. — The shell of this beautiful species is considerably elevated, subhemispherical, 

 nearly half as high as long. An interrupted vertebral ridge is formed hy more or less distinct 



