LEATHERY TURTLE. ’ 13 
Tuts remarkable species is distinguished from all the 
other marine Turtles by the absence of horny plates upon 
the body, head, and limbs; which, instead of them, are 
covered by a tough leathery skin. In this respect it bears 
the same relation to the family to which it belongs, that 
the different species of Trionyx do to the fresh-water Tor- 
toises most nearly allied to them. This skin is perfectly 
smooth in the adult ; but in young specimens it is covered 
with hard tubercles. The head is more acute than in the 
other marine species: it is somewhat triangular when 
viewed from above, the part anterior to the eyes being 
narrowed; the jaws are of immense strength, and the 
edges very sharp; the upper one has three remarkable 
notches, one in the centre, which is angular, and one on 
each side at a short distance from the former, which are 
rounded. The lower jaw is scarcely sinuated at the 
margin, and the point is very acute, and somewhat hook- 
ed, corresponding with the central notch of the upper. 
The nostrils are small, and perfectly circular. The eyes 
rather large, opening nearly vertically, particularly in the 
younger specimens. The view of the head here given is 
from a very large individual, of which the head and extre- 
mities are in my collection. The carapace, or dorsal shell, 
has seven distinct raised carine, or ridges, which in the 
adult are sharp, and slightly toothed: in the young they 
