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  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TT'RTLES. 
  

  

  "Striations 
  on 
  the 
  shell 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  marked 
  in 
  the 
  young 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  old. 
  Of 
  course, 
  

   the 
  very 
  young 
  show 
  none. 
  Up 
  to 
  a 
  certain 
  size 
  the 
  ridges 
  increased 
  in 
  size 
  and 
  number. 
  

   After 
  that 
  it 
  would 
  appear 
  that 
  they 
  become 
  shallower 
  or 
  wear 
  away 
  and 
  finally 
  disappear." 
  

  

  The 
  carapace 
  is 
  high 
  and 
  arched, 
  sometimes 
  shoAving 
  rugosities, 
  sUghtly 
  oblong, 
  or 
  some- 
  

   times 
  nearly 
  round. 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  blunt 
  keel. 
  In 
  young 
  specimens 
  the 
  dorsal 
  shields 
  show 
  well 
  

   defined 
  concentric 
  rings. 
  Posteriorly 
  the 
  carapace 
  flares 
  outward 
  and 
  slightly 
  upward. 
  The 
  

   nuchal 
  shield 
  is 
  very 
  small 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  twelve 
  pairs 
  of 
  marginals. 
  

  

  The 
  head 
  is 
  covered 
  with 
  smooth 
  skin. 
  The 
  skull 
  is 
  without 
  a 
  bony 
  temporal 
  arch, 
  the 
  

   quadrato-jugal 
  and 
  the 
  jugal 
  bones 
  being 
  absent. 
  The 
  horizontal 
  alveolar 
  edge 
  is 
  narrow; 
  

   the 
  hooked 
  beak 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  jaw 
  projects 
  downward, 
  with 
  or 
  without 
  a 
  central 
  notch; 
  the 
  

   lower 
  jaw 
  is 
  sharply 
  pointed 
  in 
  front. 
  The 
  hind 
  feet 
  are 
  plantigrade. 
  The 
  digits, 
  especially 
  

   on 
  the 
  hind 
  feet, 
  show 
  distinct 
  though 
  slight 
  webbing 
  suggesting 
  that 
  this 
  genus 
  is 
  stiU 
  in 
  a 
  

   transition 
  stage 
  between 
  the 
  aquatic 
  and 
  the 
  terrestrial 
  types. 
  There 
  are 
  four 
  toes 
  on 
  the 
  hmd 
  

   foot, 
  all 
  provided 
  with 
  long 
  sharp 
  claws. 
  The 
  tail 
  is 
  very 
  short. 
  

  

  Geographic 
  Distribution. 
  — 
  Eastern 
  United 
  States, 
  south 
  to 
  the 
  Carolinas, 
  Georgia, 
  Ten- 
  

   nessee, 
  and 
  Kentucky, 
  reaching 
  the 
  Mississippi; 
  west 
  to 
  eastern 
  Illinois 
  and 
  Wisconsin, 
  and 
  

   north 
  into 
  Canada 
  to 
  the 
  St. 
  Lawrence 
  and 
  the 
  Great 
  Lakes 
  (Taylor, 
  1895). 
  

  

  New 
  England 
  Records. 
  — 
  This 
  species 
  occurs 
  in 
  aU 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  States. 
  In 
  the 
  

   collection 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History 
  are 
  specimens 
  from 
  Falmouth, 
  Mass.; 
  

   Fall 
  River, 
  Mass. 
  ; 
  Medway, 
  Mass. 
  ; 
  and 
  a 
  young 
  specimen 
  from 
  Duxbury, 
  Mass. 
  

  

  Individual 
  Range 
  and 
  Age. 
  — 
  The 
  individual 
  range 
  is 
  probably 
  very 
  hmited. 
  x'Ulen 
  (1868) 
  

   mentions 
  a 
  specimen 
  foimd 
  by 
  a 
  man 
  within 
  a 
  quarter 
  of 
  a 
  mile 
  of 
  the 
  spot 
  where 
  it 
  had 
  been 
  

   marked 
  by 
  his 
  father 
  sixty 
  years 
  before. 
  Another 
  bit 
  of 
  evidence 
  is 
  the 
  many 
  local 
  color 
  varia- 
  

   tions. 
  The 
  above 
  record 
  of 
  Mien 
  is 
  suggestive 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  age 
  which 
  these 
  reptiles 
  attain. 
  De- 
  

   ductions 
  based 
  upon 
  dates 
  previously 
  cut 
  into 
  shells 
  of 
  specimens 
  captured 
  are 
  not 
  always 
  

   reliable. 
  Schenck 
  (1886) 
  records 
  a 
  Terrapene 
  Carolina 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  lived 
  over 
  sixty 
  years. 
  

   Gadow 
  (1901) 
  says 
  of 
  one 
  he 
  kept 
  alive: 
  "One 
  of 
  my 
  specimens, 
  certainly 
  a 
  very 
  old 
  one 
  to 
  

   judge 
  from 
  his 
  hooked 
  beak, 
  perfectly 
  smooth 
  and 
  flat 
  shell, 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  

   marginals, 
  which 
  have 
  the 
  edges 
  rubbed 
  down 
  quite 
  smooth 
  and 
  rounded 
  off, 
  has 
  two 
  initials 
  

   and 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  1837 
  on 
  its 
  plastron. 
  Of 
  course 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  proof 
  that 
  the 
  date 
  had 
  been 
  cut 
  in 
  

   that 
  year, 
  more 
  than 
  sixty-three 
  years 
  ago, 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  done 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  ago. 
  The 
  scars 
  on 
  those 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  shell 
  which 
  touch 
  the 
  groimd 
  are 
  almost 
  effaced, 
  and 
  the 
  letters 
  and 
  figures 
  have 
  

   become 
  somewhat 
  distorted 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  usual 
  unequal, 
  not 
  concentrical, 
  peripheral 
  growth. 
  

   Moreover, 
  this 
  tortoise 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  already 
  adult, 
  although 
  not 
  quite 
  full}' 
  growm, 
  since 
  

   the 
  marks 
  are 
  large 
  and 
  were 
  evidently 
  put 
  in 
  such 
  a 
  size 
  and 
  position 
  as 
  to 
  fit 
  the 
  available 
  

   space. 
  I 
  may 
  mention 
  that 
  this 
  record 
  tortoise 
  was, 
  when 
  I 
  got 
  it, 
  not 
  kept 
  in 
  confinement, 
  

   but 
  had 
  been 
  picked 
  up 
  at 
  large." 
  

  

  