﻿420 
  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TURTLES. 
  

  

  adaptation 
  due 
  to 
  habits; 
  for 
  respiration 
  is 
  more 
  easily 
  performed 
  as 
  the 
  animals 
  Ue 
  buried 
  

   in 
  the 
  mud 
  in 
  shallow 
  water. 
  The 
  skull 
  is 
  noticeably 
  flattened 
  (a 
  mark 
  of 
  inferiority). 
  The 
  

   limbs 
  are 
  broadly 
  webbed, 
  only 
  the 
  three 
  inner 
  digits 
  being 
  provided 
  with 
  claws. 
  The 
  tail 
  is 
  

   short. 
  

  

  The 
  lung 
  capacity 
  of 
  the 
  Soft-shelled 
  Turtle 
  is 
  less 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  other 
  fresh-water 
  terrapins. 
  

   An 
  accessory 
  respiratory 
  apparatus 
  which 
  seems 
  to 
  supplement 
  the 
  puhnonary 
  breathing 
  

   has 
  been 
  described. 
  It 
  consists 
  of 
  speciaUzed 
  mucous 
  membrane 
  situated 
  in 
  the 
  pharynx 
  

   that 
  acts 
  like 
  gills, 
  as 
  in 
  tadpoles. 
  Gage 
  (1884) 
  has 
  observed 
  in 
  captive 
  animals 
  that 
  the 
  

   mouth 
  and 
  throat 
  are 
  alternately 
  filled 
  with 
  water 
  and 
  emptied 
  at 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  fifteen 
  times 
  a 
  

   minute. 
  He 
  believes 
  the 
  respu-ation 
  of 
  these 
  turtles 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  combination 
  of 
  true 
  aquatic 
  and 
  

   aerial 
  breathing. 
  

  

  Geographic 
  Distribution. 
  — 
  The 
  principal 
  area 
  of 
  distribution 
  for 
  this 
  species 
  is 
  the 
  region 
  

   of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  and 
  its 
  tributaries, 
  but 
  the 
  range 
  extends 
  eastward 
  to 
  Pennsylvania 
  and 
  New 
  

   York, 
  and 
  northward 
  to 
  Lake 
  Champlain 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  tributaries 
  of 
  the 
  St. 
  Lawrence. 
  

  

  New 
  England 
  Records. 
  — 
  New 
  England's 
  only 
  claim 
  to 
  this 
  species 
  is 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  its 
  occur- 
  

   rence 
  on 
  the 
  eastern 
  shore 
  of 
  Lake 
  Champlain 
  in 
  Vermont. 
  This 
  was 
  first 
  recorded 
  by 
  Thomp- 
  

   son 
  (1853, 
  p. 
  28). 
  His 
  first 
  specimen^ 
  was 
  taken 
  in 
  Minton, 
  Vermont, 
  on 
  August 
  10, 
  1844. 
  

   Most 
  subsequent 
  specimens 
  have 
  been 
  taken 
  in 
  that 
  vicinity 
  about 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Winooski 
  

   River 
  and 
  near 
  Burlington. 
  In 
  the 
  Proceedings 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History 
  for 
  

   1850 
  (vol. 
  3, 
  p. 
  322), 
  is 
  a 
  note 
  of 
  the 
  donation 
  of 
  a 
  living 
  specimen 
  of 
  " 
  Trionyx 
  ferox" 
  from 
  Rev. 
  

   Zadock 
  Thompson 
  of 
  BurUngton, 
  Vermont. 
  The 
  record 
  says: 
  "The 
  former 
  was 
  taken 
  upon 
  

   a 
  fish-hook 
  by 
  some 
  boys, 
  while 
  fishing 
  near 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  Winooski 
  River; 
  this 
  is 
  the 
  third 
  

   individual 
  he 
  had 
  obtained 
  in 
  that 
  neighborhood. 
  The 
  specimens 
  there 
  obtained 
  have 
  been 
  

   much 
  larger 
  than 
  the 
  measurements 
  given 
  by 
  DeKay." 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  yoxmg 
  specimen, 
  taken 
  in 
  

   White 
  River, 
  Vermont, 
  in 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natm-al 
  History. 
  

  

  Holbrook 
  (1842, 
  vol. 
  2, 
  p. 
  15), 
  who 
  did 
  not 
  distinguish 
  T. 
  ferox 
  from 
  T. 
  spinifer, 
  com- 
  

   ments 
  as 
  follows 
  on 
  the 
  physical 
  factors 
  in 
  its 
  northern 
  distribution. 
  He 
  says: 
  "The 
  Trionyx 
  

   ferox 
  affords 
  an 
  admirable 
  illustration 
  of 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  physical 
  geography 
  in 
  the 
  distribution 
  

   of 
  animals. 
  Thus, 
  it 
  inhabits 
  the 
  Savannah 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  all 
  those 
  rivers 
  that 
  empty 
  into 
  the 
  

   northern 
  borders 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico; 
  it 
  ascends 
  up 
  the 
  broad 
  Mississippi, 
  and 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  

   all 
  its 
  tributaries, 
  even 
  to 
  the 
  very 
  foot 
  of 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains, 
  according 
  to 
  Lewis 
  and 
  

   Clark 
  ; 
  it 
  al^ounds 
  in 
  the 
  chain 
  of 
  great 
  northern 
  lakes 
  both 
  above 
  and 
  below 
  the 
  Falls 
  of 
  Ni- 
  

   agara; 
  and 
  is 
  'conunon' 
  in 
  the 
  Mohawk, 
  a 
  tributary 
  of 
  the 
  Hudson 
  river; 
  but 
  is 
  not 
  found 
  in 
  

   any 
  other 
  Atlantic 
  stream 
  between 
  that 
  and 
  the 
  Savannah 
  river, 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  nearly 
  eight 
  

   hundred 
  miles. 
  Now 
  a 
  glance 
  at 
  the 
  map 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  will 
  show 
  us 
  how 
  this 
  tortoise, 
  

  

  ' 
  He 
  calls 
  it 
  Trionyx 
  ferox, 
  not 
  distinguishing 
  the 
  northern 
  form. 
  This 
  turtle 
  was 
  reported 
  from 
  Lake 
  Champlain 
  in 
  

   the 
  American 
  Sportsman 
  by 
  "M. 
  G." 
  in 
  1874. 
  

  

  