TREFACE. xiii 



mons from Colonel E. Jcwott, of Utica ; from Mr. Albert G. Car!!, of Jericho, Long 

 Island ; anil from an anonymous contributor in the vicinity of Rome. Mr. A. Mayor has 

 sent me those of New Jersey, with interesting remarks upon the height at which they are 

 found in the Cooley Mountains. From Pennsylvania, 1 iiave received very extensive col- 

 lections and highly valuable information. Among the votaries of Herpetology, I must men- 

 tion, first, I\Iajor LeConte, to whom science is indebted for the first accurate account of 

 the North American Testudinala in general. Xext to him I am most indebted to I'rof. S. 

 S. Haldeman, and to Dr. E. IIidKiw ell, for series of all tlie species of the State. Dr. John 

 LeC'onte, Dv. Wm. Darlington, and Dr. E. Micliener have also sent me valuable specimens 

 and notices : and to Dr. .1. Leidy I owe the communication of the fossil remains of this order 

 of Reptik's preserved in the splendid museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences. To 

 Prof. Baird I am also greatly indebted for specimens from Pennsylvania and Western New 

 York ; but especially for a large collection of fossil bones of Turtles from the caves near 

 Carlisle. 



From Ohio, I have received specimens and notices from Dr. J. P. Kirtland, of East 

 Rockport ; from Prof. E. B. Andrews, of Marietta ; from Messrs. Jos. Clark and David H. Shaffer, 

 of Cincinnati ; and from Mr. George Clark, of Toledo. From Indiana, from Prof. Richard 

 Owen, of New Harmony ; and Mr. F. C. Hill, of Delphi. From Illinois, from Dr. Watson, of 

 Quincy ; and from Messrs. R. P. Stevens, T. H. McChesney, and Robert Kennicott. Mr. Ken- 

 nieott has furnished me willi interesting data respecting the geographical distribution of the 

 soft-shell Turtles in the tributaries of the Mississippi. From Michigan and Wisconsin, I 

 have received very fine series of specimens, which have enabled me to ascertain the spe- 

 cific differences that distinguish the western Chrysemys from that of the Eastern States, 

 and also numerous specimens of Emys Meleagris. I am particularly indebted for these to 

 Dr. P. R. Hoy, of Racine ; to Mr. J. A. Lapham, of Mihtaukce ; to Dr. Manly Miles, of 

 Flint ; and to P^of. A. Winchell, Dr. A. Sager, and Mr. D. M. Johnson, of Ann-.Vrbor. 

 Dr. John H. Ranch, of Burlington, Iowa, has sent me large m;mbers of specimens from 

 that State. From Missouri and Arkansas, 1 have received a great many specimens through 

 the kindness of Dr. George Engelmann, of St, Louis ; and of Mr. George Stolley, now in Texas, 

 who collected very extensively for me in the western and south-western parts of Missouri, 

 and later, in Ai-kansas and Texas. From the Territory of Minesota, Mr. James M. Bar- 

 nard, of Boston, has secured for me a dozen fine specimens of an extremely rare species of 

 Chrysemys, heretofore known from a single specimen preservt>d in the museum of the Acad- 

 emy of Philadelphia, and supjiosed to have been found in Oregon. My acquaintance with 

 the Testudinata of the other western territories, and with those of Delaware, Maryland, anil 

 Virginia, is chieily derived fmni the contributions of the Smithsonian Institution, among 

 which were the valuable collections of Dr. 11. O. Abbott, and of Dr. C. B. Kenncrley. From 

 Kentucky and Tennessee, I have received specimens from Messrs. N. A. Gwyn, II. C. Tav- 



