372 AMERICAN TESTUDINATA. Part II. 



very small, being formed on a small ridge projecting inward. From this region 

 backward the alveolar edge is sharp, and rises constantly, and the horizontal alve- 

 olar surface widens to its hind end, which slants forward, however, to the union 

 with the palatines. The alveolar wall of the mouth is turned inward at the lat- 

 eral notch on each side, and outward at its hind end, and thus curves irregu- 

 larly. The vomer descends just back of the symphysis of the jaw, so as to 

 make behind it a deep inverted pit, into which the pointed end of the lower 

 jaw fitsL The palatines have each two distinct planes, one horizontal and contin- 

 uous with the horizontal alveolar surface, the other raised toward the vomer ; the 

 former begins in front at a point, and widens backward ; the latter rises highest 

 and steepest at its front end. The passages from the nasal cavity to the mouth 

 are very large. They lie on each side of the front end of the vomer, between 

 it and the maxillaries and the end of the palatine. The lower jaw is highest 

 near the articulation and the symphysis ; its upper and lower edges draw near 

 each other forward till near the front end, where the alveolar edge rises sud- 

 denly to a strong, sharp projection, and the lower edge curves down a little. The 

 alveolar edge is sharp. The outer surface, at the symphysis, curves outward in 

 passing from the point down to the lower edge. 



There are no scales over the skin. None of the fingers project free, and thus 

 none have nails. The epidermis over the jaws is not thickened into a horny 

 sheath. Upon the ossified derm, the epidermis is very thin. On the neck and 

 limbs and tail, the skin is thick and leathery, and its epidermis hard and compact. 



The prevaihng opinion among herpetologists is, that there exists only one sin- 

 gle species of Sphargis, which is said to occur along the shores of Eastern Asia, 

 especially about Japan, in South Africa, about the Cape of Good Hope, and in the 

 Atlantic, chiefly in the West Indies and the southernmost coasts of the United 

 States, and in the Mediterranean. But, in my opinion, it is not yet by any 

 means clearly proved that the specimens observed in these different stations truly 

 belong to the same species. Our museums are still so indifferently provided with 

 representatives of this genus, that no sufficient comparison has thus far been made 

 between individuals obtained in different parts of the world ; and as long as it 

 can be shown that the Loggerheads, the green Turtles, and the shell Turtles of 

 the Atlantic differ from those of the Pacific, mere descriptions, without the addi- 

 tional evidence of direct comparison, are insufficient to settle the question of the 

 specific identity or difference of the leather Turtles of the two great oceans. It 

 is true that Temminck and Schlegel assert that the Sphargis of Japan ^ is iden- 



* Sie;bold, (Ph. Fr. de) Fauna japonica. Che- Batavoruin, 1833, fol. This work contains important 

 lonii elaborantibus Temminck ct Schlegel, Lugduni remarks upon the anatomy of tlie Testudinata. 



