FIRST REPORT ON THE ECONOiMY OF PENN- 

 SYLVANIA TURTLES. 



PREFACE. 



Classilii;ilit)ii ui svsd-iii is ilu* most icmarkable feature in the 

 bludy of Nature. All living tilings arc to be classiticd in certain 

 larger and smaller groups, which are again divided and subdivided 

 iu regular svslematic order until we come to the lowest or most 

 remote giou]) called the •"species." This has been regarded as the 

 unit iu Mature. Thus, that great Class of N'ertebrate animals which 

 always breathe by means of lungs, and are called cold-blooded, have 

 the body covered with scales or plates instead of feathers or hair, 

 and have certain other anatomical characters in common, is called 

 Keptilia or the Keptiles. This great Class is divided into four 

 Orders, three of which are represented iu the State of i*enusylvania: 

 The Serpents, the Lizards and the Turtles. Thus it is correct to 

 say that a Turtle is a Reptile. 



Our Turtles belong to the Order Testudinata, so named from the 

 Latin word meaning "a tortoise.'' The rennsylvania sjK'cies are in- 

 cluded in four Families or major groups of this Order, while these 

 Families are again composed of (lenera or smaller groups, and 

 Species, or the last group in the scheme of classification. The scien- 

 tific name is that* of the Genus and Species. Discussions of the indi- 

 vidual kinds or species found in this State are here given under the 

 respective scientific names, each of which is given its proper place 

 in the scheme of classification. 



There are a great many common names of Turtles, many of which 

 are used for more than one species and are thei-efore confusing. 

 For this reason we recommend that the first common name here 

 given be used as the real common name for each respective species. 

 However, others that are used in various parts of this State are 

 given in ord^^r that readers may recognize the kind to which refer- 

 <'nce is made. 



The authojily for the classilical ion lirrr wsvd is the Ninth Edition 

 of the "Manual of the Vertebrate Animals of the Northern United 

 States," by Dr. David Starr Jordan. President of liOland Stanford 

 Junior Thiiversity, Ninth Edition, 1004, by A. C. McClurg and Co.. 

 Chicago. III., whi<h has been our standard of authority for th(» class- 

 ification and noniendature of tiic IJulletiiiR on Vertebrate Zoology 



(107) 



