254 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. 



of different shape and general appearance from those captured 

 near Tagus Cove,^ Giinther^ thought it very probable that 

 Albemarle was inhabited by at least two distinct races. He 

 compared the skull of the type specimen of his Testudo vicina 

 with a skull"* brought by Commander Cookson from Iguana 

 Cove, and, finding them identical, concluded that Testudo 

 vicina was the race native to southwestern Albemarle. Many 

 years later, Rothschild obtained specimens from Iguana Cove, 

 and confirmed this opinion, which since then has been ac- 

 cepted quite generally. 



The discovery of several races which were not known to 

 Giinther, Baur, or Rothschild, makes it necessary to reopen 

 the question, and to consider whether Gunther's specimen may 

 not belong to one of the latter rather than to the race with 

 which it has been associated. I find, however, that the only 

 tortoises, aside from South Albemarle specimens, bearing any 

 great resemblance to Giinther's type are those from James and 

 Jervis islands ; but since I have as yet been unable to find any 

 differences sufficient to enable me to distinguish the single 

 Jervis specimen from the Iguana Cove tortoises, we need con- 

 sider, in the present connection, only those from James Island. 



Gunther's type specimen has the following dimensions,^ in 

 inches and percentages of the straight length : 



Straight length 32.9 inches 100% 



Straight width 25 " 76% 



Length over curve 41 " 125% 



Width over curve 40 " 122% 



Width at 2-3d marginals 16.75 " 51% 



Middle height 16 " 49% 



Front height 14.2 " 41% 



Height to marginals 2.75 " 8% 



Length of plastron 25.5 " 77% 



These measurements, like Gunther's plate, show that the 

 specimen has not the high convex back and other character- 

 istics of the James Island race, but that it agrees very closely 

 with specimens from Iguana Cove. I can see no good reason 

 for not regarding it as identical with specimens from the lat- 

 ter locality, and, therefore, shall follow all recent authors in 



^Cookson, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1876, p. 524. 

 3Gigantic Land Tortoises Brit. Mus., 1877, p. 73. 

 ■*The single living specimen was lost before reaching England. 

 SThese measurements have been in part taken for me with the kind permission 

 of Dr. Boulenger, and in part are derived from Gunther's writings. 



