50 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATION" AL, MUSEUM vol.73 



large reward caused the natives to scour the countryside within 

 walking distance of Dodoma and demonstrated that the creature is 

 not really rare, though I collected only three individuals in as many 

 afternoons spent in searching for them; all three were together, some 

 5 feet up in a fissure from which it took us an hour to dislodge them- 



A male soft-shelled tortoise unsuccessfully endeavored to mate 

 with a female Bell's hinged tortoise (which shared the same inclo- 

 sure with many of the former) for the space of five minutes. She 

 continually walked away. (Kilosa, 5. ii. 1921.) 



At 9 o'clock in the morning, on the top of a large sloping rock mea- 

 suring about 50 by 20 feet, I found two small soft-shelled tortoises 

 basking in the sunshine. A little later a third was discovered 

 nibbling some very dry grass on the top of the same kopje; all were 

 in a well-nourished condition. Two natives and myself hunted for 

 an hour without finding any more. In length and breadth they 

 measured 94 by 78 mm., 80 by 68 rhm., and 70 by 65 mm. They had 

 divided supracaudals, though one was a little doubtful. (Tabora, 18. 

 xi. 21.) 



Dr. Otto Wettstein,® after a very thorough comparative study of a 

 topotype T. loveridgii with the type and other examples of T. tornieri 

 which was based on a slightly aberrant individual, arrived at the 

 conclusion that the former must now be included in the synonymy 

 of the latter, an opinion which the present series fully corroborates. 



In a series of 25 tortoises, one example (No. 23009, Mus. Comp. 

 Zool.) has a depth of 21.6 per cent of the length, a condition very 

 close to that of the type of T. tornieri, M^here it is 21.7 per cent. The 

 range in this series is from 19.5 to 34.6 per cent; to give the average 

 is of little use, as it is entirely dependent on whether the specimens 

 are young or adult. The nearest specimen in actual length and 

 breadth to the type of T. tornieri is No. 33004, which measures 162 

 by 114 mm., yet its depth is 24 per cent as against 21.7 per cent in the 

 type of T. tornieri, which measured 161 by 110 mm. In the whole 

 series the range of breadth in relation to length is 69.1 per cent to 

 94.2 per cent. The variation in relative breadth and width is truly 

 astonishing and the actual specimens need to be seen before it can 

 be fully appreciated as figures give but a poor idea of its extent. 



These dimensions are based on measurements of the greatest length 

 and breadth of the whole shell, obtained by placing the tortoise 

 between two blocks of wood. Miss Procter's msasurements were 

 taken across mid-body, while usually the greatest width, as well as 

 depth, is about the region of the insertion of the hind limbs. 



Doctor Wettstein has pointed out that the type of T. tornieri is 

 aberrant in possessing 9 costal shields besides other variations from 

 the normal. It had 4 costals on one side and 5 on the other and an 



• Zool. Adz., 1924, vol. 60, Heft 9/10, pp. 201-8. 



