Species of North American Tortoises. 1 15 



females. The trivial name terrapin, which Schoepff has 

 affixed to this species, is by no means appropriate, as the word 

 is a generic term among us, and signifies land or fresh water 

 tortoises as distinguished from marine, which it is well known 

 are ridiculously enough called turtles. 



10. Testudo picta. 



Testa oblongo-ovalis, laevissima, scutis antice fuscescenti- 

 flavo marginatis ; scutellis marginalibus flavo vel rubro 

 pictis. 



Testudo cinerea, Schoepff, tab. iii. fig. 3, is a young one. — 

 Testudo novcB hispanice lusitanis ragado d^aqua appellata, Seba 

 I. tab. Ixxx. fig. 5. Einys picta, Merrem. 



Shell oblong-oval, rather depressed, smooth, with a very 

 small emargination behind, dusky brown, all the dorsal plates 

 bordered with yellowish, or very pale brown, or more gene- 

 rally only the second and third row of dorsal plates edged on 

 the fore part with yellowish ; a longitudinal line of the same 

 colour frequently runs along the middle of the back. First 

 vertebral plate nearly quadrangular, wider on the fore part 

 and elongated behind in the middle, so as to enter a sinus in 

 the next ; the second hexagonal, the third quadrangular ; the 

 fourth hexagonal, narrowed behind ; the fifth heptagonal : first 

 lateral plate triangularly-foursided, the superior face the smallest, 

 and with the inferior face generally rounded ; the second and 

 third five-sided, the latter sometimes square ; intermediate 

 marginal plate emarginate, linear, narrowed before, so as to 

 leave an open space resembling an emeirgination on each side ; 

 the rest oblong or square ; the first finely serrate on the ante- 

 rior face, all of them with a large red or yellow spot in the 



