CHELONIA VIRIDIS. 453 



Chelonees /ranches, BUM. & BIBR. Erpet. gn. II, 1835, 555. 



Euchelonia, TSCH. Faun. Peruan. Herp. 1845, 22. 



Chcloniae liberae, CANTOR, Catal. Kept. Malay. Penins. 1847, 11. 



OBSERV. This genus is restricted, by modern writers, to the escu- 

 lent species of the family, those that are most esteemed as an article 

 of food, and generally known under the name of Green Turtles. 

 Their shell is too thin to be made any use of in the arts. Labat 

 states that the West Indies species does not grow as large as the Log- 

 gerhead of the same localities, it being intermediate in size between 

 the latter and the " Scaled Tortoise," or " Caret." 



Accurate graphic illustrations of Chdonia viridis are still a deside- 

 ratum. Being the typical species of the genus, figures of the others 

 can have but a secondary interest in themselves. Had we had an 

 authentic specimen, from the West Indies, at our command, we might 

 have enlarged upon the remarks and criticism which we offer further 

 on, respecting the species that came under our observation. 



The references to the " Green Turtle" bearing somewhat upon the 

 history of its congeners, it was deemed advisable to present them to 

 our readers according to the plan we have adopted. 



1. CHELONIA VIRIDIS, Temm. & Schleg. 



OBSERV. The twelfth chapter, in Vol. I, of Labat's " Voyages aux 

 Isles de 1'Amerique," is full of vivid information respecting the mode 

 of catching and use of the Green Turtles of the West Indies. 



SYN. Testudo i-iridis, SCHN. Allg. Naturg. Schildkr. 1783, 309. Tab. n. LATR. 

 Hist. nat. Kept. I, 1802, 48. 



Testudo mydas, LINN. Syst. Nat. ed. X, I, 1758, 197 ; &, ed. XII, I, 1766, 350. 

 BONNAT. Encycl. meth. Erpet. 1789, 19. PI. in, fig. 2. Cuv. Tabl. elem. d'hist. 

 nat. 1798, 288 ; Regn. anim. II, 1817, 13 ; 2d ed. II, 1829, 13 ; &, ed. illustr. Kept. 

 19. DACD. Hist. nat. Kept. II, 1805, 10. Tab. xvi, fig. 1. OPPEL, Kept. Prodr. 

 1811, 9. 



Tettudo viridi-squamosa, BONNAT. Encycl. meth. Erpet. 1789, 20. 



Chelonia mydas, SCHW. Prodr. Monogr. Chelon. in Arch. Koenigsb. I, 1812, 291 <t 

 412. GRAY, in. Ann. of Philos. X, 1825, 212 ; &, Syn. Kept, in Griff. Anim. Kingd. 

 IX, 1831, 52. GRAVENH. Delic. Mus. Zool. Vratisl. I, 1829, 5. Tab. i, fig. 1. 

 WAGL. Naturl. Syst. Amph. 1830, 133. LESS, in Belany. Voy. Ind. Orient. Zool. 

 1834, 298. BUM. & BIBR. Erpet. gen. II, 1835, 538. HOLBR. N. Amer. Herp. II, 

 1842, 25. PI. in. AOASS. Contr. Nat. Hist. U. S. Amer. I, 1857, 378. 



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TII7BKSITY 



