338 REPTILES. CHELONIA. 



live brown spots in one row upon the lower edge of the mar- 

 ginal plates. Shell about a foot long. Carolina. Shaw, iii. pi. 9. 



Gen. 3. CISTUDA, Fleming Tortues a boite, Cuv. 



Back plate emarginate in front, with two notches behind; un- 

 der shell with one or two moveable divisions ; lips corneous. 



C. Amboinensis, Cuv. Shell convex, brown, with yellow border ; 

 head spotted with yellow ; breast-plate moveable before and be- 

 hind. Inhabits Amboyna Daud. ii. 309. 



C. tricarinata, Cuv. Shell ovate, blackish, slightly convex, with 

 the margin entire, and all the scutella of the disc carinated ; tail 

 short, conical, scaly, pointed ; breast-plate moveable before and 

 behind. Size of a large walnut. Shaw, iii. pi. 11. 



C. Pennsylvania, Cuv. Pennsylvanian Tortoise. Shell brown, 

 smooth, elliptic, with flattish back ; the middle row of scutella 

 subrhomboid and subimbricated, the first subtriangular ; breast- 

 plate moveable before and behind. Shell 3 or 4 inches long. 

 Inhabits N. America. Shaw, iii. pi. 14. 



C. clausa, Cuv. Close or Box Tortoise. Shell brownish-black, ir- 

 regularly spotted with yellow ; scutella striated parallel to their 

 sides, yellowish in the middle, and the dorsal ones carinated ; an- 

 terior part of the under shell moveable. Shell 4 or 5 inches long. 

 Inhabits N. America Shaw, iii. pi. 7- 

 This species has its name from the manner in which the under part of the shell is 



applied to the upper, after the animal withdraws its head and legs within the shell. 



Gen. 4. CHELONQRA, Fleming. 



Extremities incapable of being withdrawn within the shell ; tail 

 about as long as the shield; upper shell carinated, with sharp 

 processes behind. 



C. serpentwa, Fleming. Snake Tortoise. Shell ovate, depressed, 

 triply carinated, rounded, and acutely serrated at the posterior 

 margin ; tail as long as the body, very thick at its base, covered 

 with scaly tubercles, of which those above project and form a 

 crest. Shell 4 feet long. Inhabits N. America. Shaw, iii. pi. 19. 



*** Sea Tortoises. 

 Gen. 5. CHELONIA, Brongniart. 



Feet flattened into scaly fins ; toes unequal, elongated, scaly, 

 and united by a membrane, with very small nails upon their 

 exterior border, terminated by scaly laminae. 



C. mydas, Cuv. Green Turtle. Shell brown, heart-shaped, of 13 

 dorsal segments, surrounded by 25 marginal pieces ; the brown 

 variegated with deeper undulations. 5 to 6 feet long. Inhabits 

 Seas in the Torrid Zone Shaw, iii. pi. 22. 



This is the species now imported regularly, and so much esteemed as an article of 

 food. Jt lays a great number of eggs, about a thousand annually, which it deposits 



