

CHELONIANS. 467 



America. This Tortoise, according to De Kay, lays from sixty 

 to seventy eggs, about the size of a small walnut. 



FIFTH FAMILY. HydraspicUt, (Gr. vdga, hudra, a water-snake ; 

 acTTilg, aspis, a shield.) 



This family includes four genera, viz. : Platemys, (Gr. pla~ 

 tus, broad; emus, emys:) Rhinemys, (Gr. rhin, nose; emus, 

 emys ;) Phrynops, (Gr. phrunos,* a rubeta, or venomous toad ; 

 ops, face;) Hydraspis. The whole are included by Wagler in 

 one genus, Platemys. They have the head flattened and covered 

 with a single delicate scale, or with a number of small irregular 

 plates ; the jaws are simple ; two barbels appear under the chin ; 

 the carapace is very much flattened ; the plastron is immov- 

 able ; there are five claws on the fore feet, four on the hind. 

 One species is found on the banks of the Macquarie River, 

 (Australia ;) other species are found in South America, living in 

 marshes or else on the banks of rivers. So far as the head and 

 neck are concerned, some of these animals, as the Chelodina of 

 New Holland, appear more like a snake than a tortoise. 



SIXTH FAMILY. Ckelyoidce, (Gr. /e^v?, chelus, a tortoise.) 



The Tortoises of this family have a shield that is thick, .com- 

 pletely ossified, and regularly divided into plates ; the head is 

 extraordinarily large, flat and triangular ; the jaws are weak, 

 neither pointed nor sharp edged, unfit for catching large active 

 prey, or for tearing any tough vegetable or animal matter ; the 

 mouth is broad, but very close when its roof and floor are 

 brought together, being well adapted for catching and swallow- 

 ing minute animals ; the legs are strong ; the feet broad and 

 compact, with long and sharp claws, the fore feet having five, 

 the hind feet four. This family includes but one genus, Chelys. 

 The only recognized species is the MATAMATA, C. matamata, (an 

 aboriginal name,) found in Cayenne and Guiana, having the neck 

 furnished with long cutaneous appendages, and two barbels on 

 the chin. The head looks as if it had been crushed, and this, 

 together with its fringes and skinny enfoldings, gives it a singu- 

 larly grotesque appearance. Decidedly, it is the most remark- 

 able of the Pond or Marsh Tortoises. When full grown, the 

 Matamata is about two and a half feet in length. 



