392 Zoological Socieifj. 



have become accustomed to M. Auguste Dumcril's want of attention 

 to such details. 



Professor Agassiz, probably deceived by these inaccuracies, ob- 

 served : — " U. Berrardi seems to belong to the genus PtychemySy 

 judging from the description and figure of the jaws." (Contrib. 

 p. 432.) 



In Mr. Salvin's collection there is a specimen of this Tortoise, with 

 the animal ; but, unfortunately, the specimen is not well preserved : 

 it seems to have been allowed to get dry from evaporation of the 

 spirit, and then to have been jjlaced in spirit again. However, it is 

 in a sufficiently good condition to allow of a description of the more 

 prominent characters of the animal ; and it shows that the peculiar 

 disposition of the sternal plate, on which the genus was described 

 (though overlooked by M. Dumc^ril), belongs to the normal characters 

 of the animal. The head is rather large, flat above, and covered with 

 a soft, thin, continuous skin ; the nose shelving upward, conical ; 

 nostril terminal ; mouth inferior, considerably behind the end of the 

 nose ; beak horny, rather sinuated at the sides ; chin not bearded ; 

 the limbs strong, well developed ; the legs covered with small scales ; 

 the front of the fore legs with numerous, unequal, very slender, 

 band-like cross shields ; feet large, broad ; the toes very long, rather 

 slender, with a wide web to the base of the claws ; the outer edge of 

 the fore leg and foot, and the hinder edge of the hind leg and foot, 

 with a broad thin fringe, covered with large smooth plates ; the 

 claws 4 — .5, elongated, acute ; tail short, thick, angular, the upper 

 surface flat, graiudar, with a ridge on each side of the base con- 

 verging towards the centre, where the ridges unite and form a single 

 central ridge of granules to the horny tip of the tail. 



This genus has all the characters of the more typical aquatic Ter- 

 rapins. The feet are broad, the toes elongated and well webbed ; 

 and the alveolar edges of the jaws, according to the figure of M. A. 

 Dumeril {I. c. t. 1 .5), have distinct dentated ridges, like the genera 

 Pseudemys and Batagur. M. Dumcril's figure seems to have been 

 taken from a badly preserved stuffed specimen. There is a second 

 specimen of this very interesting Terrapin now alive in the Zoolo- 

 gical Gardens. 



In my description of the genus I have described the axillary and 

 inguinal plates as absent. In Mr. Salvin's specimen they are very 

 small, but yet distinctly present, but are more developed on one side 

 than on the other, showing that they are variable in this animal. 



Description of the New Lizard (Spatalura Carteri, 

 Gray), from Life*. By Henry Carter, Esq. 



" Noticing that, in your specific description of Spatalura Carteri 

 (Annals, vol. xiii. p. 249), you have inserted in a parenthesis the words 

 * dry from spirits,' I am inclined to think that you would be glad 

 of more information on the colour-markings of this Lizard when 



* Extracted from a letter to Dr. J. E. Gray. 



