142 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNN0 1771. 



two sent me. One of them I had preserved entire and sent to our friend Mr. 

 Ellis ; the other, less perfect, I have sent you. This is a very curious animal, 

 and I think a nondescript, for there is none of Linnaeus's 1 5 species that resemble 

 it, except the first; and that he particularly mentions is found in the Mediter- 

 ranean ;* but this always inhabits fresh waters, remote from the sea. The head 

 and snout are particularly distinguished from every other turtle ; and what is 

 more, I am told they exceed any turtle in the delicacy of their taste and flavour. 

 I never ate any of them ; but have heard many speak of them who were great 

 epicures, and they have assured me, that they were far preferable to the 

 green kind.' 



Fresh Water Turtle,-^ commonly called Soft-shelled Turtle. PI. 4. 

 • * They are found in large quantities in Savannah and Alatamaha rivers ; and I 

 have been told that they are very common in the rivers in East Florida. They 

 grow to very large sizes, though the largest that ever I heard of was 70 pounds. 

 The turtle which I now have by me, weighs 20 pounds ; and probably when I 

 first got it, it might have weighed from 25 to 30 pounds, as I have observed that 

 it has become poorer every day. I have had it now near 3 months, and I never 

 could observe that it has eaten any thing that has been given it, though a variety 

 of things have been tried. It is twenty inches long, from one end of the shell 

 or covering to the other, and 14 inches and a half broad. The colour of this 

 shell or covering in general is dark brown, with a greenish cast. 



' The middle part is hard, strong, and bony ; but all round the sides, especially 

 towards the tail and hinder part, it is cartilaginous, soft and pliable, resembling 

 thick tanned sole-leather, yielding very easily to any force in any direction what- 

 ever, but thick enough and strong enough to defend the animal from any injury. 

 All the hind part of the back is full of oblong smooth knobs ; and the fore part, 

 just where it covers the head and neck, is studded full of large knobs. The 

 under side of this plate is very beautiful, of a lively whitish colour, interspersed 

 with innumerable very fine ramifications of blood vessels, running from the mar- 

 gin of the plate into larger and larger branches, till the sight of them is at once 

 lost by their entering the body of the animal. The under, or belly plate, or 

 rather sternum, is of a fair whitish colour, and extended forward 2 or 3 inches 

 more than the back plate ; so that the head rests on it very conveniently. The 

 hind part of this plate is hard and bony, shaped very much like a man's riding 



; • There are Iwo species of tortoises in that sea, a coriaceous one, and another resembling that of 

 the West Indies, which is scarcely eatable. The last I procured from Leghorn, and at this time 

 am doubtful whether it differs specifically from the "West Indian turtle. — Orig. 



+ This species is the Testudo ferux, Lin. Gmel. T. testa cartilaginea ovata, pedum unguibus tri/ms, 

 naribvs tubvlatis prominentilivs. 



