184 



THE LEATHERY TURTLE. 



(Sphargis coriacea.) 



THIS Turtle differs materially from the pre- 

 ceding in several points. The carapace, instead 

 of being clad with plates, is covered with a 

 tough leather-like skin. Along the upper shell 

 are seven distinct ridges, running longitudinally ; 

 these are sharp and slightly toothed in the adult 

 animal, but rounded in the young. It appears 

 to be a native of the Mediterranean Sea, but 

 even there is not at all common ; it is found also 

 in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. The 

 claims of this turtle to be regarded as British 

 are founded upon a passage in Borlase's " His- 

 tory of Cornwall," and Pennant's " British 

 Zoology." Borlase records that two were taken 

 on the coast of Cornwall in the mackerel nets, 

 of a vast size, a little after Midsummer, 1756; 

 the largest weighed eight hundred pounds, the 

 lesser near seven hundred. Pennant adds, that a 

 third of equal weight with the first of the above 

 was caught on the coast of Dorsetshire, and 

 deposited in the Leverian Museum. The largest 

 of the Cornish specimens measured six feet nine 

 inches from the tip of the nose to the end of the 



