THE LEATHERY TURTLE. 189 



having, according to some writers, that number 

 of strings. 



The carapace is heart-shaped, the hinder ex- 

 tremity much pointed ; an elevated ridge follows 

 the dorsal line from end to end; and on either 

 side of this central ridge are three parallel ones, 

 equidistant from each other ; between these 

 ridges the surface is quite smooth ; the head is 

 without plates ; the jaws are very strong ; the 

 lower jaw turns upwards at its extremity, forming 

 a hook, which is received into a corresponding 

 channel in the upper jaw. In the young, the 

 lines on the carapace are formed by a succession 

 of tubercles in rows, and the entire surface, both 

 of it and of the plastron, is warty. The eyelids 

 are divided almost vertically; the fore feet, or 

 fins, are as long again as the hinder, the latter, 

 however, being the wider ; there is no trace of 

 nails to the toes ; the tail is as long as the point 

 at the hinder extremity of the carapace. The 

 general colour is brown, with numerous pale 

 yellow spots on the upper surface; the legs and 

 tail are black. 



The entire length sometimes exceeds six feet.* 



* Clermont's "Quadrupeds and Keptiles of Europe," 

 p. 169. 



