70 Miscellaneo2iK. 



the observation he has done, who is, by his own account, new to the 

 study of Tortoises (see P. Z, S. 1870, p. 667), but who could have 

 examined the extensive series of these animals in the Museum, 



Sir Charles Schomburgk observes that " the flesh of the Tortoises 

 of this family is fat, and the most savoury of any of the freshwater 

 Tortoises." 



Mte on Testudo chilensis. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. 



Mr. Sclater, who gives the name of " Chilian Land-Tortoise " 

 to this species in his list of accessions, P. Z. S. 1870, p. 667, objects 

 to my calling it Testudo chilensis, because there is a doubt of its 

 being found on the west side of the Andes. Though his notes on 

 this subject appear before my paper, which is printed in p. 706 of 

 the same volume, it was sent to him before his observations were 

 made. Mr. Sclater declares all through his observations that the 

 Tortoise observed by Burmeister, D'Orbigny, and others in South 

 America is Testudo stellata, one of the most common Indian species, 

 instead of T. sulcata, which is the species that these authors erro- 

 neously considered common to Africa and America. 



Note on Dactylopora*. 



A large quantity of materials, together with a careful study of 

 many living and Tertiary species of Dactylopora (among them many 

 from the Paris Eocenes and Mr. Karrer's remarkable D. mioccenica), 

 and Dr. Carpenter's publications, have materially assisted me in 

 throwing some light on the Triassic forms. The only difficulty is 

 to make generally intelligible the structure of minute organic forms 

 (although giants among the Foraminifera) imbedded in hmestones 

 or dolomites, most of them imperfectly preserved, some of them 

 mere casts, others with calcareous infiltrations taking the place of 

 organic substance. The Triassic forms must undoubtedly be ranked 

 among the genus Dactylopora in Dr. Carpenter's sense, analogous 

 organisms occurring among the Eocene forms from Paris. These 

 ancient species seem to be essentially characterized by the want of 

 camerse (in the sense in which Dr. Carpenter uses this term), as 

 merely canals in circular order, frequently grouped by two and two 

 or by four and four, extend from a cylindrical cavity occupied by 

 sarcode, towards the including, calcareous, compact tegument. Dr. 

 Carpenter's " camerae," as they occur in living and in most of the 

 Tertiary species, cannot, therefore, be admitted as chief generic charac- 

 ters, being evidently mere appendices to the chief sarcode-cylinder, 

 and liable to complete obliteration in certain groups of forms. 



Of the ancient forms a striking abundance and diversity are pre- 

 sented, admissible as specifically different, as they occur constantly 

 and uniformly in alpine localities very distant from each other. 

 English naturalists would perhaps recognize the whole series of 



* From Dr. C. W. Gumbel's letter to Director Fr. von Hauer, dated 

 Munich, April 23, 1871. Communicated by Count Marschall. 



