Mr. R. Swinboe on Formosan Reptiles. 221 



kept quite stilly after the lapse of a few seconds they would 

 again reappear at the surface. 



4. Chelonia virgata, Schneid, 



The Green Turtle of Europeans in China is of frequent occur- 

 rence, often of a large size in the warm waters of the Gulf Stream 

 on the east of Formosa. At Sawo it is taken in large numbers, 

 dried, and cut up into thin strips for food. It is of rarer occur- 

 rence on the west coast, where it is oftenest found in spring. 

 On the Chinese coast it is a great rarity. There the fishermen 

 have great reverence for it, as it is regarded as the emblem of 

 longevity. When accidentally entangled in the fishing-nets, it 

 is carried to the nearest large town and exhibited for a short 

 time. It is then usually purchased from its captors by some 

 well-to-do native, who has a few "good words ^^ carved on its 

 back, in company with his own name and the date, and fills-in 

 the inscription with vermilion. The animal is then decked witb 

 ribbons, and carried in a boat, with much ceremony, out to sea, 

 where it is consigned with state into its native element. Some 

 very large specimens were brought from Sawo to Tamsuy ; they 

 were kept in a boat filled with water during the day. In the 

 evening we used to bring them out on to the deck of a vessel. 

 One of them, for several consecutive evenings at 8 o^clock pre- 

 cisely, would commence scratching the deck with her fore flappers, 

 and then set-to laying eggs, usually twelve in number. She 

 would then turn round and commence pushing and scraping 

 with her hind flappers — evidently the manoeuvre she was in the 

 habit of going through on the sandy beach, first scratching a 

 hole for the reception of the eggs, then filling it up. I had one 

 alive for some time in the yard of my house. It used to lie 

 motionless in the rain-puddles, with only the tip of its head un- 

 covered. When the thermometer fell below 50° it would sally 

 out of the water, and not return till it grew warmer. 



5. Caretta squamata, Bont. (Tortoise-shell Turtle). 

 One of this species was brought to me at Tamsuy about the 

 25th of January 1861. It was very lively, and much more 

 active than the Green Turtle, walking about the floor with an 

 awkward but somewhat rapid gait. In walking it inclined the 

 inner edge of its fore flapper up, so as to bring the claw of the 

 outer edge as a purchase on the ground. It was killed by a 

 deep incision in the neck above the thorax. Thus wounded, 

 it flapped about from 1.30 till 4 p.m., when it ceased to move; 

 but at 11 P.M., when I dissected the animal, I found the heart 

 still beating, and the muscles sensible to touch and conveying 

 motion to the limbs^ though other signs of life tad ceased, Th§ 



