7714 Reptiles. 



it was at once despatched to his Lordship by the overseer of the 

 fishings. It was alive when found ; and the fishermen were not a little 

 astonished at their capture, which they concluded to be a " monster 

 tortoise." His Lordship too, I believe, was not less surprised than its 

 captors, and expressed himself highly delighted with his present. 

 For myself I cannot sufficiently express ray estimation of the gift, 

 or my gratitude to the noble donor for his kindness. 



I never saw this species before ; but 1 believe the present specimen 

 to be in every way a very good representative of its race, and as such 

 I venture to give a very brief summary of its appearance and dimen- 

 sions : — 



Above the shell is of a fine mahogany colour, with lightish streaks 

 or veins throughout the whole of the plates, which give it a marbled 

 appearance. The animal itself, or at least that portion of its skin 

 which is seen from above, is mostly of a brownish tint; underneath it 

 is altogether of a most beautiful yellow, as also are the sides of the 

 neck. The mandibles, if I may so speak, are of a horny hue and 

 texture, and are very strongly and very thickly serrated. Shell 

 15 inches in length, 10 in breadth ; of course it tapers considerably 

 towards the extremities. Fore fin 10 inches in length; breadth from 

 the tip of the fore fin to that of the hind fin 27 inches : hind fin 

 Sg- inches in length, 15f in breadth. Head 4 inches in length, 10^ 

 in girth ; neck about the same dimensions. Tail about 2 inches 

 in length. 



This is the first specimen of the kind I have had an opportunity of 

 dissecting, and I must say that I was well repaid for my labour. I 

 will not trouble the readers of the ' Zoologist' with details of the 

 dissection ; but there is one thing to which I wish to call attention. 

 From what I had read I expected to meet with some cartilaginous 

 protuberances in the throat ; but on examining this purse-like pas- 

 sage I was surprised to find it, from the entrance to from four to five 

 inches down, very thickly and very strongly beset with ivory-looking 

 spines, inclined downwards, but movable in any direction. I ex- 

 pected to find a rough passage, but had no idea of meeting with such 

 a host of long, thick spikes, most of them being about an inch in 

 length, and all as sharp as pins, the points having a coppery look. 



Has this species ever been met with before in the British seas ? 



and if so, when and where ? I should feel greatly obliged for 



information on the subject. 



Thomas Edward. 

 Banff, August 1, 1861. 



I 



