72 



The Salt-water Terrapes.- 



-REPTILES.- 



-TiiE Chelydes. 



is of an oval form, rather convex, and slightly tnber- 

 culated. The shields are of a pale j'ellow colour, 

 marked with brown, impressed, concentric rings. The 

 legs, neck, &c., of the animal are gray, with black spots 

 and lines. The head is very large, and the jaws are 

 Strong and sharp-edged. The neck and tail are both 

 sliort and thick. The males are smaller than the 

 females, and the concentric striae are more deeply 

 impressed. This animal, as has been said above, lives 

 iti salt water and salt marshes, and is never met far 

 from them. In their immediate neighbourhood it 

 forms its winter habitation. It is descril)ed as a timid 

 animal, easily disturbed, and hiding itself on the least 

 alarm. It swims with gi-eat rapidity, and even on land 

 it moves quickly. Mr. Holbrook informs us that this 

 species of Terrapen is widely distributed in America, 

 abounding in marshy places from Rhode Island to 

 Florida. It is found also along the northern shores 

 of the Gulf of Mexico. " This seems," he says, " to 

 be the onlj' Terrapen common to North and South 

 America, and it is not singular when we consider that 

 all others of the tribe live in fresh water — this alone in 

 salt ; consequently, it might be driven by currents from 

 island to island, and from one shore of the gulf to the 

 other, like the Chelonia or Sea-tortoises ; and yet I 

 have never received them from any of the West India 

 islands, nor have I any evidence of the existence of 

 this species among them. They are very abundant 

 in the salt marshes around Charleston, and are easily 

 taken when the female is about to deposit lier eggs, in 

 the spring and early summer months. They are then 

 brought in immense numbers to market ; yet, notwith 

 standing this great destruction, the}' are so prolific that 

 their number appears undiminished. Their flesh is 

 excellent at all times, but in the northern cities it is 

 most esteemed when the animal has been dug out of 

 the mud in a state of hybernation." 



The Box tortoises, including the genera CiSTUDO 

 and KrNOSTERNOX, are remarkable species belonging 

 to this family, and form a natural group distinguislied 

 by several important characters, the most peculiar of 

 which consists in the species having their plastron or 

 breastplate separated, as it were, into two (Cistudo) or 

 three (Kinosternon) divisions, which are movable upon 

 each other. 



The genus Cistudo has an oval plastron with an 

 entire margin, which is divided by a cross suture 

 between the pectoral and abdominal plates. It thus 

 consists of two sections, the hinder of which is the 

 larger. These sections are joined by a hinge formed 

 of a sort of articular cartilage, which allows by its elas- 

 ticity of their having a degree of motion sufiicient to 

 enable the animal to open the shell so as to move its 

 limbs without inconvenience, or, on the other hand, 

 to bring it into close contact with the upper shell, and 

 thus inclose itself within a complete box — hence the 

 name Box tortoise. The genus is represented by — 



THE THREE-STREAKED BOX TORTOISE {Cistudo 

 jr Ctiorn Irlfasciata) — Plate 6, fig. 4. The cara- 

 pace, which is of a clear brown colour, is somewhat 

 oblong, and marked with three distinct keels of a 

 black luie, and the toes are strong and widely 

 webbed to the claws. The head is long, narrow, and 



somewliat depressed, and is of a yellow colour, with 

 two horizontal black or deep-brown streaks on each 

 side, passing from the nostrils across the orbit to the 

 back part of the head, where they unite. The neck 

 is very long, ashy above and yellow beneath. The 

 tail is rather long and slender, and without any horny 

 appendage at the extremity. A live specimen of this 

 species was to be seen a few years ago in the gardens 

 of the Zoological Society in London ; but as to its 

 habits in the wild state we have no particular informa- 

 tion, except that it is a native of China. 



The other genus of Box tortoises, Ivinosterxon, is 

 characterized by the species having die plastron or 

 breastplate formed of three distinct lobes or sections. 

 It is divided by two cross sutures, the central lobe 

 being fixed to the carapace by a bony attachment, and 

 having the anterior and posterior lobes articulated to 

 it by a ligament, and movable. The species are all 

 natives of America. Some of them are odoriferous. 

 There are two, especially, whicli are found in the 

 same localities, very much resembling each other, and 

 exhaling a strong odour of musk. 



THE MUD TERRAPEN {KinostfrnonPe-nnsylvantcum) 

 is about four inclies long, and inhabits ditches and 

 muddy streams from New Jersey to Florida. It preys 

 upon small fish, according to Le Conte, and other 

 aquatic animals ; bites readily at the hook ; and is 

 therefore very troublesome to anglers. It takes hold 

 of the bait very gently, and draws it slowly to the bot- 

 tom of the water, and frequently it allows several 

 minutes to elapse before it seizes it in such a manner 

 as to allow of its being taken. 



THE SCENTED KINOSTERNON [Kinosternon odor- 

 (itum), the other species alluded to, is often called the 

 Mud Terrapen also in the Southern states. Its odour 

 appears to be stronger than the preceding, very dis- 

 agreeable to many people. Mr. Storer, in his Report 

 rf the Reptiles of Massachusetts, in the Boston Journcd 

 of Natural History, says :^" This species has a very 

 disgusting odour, and is hence sometimes called Stink- 

 pot. It is found burying itself in the mud in ditches 

 and small ponds, frequently covered with a thick coat 

 of foreign matter, from which circumstance it has 

 received tlie common name oi Mud tortoise." It is a 

 little smaller than the preceding, being about three and 

 a half inches long, and is found iu the same locali- 

 ties as it. 



THE CHELYDES {Chelydidce). 



In addition to the distinguishing characters of this 

 family of Fresh-water Pond tortoises, given at p. 70, 

 we may remark here, that in all the genera but one 

 the nostrils are simple, and open in the upper part, 

 and in a notch of the horny sheath of the upper man- 

 dible. In the case of the JMatamatn alone, they are 

 prolonged beyond the muzzle, in the form of a small 

 proboscis. In general tlie head is naked, and the jaws 

 are never toothed, but are sharp-edged. The neck is 

 always enveloped in a lax and flexible skin, which in 

 some is naked, in others granular, and in others 

 furnished with appendages or plates of floating skin ; 



