654 DR. J. E. GRAY ON NEW TORTOISES. [June 23, 
have sent to the Society a synopsis of them, founded on the exa- 
mination of the specimens in the Museum. 
* Dorsal and ventral shields with pale and dark rays ; nuchal 
shield none. India. 
1. PELTASTES STELLATUS. 
Thorax ovate, convex ; dorsal shield grooved, with nine, fifteen, 
or more yellow rays; the lateral rays of the costal shields nearly 
parallel ; marginal shields with four or more yellow rays ; sternum 
black, or dark brown, with numerous nearly uniform yellow rays ; 
nuchal plate none. 
Testudo stellata, Gray, Cat. Shield Rep. p. 7. 
T. elegans, Ginther, Rept. British India, p.4; P.Z.S. 1869. 
T. geometrica, Hutton, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vi. 1837, p.689, t.38. 
T. megalopus, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. xxii. 1865, p. 624. 
Hab. Scinde (Dr. Leith) ; Ceylon; Himalaya (Captain Boys). 
Var. 1. actinoides. The dorsal shields more or less convex, with 
fifteen or more yellow rays. 
Testudo actinoides, Bell, Zool. Journ. vol. iil. p. 419, tab. xiv., 
Testudinata, tab. ; Seba, vol. i. p. 126, t. 80. f. 3. 
1. stellata, var., Gray Cat. Shield Rep. p. 7. 
Var. 2. elegans. Shields black, with twelve rays ; costal shields 
with eight or nine rays. 
Young. Areole of shields brown, large, four- or five-rayed ; 
sternal shields with a pale areola, and more or less broad black pale- 
rayed margin. 
Testudo elegans, Schepf, Testud. t. xxv. figs. 1, 2, 3 (copied 
Shaw’s Zool. ii. t. vi.) ; Schweigger, Prodromus, p. 86. 
T’. stellata, Schweigger, p. 56; Gray, Syn. Rep. p. 12, t. 1. f. 1. 
La géométrique, Lacépéde, p. 137, pl. ix.; Seba, Thesaurus, vol. i. 
p- 126, t. 80. f. 8. 
Hab. Ceylon and Scinde. 
Var. 3. maura. Shell very black; costal shields with six or 
seven white rays. 
Young. Shields black, with a yellow four-rayed cross on the 
costal shields. B.M. 
Var. 4. sebe. Shell young; shields yellow; areolze large, pale, 
with a black spot on the upper and lower margins and a long spot 
on the side margin over the suture between the shields; marginal 
shields pale, with a very narrow dark front margin. 
Seba, Thesaurus, vol. i. tab. 79. fig. 3. 
Schweigger changed the name of the species because he did not 
believe that the Tortoise figured by Seba was the young of the same 
species. See ‘ Prodomus,’ p. 86. 
The specimens with many and with fewer rays are very distinct 
from each other ; and I have not found any specimens which seem to 
