10 Storer on the 
Emysaurvus.  Dumeril. 
Generic characters. Head large, covered with 
small plates ; snout short; jaws hooked ; two warts 
beneath the chin; sternum immoveable, cruciform, 
composed of ten plates; three sterno-costal plates ; 
Sore feet with five claws, hind feet with four ; tail 
long, surmounted with a scaly crest. 
E. serpentina. Lin. The snake Tortoise. 
Shaw's Zoology, vol. iii. pt. 1. P- 72, et fig. 
Ann, Lyc. N. Y. vol. iii. p. 128. 
Dum. et Bibr. Hist. Nat. des Rept. vol. ii. p 350. 
This is the largest tortoise found within the bor- 
ders of our State; sometimes weighing from 15 to 
20 pounds. It is exceedingly powerful and vora- 
cious, feeding upon fishes and frogs; and the farmers 
Sometimes complain of its depredations among their 
chickens and ducklings. From its habit of snapping 
suddenly at almost every thing offered it, it is gen- 
erally known by the name of the “snapping tor- 
toise,” in New England, while its crested tail, resem- 
bling the Crocodilus lucius, gives it the distinction at 
the South, of “alligator tortoise.” It is usually 
found in filthy water, and is occasionally met with 
at considerable distance from any pond or pool, 
dragging itself leisurely along. 
The flesh of this species is often used as food, 
and when made into a soup is considered by many - 
as quite a delicacy. 'The oil obtained from this 
species is carefully preserved in many portions of 
