90 EMYS TERRAPLX. 



to Florida. They exist also along the northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico, 

 according to Dr. Binney, who saw them at New Orleans, and I have received 

 living specimens from its southern shore. This seems to be the only Ejiiys 

 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 the Emys terrapin among them. 



They are very abmidant in the salt marshes around Charleston, and are easily 

 taken when the female is about to deposit her eggs, in the spring and early summer 

 months. They are then brought in immense numbers to market; yet, notwith- 

 standing this great destruction, they 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 its state of 

 hibernation. The males are smaller than the females, and have the concentric 

 striae more deeply impressed. 



General Remarks. This animal was certainly first described by Schoepfi' in 

 his Historia Testudinum, and accompanied with an excellent figure. Schoepff 

 observed it in the United States himself, where he was surgeon to a German 

 regiment during the war of the revolution; and he also received it from Muhlen- 

 berg, who sent him specimens of many other animals. He called it Testudo 

 terrapin, a name I have retained in this work, not because I like it — on the 

 contrary, it is inappropriate, being in common parlance applied to the whole genus 

 — but on account of its priority, which in every instance should rigidly be adhered 

 to. The specific name ccntrata of the French Naturalists, or, better still, con- 

 centrica of the English, is the one I should prefer, but cannot adopt either, for the 

 reason above given. 



It is possible this may be the animal mentioned by BroAMi,* but nothing can be 



