14 CISTUDACAROLINA. 



he excludes the references to Gronovius and Seba, given in the twelfth edition. 

 After all, the name of clausa is no more characteristic than that of Carolina, though 

 apparently so at first sight, for the power of closing the shell as firmly, belongs 

 equally to the C. amboinensis and C. trifasciata of Gray, as to the C. clausa of 

 Gmelin; yet from Schoepf 's high authority as a Herpetologist, most others have 

 in this followed his example. I am glad, however, to see lately such excellent 

 Herpetologists as Gray and Bell in England, and Dumeril and Bibron of Paris, 

 adhere to the old specific name of Carolina for this animal. 



Although the form of the Cistuda Carolina, as well as the colour and markings 

 of its shell, differ so much as has been said above, yet they can all be arranged 

 under certain varieties. Leconte has them as follows: 



"a. Very dark brown, obscurely spotted with yellow, with a few radiating lines 

 of the same; sternum very dark brown, with a few blotches of yellow; top of the 

 head yellow; jaws varied with yellow and black; neck yellowish-cinereous, spotted 

 with yellow. 



"/3. With larger and more distinct spots of yellow, some of them confluent and 

 subradiating. Sternum yellow; jaws yellow, striped with black; top of the head 

 mostly yellow; sides of the neck black, striped with yellow; throat yellow, varied 

 with black. 



"y. Shell brown, the plates marked with concentric strise, and with numerous 

 round and oblong spots of yellow; keel yellow; sternum yellow, unspotted; head 

 and neck black, spotted above, and varied on the sides with orange; chin and 

 throat yellow; jaws yellow, the upper one slightly marked with brown. This is 

 the Testudo virgulata of Daudin, and the description was made from the very 

 specimen he possessed, compared with three others. 



" §. Smooth, yellowish-brown, with a few indistinct spots of dark brown; sternum 

 yellow, unspotted; skin cinereous-brown; fore legs darker; top of the head yellowish; 



