INTRODUCTION. 



Emys floridana to Leconte, I only mean to retain the specific name given by him 

 to a certain animal which he first described; and it is not to be supposed that he 

 established the genus Emys any more than the genus Testudo, (Testudo flori- 

 dana,) to which genus he refers it. I have only here to do with species and 

 specific names; in the anatomical part of this work it will be shown why one 

 generic name is preferred to another. In the catalogue of synonymes will be seen 

 not only the different specific names, but also those of the genera under which 

 different Herpetologists have arranged our reptiles. The habit adopted by several 

 late Naturahsts, of changing the names by which animals were first described, 

 even though for better and more characteristic denominations, has already led to 

 great confusion, and must lead to greater, since few persons are hkely to agree 

 in the characters they think most important. 



