1874.] W. Theobald — On Indian and Burmese species of Trionyx. 75 



The following papers were read — 



1. Observations on some Indian and Burmese species of Trionyx. — By 

 W. Theobald, Esq. 



My attention having lately been attracted by certain erroneous state- 

 ments by Dr. J, E. Gray in the Supplement to the Catalogue of Shield 

 Eeptiles. dated 1870, and in the Appendix to the same work, dated 1872, 

 and in several papers likewise in those widely circulated works, the Annals 

 and Magazine of Natural History, and the Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society of London for the years 1869, 1870, 1871, 'and 1872, I feel myself 

 reluctantly compelled to come forward with a correction of them, in simple 

 self-justification, no less than in the cause of scientific accuracy and truth, 

 since no one is. in some respects, so well qualified to do so as myself, who 

 collected many of the specimens to which I shall have to refer, and who am 

 therefore in a measure responsible for any glaring error in the recorded 

 distribution or lidbitat of a species, which I knowingly permit to remain 

 uncorrected, when published on my authority. The tone of many of Dr. 

 Gray's remarks is such as to render this a most unwelcome labour, but I 

 shall endeavour to keep as closely as possible to facts which any one can 

 verify, and I confidently appeal to the indulgent consideration of those who, 

 from personal acquaintance, best understand the difficulty which surrounds 

 the subject, and the great disadvantage under which a colonial naturalist 

 writes, who ventures to impugn the dictum and scientific utterances of such 

 a veteran savant as Dr. J. E. Gray. 



The first point I would direct attention to, as essential to the right 

 comprehension of the synonymy of the group, is the question what Trionyx 

 Jiurum, B. H., really is. Is Jiurum a mere synonym of Tr. gangeticus, or is 

 it still available to designate a species hitherto confounded with the last ? 



In the course of the present paper I shall develop my own views on 

 this point, but first of all I shall advert to the views of Dr. Gray and Dr. 

 Anderson, as recorded so late as 1872. 



Trionyx {Testudo) hurum is a name applied by Buchanan Hamilton 

 to a Gangetic species, the drawing of which was copied by Gray in his 

 Illustrations of Indian Zoology in 1829. The word has no specific appli- 

 cation that I can discover, to any one in particular of our Gangetic species, 

 but is merely the ordinary word signifying " forbidden" (as food, that is) 

 to Mahomedans, to whom all turtle are " unclean," and is more familiar 

 to English eyes as haram, the " forbidden" apartments of women in the 

 East. In Dr. Gray's Catalogue of Tortoises, Crocodiles, and Amphisboe- 

 nians, dated 1844, page 47, and again in his elaborate Catalogue of Shield 

 Eeptiles, dated 1855, Tr. hurum stands as a synonym of Tr. gangeticus, 

 Cuv., and neither in the Supplement to that work, dated 1870, nor the 

 Appendix, dated May 1872, does this same Hurum appear as a recognised 

 species. Till the remarkable date then oiMay 1872, Dr. J. E. Gray must be 

 held to have recognised Tr. hurum as a mere synonym of Tr. gangeticus, Cuv. 



