EMYS CASPICA. 165 



The female lays her eggs in a dry place, but close to the 

 water ; they are white, marbled with ash-grey. This Tor- 

 toise is widely spread over Europe, being found in Greece, 

 Italy and its islands, the South of Prance, Hungary, Ger- 

 many as far north as Prussia, the Crimea, and shores of the 

 Caspian Sea. In most of these countries its flesh is eaten, 

 though not much esteemed, by the natives. 



Emys Caspica. 



Emys Caspica, Dum. et Bib. vol. ii. p. 235. 

 Terrapene Caspica, Buon. Faun. Ital. (figured). 



Description. — The carapace is oval and smooth in the adult, 

 but in the young animal with three ridges ; the neck-plate 

 is short, wide, four-sided, narrower in front than behind ; 

 the sternum does not, at either end, reach to the corre- 

 sponding extremity of the carapace ; the limbs, especially 

 the thighs, are granulated ; the latter have also a number 

 of sharp tubercles scattered over their surfaces, as has the 

 basal portion of the tail above and beneath ; the tail is vari- 

 able in length, but generally about half as long as the 

 sternum ; its base is thick and its tip slender. The general 

 colour of the carapace is olive ; over its surface is a net- 

 work of winding, confluent, yellow lines ; these, although 

 conspicuous in the living animal, become indistinct in spe- 

 cimens preserved in spirits ; the plates of the disk are sur- 

 rounded by a black border, which is wanting in the very 

 young ; the plates of the sternum are at first, and for a 

 long period, black, with the exception of a small oblong 

 yellow spot on their outer margin; as the animal grows 

 older, this spot enlarges in an irregular manner. 



Entire length about 15 inches. 



This Tortoise is found in the neighbourhood of the Cas- 

 pian Sea, where, as well as in the Morea, it is common in 



