510 ZOOLOGY. 
the carotis (car), and subclavian artery of the same side. The 
veins are two in number, as they enter the heart: 1st. The 
pulmonary veins (pv) unite to form a very short. trunk 
emptying into the left auricle; while (2d) the two venw 
cave superiores unite with the cava inferior (V) to empty 
through the sinus venosus into the right auricle. 
The kidneys lie at the posterior end of the body against 
the vertebral column. In the figure they are concealed by 
the bladder and oviducts. (Minot.) 
There are about forty species of Chelonians in America 
north of Mexico. The lower forms of turtles are the marine 
species. Such is the great sea-turtle (Sphargis coriacea 
Gray) of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, which is the 
largest of all existing turtles, and is sometimes eight feet 
long, weighing from eight hundred to twelve hundred pounds. 
Next to this species is the loggerhead turtle (Thalassochelys 
caouana Fitzinger), which is sometimes seen asleep in mid- 
ocean. Still another is the hawk-bill or tortoise-shell turtle 
(Zretmochelys imbricata Fitz.), the plates of whose shell is 
an article of commerce. The green-turtle of the West 
Indies weighs from two hundred to three hundred pounds, 
and is used for making delicious soups and steaks; being 
caught at night when laying its eggs on sandy shores. All 
the foregoing species have large, flat, broad flippers or fin-like 
limbs, while in the pond and river turtles the feet are webbed, 
and the toes distinct. A very ferocious species is the common 
soft-shelled turtle (Aspidonectes spinifer Lesueur), whose 
shell is covered with a thick leathery skin. It is carnivorous, 
voracious, living in shallow muddy water, throwing itself 
forward upon small animals forming its prey. The snap- 
ping-turtle (Chelydra serpentina Schweigger) sometimes 
becomes four feet long; its ferocity is well known ; the flesh 
makes an excellent soup. 
The terrapins belong to the genus Pseudemys ; the pretty 
painted turtle (Chrysemys picta Agassiz) is common in the 
Eastern States, while the NManemys guttatus (Agassiz), or 
spotted tortoise, is black, spotted with orange. In the land 
tortoises the feet are short and stumpy. The Testudo Indica 
of India is three feet in length. The great land tortoises of 
