1042 The American Naturalist. [December, 
Inches. 
Length of hind leg and thigh, ... 24 
Circumference above the foot, . . . . 16 
Length of tail 8>^ 
Depth of upper shell when scooped out, . . 17 
Width inside 27 
Number of pieces composing the disk, . . 13 
Number of pieces in the margin, ... 24 
When alive weighed, 190 lbs. 
Quantity fit for use, 84 lbs." 
Is it not probable that the specimen now in the Edinburgh 
Museum of Science and Arts is the one collected by Captain 
Hall in 1822, and therefore from Abingdon Island ? 
Thinking it possible that something about the history of T. 
ephippiiim could be found out, I wTote to the Director of the 
Edinburgh Museum of Science and Arts, in which the type is 
preserved, asking whether anything is known about this speci- 
men. Dr. R. H. Traquair had the great kindness to examine the 
matter and wrote to me : " I have to say that I have had the rec- 
ords of the old College Museum searched for information as to 
the specimen of Testiido ephippiiivi figured and described by Dr. 
Giinther, and the only entry which we can find which can possi- 
bly have any reference to that specimen is one in the year 1822-23 
of a ' Large Turtle from South Sea— Captain Basil Hall.' Now 
in those old days, when the Museum was under the charge of 
Professor Jamison, no marks were put upon the specimens by 
which they could be afterwards identified with entries in the reg- 
ister ! Consequently we have no absolute certainty as to whether 
our Testudo ephippium is the specimen from the ' South Sea' 
presented by Captain Basil Hall or not." 
From these notes and from a comparison of the descriptions of 
T. ephippium and T. abingdomi, I reach the conclusion that T. 
ephippium is the same species as T. abitigdonii, and that the type 
specimen of the former is the one brought by Captain Hall from 
Abingdon Island. The name T, ephippium has the priority, but I 
