H ELISHA 30TCHELL SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL 



2. 2. 2. 2. 2. hind foot. 2. 3, 3, 3, 1. Carapace not keeled. 

 Or n at a. 



The same year x Cope. reiving- on the same characters, di- 

 vided Terrapene into four genera, viz.: 



1. Ttrnip'SKt Merrein. with four dig-its in the hind foot and 

 natic arch incomplete T. Carolina and T. orna". 



2. Onychotrea 'Tray. Three digits in the hind foot and 

 zygomatic arch incomplete T. mexicana and T. triung-is). 



3. Pariemys Cope. Three dig-its in the hind foot, zygomatic 

 arch incomplete T. ba 



4. Toxaspis Cope. Four dig-its in the hind foot, zygomatic 

 arch complete T. major . 



j Cope and Taylor use the word "digit"* in these tables 

 in a misleading manner. What is really meant is "claw" or 

 "clawed digit": all th - of Terrrpene having at least 



four dig-its from an osteolog-ical point of view, the fourth 

 di^i: not bein^ ^uishable in the flesh except when ter- 



minating in a claw. Taylor's diagnosis of the species would 

 be satisfactory enough were it not for the fact that some of 

 the characters relied upon are subject to variation in the same 

 species. 



Having been considerably puzzled by this individual varia- 

 tion in my endeavor to satisfactorily identify specimens of 

 these fornix I have taken pains during the past two or three 

 years to examine specimens of the various forms which have 

 passed through my hands in order t<~> ascertain so far as s- 

 sible with the material at my disposal their relation to one 

 another. 



So far I have come to the conclusion that of the live forms 

 inhabiting the United States, three are undoubtedly good 

 rs. viz.. Carolina, major and ornata. With regard to the 

 othertwo baurima.x be identical with major, or it may be the 

 da local race of that species, or it may be extinct: I can- 

 not tell which. Western triungis I believe to be at least a 



♦Taylor on Box Tortoises, by E. D. Cope. Am. Naturalist. 18i*o. August: 

 pp. 754 



