OBSERVATIONS ON TESTUDO NIGRITA — WAITE. 
95 
OBSERVATIONS on TESTUDO NIGRITA, DUM. & BIBR. 
By Edgar R. Waite, F.L.S., Zoologist. 
(Plates xx., xxi., and xxii.) 
Until recently, living in the grounds of the Hospital at Glades- 
ville, near Sydney, were two Gigantic Land Tortoises. In April, 
1896, I availed myself of a long-standing invitation from Dr. 
Eric Sinclair to inspect these tortoises with a view of determining 
the species and to verify, if possible, the common belief that the 
larger of the two originally came from the Galapagos Islands, 
the home of one of the three races of gigantic land tortoises. 
I then understood that little or nothing was known of the 
history of these huge Chelonians ; it was therefore, in the first 
place, necessary to determine the species. An examination showed 
that although the two individuals differed slightly, attributable 
to their being of opposite sex, they were of the same species. The 
absence of a nuchal plate, together with a divided gular, and the 
presence of an enlarged scute on the inner side of the fore-limb, 
at once indicated that they were from the Galapagos Islands. Of 
the six species inhabiting the group, three only have the shields 
of the carapace concentrically striated, as exhibited by our 
specimens. The anterior declivity of the carapace, taken in con- 
junction with the feature of the plastron, namely, being deeply 
notched behind, at once enables us to determine the species as : — 
Testudo nigrita, Dun i. & Bib * 
I had hoped to fully describe the species, and so close a gap in 
our knowledge of the several forms ; pressure of work has hitherto 
prevented my doing so, and, notwithstanding the facilities we 
possess in the way of material, I cannot look forward to sufficient 
leisure at any near date. The male is now in London, but is 
still, I believe, alive, so that its osteological characters are not 
ascertainable. The female died in August, 1896, and then 
passed into the possession of the Museum. Being desirous of 
preserving it in a life-like condition, and at the same time not 
wishing to sacrifice such a valuable skeleton, a novel experiment 
was tried and proved to be most successful. Casts were taken of 
the carapace, plastron, and head ; the skin was next carefully 
removed, and so worked up in conjunction with the casts that no 
one could now detect the deception, and the production occupies a 
* Dumeril et Bibron — Erpet. Grener., ii., 1835, p. 80. 
