The Terrapens. REPTILES. The Salt-water Terrapen. 71 
divided, the two which compose the Pond or Marsh 
tortoises are the most numerous in species. Speci- 
mens are found in both the Old and New Worlds, and 
Australia. America, which produces only two species 
of Land tortoises, contains more of these Pond species 
than all the other parts of the globe united. Thus, out 
of one hundred and thirteen specimens enumerated by 
Dr. Gray in 1855 as belonging to these two families, 
sixty-eight were exclusively American ; the remaining 
forty-five being divided between the various parts of 
the Old World and Australia. The cause of this is no 
doubt the configuration of the American continent, 
with the immense quantity of water, in the form of 
lakes, marshes, and ponds, which covers a certain por- 
tion of its surface, as well as the large rivers and tri- 
butary streams which traverse it in all directions. 
THE TERRAPENS {Emydidce). 
The Terrapens are not only characterized by their 
being able to retract completely, within the shell, their 
long, cylindrical neck, with its lax and sheathing skin ; 
they are, moreover, distinguished by their head being 
nearly as thick as it is broad near the occiput ; their 
eyes being always placed laterally on the sides of the 
face, and the orbit being so large that this cavity occu- 
pies nearly the fourth part of the total extent of the 
cranium. The jaws are very strong, with a naked, 
horny beak ; sometimes simply cutting, at others more 
or less dentated. The tip of the beak of the upper 
jaw is notched in most of the species, and on each side 
of the notch there is a pretty strong tooth, and gene- 
rally the corresponding extremity of the mandible is 
curved in a sharp point towards the muzzle. In some 
instances the upper beak resembles very much in form 
that of certain birds of prey, such as the falcons. The 
toes are generally webbed nearly to the claws. The 
bones of the pelvis or basin are articulated with the 
internal face of the carapace by a caitilaginous sym- 
phisis corresponding with what is known in other ani- 
mals as the os sacrum, and is quite free on the side of 
the breastplate. This allows several of these Terrapens 
to move slightly that part of their long shell. 
The great bulk of the species of Terrapens, how- 
ever, are contained in the genus Emys, and are chieily 
natives of Asia and America. 
THE CASPIAN EMYS {Emys Caspica), a small tor- 
toise about six or seven inches long, is the only species 
found in Europe. 
THE PAINTED TERRAPEN {Emys picta, the Ghry- 
semis picta of Gray) is perhaps the most beautiful, as it 
is certainly one of the most common and best marked 
species of the genus. It is a native of America, and 
has a wide range of habitat, for it extends along the 
Atlantic border from Maine to Georgia. This animal 
may be readily distinguished, says Mr. Holbrook, from 
all others of the genus by the beautiful colours and 
markings of the shell. In general it is of a very dark 
brown, approaching to a dark olive, with yellow lines, 
which in old animals are of a fawn colour, but in the 
young are so bright, especially when seen under water, 
as to resemble golden bands. The marginal plates are 
all marked with a bright red spot in the centre, which | 
is surrounded by concentric lines of the same colour, 
and at times their upper surface appears clouded with 
red, resembling the mineral called blood-stone. The 
sternum is entirely yellow, except at the wings, where 
it is somewhat dusky. The head above and the jaws 
are dark, almost black, with several small yellow lines 
running along them. The neck itself above, as well 
as the throat, are black, marked with longitudinal lines 
of orange and red. The anterior extremities are black, 
with one or two red lines in front, while the posterior 
surface is mottled with orange or red. The posterior 
extremities are black, both above and below, but the 
dark colour is relieved by orange lines. The tail is 
dark above, and mottled at its base with red spots. 
These colours, however, vary greatly in degree ; they 
are always brightest in the young. This species is 
not a large one, the shell in an adult specimen being 
about six and a half inches long, and four and a half 
broad. It is of a suboval or oblong shape, with a small 
head, rounded in front. The upper jaw is notched 
anteriorly, and the lower is slightly hooked or turned 
upwards in front. The eyes are large and brilliant, 
the pupil being black and the iris golden, with a black 
band passing through it horizontally. 
The Painted Terrapen frequents ditches, ponds, and 
pools, and abounds in rivers where the waters are slug- 
gish. It spends almost the whole day, according to 
Mr. Holbrook, basking in the sun on the banks of 
rivers, or upon fallen trees or logs. It is very timid, 
and makes a very rapid retreat when disturbed. It 
retires early to its winter quarteis, and is the first to 
be seen in spring. It feeds upon insects, tadpoles, 
young frogs, earthworms, &c. It takes the hook 
readily, and is on that account very troublesome to 
anglers. Its flesh is used occasionally as food, but it 
is not much esteemed. 
THE HICOTEE {Emys decussata) is a native of the 
West Indian islands, and is about ten or eleven inches 
long. The shell is oblong, bluntly keeled, the hinder 
edge slightly toothed. The shields of the carapace are 
a little wrinkled, irregularly radiately grooved, and of 
a uniform pale-brown colour ; but the animal itself is 
green. Dampier mentions this species in his “Voyages.” 
“ Two sorts of tortoise or turtle,” he says, “ are found 
in the West Indies. One is called by the Spaniards 
Hecatee. Another sort is called the Terrapen. Both 
these sorts are very good meat. They are in great 
plenty on the Isle of Pines, near Cuba : these the 
Spanish hunters, when they meet them in the woods, 
bring home to their huts and mark them by notching 
their shells, then let them go. When these hunters 
return to Cuba, after about a month or six weeks’ stay, 
they carry with them three or four hundred or more of 
these creatures to sell, for they are very good meat, 
and every man knows his own by their marks.” 
THE SALT-WATER TERRAPEN {Malaclemys con- 
centricd). — The species of Terrapens we have already 
mentioned have the head covered with a thin hard 
skin, and are purely fresh-water tortoises. There is 
a species, however, that has the head covered with a 
soft, spongy skin, and the habit of the animal is to live 
in salt water marshes. This is the Salt-water Terra- 
pen. The shell is seven and a half inches long, and 
