914 
TEST 
under-shell completely closing the upper, whence it obtains 
its name. The under part of the shell is so continued round 
the margin, that when the animal withdraws its head and 
legs it is able accurately to close all parts of the shell 
together, so as to be perfectly secure. The defence of this 
little animal, which rarely exceeds four or five inches in 
length, is such, that it is uninjured by a weight of 500 or 
600 pounds, and able to walk under this heavy load.—It is 
a native of many parts of North America, found chiefly in 
marshy situations, and occasionally in the driest and hottest 
places. It is principally sought for on account of its eggs, 
which are reckoned a delicacy. It feeds on small animals, 
as beetles, mice, and even serpents, which it draws into its 
shell, and crushes to death; and also on various vegetable 
substances. 
17. Testudo palustris.—With depressed shell, five claws 
on the fore-feet, and four on the hind-feet; found in the 
stagnant waters of Jamaica, and seeking food in the adjoin¬ 
ing meadows. This is the testudo terrapin of Schoepf, and 
the testudo concentrica of other writers, with sub-depressed, 
sub-carinated, oval yellow shell, with the scutella marked by 
concentric brown zones. The shell measures from four to 
six inches, or more.—It is a native of North America, and 
sold in the markets at Philadelphia, and elsewhere, under the 
name of “ Terrapin,” which name is indiscriminately applied 
in America to several other species. It is common, as we 
have already said, in Jamaica, and first described by Dr. 
Browne, in his “ History of Jamaica,” who says it is a 
wholesome and even delicate food. Shaw, 
18. Testudo caspica.—With orbicular shell, scaly head, 
five claws on the fore-feet, four on the hind, and naked tail. 
The pieces composing the disk are sub-quadrate; those of 
the border parallelogrammic; the colour variegated with 
black and green; the lower shell blackish, spotted with 
white.—Gmelin represents it as a native of Hircania, inha¬ 
biting fresh waters, and sometimes growing to a vast size. 
19. Testudo clausa. See Testudo Carolina, supra. 
20. Testudo Pennsylvania.—'Tortoise, accordingto Schoepf, 
with smoosh, elliptic, brown shell, with flatfish back, the 
middle range of scutella sub-rhomboid and sub-imbricated, 
the first sub-triangular; and according to Gmelin, with five 
claws on the fore-feet and four on the hind, and the apex of 
the tail horny and acute. This is the small mud tortoise of 
Edwards; the shell measuring three or four inches in length. 
The head on the parts surrounding the jaws and eyes, is of a 
reddish-yellow colour; the upper part, as well as the neck, 
legs, and tail, dusky; feet webbed; the tail small.—-It is a 
native of North America, and is found in Pennsylvania, &c., 
inhabiting muddy waters. When living, it is said to exhale 
a strong musky odour. 3\fr. Schoepf mentions a variety. 
Shaw. 
21. Testudo serpentina.—The snake tortoise, characterised 
by Schoepf as having an ovate, depressed, triply carinated, 
sharp-scaled shell, rounded and acutely serrated at the pos¬ 
terior margin; and by Gmelin as having digitated feet, sub- 
carinated shell, behind obtuse, and acutely quindentated. 
This is the serrated tortoise of Pennant. The head is large, 
depressed, triangular, and covered with a scaly and warty 
skin; the orbits of the eyes are oblique; the mouth wide; 
the mandibles sharp; the neck covered by scaly warts; the 
toes distinct; the tail straight, and about two-thirds the 
length of the shell; and the under part of the body covered 
by a loose, wrinkled skin, beset with smallish soft scales and 
granules. This animal conceals itself in muddy water, 
leaving out only a part of its back, apd thus appearing to 
be a stone or other inanimate object, more easily obtains its 
prey.—It is a native of North America, inhabiting stagnant 
waters, growing to the weight of fifteen or twenty pounds, 
or more, preying on fish, ducklings, &c., seizing its prey 
with great force, and at the samp time stretching out its 
neck, and hissing. In New York, it is known by the title of 
the “ snapping tortoise.” 
22. Testudo spengleri. See Testudo Serrata, infra. 
23. Testudo fimbriata.—Tortoise, according to Bruguiere, 
U D O. 
with oval, sub-convex, triply carinated shell, sub-digitated 
feet, cylindric snout, and neck fimbriated on each side. 
This is an animal of very singular and disagreeable appear¬ 
ance. The shell is about fifteen inches or more in length, 
and its breadth eleven; but the whole animal, from the nose 
to the end of the tail, is two feet three inches. The head is 
large and flat, rounded in front, and edged on the sides with 
warty and wrinkled membranaceous appendages, about five 
inches wide, and covered behind by a three-lobed promi¬ 
nence; the nose resembles a proboscis, cylindric, ten lines 
long, truncated, pierced by the nostrils, at the tip, where 
they are separated by a cartilaginous division; the eyes are 
round,' seated at the base of the proboscis, and ten lines 
distant from each other; the mandibles are equal in length, 
and entire; the gape of the mouth is wide; the neck seven 
inches long, and four and a half broad; above flat and 
warted, and furnished on each side with six fimbriated mem¬ 
branaceous appendages disposed lengthwise, and alternately 
larger and smaller; the under part of the neck is beset with 
four similar appendages, placed opposite to the two on the 
head, and increased by two longitudinal wrinkles: the fore¬ 
feet are scaly and warty, having five indistinct toes, with as 
many longish sharp claws, convex above and flat beneath; 
the hind-feet are also scaly, with less distinct toes, having 
four claws, the fifth toe being uuarmed, and very short: the 
tail is an inch long, bent slightly, and covered with a granu¬ 
lated skin; all the thirteen semicircular pieces, of which the 
shell consists, are wrinkled and irregularly notched at the 
hind part; the twenty-five marginal pieces are almost square, 
radiated on the surface with oblique wrinkles, and toothed 
in the interior edge. The colour of the whole is brown, 
somewhat paler beneath.—This animal is said to be a native 
of Guiana, but is now rare in the rivers of Cayenne, as it 
has been plentifully taken by fishermen, it being considered 
as excellent food. It feeds on aquatic plants, and wanders 
by night to some distance in search of paslure. It has been 
suggested, but without certainty, that this is the testudo 
scorpoides of Linnaeus. Shaw. 
24. Testudo picta.—Tortoise with plane shell, marked on 
both sides with a double spot of a black-blueish colour; 
scutella surrounded with a yellow margin, and neck striated 
longitudinally with yellow and black; or tortoise with ob¬ 
long, slightly convex, smooth, brown shell, with the scutella 
bordered with yellow. This is the cinereous tortoise of 
Brown’s Zoology, and sufficiently distinguished from all 
others by the remarkable colours of the shield.—This is a 
fresh-water species, and inhabits slow and deep rivers in 
North America, and should have been referred by Gmelin 
to his second class. In clear sunny weather, these animals 
are said to assemble in multitudes, sitting on the fallen trunks 
qf trees, stones, &c„ and immediately plunging into the 
water on the least disturbance. They are said to swim very 
swiftly, but to walk slowly; to be able to continue many 
hours entirely beneath the water, but not to survive many 
days if kept out of their favourite element. They are very 
voracious, destroying ducklings, $cc., which they seize by 
the feet, and drag under water. They are sometimes used 
as a food. The colour, as has been above observed, varies; 
being sometimes of a blackish-brown, at other times of a 
reddish chesnut: the yellow markings are also either pale or 
deep in different individuals, and sometimes whitish; the 
the inferior, or under edges of the upper shell, as well as the 
upper edges, or commissures of the lower, are elegantly 
streaked with black, as if artificially painted, and this varie¬ 
gation is continued over the skin of the sides of the body. 
Shaw. 
25. Testudo guttata.—Tortoise spotted, with oblong, mo¬ 
derately convex, smooth, brown shell, with scattered yellow 
spots. This is testudo punctata of Schoepf.—It is rather a 
small species, and a native of North America, inhabiting 
rivers and lakes. The young are scarcely larger than 
pigeon’s eggs, ana are very black, beautifully spotted with 
gold colour. 
26. Testudo longicollis, or long-necked tortoise.—Smooth,, 
ovate, 
