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Show 182 DR. J. E. GRAY ON T H E TORTOISES. [Mar. 11, b. The sterno-costal suture and the abdominal shields not so long as the front lobe of the sternum ; hinder lobe rounded behind. Thorax not keeled. Vertebral plate longer than broad. 2. SWANKA MACULATA. The sides of the head, neck, and throat grey, with a few indistinct dark-edged subcylindrical spots, largest on the front of the chin ; fore legs with three cartilaginous ridges. Thorax dark olive. Sternum- ridges and lower side of margin yellow, with dark spots on areoles of shields. The fore and hinder ends of sternum regularly rounded. Vertebral shields longer than broad. Hab. Mexico (Salle); Vera Paz (Salvin). A specimen in spirit, collected by M . Salle in Mexico. The sternum and underside of the margin pale yellow ; the areola of the third and fourth pairs of sternal plates, which are situated on the outer side of the anterior transverse suture, is surrounded by an irregular- shaped brown ring. A more or less obscure indication of such a ring is to be seen surrounding the areola of the other sternal plates. The areola is on the outer hinder side of all the sternal shields, except of the fourth or abdominal pair, where it is on the front outer angle. Two large specimens in spirit, from the Lower Forest of Vera Paz, received from Mr. O. Salvin. They are like those from Mexico, but darker below. The head is large, very hard, and the beak and temporal muscles very strong. The two beards are in front of the chin, quite near the hinder edge of the lower beak. The zygomatic arch is wide, strong, and rather convex. Toes very strong, short, with a few bands above near the ends, with narrow webs to tbe claws. The fore legs with the skin smooth, and three oblique, arched, sharp-edged horny cross ridges just above the feet, the lower one the shortest. In the band over the orbit this species agrees with Kinostemon hippocrepis, figured from a young specimen, Gray, Cat. Shield Rept. t. 20 c. f. 3, 4 ; but the sternum is much broader than in that species, and more completely closes the cavity of the thorax. Thorax about 4 inches long. A large well-grown specimen in spirit in the British Museum, received from M . Brandt of Hamburg as from North America. The skull is pale olive, speckled with darker brown; thorax pale bright brown, the underside of the margin of the thorax being uniform blackish brown. Four specimens in spirit, obtained by M . Salle at Papalco Apoia; but it is not stated that they were from the same district. If they were, it will go to prove that the height of the front lobe, as compared with the length of the abdominal shield, is probably a character of age and not of specific distinction. They each have a speckled or mottled neck, and are without any head-streak. The two larger specimens vary in other particulars, but probably from local circumstances, as one has a good smooth shield, and of the other the shield is rugose and covered with mud and algae, and the whole specimen |