Agassiz (1857:399) found larvae of neuropterous insects in the stomach of one specimen of _muticus_, and fragments of _Anodonta_ and _Paludina_ (= _Campeloma_) in the stomach of one _ferox_. The expanded crushing surfaces of the jaws in some large individuals of _ferox_ may be an adaptation to mollusc-feeding (Schmidt and Inger, 1957:36). Surface (1908:123) found _spinifer_ to have fragments of beetles in one of two specimens examined, and large quantities of corn in another from Ohio. Webb and Legler (1960:27) reported 23 chrysomelid beetle larvae (_Donacia_) in one specimen of _T. ater_. Evermann and Clark (1920:595) reported several _spinifer_ taken on hooks baited with grasshoppers in water 14 feet deep in Lake Maxinkuckee, Indiana. Hay (1892:144) wrote of _muticus_ that "If there are potatoes growing near the water the turtles find their way to them and devour the stems, of which they are very fond." Wright and Funkhouser (1915:123) stated that young _ferox_ in the Okefinokee Swamp feed on fish and frogs, and according to the natives, larger specimens take waterfowl, a statement that Smith (1956:159) was probably reiterating when he mentioned that the diet included "perhaps young birds." Parker (1939:88) wrote that of two _spinifer_ from Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee, one contained coleopteran remains, and the other an aquatic beetle and two large tipulid larvae. Wied-Neuwied (1865:54) wrote that Lesueur found worms, snails, remains of _Paludina_ (= _Campeloma_), fruits and even hard nuts in stomachs of _muticus_. Holbrook (_in_ Hay, 1892:145) mentioned that _spinifer_ feeds on fish and such reptiles as it can secure. There are no published statements known to me that report reptiles in the diet of American softshells. Carr (1952:425) erroneously cited Strecker (1927:9) and attributed "a young lined snake" to the diet of _T. s. emoryi_; Strecker, however, referred to _Kinosternon flavescens_. In conjunction with raising softshells on turtle farms, Mitsukuri (1905:261) mentioned that first and second year-old turtles (_Trionyx sinensis_) must be transferred to separate ponds or they will be eaten by adults; perhaps corresponding cannibalistic tendencies exist in confined, natural habitats in American softshells. Captives eat essentially the same things that free-living individuals do, plus scraps of meat (Strecker, 1927:9; Gloyd, 1928:135; Pope, 1949; Conant, 1951:156, 160). Lagler (1943:303) mentioned a young _spinifer_ that fed on water fleas (_Daphnia_) and canned fish. Conant (_op. cit._:160) wrote that no captive was observed to take vegetable matter.