_Cinosternum odoratum_, the Mud-Turtle, or Stinkpot Terrapin, so called on account of the disagreeable smell which exudes from the inguinal glands. The head is disproportionately large, with the snout rather compressed laterally, and pointed underneath, with several short barbels. The neck is long and slender. The carapace of the young is keeled, each of the neural shields being raised in the middle line; but in full-grown specimens the shell becomes quite smooth and rounded. The horny shields of the plastron are relatively largest in the young, but they soon leave ever-increasing spaces between them, which are then filled with soft skin only, which thinly covers the underlying bone. The {344}fore- and hind-limbs, especially the latter, are extensively webbed, and are provided with five short claws. The general colour of the shell is horny brown, either uniform or with darker spots or streaks. The neck and limbs are mottled brown. The only ornamental colouring is a pair of clear yellow broad lines on each side of the head, and a similar streak on each side of the lower jaw. On the chin and upper throat are two pairs of small tentacles. The tail of the male is of about the length of the hind-limbs, while that of the female is so short that its tip scarcely reaches beyond the hinder margin of the carapace. Length of the shell of full-grown specimens between four and five inches. Very young specimens have a rather droll appearance, owing to the long and slender neck with the large head, and the humpy back. This species is common in the eastern half of North America, from Canada to Texas. It is mainly aquatic, and is one of the dullest and shyest species. My own specimens spend most of their time in the water, invariably in the darkest corners, preferably under a stone or a log, and they do not leave their hiding places until dark, in search of worms, meat, and all sorts of animal food. For months I could never induce them to take food from a stick, or even to eat in my presence, and it was not until after many weeks that one of them at last protruded its head far enough to exhibit the yellow stripes. When taken out of the water they draw in their heads, just allowing the vicious little eyes to be visible, and opening the sharp-edged mouth widely to bite deliberately and furiously at the unwary finger. Some spent the winter in the water, in the greenhouses, feeding as usual, others crept on land, hiding under moss, half buried in the soil, where they slept for several months, but with interruptions in order to soak and to drink. When spring is well advanced they prefer the water for their regular sojourn. Some which had been sent over from New York arrived in a deplorably dried-up condition, the skin being quite flabby and shrivelled, but after a few hours' soaking they came round, and increased considerably in weight, the limbs and neck becoming turgid.