figured by Dr. Gray as the skull of B. dhongoka,1 and afterwards referred with
doubt by the same observer to this species.2 The figure of the body of this species
given by Dr. Gray was taken from a young specimen obtained in Nepal, and
I have before me three specimens which I procured alive from the Calcutta turtle-
brokers, the other being the large adult in the Indian Museum with no history
attached to it, but probably procured by Mr. Blyth in Calcutta. These four specimens
agree in their general form and the shape of their shields with Dr. Gray’s
figure of this species.
The skull is at once distinguished from the skull of B. baska by its having only
one ridge on the palate, and by its more truncated snout which is not upturned to the
same extent as in B . baska, nor so compressed as in that species. The upper surface
of the snout is nearly fiat, with only a very faint upturning at its extremity. The
external nares are broader, as is the snout generally, than in B. baska, and the interorbital
area is also quite flat and broad, as is also the inter-zygomatic. As already said,
the palatal surface is marked, on each side, by only one distinct and prominent oblique
serrated ridge internal to the alveolar border of the maxilla, although there are indications
internal to each. of the strong second ridge that occurs in B. baska in that
position; and in the adult the longitudinal ridge which separates the last mentioned
ridges in B. baska is broad and rounded, while in the younger specimens it is much
as in that species. Prom the anterior extremity of this ridge, a furrow runs forwards,
as in B , baska, to the premaxillary pit. There are only two lateral palatal furrows
and not three, as in B. baska. The posterior nares are more expanded from behind
forwards in B. baska, than in the present species, in which the lateral borders are
nearly parallel. The pterygoid contraction of the base of the skull is also much
narrower in B. Uneata than in B. baska. The lower jaw has the same structure as
B . baska, only the hinder furrow which is so strongly marked in that species, is very
shallow and hardly merits the name of a furrow, being more a concavity. The
serration of the alveolar margins is stronger than in B . baska. There does not
appear to be any character yielded by these skulls, as there is none in the internal
structure of the fl.nima.ls that would entitle us to separate them wholly generically.
This is a considerably larger species than B. duvaucelli, and the absence of any
black lines in either sex suffices to distinguish it at once. I t is, however, more difficult
to point out wherein the skulls differ, because my experience is that the skulls
of the allied species of Batagwr do not differ much from one another, but the chief
feature in external configuration which serves to separate the two is the relative
greater breadth and shortness of the skull of B . li/neata as compared with B. dwoa/ucelli.
Certain characters, however, can generally be detected, and, as a rule, the most
reliable one is to be found in the palatal region. Like B. dv/oaucelli, B. Uneata has
only one palatal ridge, but in the latter there is always present a longitudinal
eminence or ridge in the mesial line behind and between the lateral ridges; and proceeding
from either side of this longitudinal ridge, there is in B. Uneata the
1 Cat. Sh. Sept., Brit. Mas., tab. xxxvi, fig. 1.
2 Suppl. Cat. Sb. Eept., p. 58.
distinct tendency to form a second palatal ridge, as in B. baska, but it is very feebly
developed.
There is also a character furnished by the lower jaws by which B. Uneata
can be separated from B. dmaucelli. In the latter, there is a narrow simple surface
behind the ridge corresponding to the ridge of the upper jaw; but in B. Uneata this
surface is distinctly broader anteriorly, and is marked by two short longitudinal
ridges at its anterior part.
There are twenty-three caudal vertebrae, in the first three of which the
transverse processes are only rudimentary, but appear suddenly in the fourth,
attaining their maximum in the sixth, and disappearing in the fourteenth.
The tongue, small and triangular, is grooved by a longitudinal sulcus. The sides
of the laryngeal orifice are protected by a serrated ridge of mucous membrane,
and the two ridges meeting behind are prolonged backwards as a serrated ridge for
about one inch and a half. Behind the tongue, the oesophagus, for about three
inches, is thrown into longitudinal folds of rather large flattened papillae. The
stomach is narrow and tubular, 10 inches in length along the convexity of the
curve. Its lower end, for about three inches above the pylorus, is very thick and
strong, while that above it, is thin and with a distended sac-like portion behind the
termination of the oesophagus. The small intestine, in a female measuring 16 inches
in the length of its carapace, was 57'50 inches long, while the large intestine, which
is marked at its commencement by a sacular dilatation, was 26 inches long.
The liver is large compared with that of Batagur baska, and differs from it in
several structural details which either indicate that the spebies are not so nearly
allied as their external appearances would lead one to believe, or imply that the
liver is very variable in its form. The ventral section of the right lobe of the
liver completely overlaps the longitudinal section of the stomach; its outer margin,
which is rather thin and circular, projecting considerably to the left of the
stomach. The anterior angle is thick, and there is attached to it dorsally a very
restricted portion of peritoneum. The inferior border passes obliquely upwards
to the right over the stomach, and between this and the anterior angle, there is
first a notch, on a line with the lower border of the transverse connecting lobe, by
which the left vena cava enters, and the anterior margin of the notch is formed
by a leaf-like lobule which passes upwards to the anterior angle, and along which the
peritoneum is attached from the notch. The posterior or dorsal lobe of the right sec-
tion of the liver is lingulate, and lying behind the bend of the stomach fills up only a
restricted portiqn of the interspace between the two bends of the stomach. Erom the
notch in front, a thin band-like process of liver substance depends in the peritoneal
attachment. The cystic or right lobe consists of three well-marked portions, the
section containing the gall bladder lying between , the other two and against the side
of the shell. The most ventral section, which is not separated from the cystic by any
deep fissure, is quadrangular in its outer aspect, with a long process passing off from
its anterior end, while internally there is a smaller triangular process at the base of
the former. The whole of the inner margin of the ventral section and anterior border