COLOPHONIA is in French, Bois de Colopbane. To this geniis De Candolle refers the tree produe ing the Bois tle Colophane of the Island of Mau ritius, and calls it C. Aturitittits.
coLossoctinys Andis, a huge fos.sil land tortoise, discovered by Dr. Falconer and Sir Proby Cautley in 1835 in the tertiary strata of the Siwalik IIills, skirting the southern foot of the gieat Himalayan chain. They were fonnd associated with the remains of four extinct species of masto don and elephant, species of rhinoceros, hippopo tamus, horse, anoplotherium, camel, giraffe, siva theriurn, and a vast number of other mamtnalia, including four or tiro species of quadrumana ; also a great number of reptilian forms, such as crocodiles and laud and fresh-water tortoises. Some of the crocodiles belong to extinct species, but others appear to be absolutely identical with species now living in the rivers of India, in par ticular, to the Crocodilus longirostris, between the existing forms of which, and heads dug out of the Siwalik Hills, no difference is detected. The same result applies to the existing Ernys tectum, common species in all parts of India. A very
perfect fossil specimen, presenting the greater part of the evidence of the dermal scutes, is undistin guishable front the living forms, not varying more front these than they do among each other. Prof. Thomas Bell considers that there aro no characters shown by the fossil, to justify its separation from the living, Etnys tectum, now a common species found in all parts of India. There aro therefore fair arounds for eutertainin,g the belief as probable, ''tliat the Colossochelys atlas may have lived down to an early period of the human epoch, and become extinct since,—lst, from the fact that other Che Ionian species and crocodiles, contemporaries of the Colos.sochelys in the Siwalik farina, have sur vived ; 2d, from the indications of mythology in regard to a gigantic species of tortoise in India. One in the British Museum is 14 feet in transverse circumference, and is 9 feet long.—Jour. As. Soc. Ben. No. 247 of 1855. See Tortoise.