116 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



BOUNDARIES OF THE RANGE OF AMERICAN MANATEES. The entire range, therefore, of 

 the American Manatees extends over about forty-nine degrees of latitude that is, from 30 north 

 to 19 south. It is probable, as Mr. Steams surmises, that the existing species ranged farther 

 north in former days, and, furthermore, it is not definitely known that the southern Manatee does 

 not extend south of 19 south in Brazil. It is certain, however, as Burmeister distinctly states, 

 that ifc is not found on the coast of the Argentine Republic. 1 



As an instance of the unusual wandering of (probably) the Florida Manatee, it may be noted 

 that an animal, the description of which fairly portrayed the appearance of that species, was cast 

 on the coast of Shetland in 1785. It was described by the British zoologist Fleming as probably 

 being a Rhytiua, but this seems very unlikely to one acquainted with the facts of the geographical 

 range and size of that animal. Gray refers it to his Manatus australis, which includes both the 

 Florida and South American Manatees. It seems to me that if it was carried across the ocean by 

 the Gulf Stream, as Gray suggests, it most probably "set sail" from the Floridan. coast. 2 



Dr. Leidy has described the teeth of two fossil species, Manatus antiquus 3 and Manatus inor- 

 natus, 4 from the "phosphate beds" of the Ashley River, South Carolina, showing that, as in the 

 case of many other American genera, there has been a movement southward in geological time. 



ORIGIN OF THE NAME "MANATEE." I doubt if it is possible to arrive at any satisfactory 

 conclusion regarding the origin of the name Manatee. Certain it is that it was first used by the 

 early Spanish and Portuguese explorers. Pietro Martire, who is the first to record the existence 

 of the animal, in 1500, as I gather from Ramusio's collection of early voyages, does not give it a 

 name. 5 The notes which he gives regarding the animal were probably taken from the original 

 records of Colurnbus's fourth voyage, in the midst of the narrative of which they are given. 

 Oviedo, in 1535, calls it "Mauati"; 6 Exquemelin, about 1650, states that the Spanish call it 

 "Manentine"; 7 Atkins in 1735 uses "Mauatea"; Gumilla, in 1741, uses "Manati." 8 The French 

 writers, beginning with Biet, in 1CG4, employ the names "Lamantin," "Lamentiu" (Condamine, 

 1745), and "Manaty" (Du Tetre, 1GC7). The appellation "Manatee" occurs for the first time, so 

 far as I am aware, in 1703. in Dampier's account of his voyages round the world. The word in 

 this form, or as " Manati," has been used by most English writers. Whether this name, in its 

 various forms, refers to the peculiar fore-legs of the Manatee or to its means of suckling its young, 

 can only be decided by the investigations ot philologists more learned and more zealous than 

 myself. 



DIFFERENT NAMES OF THE MANATEE. Other names for the Manatee occur, most of which 

 define, as it were, the characteristics of the animal. Such are "Pegebuey," a native Amazonian 

 name, employed by Acuua in 1041, and its translations: "Ox Fish," as written by Sloane in his 

 natural history of Jamaica, in 1725, and "Poissou boeuf," as given by Condamine, in 1667, in his 

 history of the Antilles. The French name, " Vache marin," and the corresponding English word, 

 '' Sea-cow," occur in numerous instances in scientific literature. In Guiana the natives use the 

 name "Cojumero" (Gray). Bellin (1703) alludes to "Lamenum." The term "Petit Lamentiu du 

 nord," used by French writers to distinguish the South American Manatee from the Floridan 

 species, is, I believe, of later origin. 



1 BUUMEISTEII: Description physique, R<Spub. Argentine, iii, part i, 1879, p. 530. 



"FLEMING: British Animals, p. 30. GRAY: Cat. Seals and Whales, Brit. Museum, 1866, p. 359. 



3 LEIDY, iu Pmc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, viii, 1856, p. 165. 



4 LKIDY, iu Kept. U. S. Geological Survey, 4, i, 1873, p. 376, pi. xxxvii, figs. 16,17. 



6 OeeaniDec. Hispali, 1;~>UO, fol., libr. 8, fide Brandt. 



s OVIEDO: Hist, general do las Iiulias, 1535, lib. xii, c. 10. 



7 EXQUEMKLIX: Buccaneers of America, English translation, 1684, p. 82. 



GUMILI.A: El Orinoco Hlusfrado, 1741. 



