182 LEPIDOSIRENS IN CAPTIVITY. 



By rapidly tearing this membranous substance with an oblique bearing, it can be in some 

 places split like a scrap of paper under similar circumstances ; but when placed under the 

 microscope, it shows no signs of organization, being of a light brown color, irregularly mottled 

 with black. When burned, it rapidly takes fire and bursts into flame, giving out a very 

 nauseous order, like that which is perceived on burning the wing-case of a beetle, and leaves 

 a firm black ash, of nearly the same shape and form as before the light was applied to it. 



The remainder of this substance is found loosely adhering to the body of the former 

 inhabitant, and can be easily stripped off. 



On being immersed in water, the earthy cocoons fell to pieces as if they had been made of 

 sugar, and the imprisoned creatures were thus released. At first they were exceedingly slug- 

 gish, and hardly stirred, but after the lapse of an hour or two they became tolerably alert. 



One of these specimens died after it had been kept about six weeks, and a good plaster-cast 

 of it is now before me. Its length is ten inches, and the circumference of the head, just in front 

 of the fore pair of limbs, is exactly three inches. The scales are tolerably well marked, and 

 are shown even in the plaster-cast, though in the living animal there is hardly a trace of them. 

 They are also very evident after the creature has been immersed in spirits for some time. In 

 taking a cast of the Lepidosiren, the mucous secretion with which the body is covered affords 

 a serious obstacle to the correctness of the image, as it is apt to adhere to the plaster, and pull 

 away with it some portions of the skin. 



A fellow-specimen, that floated dead from its cocoon, is also before me, bent on itself in 

 the manner usual among these creatures, and with its mouth widely open, showing the 

 peculiar teeth. 



Finding, as has already been mentioned, that the Lepidosiren would rise to the surface of 

 the water when a splashing was made, the attendants used to feed it by paddling about with 

 the finger, and then holding a piece of raw beef in the spot where the disturbance had been 

 made. The creature used to rise deliberately, snatch the meat away, and, with a peculiarly 

 graceful turn of the body, descend to its former resting-place for the purpose of eating its 

 food. 



The mode of eating was very remarkable. Taking the extreme tip of the meat between 

 its sharp and strongly formed teeth, it would bite very severely, the whole of the head seem- 

 ing to participate in the movement, just as the temporal muscles of the human face move when 

 we bite anything hard or tough. It then seemed to suck the meat a very little farther into 

 its mouth and gave another bite, proceeding in this fashion until it had subjected the entire 

 morsel to the same treatment. It then suddenly shot out the meat, caught it as before by the 

 tip, and repeated the same process. After a third such manoeuvre, it swallowed the morsel 

 with a quick jerk. The animal always went through this curious series of operations, never 

 swallowing the meat until after the third time of masticating. 



After a while, it was thought that the water in which it lived was not sufficiently warm to 

 represent the tepid streams of its native land, and its tank was consequently sunk in a basin, 

 where the water is kept at a tepid heat for the purpose of nourishing the tropical plants which 

 grow in it. Here the creature remained for some time, but at last contrived to wriggle itself 

 over the side of its tank, and roam about in the large basin quite at liberty. 



It remained here for some time, and being deprived of its ordinary supply of raw beef, 

 took to foraging for itself. The gold-fish with which the basin is stocked became its victims, 

 and it was quite as destructive as an otter would have been. It had quite a fancy for attack- 

 ing the largest fish ; and though apparently slow in its movements, could catch any fish on 

 which it had set its wishes. As the fish was quietly swimming about, suspecting no evil, the 

 Lepidosiren would rise very quietly beneath it until quite close to its victim, just as the ter- 

 rible ground-shark rises to take its prey. It then made a quick dart with open mouth, seized 

 the luckless fish just by the pectoral fins, and with a single effort bit entirely through skin, 

 scales, flesh, and bone, taking out a piece exactly the shape of its mouth, and then sinking to 

 the bed of the basin with its plunder. The poor fish was never chased, but was suffered 

 to float about in a half -dead state, and numbers of mutilated gold-fish were taken out of the 

 basin. 



