452 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE MANATEE. 

 BY HENRY C. CHAPMAN, M.D. 



Although in 1872 there appeared in the Transactions of the 

 Zoological Society of London a most admirable paper " On the 

 Form and Structure of the Manatee," by Dr. Murie, as I have 

 been lately engaged in the dissection of the Manatees, Manatus 

 American us, that died at the Zoological Garden of Philadelphia, 

 and as I believe this is the first time that the opportunity has 

 presented itself of studying fresh specimens, I think it not super- 

 fluous to call attention to some of my r results. As that excellent 

 anatomist, Dr. Murie, has very fully illustrated the anatomy of 

 the Manatee in the paper just mentioned, and refers frequently in 

 it to the literature of the subject, 1 shall limit myself to either 

 confirming his observations save in some points, or endeavoring 

 to supplement what is wanting in his paper, as, his specimens 

 having been opened on shipboard, some of the parts were thereby 

 either injured or decomposed, rendering them unfortunately un- 

 satisfactory for dissection. 



The Position of the Manatee in the, Animal Kingdom. I agree 

 with most naturalists in considering it and the Dugong as t lie 

 representatives of a distinct order, the Sirenia, regarding their 

 geographical distribution, food, structure of the skin, skeleton, 

 position of the nares, and mammae, the organs of alimentation, 

 circulation, the uro-genital apparatus, as entirely separating them 

 from the Cetacea, witli which the}' were combined by Cuvier and 

 are still by Profs. Haeekel, Cams, etc. While in some respects the 

 Sirenia are undoubtedly akin to the Pachydermata, De Blainville 

 likening them to the Proboscidea, others to the Hippopotamus, in 

 the present state of Biology I think it impossible to indicate the 

 exact relationship, there being no transitional form to bridge over 

 the gulf as the Zeuglodon does in the case of the Carnivora and 

 Cetacea, and so provisionally it appears to me that the order 

 Sirenia must be preserved. 



Sex, Length of Animals. The animals dissected by me were 

 both males, one measured exactly G feet from snout to tip of tail, 

 the other G^ feet. Their general appearance, the color of the 



