314 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



the coast of Florida, where it is known under the name of Sea-cow ; 

 but naturalists have not been in possession of precise information upon 

 the character, form, and relations of this singular creature. That it 

 is related to the sea-cow of the large rivers of South America, ap- 

 peared evident from the reports circulated about it ; and Dr. Harlan, 

 of Philadelphia, had, even many years since, described portions of its 

 skull as indicating a distinct species of the genus Manatus. But from 

 the deficiency of materials upon which his description rests, so 

 much doubt remained in the minds of critical zoologists, as to leave it 

 uncertain whether that species is really distinct from the one which 

 has been found in the South American rivers, and which was first cor- 

 rectly described and figured by Alexander von Humboldt. The frag- 

 ments preserved in the museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences 

 in Philadelphia, and an imperfect skeleton, with isolated vertebrae, be- 

 longing to the Medical College of Charleston, S. C., where the only 

 relics of that animal which were in the possession of naturalists up to 

 this day, when Dr. Warren presented to the Society an almost perfect 

 skeleton of this animal, and a well-stuffed skin, leaving no doubt as to 

 its natural affinities among the herbivorous Cetacea, and showing 

 plainly that the species inhabiting the southern coast of North America 

 is quite distinct from that which occurs in the Amazon. 



The specimen presented to the Society is about the size of a black- 

 fish. It is remarkable for the width of the middle region of its body, 

 and its broad, rounded tail, which contrasts, in a striking manner, 

 with the small head, and the two little paddles on the sides of the 

 chest. This rare specimen will not only be a precious addition and 

 ornament to the museum of the Society, but will also afford an unex- 

 pected opportunity to describe more fully, and characterize and illus- 

 trate by figures, an animal which lives so near us, belonging to one of 

 the most interesting families of the animal kingdom, and about which 

 so little has been known up to the present day. 



Prof. Agassiz thinks that the Manati have been improperly con- 

 sidered cetaceans ; they differ from them in the form of the skull, 

 which is elongated, and in the position of the nostrils, which are 

 in front. On the other hand, the skull resembles that of the elephant, 

 in front (particularly when seen from above), in some of the details 

 of the facial bones, which are not like those of the Cetacea, in the 

 palatine bones, the arrangement of the teeth, and in the curve of the 

 lower jaw. Prof. Agassiz believed this to be the true embryonic type 

 of the Pachydermata. 



DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMAL LIFE ON THE SHOALS OF NANTUCKET. 



MR. DESOR addressed the Society upon the subject of the distribu- 

 tion of animal life among the shoals of Nantucket. The shoals off 

 Sancati Head, he said, might be regarded as a vast submarine plateau, 

 "with a depth of water upon it at no place greater than twenty-five 

 fathoms. Its surface rises into four principal ridges, which ap- 

 proach the surface of the water at different places, to within fifteen, 

 ten, six feet, or even one foot. The varying depth of water between 



