76 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



monstration of strong maternal affection, probably 

 gave rise to the fable of the mermaid ; and thus 

 that earliest invention of mythical physiology may 

 be traced to the Arab seamen and the Greeks, who 

 had watched the movements of the Dugong in the 

 waters of Manaar" (vol. ii. pp. 557-8). The 

 only figure of the Dugong, not altogether a fancy 

 sketch, with which I am acquainted, is to be found 

 in the "Philosophical Transactions" for 1820, and 

 is taken from a specimen sent from Sumatra to 

 Sir Everard Home, by Sir T. S. Raffles : this has 

 been frequently reproduced (see fig. 32), but a 

 good portrait of the animal is still a desideratum- 

 The Australian Dugong has been described as a 

 distinct species, under the name of Halicore austra- 

 Us, but Dr. Gray, "after a careful study and com- 

 parison," was "unable to discover any external 

 difference or character in the skull or skeleton," 

 by which to separate the Indian from the Austra- 

 lian Dugong." (Cat. Seals and Whales, p. 363.) 



known as Bhering's Island. During an enforced 

 residence of ten months on this island, arising from 

 the loss of their ship, Steller studied this remark- 

 able animal, of which his memoir, published in 

 1751, after the death of the author, is the only 

 record.* 



The Pthytina was distinguished by the total absence 

 of teeth, mastication being performed by a pair of 

 curious horny plates, one attached to the palate, the 

 other to the lower jaw ; the lips were double, the 

 outer upper one thickly set with bristles, "like a 

 broom." Its skin was covered by a thick fibrous 

 epidermis, "like the bark of an old oak, rather 

 than the skin of an animal, black, scabby, wrinkled, 

 rugged, hard, and tough ; destitute of hair, scarcely 

 affected by axes, or the point of a hook — an inch 

 thick." (Steller.) This epidermis was composed of 

 horny tubes, arranged perpendicularly side by side, 

 like closely-packed fibre, and is said to have pre- 

 sented a section like ebony ; the fibres were rooted 





Jm 

 i 



iiimM^ 



Fig-. 33. The Dugong {Halicore Dugong) , 



Riippell, under the name of Halicore tabernaculi, 

 describes a dugong' found by him inhabiting the 

 coral banks on the Abyssinian coast of the Red Sea, 

 near the Dhalac Islands, which.he considered differ- 

 ent from the species inhabiting the Indian Ocean ; 

 he gave it its specific name, under the belief that the 

 Jews used.the skin of this animal to form the veil of 

 t he tabernacle. Dr. Gray had not had the opportunity 

 of comparing skulls and skins of animals from that 

 locality, but he thought it probable that it would 

 prove to be the same as the Dugong from India and 

 Australia. 



The only other recent representative of this re- 

 markable order, JRhytina Stelleri, Illiger {Rhytina 

 flir/as, Gray), although in all probability now 

 extinct, has so recently passed out of existence, 

 and is so interesting a species, that I cannot omit to 

 notice it. The Rhytina, unlike the Manatee and 

 Dugong, its near allies, inhabited the Arctic Circle, 

 ar.d was very restricted in its range ; it was dis- 

 covered by Steller, the naturalist to Bhering's 

 second expedition, in the year 1711, on an island 

 lying to the S.W. of Bhering's Straits, and now 



in the true skin, but easily detached, and through 

 them a moisture plentifully exuded, which, when 

 the animal was exposed to the air, kept it constantly 

 moist. When wet, its colour was black-brown, but 

 when dry wholly black, sometimes variegated with 

 white. The true skin was thick, soft, white, and 

 very firm. The head was small and oblong, the 

 paws ending in claw-like callosities, the body 

 gradually growing more slender towards the tail, 

 which was bifid, horizontal, and fringed with long 

 fibres like whalebone ; mammse two and pectoral. 

 Steller gives the length of one measured by himself 

 as 24 ft. 8 in., and its greatest circumference 20 ft. 

 4 in., and estimates its weight at 8,000 lb. 



Of the habits of this curious animal, which it will 

 be seen greatly resembled those of the Manatee and 

 Dugong, Steller gives an interesting account. He 

 says, " It happened to me on an unfortunate occa- 

 sion that for ten months I observed the manners 

 and customs of these animals daily before my cot- 

 tage door ; hence those things which were observed 



* " De Bestiis Maruiis." By G. W. Steller, Comm. Nov. 

 Ac. Sc. Petrop., torn. ii. p. 294, et seq. 1749-51. 



