HAltDVVlCKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



57 



divided into two genera, Manatus and Halicore, 

 and numbers three, or perhaps four species ; 

 namely, Manatus americanus (auslralis), Manatus 

 senegalensis, Halicore dugang, and perhaps, 

 Halicore tabemaculi ; but of the latter as a 

 species very little is known. One other form 

 has recently become extinct, namely Rhythm 

 fSfelleri, and the remains of others occur, as has 

 already been said, in recent geological formations. 



Dr. Gray, in the "Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist.," 

 for Feb., 18G5 (3rd series, vol. xv. p. 130), reviews 

 the literature of the subject, and enumerates the 

 remains of Manatees known to him ; after a careful 

 examination of which he arrives at the conclusion 

 that there are two species of Manatee only, one con- 

 lined to the American, the other to the African side 

 of the Atlantic, both inhabiting the same latitudes, 



p. 33, " is about the bigness of a horse and 10 or 12 

 feet long. The mouth of it is like the mouth of a cow 

 having great thick lips. The eyes are no bigger 

 than a small pea, the ears are only two small 

 holes, one on each side of the head. The biggest 

 part of this creature is at the shoulders, where 

 it hath two large fins, one on each side of its 

 belly. Under each of these fins the female has 

 a small dug to suckle her young. Prom the 

 shoulders towards the tayl it retains its bigness 

 for about a foot, then it groweth smaller and 

 smaller to the very tayl, which is flat and about 

 14 inches broad, and 20 inches long, and in the 

 middle 4 or 5 inches thick, but about the edges of it 

 not above 2 inches thick. Prom the head to the 

 tayl it is round and smooth without any fin but 

 those two before mentioned. I have heard that 



Fig-. 27. Manatee (Manatus americanits). 



i.e. between 10" south and 25° north of the equator. 

 The American species, M. americanus of Desm., 

 includes, he considers, M. australis of Tilesius; 

 M. latirostris, Harlam ; and M.fluviatilis, Illiger; 

 whilst to the African species M. senegalensis, of 

 Desm., he refers II. nasutus of Wayman ; M. 

 Fogelii, Owen ; and M. Owenii, Du Challu. To the 

 former of these two species, M. americanus, the 

 individuals which have been washed on the shores 

 of the British isles are believed to have belonged. 

 The habitat of this species is the eastern coast 

 of inter-tropical America, the shores of the Carib- 

 bean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico, with the West 

 Indian islands. In these warm seas they were 

 formerly found in considerable numbers, always 

 keeping near the coast and delighting in the 

 shallow brackish water at the outlets of rivers, 

 which they frequently ascended, and where the 

 marine vegetable growth which formed their food 

 was most abundant. The remarkable appearance 

 of this species is described by Dampier, who had 

 ample opportunities of making its acquaintance, 

 with his usual truthfulness. "This creature," he 

 says, in his "Voyage round the World, 1703," 



some have weighed above 1,200 lb., but I never 

 saw any so large." 



To Dampier's description we may add that the 

 snout is curiously truncated ; the nostrils, which are 

 placed at the upper terminal edge, are closed by 

 valves ; the mouth is small, the upper lip thick, and 

 the muzzle studded with strong hairs ; the only 

 permanent teeth are nine molars on each side of 

 either jaw; two incisors are shed early, and the 

 canines are altogether absent. The flippers, which 

 are placed near the head, have their edges armed 

 with rudimentary nails; the elbow-joint is con- 

 spicuous; of posterior limbs there is no external 

 appearance, but a rudimentary pelvis is found em- 

 bedded in the flesh. The tail is a continuation of 

 the body, flattened horizontally, and somewhat 

 resembling that of the beaver. The skin is very 

 thick, of a dark grey colour when dry, dull black 

 when wet, and scantily set with single hairs. A. 

 remarkable anatomical character, peculiar to this 

 genus, is the presence of six cervical vertebrae only ; 

 in the closely allied genera Halicore and Rhytina, 

 the normal number, seven, is present. The only 

 representation of this species that I am acquainted 



