FAUNA AMERICANA. 277 



ries under one of her fins during the first few 

 days of its existence; they sometimes thrust 

 their bodies out of water in search of food along 

 the shores of rivers. 



It is supposed that the females of these animals 

 have given rise to the fabulous reports concerning 

 Mermaids ; the form of their head, the position of 

 their mammae, which become very much enlarged 

 during the period of suckling, together with their 

 anterior extremities, might have considerable 

 effect on the imagination of a mariner. 



Species. 



1. Manatus latirostris* (nob.) Jour. Phil. Acad. 

 Nat. Sciences, v. iii. part 2. p. 390. pi. 13. fig. 1, 2, 3. 



This species is only known as yet by the com- 

 parison of the skull with those of the M. ameri- 

 canus, (Cuv.) and M. senegalensis, (Ejusdem ;) the 

 latirostris resembles the latter much more closely 

 than the former, but possesses characters distinct 

 from either ; and I have accordingly named it pro- 

 visionally. 



Habit and Distribution. They are found in 

 considerable numbers, about the mouths of rivers, 

 near the capes of East Florida, lat. 25°. The In- 

 dians kill them with the harpoon during the sum- 

 mer months. One Indian has been able to capture 

 ten or twelve during a season. They measure 

 from eight to ten feet in length, and are about the 

 size of an Ox. 



