Descriptions of East Asiatic Mammals 309 
escape notice unless looked for. The front of the mouth and the 
lower lip of the Dugong is set with thick, short bristles. The 
over-all length of full-grown individuals varies from 9 to 10 
feet, the males usually being larger than females. 
The food, obtained mostly at night, consists of "dugong 
grasses," or green seaweeds. Dugongs, rarely seen in herds, 
have a strong, distinct, aromatic Dugong odor. They have been 
observed to breathe at the surface with a distinctly audible 
"puff," at intervals varying from two minutes to as often as 
fourteen seconds if excited. They are said to remain below 
water normally from five to ten minutes. A captured specimen 
was asphyxiated by plugging the nostrils; it died without at- 
tempting to open and breathe through its mouth. Ordinarily, 
breathing is accomplished quickly. After surfacing, the nostrils 
are opened, out- and in-breathing is completed, the nostrils 
are closed, and the animal sinks to the bottom. The unusually 
heavy skeleton probably helps submersion. 
Dugongs are thought to have the sense of taste developed to 
the extent of selecting green seaweeds and rejecting brown ones, 
though an acute sense of touch in the sensitive, prehensile lips 
may accomplish nearly the same results. The sense of smell has 
yet to be demonstrated clearly. Vision is rather poor, each deeply 
sunken eye looking somewhat forward and downward. The iris 
reacts promptly to light. A copious secretion of slimy matter, 
the so-called Dugong's tears, is exuded around each eye. The 
sense of hearing is acute. Animals beached in the open air are 
found to wince at squeaking sounds. In the water they are 
easily frightened by noises. 
THE EVEN-TOED UNGULATES (ORDER ARTIODACTYLA) 
This order, comprising the Pigs and all browsing, grazing, 
and ruminating animals, makes such an unwieldy mass that it 
may be well to see how its various parts are made up. First, the 
