1. ma:xatus. 359 



Manatus fluviatilis, Eliger ; JVaf/tie?; iti ISchrcb. Sduf/eth. t. 279 (head 



and jaws), cop. Ecichb. Icon. C'ctac. t. 23. f. 75. 

 Peixe boi or Vacca marina, Kidder and Fletcher'' s Brazils, 555, fig. 

 Anat. Home, Lectures, t. 55 ; Cuvier, Oss. Foss. v. t. 19 ; Blainv. 



Osteogr. t. ; Wiegmunn, Arch. 1838, 18. t. 2. 



Inhab. Tropical America. Surinam (ScMegel). Cayenne (Cuvier). 

 Guiana, West Indies (i/o?ue). Jamaica (/SVoane). Florida? Called 

 Manatee, that is, fish ox, by the Negroes at Jamaica (Gosse), Coju- 

 mero in Guiana, Feges huey on the River Amazons. 

 a. Foetus, in spirits. Jamaica, Mus. Sloane. 

 h. Skull. South America? 



Blainv. Osteog. All. G. Manatus (latirostris), pi. 111. 



c. Skidl. Jamaica. From Mr. Gosse's Collection. 



d. Skeleton. Surinam. From Dr. Kraiis. 



e. SkuU. Cuba. Presented by H. Christy, Esq. 

 /. SkuU. West Indies. 



Professor Owen (Cat. Osteol. Mus. Coll, Surg. ii. 464) describes 

 the skeleton and the dentition of a young female. 



Colour (above) uniform bluish black, rough-grained ; cuticle peel- 

 ing in several places, showing the colour. Brighter and clearer 

 beneath. Underparts slightly paler ; front of muzzle grey. Eyes very 

 small, not nearly so large as a man's ; jjupil comparatively large, 

 circular, blue ; iris very narrow, scarcely a line wide, dull greyish 

 white. Flesh delicious-flavoured, without any oiliness, something 

 between veal and pork. — Gosse, Jamaica, 344. 



They are found in considerable numbers about the mouths of 

 rivers near the capes of East Florida, lat. 25°. The Indians kill 

 them with harpoons during the summer months. One Indian has 

 been able to capture ten or twelve during a season. They measure 

 from 8 to 10 feet, and are about the weight of a large ox. — Burroivs, 

 Journ. Acad. N. S. Philad. iii. 392. 



They are mentioned in Captain Henderson's account of Honduras, 

 1809.— Harlan. 



Feed on a water-plant (pana hrava) that floats on the borders of 

 the streams. From 8 to 17 feet long. — Kidder. 



The animal mentioned by Stewart and Fleming is most probably 

 the American Manatee, which may, under extraordinary circum- 

 stances, be brought by the Gulf-stream to the coast of Shetland. I 

 have seen no specimens ; but the size precludes it being the Rgtina, 

 to which Fleming refers it. 



" The carcase of one of these animals was, in 1785, thrown ashore 

 near Leith : it was much disfigured ; and the fishermen extracted its 

 liver and other parts, from which a considerable quantity of oil was 

 obtained."— /S'^cwrtz-f, Elem. N. H. i. 125. 



"Zetland Mermaid. Animal 3 feet long; upper part resembling 

 a Monkey, with short arms and distinct, not webbed, fingers ; lower 

 part like a fish ; skin smooth, grey, without hairs or scales ; breast 

 pectoral." (Laurence Edmonstone, in Edinb. Magaz. Sept. 1823, 

 p. 343, copied in Fleming, Brit. Anim. 30.).^ — Graii, Proc. Zool. Soc. 

 1864, 248. 



