556 



THE SEA COWS. 



the existence of some intellect. The sexes exhibit 

 great affection for each other and endeavor to pro- 

 tect one another; the mothers tend their children 

 lovingly and are even said to carry them, when they 

 are suckling, as Women carry their babes, using one 

 of their fins as an arm to press the little ones to the 

 breast. The vocal expression of the Manatees con- 

 sists of a weak, dull moan. In breathing, they make 

 a noise much resembling a loud snore. 



It is worthv of notice that these clumsy creatures 

 not only endure confinement, but may be tamed to a 

 high degree of docility. 



Their flesh, fat, hide and teeth are used; but, so 

 far as known, no other portions of their carcass are 

 put to account in any way. 



THE MANATEES PROPER. 



In the Manatees (Manatus) the tail-fin is rounded; 

 the somewhat shapeless, fish -like body is very 



and a weight of six hundred or, according to Rap- 

 pier, sometimes of eight hundred pounds. Ameri- 

 cans assert, however, that they have seen much largel 

 individuals, measuring seventeen or even twenty feet 

 in length. The skin is nearly destitute of covering, 

 having only short bristles, which stand about four- 

 fifths of an inch apart. The coloring is a rather 

 monotonous bluish gray, darker on the back and 

 sides than on the under surface. The bristles have a 

 yellowish tint. 



We owe the first exact account of the animal to 

 A. von Humboldt. In dissecting a Lamantin, which 

 was ten feet long, in Carrichana, on the lower Ori- 

 noco, he found the following: The upper lip, which 

 is clothed with a very tender skin and serves as an 

 antenna, or feeler, when coming in contact with ob- 

 jects, protrudes greatly, and the cavity of the mouth, 

 which has an abnormally warm temperature in a 

 freshly killed animal, shows a very curious organiza- 



LAMANTIN OR AMERICAN MANATEE 

 creeks, lagoons and the estuaries of rivers, and ascei 

 a blunt, truncated muzzle. It has only one pair of li 

 [Manatus americanus or latirostris.) 



vhich are fiatte 



is strange aquatic niai 

 ts head is of moderate si; 

 flat, horizontal tail, with 



, oblong, with 

 unded edges. 



sparsely covered with short hair, which becomes 

 more thickset only on the snout, where it changes 

 into bristles. On the toes of the rounded pectoral 

 fins can be discerned four small flat nails. Only 

 young animals exhibit incisor teeth, as the incisors 

 fall out very soon and only the molar teeth are left 

 in the mouths of old animals. The two American 

 species of this genus occur in the rivers flowing into 

 the Atlantic and the adjacent sea-shore between the 

 twenty-fifth parallel of north latitude and the nine- 

 teenth parallel of south latitude. The African spe- 

 cies {Manatus senegalensis) inhabits the Tchad lake, 

 the upper parts of the great western rivers and the 

 small rivers of the coast which flow into the Atlantic 

 Ocean between the twentieth parallel of north lat- 

 itude and the tenth parallel of south latitude. 



The Lamantin The Lamantin, called Ox-fish by the 



and Other Portuguese {Menu/tits latirostris), is 



Species. t] le species that has been observed 



most closely. It attains a length of about ten feet 



tion. The tongue is nearly immobile, but in front of 

 it there are, on both sides of the jaws, a fleshy excres- 

 cence and a cavity covered with hard skin, one fit- 

 ting into the other. If the back of the animal is laid 

 open, the dissecter is astonished at the size, shape 

 and length of the lungs; for they are about a yard 

 long, have exceedingly large cells and resemble huge 

 floats; they admit an enormous quantity of air. 

 The stomach is divided into compartments, and the 

 intestine is over one hundred feet long. The other 

 American species [which, from its principal habitat, 

 may be termed the Amazonian Manatee] {Manatus 

 inunguis) differs from this Lamantin by its narrower 

 skull, which also has more delicate bones. This 

 species is so far definitely known to exist only on 

 the upper Amazon and the Orinoco rivers. 



Habitat and The Lamantin inhabits the eastern 



Habits of the coast of Florida, the coasts of the 



Lamantin. Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Mag- 



dalena River and the eastern coast of South Amer- 



