MAN ATI-: ll.—Mtniafus Just nil is. 



TiiK Manatee, or Lamantine, is a very strniigc-lookiiig rrcntnrc, appearing 

 like a nirioiis iiiixtnre of several dissimilar animals, the seal iind the hipiu)- 

 potanius being preeloniinant. 



There are several species of Manatee, two of which are fonnd in America and 

 one in Africn, but nlways on those sliores which arc wnshcd by the wjitci's of the 

 Atlantic Ocean. The common Manatee is generally about nine or ten feet in 

 length, and is remarkable for the thick fleshy disc which teiiiiinates the muzzle, 

 and on which the nostrils nre ])laced. It is found in some ])lcnty at the mouths 

 of sundiy large rivers, such ;is the Orinoko or the Amazon, and feeds upon the 

 alga) and other herbage which grows so ])lcntifully in those regions. By some 

 writcre the animal is said to leave the water entirely, and to search for its food 

 u{)on the land, but this assertion is now ascertained to be incori'eet. It is, how- 

 ever, in the habit of crawling partly out of the water, and has a strange custom 

 of elevating its head and shoulders above the surface in such a manner that it 

 bears some resemblance to a human beinc:. 



ICO 



