48 



and the two are certainly identical. It is the first time 

 that the animal has been seen in England." 



An interesting account of the seal fisheries formerly car- 

 ried on in the Australian colonies will be found in Mr. A. 

 W. Scott's valuable work on seals and whales. 



SiRENIA. 

 Halicore australis. The Dugong. Male a7id female. 



A fine pair of these curious creatures*, with oil and lard 

 extracted from their flesh, samples of the skin and hide, 

 and salted meat from the same animals. 



The oil is nutritious and in great demand for medicinal 

 as well as culinary purposes, being considered superior to 

 cod-liver oil by many medical men ; it is pleasant to the 

 taste, resembling fresh olive-oil, and perfectly colourless 

 when pure, becoming opaque and white with cold below 

 65° F. 



The food of the Dugong consists of sea-grasses, chiefly 

 a species of Zostera, which grows luxuriantly on the sandy 

 mud-flats at the mouth and estuaries of rivers, and in the 

 shallow bays along the coast. They are still plentiful all along 

 the north-east coast, and extend their wanderings as far south 

 as Moreton Bay, where at one time they were also plentiful ; 

 and they have been occasionally observed as far south as the 

 Tweed and Richmond rivers ; but this is now of rare occur- 

 rence. The colour of the living animal varies in tints of 

 very light olive-brown above, the belly being of a pale flesh- 

 colour ; when dead the colour of the back becomes lighter, 

 the olive tints fading away. Some specimens, notably two 



* The animals have been carefully cured and beautifully mounted 

 by Mr. E. Spalding, late of Sydney, now Taxidermist in the Brisbane 

 Museum, Queensland. 



