STRENIA. 267 
SIRENIA—THE MANATEES. 
This group contains the phylophagous or herbivorous cetacea. Their 
teeth have flat crowns, and they live on aquatic vegetation, though, 
according to Cuvier, they sometimes leave the water for pasture on 
shore, but this has not been authenticated, and is probably a mistake. 
The other characteristics of the group are pectoral mamme and hairy 
moustaches. ‘The anterior narial aperture in the skull opens upwards, 
but the orifices of the nostrils are placed at the end of the muzzle. The 
stomach is complex, being divided into four sacs, and they have a large 
cecum. ‘The flippers are broad, and the animal uses them with some 
dexterity in supporting its young in the act of suckling. As at such 
times they frequently raise the upper part of the body out of water, they 
have given rise to the ancient fables regarding mermaids and sirens. 
There is something human-like, although repulsive, in the aspect of 
these creatures, especially in the erect attitude just alluded to. No 
wonder the ancient mariners, with their restricted knowledge and 
inclination to the marvellous, should have created the fabulous mer- 
maid, half-fish and half-woman, and have peopled the rocks and seas of 
Ceylon with seductive sirens with imaginary flowing tresses and sweet 
ensnaring voices. As regards the latter it may be that the strange 
phenomena related by Sir Emerson Tennent, of musical sounds as- 
cending from the bottom of the sea, and ascribed by him to certain 
shell-fish, gave rise to the mermaid’s song. Sir Emerson’s account has 
in itself a touch of the romantic and marvellous. He says: “On 
coming to the point mentioned I distinctly heard the sounds in question. 
They came up from the water like the gentle thrills of a musical chord, 
or the faint vibrations of a wineglass when its rim is rubbed by a 
moistened finger. It was not one sustained note, but a multitude of 
tiny sounds, each clear and distinct in itself, the sweetest treble 
mingling with the lowest bass. On applying the ear to the wood-work 
of the boat the vibration was greatly increased in volume.” Similar 
sounds have been heard elsewhere in the Indian seas, and doubtless the 
ancients connected this mysterious music of the ocean with the animals 
round which they had thrown such a halo of romance. JBut to return 
to the prose of the subject. The Sirenia consists of the Manatees 
(AZanatus), the Dugongs (Halicore), and the Stellerines (2yéna) ; the 
latter is almost extinct ; it used to be found in numbers in Behring 
Straits, but was exterminated by sailors and others, who found it very 
good eating. .The Manatee inhabits the African and American coasts, 
along the west coast of the former continent, and in the bays, inlets, 
and rivers of tropical America, but the one with which we have to do is 
