PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 85 
Finally, a word about the Kamtschadalian name “ Kapustnik” and 
the conclusions which Professor Nordenskjéld (loc. cit.) derives from it. 
Steller translated it with ‘“‘ Krautfresser,” and Nordenskjéld thinks that 
this word is specially distinctive of a graminivorous animal. The Russian 
word ‘“‘Kapista” signifies cabbage, but here and in Kamtschatka, where 
cabbage has never been cultivated, it is the local term for just that kind 
of kelp on which the sea-cow fed. The contents ofthe stomachs of the 
stranded animals give a natural reason for the name, and no support 
for the supposition that the sea-cow ever visited the coasts of Kamts- 
chatka alive can fairly be derived from it. 
I cannot close the chapter on the sea-cow without adding a few words 
about the exterior form of the caudal fin, a question highly exciting 
the scientific world in Washington when I left in the spring. It will 
be remembered that Mr. Henry W. Elliott made a restoration of the 
animal, showing the shape of the tail like that of the southern manatee, 
in spite of the only authentic information on the subject handed down 
to us by G. W. Steller, the eminent and conscientious naturalist. Be- 
sides, there is an old drawing, reproduced by Middendorff and by Nor- 
denskjéld, agreeing with and consequently corroborating the state- 
ment of Steller, likewise representing the whale-like shape of the fin. 
The statements which I have had the opportunity to see (besides 
Brandt’s Latin translation of Steller’s words) are found in Neueste 
nord. Beitr. II, p. 292, “* Typogr. Beschr. der Bering Insel,” where he 
says: ‘ Bis an den Nabel vergleicht sich dieses thier den Robbenarten, 
von da bis an den Schwanz einem Fisch”; and in Krashenninicoff’s 
‘‘ History of Kamtschatka,” the English edition, 1764, I find the follow- 
ing words: “‘ The tail is thick, and bent a little towards the end; it 
somewhat resembles the beard of the whale, and somewhat the fins of 
a fish. 
The sources of Krashenninicoff’s notes about the sea-cow are, how- 
ever, only Steller’s manuscripts, which were placed at his diposal (cfr. 
the pretace, op. cit., p. vi). There is said to be a drawing in Pallas’s 
‘‘ Tcones ad Topogr. Ross.-Asiat.” (fase. II), and reproduced in Nordensk- 
jold’s ** Vega Exped.,” Am. ed., p. 607, pretending to be a sketch made 
by Steller himself, and showing a very bifurcated and lobated fin. 
I remember that the authenticity of this drawing was objected to on 
the ground that Nordenskjéld’s statement of its having been given to 
Pallas by Steller evidently was false; but Nordenskjold, loc. cit., only 
says: “Sketch by Steller, given to Pallas,” which is not the same as 
“Sketch given to Pallas by Steller.” That Steller had a sketch of the 
animal is evident from the words in his ‘“ Beschreibung von Kamts- 
chatka,” 1774, where (p. 97) he says that he has “ sehr weitlaiiftige Be- 
schreibungen verfertigt, und sie zugleich zeichnen lassen,” and it is there- 
fore very probable that Pallas, who had so many of Steller’s manuscripts, 
also had the said drawing. While now all the direct information agrees 
on this point, it is a very memorable fact that we, if we had only had 
