310 Dr. J. Murie on the Skin dsc. of the Rhytina. 



valuable contribution to science. It cleftlj supplements the 

 rich labours of J. F. Brandt and Von Baer on this interesting- 

 extinct form, of which not a fragment has yet found its way 

 to this country. 



After allusion to the fact of no specimen of the skin of 

 Rhytina being known to have been preserved by Steller, or 

 Drought home by the early northern adventurers, Dr. Alex- 

 ander Brandt proceeds to record a strange discovery of his. 

 He states that in January 1871, on rummaging amongst the 

 cabinets of corals of the Zoological Museum of the Academy, 

 he came across a curious specimen, which, at off-hand glance, 

 struck him as being a blackened portion of the bark of a Cycas. 

 It, however, turned out to be no tree fern or plant at all, but 

 absolutely a piece of the long-wished-for Bhytma-skin. This 

 was proved by a label in the handwriting of the defunct tra- 

 veller MiddendorfF, with the words " Ochotskysches Meer " 

 (the corals in the case being from the Sandwich Islands), and 

 verified by the microscopical structure of the specimen. 



Dr. Brandt then quotes Steller's description of the skin of 

 Rhytina at full length, prefixing some critical remarks of his 

 own. 



He proceeds to give an account of the size, outward appear- 

 ance, &c. of the specimen he himself had been fortunate in 

 finding. It measures 55 centims. long (about 21 j inches), 

 and 40 centims. broad (15^ inches). The shape of the piece 

 will be best understood by reference to the present fig. 1, 

 PI. XIX., an exact copy of Brandt's reduced photograph. Its 

 rough, gnarled character and irregularly knobby and chan- 

 ■nelled surface in most ways agree with Steller's account. 

 There is tliis difference, as far as my comprehension of the 

 case goes, that whilst Steller has in his mind's eye the fresh 

 texture Dr. Brandt appeals to the same dried. But with such 

 a coriaceous dermal substance, as I can vouch for in the 

 Manatee, the rendering of the latter to nature is not far from 

 the truth as compared with the skin when on the animal's 

 back. As if supporting the above statement, I may note that 

 Brandt says his piece is blackish brown ; Steller alludes to the 

 colour as black ; the same change of aspect I have myself 

 witnessed in the dried and moist skin of the recent Manatee. 



In this place I may refer the reader to the illustration, fig. 2, 

 PI. XIX., which figure represents my ideal of the appearance 

 of the Rhytina's skin, given in my delineation of the animal, 

 reduced to very considerably under the natural size. If this be 

 compared with fig. 1 of the same plate (after Brandt), it will 

 be acknowledged I have made (as the phrase runs) " a long- 

 shot." 



