230 ANIMALS OF THE PAST 
in, it was found that the majority of these were 
tile-fish, while from the reports of various ves- 
sels it was Shown that the area covered by dead 
fish amounted to somewhere between 5,000 
and 7,500 square miles, and the total number 
of dead was estimated at not far from a billion. 
This enormous and widespread destruction is 
believed to have been caused by an unwonted 
duration of northerly and easterly winds, which 
drove the cold arctic current inshore and south- 
wards, chilling the warm belt in which the tile- 
fish resided and killing all in that locality. It 
was thought possible that the entire race might 
have been destroyed, but, while none were 
taken for many years, in 1899 and in 1900 a 
number were caught, showing that the species 
was beginning to reoccupy the waters from 
which it had been driven years before. 
The effect of any great fall in temperature 
on animals specially adapted to a warm climate 
is also illustrated. by the destruction of the 
Manatees in the Sebastian River, Florida, by 
the winter of 1894-95, which came very near 
exterminating this species. Readers may re- 
member that this was the winter that wrought 
