THE DUGONG. 301 



rr' "ed both to this country and to France.* Our 

 p -ce, which is of a young animal, we owe to his 

 exertions, and we are happy to enrich our pages 

 with some extracts from his clear and simple his- 

 tory. In its general form the Dugong resembles the 

 common cete. The skin is smooth and thick, bluish 

 above and white beneath, with a few remote and 

 scattered hairs ; the mammae are situated on the 

 chest under the fins. The head is small in propor- 

 tion, and of a peculiar form. The upper lip is very 

 large, thick, and obliquely truncated, forming a 

 short, thick, and nearly vertical kind of snout, some- 

 thing like the trunk of the Elephant cut short across. 

 The surface of the truncated portion is covered with 

 soft papillae, and furnished with a few bristles ; the 

 lips are covered with a horny substance, which as- 

 sists in tearing the sea weeds for food. Two short 

 tusks project forward from the extremity of the 

 upper jaw, and are nearly covered by the upper 

 lip, which is very moveable and tumid at the mar- 

 gin. The lower lip is much smaller, and resembles 

 a round or oblong chin. To assist the animal in 

 browsing upon the submarine vegetables which form 

 its food, the anterior part of the jaw is bent down- 

 wards at an angle, in such a way as to bring the 

 mouth into nearly a vertical position. There are no 

 canine teeth. The molars are twelve in number, 

 six in each jaw, placed far back on the horizontal 



* Such of our readers as have the opportunity, may see two of 

 these animals, both young, in the Museum of the Edinburgh Uni- 

 versity. 



