10 The Manatee. 



Aquarium. Both, of these animals excited consider- 

 able interest at the time of their exhibition j and 

 the present one will, from all appearances, be 

 qnite as popular as its predecessors. It is certainly 

 well worth a visit, being a most quaint little beast. 

 It is particularly well placed in its present tank in 

 the Reptile House, as the light is good, and the 

 tank is at a convenient height ; and, as the water 

 is changed every morning, it is so clear that all the 

 animal's movements can be easily watched. 



The manatee belongs to the order Sirenia, a 

 small group of herbivorous aquatic mammalia, 

 which now contains but two genera, the manatees 

 and the dugongs a third, the rhytina, or Northern 

 Sea Cow, having been exterminated about a 

 hundred years ago. The manatee is widely 

 distributed, being found not only in tropical 

 America, but also on the West Coast of Africa, 

 frequenting the shallow bays, lagoons, and 

 sheltered creeks of the coast, and ascending the 

 rivers. Formerly these animals were said to have 

 lived in innumerable shoals at the mouths of the 

 rivers Oronoco and Amazon, and to have worked 

 their way up them for hundreds of miles, and 

 peopled the freshwater lakes connected with them ; 

 but unfortunately for the manatees their flesh is 

 highly esteemed, and in consequence their numbers 

 have been terribly reduced. As we have said, 

 they are herbivorous, feeding entirely on aquatic 

 vegetation, apparently preferring fresh-water 

 plants. 



