12 The Manatee. 



upper lip, being held securely by the bristles, 

 and is passed into the mouth by a backward move- 

 ment of the lips, the process being repeated with 

 considerable rapidity, and quaintly reminding the 

 spectator of a gigantic caterpillar in the act of 

 feeding. The fore limbs may be described as 

 swimming-paws, and are very free in their move- 

 ments, being, in fact, hands four fingers and a 

 thumb covered with skin, like the flipper of a 

 whale ; the fingers, which are very flexible, can be 

 felt through the skin, and are furnished in the adult 

 with very small nails. These limbs are used, 

 however, not only for swimming, but also to 

 guide the food into the mouth, and, when so used, 

 look much like a man's hand in a sailor's mitten, 

 the joints being plainly visible. The manatee at 

 the Zoo, when resting at the bottom of its tank, 

 has a curious habit of crossing its hands under its 

 chest, which gives it a most curious appearance. 

 The skin, which is dark grey, is thick and coarse, 

 and is sparsely covered with slender hairs. When 

 full grown, the animal attains a length of about 

 12 feet. 



The Society's manatee made the journey from 

 Demerara to Eegent's Park in a tank, and was 

 lucky in escaping almost unhurt, in fact, with no 

 worse injury than a slight abrasion of the flipper. 

 It bears, however, a mark, apparently the result of 

 a wound with either a spear or harpoon, which may 

 possibly have been caused at the time of its capture, 

 as certainly in days gone by these animals were 



