HALICORE DUGONG. 311 



2 o 



the molars are only The grinding surface has a ring of enamel 



2 2 



at the circumference, and a slightly excavated centre of ivory. 



The tongue is spiny in front, and has a curious horny process on each 

 side of its base. The stomach is double, the cardiac portion large, the 

 pyloric narrower, with two tubiform csecal prolongations : it is divided 

 into distinct compartments. The caecum is simple and cordiform. The 

 heart is deeply cleft, separating the ventricles. The superficial air- 

 vessels of the lungs are large and turtle-like; and the lungs and bronchi 

 generally are like those of the Turtles. The organs of generation 

 resemble those of Muminantia. There is a nyctitating membrane. 



240. Halicore Dugong. 



Trichechus apud ERXLEBEN. BLYTH, Cat. 472. Fig. F. CUVIER, 

 Mamm. II. 120. H. cetacea, ILLIGER. H. indica, DESMAREST, figd 

 HARDWICKE, 111. Ind. Zool. 



THE DUGONG OR DUYANG. 



Descr. Skin uniform bluish, sometimes blotched with white beneath, 

 or pale fulvous with white upper parts ; eyes very small ; incisors nearly 

 concealed ; a few scattered bristles on the body. With eighteen pairs 

 of ribs (Kelaart). Up to 9 or 10 feet in length and upwards; usually 

 5 to 7 feet. 



The Dugong has been taken on the Andaman Islands, in Ceylon, and 

 on the west coast of India as high, it is stated, as the Concan; i. e., the 

 coast of Canara. It appears that they are known as Seals, and found 

 along the shore, and in the salt-water inlets of the Concan and south 

 Malabar. It is said to feed on the vegetable matter found about the 

 rocks, and also to bask and sleep in the morning sun. 



The Seal of Forbes (Oriental Memoirs) appears to be the Otter. The 

 flesh of the Dugong is highly esteemed. It is tolerably abundant in 

 Ceylon, where called Talla maha ; and in the Malayan regions at 

 Singapore, &c. The female gives birth to one young only at a time, 

 and is said to show strong affection for her young, Sir J. Tennent, in 

 his Natural History of Ceylon, figures a Dugong holding her young. 



Another species recorded is Halicore tabernaculi, Eiippell, from the 

 Red Sea, so named by him because he considers it to be the animal with 

 whose skin the tabernacle was veiled. 



