Auo^. 12, 1875] 



NA TURE 



29 



between which are not at all intimate ; in other words, 

 notwithstanding the similarity in their habits, they must 

 have been derived independently from different, probably 

 terrestrial, mammalian ancestors, which themselves were 

 not intimately related. The Pinnipedia include the Seals, 

 Sea-Lions, and Walruses, animals closely allied to the 

 Bears, Dogs, and Cats. The Cetacea include the Whales, 

 Dolphins, and Porpoises, which are so much modified 

 that their correct affinities are still matters of doubt. 



There is, however, still another aquatic mammalian 

 group or order which at the present time includes among 

 its members only two well-marked forms or genera ; these 

 being the Dugong and the Manatee. The order is that 

 of the Sirenia, and its members differ in their organisa- 

 tion considerably from both the Seals and the Whales, 

 more nearly approaching the latter, and appearing to be 

 most nearly allied to the Ungulate Herbivora. 



The Manatees — of which there are two well-defined 

 species, one found in and at the mouths of the rivers dis- 

 charging themselves on the eastern coast of intertropical 

 America, and the other on the opposite side of the At- 

 lantic Ocean, on the shores of Western and Southern 

 Africa — are large-sized somewhat seal-like herbivorous 

 animals, sometimes reaching 17 feet in length, differing 

 from the Seals and resembling the Whales in not having 

 any indications of hinder extremities, at the same time 

 that the caudal portion of the body is expanded into a 

 horizontally-flattened tail. In them the contour of the 

 face is peculiar, the whiskered snout being much flat- 

 tened, like a pointed cone with a considerable portion of 

 the end cut off transversely. The large nostrils are situ- 

 ated within a short distance of one another, at the upper 

 portion of the truncate edge ; they are closed by valves 

 during the time that the animal is submerged. The eyes 

 are peculiarly small and inconspicuous. The external 

 ears are wanting. The mouth is small, without front 

 teeth, and is placed low down, the gape being close 

 to the anterior end of the animal. The neck, from 

 its extreme shortness, can scarcely be said to exist as 



such, n.i ^Xh^ 



Neglecting the tail, the body, which is very sparsely 

 covered with hair, has the shape of a much elongate barrel, 

 slightly flattened above and below. The skin is very like 

 that of the Hippopotamus. Far forward, just behind the 

 head, the two fore-limbs project laterally from below. 

 The elbow is conspicuous, though placed not far from the 

 side, ard the fore-arm together with the hand, form a flat 

 oval flapper devoid of any indications of fingers, except 

 that at the extreme edge rudimentary nails are developed. 

 These arms are used by the animal as claspers, which 

 can be flexed over the chest ; employed as locomotor 

 organs at the bottom of the water, or made to assist in 

 the prehension of food. In the female the mammae are 

 pectoral, and the consequent general configuration has 

 probably led to the fabulous descriptions of the existence 

 of " mermaids." 



In shape the tail is unlike that of any other animal, 

 being spatulate. It most resembles that of the Beaver, 

 but is a direct continuation backwards of the body, and 

 is covered with an unmodified skin. As in the Whales 

 and Beavers, the vertebral column forms a bony axis of 

 support for the flattened muscular and fibrous expansion 

 covered with thick cuticle, which forms the propelling 

 mechanism. 



The skeleton is of an extremely dense texture and very 

 massive ; the skull and ribs more resembling ivory than 

 bone. In the number of the vertebrae which form the 

 neck there is also a peculiarity, not shared even by its 

 ally, the Dugong. In all mammalia there are seven 

 cervical vertebrae, the same in the Giraffe as in the 

 Elephant, in the Kangaroo as in Man. In the Manatee 

 there are, however, only six, as in one other mammal only, 

 namely, Hoffmann's Sloth, The ribs, as well as being very 

 dense, are broader than is usually the case. As in the 



Whales there are no bony traces of hind limbs, a rudi- 

 mentary pelvis being alone found. 



As far as the soft parts are concerned, it may be men- 

 tioned that the apex of the heart is deeply cleft, more so 

 than in the Elephant and the Seals, This is the case also 

 in the Dugong, The arteries in many parts break up into 

 innumerable minute branches before they become distri- 

 buted, to form the so-called retia mirabilia. The lungs 

 run a considerable distance along the back of the animal, 

 nearly reaching the root of the tail, instead of being 

 entirely included in the thoracic region. 



The half-grown female Manatee which has just reached 

 the Zoological Society's Gardens, is the first living speci- 

 men which has been seen in this country. It came from 

 the coast of Demerara, and was three weeks on the 

 journey, during which time it was in a big swinging tank 

 constructed to hold it. Two previous unsuccessful 

 attempts were made in 1866 to forward living specimens 

 to Regent's Park ; in one case the animal did not die till 

 within two days of its reaching Southampton, The 

 valuable memofr by Dr, Murie in the eighth volume of 

 the Society's Transactions was based on the dissection of 

 these two specimens, which were preserved immediately 

 they died in a condition fit for minute investigation. 



The living animal appears to be in a good state of 

 health, its movements are much less active than those of 

 the Seals, and as food it takes vegetable marrow and 

 lettuce in preference to anything else. 



A third member of the order Sirenia was the Rhyti/ia, 

 a toothless animal, sometimes reaching 24 feet in length, 

 discovered by Steller during Behring's expedition in 1741 

 on the shores of the island which bears his name. The 

 slaughter of these creatures for their flesh was so reck- 

 lessly conducted that they had all disappeared in 1789, 

 and have never been seen since. There are three skele- 

 tons of this extinct species {Rhytina sUlleri) in existence, 

 all in Russia, 



THE WUHLER FESTIVAL 



THE 31st of July was a festive day for Chemical 

 Germany, and for the numerous admirers of the 

 celebrated senior of German chemistry. Prof, Wohler of 

 Gottingen ; not only as the seventy-fifth anniversary of 

 his birth, but also as the supposed fiftieth anniversary of 

 his entering upon his professional duties. In 1825 Dr. 

 Wohler became teacher of chemistry to the Berlin 

 " Gewerbeschule ; " in 1831 he exchanged this position 

 for a similar one in Cassel, and from 1836 up to the 

 present day he has been forming generations of chemists 

 who flocked to Gottingen attracted by his fame. We 

 need not remind our readers of the numerous discoveries 

 of this great and genial man, of which the artificial for- 

 mation of urea, the production of aluminium, his researches 

 on cyanic and cyanuric acids, on boron and silicon, his 

 joint researches with Liebig on uric acid and benzoyl- 

 compounds, and many others, are known to all chemists, 

 and have opened new roads to science. 



From eight o'clock in the morning until noon of 

 the] above-mentioned day, one deputation relieved an- 

 other to express their thanks and congratulations. The 

 Faculty of Science of Tubingen sent a diploma of 

 Doctor of Science, so that similar to the triple crown 

 of the Head of the Roman Church, three doctor's de- 

 grees, that of Medicine, of Philosophy, and of Science 

 are now worn by the Head of German Chemistry. The 

 German Chemical Society at Berlin was represented by 

 three members of iits council, two of this deputation 

 being pupils of Dr, Wohler, They presented an appro- 

 priate address in a handsome cover of malachite, an 

 allusion to the services rendered by the great chemist to 

 the allied science of mineralogy. In the evening many 

 of the undergraduates of the University (now eleven 

 hundred in number) expressed their admiration in the 

 time-honoured shape of a torch procession. 



