CETACEA. 265 



those of the Northern line of Australia. The most conspic- 

 uous difference between this and the Manatus is, that it has 

 no traces of nails. The tail is truncated, or two- lobed, and 

 there are five grinders in each jaw; the body is round and 

 tapering. To aid it in browsing upon fuci and submarine 

 vegetables, the front part of the jaw is bent downwards, so as to 

 bring the mouth in nearly a vertical position. A great peculiar- 

 ity of the animal is, that the ventricles of the heart are detached 

 from each other, being connected at their base only. The body 

 is seven or eight feet long ; the flesh tender and not unlike beef. 



Halicore Tabernacuti, the Dugong of the Red Sea, is consid- 

 ered a distinct species by Rupel, who gave it the specific name, 

 supposing, that with its skin, the Jews were required to veil the 

 tabernacle. 



Stellerus. This third genus is found in the Polar regions, and 

 especially in the vicinity of Behring's Straits, where, in great 

 numbers, the animal frequents the shallow parts of the shore, and 

 the estuaries of rivers. The skin is remarkably thick and hard. 

 The head and mouth are small ; the lips appear to be double, 

 i. e., inner and outer. The space between them is filled with 

 strong bristles, (one and a half inches long, and as thick as 

 pigeons' quills,) which are, to this animal, what the whale-bone 

 is to the largest Cetacea. It has no teeth ; but in place of them, 

 has two horny substances adhering, the one to the palate, the 

 otr^er to the lower jaw. The length of the body is twenty- 

 eight feet; the weight of a large one, eight thousand pounds. 

 The skin is used by the natives for covering their boats. They 

 esteem the blubber of the animal as good as ( * May butter." The 

 flesh of an old Stellerus, when well boiled, resembles beef; that 

 of the young one is like veal. 



Zeuglodon. This is an American fossil, whose name was 

 suggested by the back molar teeth, which resemble two teeth 

 yoked together, as the generic name signifies. Remains of this 

 extinct animal have been found in Maryland, Alabama and Ar- 

 kansas, (U. S.) Professor Owen supposes it to be allied to the 

 Dugong and Manatee. 



NOTE. 



According to Lieut. Maury, (see Phys. Geog. of the Sea,) " the tropical 

 regions of the ocean are to the Right or True Whale, as a sea of fire, 

 through which he cannot pass, and into which he never enters ; " but 

 "whales, with harpoons jn them bearing the stamp of ships known to 

 cruise on the Baffin's Bay side of the American Continent, have repeatedly 

 been taken near the Behring's Strait side ; and as, in one or two instances 

 a very short time had elapsed between the date of the capture in the Pacific 



