662 NAT J' HAL HISTORY. 



than the northern sea-cow, and so may escape extermination for a much 



longer time. 



The manatees, three in number, inhabit the Atlantic and its tributaries. 

 One is African, one ranges from the West Indies to Brazil and up the 

 Amazon to Pebas, Ecuador, while the third inhabits the shores of Florida. 

 Of these the best known is the South American form. On the whole 

 course of the Amazon it is fished for by the natives, who use harpoons or 

 nets for the purpose. As soon as caught the nostrils are plugged up, and 

 the creature is allowed to die of suffocation. The natives eat the flesh, 

 and seem to be very fond of it. It tastes like coarse pork, but the fat 

 which occurs in thick layers between the muscles is greenish in color, and 

 has such a fishy taste that only starvation will bring a European to eat it. 

 Like the other sea-cows the manatees feed on the pastures of aquatic 

 plants. They are very stupid, but they seem to exhibit considerable 

 conjugal affection. 



The Oarxtvores. 



The word carnivores means flesh-eating, and is eminently appropriate 

 for the long series of cats, dogs, bears, seals, and all their relatives. They 

 are fully fitted for a diet of this sort. They possess ample means for cap- 

 turing their prey, — strong claws for tearing it in pieces, and teeth which 

 are splendidly adapted for the cutting of muscles, the severing of tendons, 

 and the crushing of bones. Still, they are not all exclusively flesh-eaters : 

 the bears exhibit, as is well known, a fondness for fruit and honey ; the 

 raccoons will plunder gardens ; even cats occasionally exhibit a sweet 

 tooth, and will eat dates, green corn, and the like ; while the honey-bear 

 of the East Indies almost wholly ignores flesh, and makes its meals on 

 honey, white ants, and various fruits. These instances, which might easily 

 be multiplied, are, however, the exceptions; the carnivores are, as a whole, 

 pre-eminently carnivorous. They are divided into two groups: first the 

 typical terrestrial forms, like the dog, bear, and cat; and second, the 

 thoroughly aquatic seals, walruses, and the like. 



First among the terrestrial carnivores come the bears and the bear-like 

 forms, the most prominent feature of which is seen in their attitude and 

 mode of walking. A dog or a cat stands on the tips of the toes, the wrists 

 ami ankles being raised some distance above the ground. In the bear-like 

 forms, on the other hand, the whole palms and soles, from the wrist and 

 ankle down, are applied to the ground. The first-mentioned group are 

 hence frequently termed digitigrades, or toe-walkers; while the bears, and 

 their relatives, are plantigrades, or walkers on the sole of the foot. 



