NINTH ANNUAL REPORT. 97 



will be provicfed in the spring. These can readily be arranged 

 in small aquaria placed at intervals on the coping of one of the 

 floor pools. 



Manatees. — The Manatee or sea-cow obtained in September, 

 1903, was lost five months later from pneumonia, when the build- 

 ing became cold through belated work on the skylights. Two 

 more manatees, male and female, were procured in June, 1904. 

 They were taken in Lake Worth, Florida. The young male died 

 at the end of eight months. Many of its internal organs were 

 infested with flat-worm parasites, some of which perforated the 

 membranes of the brain and caused its death. The larger speci- 

 men, the female, was eight and one-half feet long when received. 

 The manatee feeds freely on eel-grass (Zoster a) and becomes 

 very tame, raising the mouth from the water for food. When 

 the local supply of eel-grass failed in January the manatee was 

 fed on lettuce and celery tops. While the male lived the pair 

 kept close together both when active and at rest. 



During the first three months of her captivity the large female 

 turned on her back each day when the water was drawn from the 

 pool. This practice has been abandoned entirely, the animal 

 now rests belly down, in the empty pool, with the front end of 

 the broad nose applied close to the floor. In water manatees 

 rise to breathe at intervals varying from five to eight minutes, 

 and do not increase the number of respirations when out of water. 

 When stranded they are comparativelv helpless, making lateral 

 movements only, and these with considerable eft'ort. 



The accompanving photographs show the utmost height to 

 which the female has raised her head above water in reaching 

 for food, even when hungry. The young male never raised his 

 head so high above the surface. All three manatees followed 

 the attendant around the pool at feeding time, swimming very 

 slowly. Their movements were always deliberate. 



Fisli Hatchery. — The United States Fisheries Bureau sujjpliod 

 the Aquarium, during the winter, with fish-eggs from ( lovern- 

 ment hatcheries. The hatchery was in operation througliDul llic 

 fish hatching season, and the young fish derived from it were 

 turned over to the New ^^ork Fish Commission for planting in 

 State waters. The exhibit was of constant interest to visitors. 

 It showed, in various stages of development, the eggs and young 

 of the Atlantic, landlocked and quinnat salmon : the rainbow, 

 brook, lake, and brown trouts, and the Lake V.r'w whitefish. 

 Numerous specimens of all these species were retained at the 

 Aquarium, for exhibition ])urposes. and there is now a good col- 



