134 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



spend six hours in the water struggling with a 

 twelve-foot manatee had passed his sixtieth birth- 

 day. 



The manatee is entirely harmless, docile, readily 

 tamed and the one I sketched evidently knew its 

 keeper, and would move awkwardly around to 

 meet him when he waded into the tank. 



THE SEA-COW'S HEAD 



is round and on the muzzle are a number of 

 bristles, each of which is said to connect with the 

 brain by a nerve. No opening to the ears could 

 be detected from a position outside the tank. The 

 eyes are so minute that they are hidden by folds 

 of skin. The hands of the manatee have five nails 

 (see sketch in illustration). The structure of the 

 bones allows the hand to turn in any direction at 

 pleasure. 



In the study of the top view, or back of the 

 animal, the hands are doubled underneath so that 

 the arms resemble fins. 



The tail is about one-quarter of the length of 

 the body, and in this specimen 3^2 feet was just the 

 width of the body at its broadest part. The skin 

 is remarkably thick and tough. It is used in the 

 place of rawhide or leather in the manufacture of 

 articles where great strength is required. I have 

 seen a walking cane made from the skin of a 

 manatee, killed at the head of navigation in the 

 Magdalena River, in South America. 



