ON THE MANATEE. 303 
49. NOTES ON THE MANATEE (MANATUS AMERI- 
CANUS) RECENTLY LIVING IN THE SOCIETY’S 
GARDENS.* 
(Plates XI—XIIL.) 
Unt: the arrival, on August the 6th of this year, ofa living female Page 137. 
Manatee in the Society’s Gardens, very few Europeans had had the 
opportunity of seeing a live Sirenian; and those who had previously 
been so fortunate, had not,in most cases, been able to observe it under 
the favourable circumstances of position afforded by a small shallow 
pond approachable on all sides. In this pond it was not the least 
difficult to watch the creature minutely whilst it was feeding, as well 
as to make other notes of its habits which would necessarily be over- 
looked by those who meet it in its native haunts. 
Dr. Maurie, in his valuable monograph on the Manatee,t justly 
remarks, that “in museums it is customary to see such bloated over- 
stuffed specimens, that from them, as well as figures extant, an unfair 
idea of the configuration is obtained.” Dr. Murie’s own illustrations, 
with their beantiful textural details, represent the animal much more 
accurately. The only fault in them, if it is a fault, is rather in the 
opposite direction to that above indicated by him. His specimens 
were dead and preserved; they had evidently shrunk slightly, the 
living animal appearing a little more rounded, and presenting less well- 
marked skin-folds. 
The following are the measurements of the animal which I have 
had the opportunity of dissecting, taken almost immediately after 
death :— 
Potal lengths Sen AA MK HRS: 80 
Circumference (3 inches in front of umbilicus) 50 
Greatest breadth of tail (8 inches from end).. 19 
Umbilicus to anus ......... aes sBWene ek baled 21 
Walvai to ema tetas. Fit. Bee eas eee ss 4°25 
Circumference at root of tail (7 inches beyond 
SHGB). (3. Pa; See Pet Se PRLS 28°75 
Length of tail-flapper: ..........0....5...00. 19°5 
Length: of fore Timbo... S20. Soe ie. res ok 14 
From eye to front of snout ................ 4°75 
* “Transactions of the Zoological Society,” X. pp. 137-145. pls. XXVIII— 
XXX. Read, Nov. 16, 1875. 
+ “ Transactions of the Zoological Society,” VIII. p. 127. 
