THE MANATEE. 



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MANATEES. 



nostrils are two semi-lunar, valve-like slits, at the apex of the muzzle. When the mouth is opened, 

 the marginal inner cheeks are seen to be hair-covered, and the hard, horny palate to be very 

 conspicuous above and below. This remarkable muzzle and mouth are specially adapted to the 

 animal's mode of feeding. Steller long ago remarked that the Rhytina's muzzle was exceedingly 

 prehensile ; but in a live Manatee exhibited at the London Zoological Gardens, Professor Garrod 

 observed and has recorded the remarkable manner and use of this lip-structure. In grasping its food, 

 the bristly-clad outer angles of the xipper lip at first diverge, and then approximate like a pair of 

 pincers, holding the object firmly, which is then drawn inwards by a backward movement of the lips. 

 'The horny pads again on the closing of the mouth further bruise the vegetable matter. In 1866, 

 the Zoological Society sent Mr. Clarence Bartlett to Surinam, to bring home a young Manatee. This 

 suckling, christened " Patcheley," had been obtained when quite a baby by the Indians, and duly 

 transferred to a lakelet, where he had his freedom. Although fishy in form and fondness for the 

 water, he had nevertheless to receive daily a good quantum of Cow's milk from a bottle. He soon 

 got fond of the " black Jack," as well as of his keeper. Mr. Bartlett, as wet nurse, had a difficulty in 

 training his charge. Loosely attired, he waded about and coaxed his pet to the water's edge, where, 

 after a stolen suck or two, he permitted himself to be raised partly on his knees, and then sucked 

 away might and main till the bottle was dry. His appetite satisfied, he seemed in high glee, tumbled 

 and rolled about a while, then got quieter, retired to the pool, and slept lazily near the surface. 

 At times his disposition was more rollicking, and Master Patcheley would overturn his nurse into the 

 mud, where the two spluttered and floundered for possession of the bottle. Clusius recounts how a 

 pet " Mato " was kept by a Spanish Governor for twenty-six years ; it came at call to the side of the 

 lake to be fed, and would even allow boys to mount on its back while it harmlessly swam about. For 

 long the pursuit of the Manatee has been a favourite amusement with the natives. One instance 

 is related of Indians on the Mosquito shore spearing it from canoes, when the animal darted off as 



