160 SEA-COWS 



This creature, the only American representative of its 

 Order except the extinct Steller sea-cow, is a large and heavy 

 water mammal, from 9 to 13 feet in length, and in form very 

 much like a seal. It has a blunt muzzle, small eyes, and 

 rather feeble, clumsy front flippers. Its tail is a rounded 

 disk, which in swimming forms a powerful propeller. When 

 dry its skin is of a clean, slaty-gray color, but in the water 

 it seems almost black. The bones are solid and heavy, and 

 the ribs are very thick. The largest specimen ever taken 

 and preserved in the United States was 13 feet in length, 

 and must have weighed about 1,200 pounds. In the summer 

 of 1903, a fine specimen about eight feet long was captured 

 under a state permit in the Banana River, Florida, and 

 placed on exhibition in the New York Aquarium. From 

 time to time others have been exhibited at various watering- 

 places along the Atlantic coast. 



The Manatee never comes upon land. Usually its home 

 is chosen in the upper waters of some deep, quiet tropical 

 river, above the influence of the tide, where there is an abun- 

 dance of Manatee grass and other water plants acceptable 

 to it for food. It is herbivorous, and because its molar teeth 

 are weak and it has no front teeth, it is compelled to live upon 

 aquatic plants which are tender as well as nourishing. Its 

 food is always eaten under water, and when at home its 

 presence is generally revealed by the bits of plant stems and 

 grass blades which escape and float to the surface. In cap- 

 tivity, the Manatee feeds upon lettuce, cabbage, canna 

 leaves, celery tops, water-cress, spinach, eel-grass and ocean 

 sea- weed. 



