EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM MR. MARSDEN. 



POsteologie du Lamantin, par G. Cuvier. p. 302.) ayant 

 ete donne par les Hollanders et par quelques autres peu* 

 pies, a Phippopotame, aussi bien qu'au dugong, certains 

 voyageurs, trompes par cette homonyme, ont place des 

 hippopotames dans quelques pays ou ils avoient entendu 

 dire qu'il y avoient des vaches marines, tandis qu'on ne 

 vouloit leur parler que de dugongs. J'ai une preuve re* 

 cente de ce meprise. Un voyageur tres-instruit me 

 soutenoit avoir apporte des dents d'hippopotames des 

 Molluques; quand il me les montra, je vis que c'etoient 

 des dents de dugong; et je suis maintenant fort porte a 

 croire que c'est de cette maniere que Marsden aura crtt 

 pouvoir donner des hippopotames a Tile de Sumatra." 



I certainly was guilty of an omission in referring my 

 readers only to one of the passages in M. Cuvier's writ- 

 ings in which my name was introduced, and not to that 

 which would have been the most to my purpose. With 

 regard to the consistency of the two, I shall only say 

 that there appears something like a desire of supporting 

 an hypothesis at any rate. 



" Perhaps in a future edition of your Book (which 

 will, I have not a doubt, be immediately called for) you 

 may think it right to notice briefly, that I had stronger 

 grounds for my remark than were at first apparent, and 

 that I had not misunderstood the particular passage to 

 which it had reference. At all events, I feel a satisfac* 

 tion in setting myself right, as I trust I do> in your opi- 

 nion, as well as in the opportunity it gives me of sub* 

 scribing myself, with much esteem, 

 Dear Sir, 



Your faithful 



Humble Servant, 



W, MARSDEN.'* 



