394 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



lishiuent in 1873, these being the only reliable measurements of 

 a Florida Manatee, under its proper name, on record : " Length, 

 6 ft. 9 in.; circumference around the body, 4 ft. 9 in.; length of 

 Hipper, 1 ft.; width of same, 4J in.; width of tail joining body, 1 

 ft. 6J in.; greatest width of tail, 1 ft. 8J in.; weight, 450 Ibs. It is 

 very likely, however, that the animal may attain to a length of at 

 least 8 or 9 ft., as trustworthy authorities so state, in which case 

 they would come to weigh something between five and six hun- 

 dred pounds. 



The figures here given so thoroughly portray the general form 

 of the Manatee, that it hardly seems necessary to enter upon any 

 very extended description in this place ; we are to especially note, 

 however, the fish-like form of the body, terminating behind in the 

 broad, somewhat rounded and horizontal tail; the constricted 

 neck connecting this body with a rather small, oblong head ; the 

 complete absence of hind limbs, with the fingerless paddlelike 

 forelimbs, the latter tipped on either side with three small nails; 

 the total absence of all fins; the wonderful minute eyes and ears, 

 the latter being without any external pinna; the great tumid 

 upper lips overarching rather a large mouth, the former having a 

 sparse growth of stiff bristles growing upon them; the wrinkled 

 skin, which is of rather a deep gray color, and having a few scat- 

 tered hairs growing over it in some specimens, more especially in 

 the younger individuals. But of all the external characters of a 

 Manatee none are so noteworthy as the fleshy pads, one on either 

 side, that go to form the extraordinary upper lip. Professor 

 Garrod in alluding to these, says of them that, " These pads have 

 the power of transversely approaching toward and receding from 

 one another simultaneously (see Figs. 103 and 104). When the 

 animal is on the point of seizing, say, a leaf of lettuce, the pads 

 are diverged transversely in such a way as to make a median gap 

 of considerable breadth. Directly the leaf is within the grasp 

 the lip-pads are approximated, the leaf is firmly seized between 

 their contiguous bristly surfaces, and then drawn inward by a 

 backward movement of the lower margin of the lip as a whole." 



It is said that Manatees have the power of carrying their young 

 about within the grasp of their forelimb or limbs, and that their 

 appearance at these times has given rise to the fabulous mermaid 

 of nursery tale renown, but so far as the writer is concerned, if 

 these mythical maids of the sea, which so often filled my dream- 

 head in boyish days, or my fanciful reveries of perhaps riper 



