DR. J. :murie on the for:m and structure of the manatee. 191 



entail my entering on data whicli I reserve for anotlier communication. Brandt forms 

 one family, Manatidae, containing the genus Manatus, and a second, Halicoridse, with 

 three genera, Halifherium, Halicofe, and Rhytina. Excluding HaJitherium, not noted 

 by him. Dr. Gray' ranges the others under the family Manatidse. Professor Kaup's^ 

 generalizations I reserve till I treat of Halitherium. 



I am aware I tread on tender ground, and may evoke the contumely of those who 

 see every grou]) with noonday light, clear and circumscribed, when with others 1 suggest 

 demolition of boundary lines by upraising past forms to take their place in the alphabet 

 of Zoology. But, however beneficial classification may be to the study of animals, there 

 is a still higher aim when we would discard pretension to system, and strive by patient 

 research to fathom the intricacies of creative organization. 



The more important additions to the anatomy of the Manatee contained in this 

 memoir are: — accurate representations of its figure; fresh views of exterior moot 

 points ; the peculiar nature of the epidermis ; structure of the hairs and bristles ; the 

 vertebral irregularities, which cervical is the one missing ] the skull's interior, its develop- 

 ment ; the ligamentous system ; entire myology, the limb-muscles being fully developed ; 

 the homologies of the mouth-structures with reference to baleen &c. ; revision and 

 illustrations of the digestive organs and associated glands ; new sectional views of the 

 body, with organs in position ; reexamination and depicting of the remarkable vascular 

 distribution ; parts connected with respiration and vocalization ; the brain, not before 

 known ; elucidation of the nerves ; the nasal passages and the eye ; illustration of the 

 female generative parts and lumbo-pelvic regions. 



XII. Additional Note. 



The Zoological Society of London is so much indebted to its coiTespondents and other 

 kind friends, that I cannot pass in silence the eff'orts made in this case to ensure safe 

 transmission of what has long been a desideratum. The exhibition of a live specimen 

 of the order Sirenia (a veritable mermaid) in the Regent' s-Park collection would, if 

 achieved, form one of the most sensational triumphs incident to the introduction of 

 rare and comparatively unknown animals into Britain. But the chapter of travelling- 

 accidents is a tangled one. Safe transport of living large marine animals, even under 

 the most favourable circumstances, is a task requiring sound judgment and much tact. 

 Moreover obstacles increase proportionally where the clime is different, the distance 

 great, or the place of capture far removed from ready mechanical appliances and 

 abundant manual assistance. In the present instance it may be affirmed that success 

 in a most difficult undertaking was twice well nigh accomplished. 



After many ende.ivours and promises of reward, Mr. George Latimer, of Porto Rico, 

 in 1866 had the good fortune to obtain from some fishermen a young female Manatee 

 which they had caught in one of the neighbouring " corals." The natives, it seems, 

 ' B. M. Cat. of Seals and Whales. = Beitriige, d. urweltlichen Siiugethiere, 1855. 



VOL. vin. — PART ui. Septemher, 1872. 2 f 



