286 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
although this is but slightly developed. No outer ears exist, and 
the eyes are very small. The flippers, or paddle-like fore-limbs, 
are placed very far forward on the body, and possess rudimentary 
nails, evidencing the skeletal composition of its terminal parts, 
which necessarily correspond to fingers. 
As might be inferred from the most cursory examination, the 
Manatee is purely aquatic in its habits. By drawing off the water 
from its pond, in the case of the specimen which lived in the 
Zoological Society’s Gardens, and which was between six and 
seven feet long, it was ascertained that the creature is perfectly 
helpless on land, its only movement being a roll by the aid of the 
flippers and tail. 
The dissection of this individual by Professor Garrod, and the 
previous examination of the salted specimens by Dr. Murie, resulted 
in the publication of some interesting information concerning the 
internal structure and anatomy. The number of vertebre in the 
neck is one less than is usually possessed by the majority of 
mammals. In man and most other mammals the number of the 
cervical vertebra is seven; in the Manatee only six, a peculiarity, 
so far as is known, shared by only one other animal—Hoffman’s 
Sloth. 
The mouth is a very singular one, having on either side a pad 
or side-lip covered with stiff bristles projecting inwards, with 
which its food, which is purely vegetable, is seized and conveyed 
to the mouth. The fore-lips, both upper and under, are com- 
paratively small. 
The mode of feeding has been compared by Mr. Garrod to that 
of a silkworm or other caterpillar, in which the jaws move hori- 
zontally instead of vertically. Mr.'Tegetmeier, in a notice of this 
animal which appeared in ‘The Field’ of 6th July last, accom- 
panied by a very characteristic illustration by Mr. T. W. Wood, 
has suggested that the arrangement of lateral lip-pads has a direct 
relation to the feeding of the animal on submerged aquatic leaves 
growing erect in the water like our flags and rushes, as these 
could evidently be much more easily gathered by lips opening 
laterally than by such as move up and down. The teeth are 
absent from the fore part of the jaws, their place being occupied, 
as in the upper jaw of a ruminant, by horny pads. 
The Manatee being exclusively a vegetable feeder, the structure 
of the digestive organs is modified accordingly. The stomach is 
