456 MISS A. CRANE ON THE MANATEE. [Apr. 5, 



finement having thrown little if any light upon this question, I 

 wished to avail myself of the chance recently afforded of closely 

 observing the movements of a pair of these animals in the Brighton 

 Aquarium, and have on several occasions endeavoured to ascertain 

 how far their behaviour in captivity would corroborate the above- 

 quoted statements. My opportunities for doing so have, however, 

 not been so frequent as those of Miss Crane, a constant and very 

 observant visitor at the x\quarium ; and she has therefore, at my 

 request, drawn up the following notes, which contain much of interest 

 in relation to the subject particularly in question, and also concerning 

 the movements and habitual position of the animals in the water. 

 These, as I have frequently noticed myself, differed greatly from 

 those so carefully observed by Dr. Murie, especially in the circum- 

 stance that the Brighton animals never rested upon the dorsal 

 surface of the tail, but always upon the ventral surface or extremity 

 of that organ, if they allowed it to touch the bottom at all. It 

 must, however, be remarked that the confined space in which the 

 animals were kept in both cases and the different depth of the water 

 rendered the observations less satisfactory than they might be. A 

 large tank with a gradually shelving bottom rising from deep water 

 at one end to dry land at the other would afford a better means of 

 solving these problems. 



2. Notes on the Habits of the Manatees {Manatus australis) 

 in Captivity in the Brighton Aquarium. By Agnes 

 Crane. Communicated by Professor Flovfek, Pres.Z.S. 



Two young Manatees {Manatus americanus, male and female) 

 from the island of Trinidad arrived in Liverpool in September 1879, 

 were purchased for the Brighton Aquarium, and have since been on 

 view in that Institution. A young female had been obtained a few 

 months previously from the same island ; but this specimen, after 

 living for some weeks in apparent health and feeding well, died 

 suddenly from acute intestinal inflammation. As these interesting 

 aquatic mammals have not yet become common in aquaria, obser- 

 vations on the habits of the Brighton specimens may be worth 

 recording for comparison with those already noted. 



The young male, a fine animal in robust condition, measured in 

 November 18/9 four feet ten inches from snout to tail, with a 

 maximum girth of four feet. The female was four feet eight inches 

 in length, of a lighter slate-colour than her companion, of more slender 

 build and proportions. Both are marked with white on the under- 

 side of their bodies. The pair occupied a tank twelve feet six inches 

 in length by eight feet six inches in breadth, with an almost flat 

 bottom. Temperature of water about 70° Fahr ; depth two feet six 

 inches in the daytime, reduced six inches at night. The water is 

 run ofi" daily, a fresh supply being admitted at the requisite heat 

 from a neighbouring tank filled with warmed fresh water. Although 



