32S 



VEIITEBUATE ANIMALS. 



body, and there is a tolerably distinct neck. They are vegetable- 

 eaters, feeding chiefly upon sea- weeds, and haunting the mouths 

 of rivers and estuaries, and sometimes ranging hundreds of miles 

 inland. 



The only existing Sireiua are the Manatees (Maiiatzis) and the 

 Dugongs (HaUcore), often called "Sea-cows." The Manatees (fig. 

 233) are found on the east coast of America and on the west coast 

 of Africa. They are large awkward animals, attaining a length of 

 from eight to ten or fifteen feet, and their flesh is said to be very pal- 

 atable and wholesome. The Dugongs diiFer little in appearance and 

 habits from the Manatees. They are found on the coasts of the 



Fig. 234. — Sirenia, Skeleton of the Manatee (Manatus Americanits). 



Indian Ocean and the north coast of Australia, and are often killed 

 and eaten. They attain a, length of from eighteen to twenty feet. 

 The bones of the skeleton are remarkable for their extreme hard- 

 ness and density. 



Besides these living forms, the Sirenia were represented by a 

 gigantic species which formerly inhabited Behring Island on the 

 coast of Kanitchatka. This animal was described by M. Steller 

 who accompanied Behring on his second expedition, and lie named 

 it Rhi/tiiia. This enormous animal attained a length of tuenty-five 

 feet, and a circumference of twenty feet, and it apjiears to have 

 been completely exterminated, no specimen having been seen for 

 more than a century. 



Order V. Cetacea. 



This order comprises the Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises, and 

 it is characterised by the complete adaptation of its members to a 

 watery life. The body (tig. 235) is completely fish -like in form, 

 the fore-limbs are converted into swimming-paddles, and the hind- 

 limbs are ccjinpletely wanting ; whilst the hinder end of the body 

 forms an extremely powerful, horizontal caudal fin. Sometimes 



