steller's account op the sea cow. 185 



easily torn oflF. The head slopes from the occiput to the nares and slopes again from 

 the nares to the lips. The end of the snout is 8 inches high and grows rapidly thicker 

 from the nose to the occiput. 



The opening of the mouth {rictus oris) is not underneath {supinus), but in a line 

 with the sides; but the exterior upper lip is so large, broad, and oblique to the angle 

 of the mouth, and lengthened out so much above the inferior mandible, that to one 

 who looks at the head alone the opening seems to be located underneath. 



The opening of the mouth itself is not very large in proportion to the animal, nor 

 is it necessary that it should be, as it lives on seaweed. 



The lips, both the upper and the lower, are double and divided into external and 

 internal lips. 



The external upper lip, finishing the end of the snout obliquely, is like a half 

 circle; it is flat, tumid, thick, 14 inches broad, 10 inches high, in color a glossy white, 

 and overgrown with a great many little hills or tubercles, from the center of each one 

 of which grows a white, translucent bristle 4 or 5 inches long. 



The internal upper lip is 5 inches long and 2J inches wide. It is everywhere 

 detached from the external lip, and fastened to it only at the base; it overhangs the 

 palate, and it looks like a calf's tongue, all villous and rough like a brush. It closes 

 the mouth firmly above; it is movable, and by its own motion serves to tear off the 

 seaweed and bring it into its mouth; for it feeds in the same way as horses and cattle, 

 by protruding its lips and bending them outward. 



The lower lip is likewise doable; the external lip is black, and smooth, and 

 without bristles; it is roughly heart-shaped and like a chin, if we may so call it; it is 

 7 inches wide and 6.8 inches high. 



The internal lower lip is separated likewise from the external; it is villous and is 

 not visible when the mouth is closed, because the external lip reaches out and covers 

 it; and being set opposite the internal upper lip it closes the mouth firmly. 



When tlie lower mandible is applied to the upper, the space which intervenes 

 when both are closed is filled up with a dense array of very thick white bristles 1^ 

 inches long. These bristles prevent anything from falling out of the mouth while 

 the animal masticates, or from being washed out with water which flows into the 

 mouth and is driven out again through the opening when the mouth is closed. 



The bristles are as thick as a dove's quill; they are white, hollow inside, bulbous 

 below, and, even without the aid of a microscope, they show clearly the structure of 

 the human hair. 



If the animal lies prone upon its belly, the end of its snout on a line perpendic<ilar 

 from the nares to the lips is 8 inches high and is rounded in front, like a ball, from 

 the nose to the ends of the lips and also to the lateral regions of the upper jaw. 

 It grows thicker and increases rapidly in circumference. The external lips are very 

 prominent, thick and swollen, and perforated with a great many large pores, like a cat's, 

 from each one of which grows a strong white bristle; these bristles are perceptibly 

 stouter the nearer they are to the opening of the mouth itself. Of the bristles those were 

 especially noticeable for thickness which grow between the lips of either jaw. They 

 take the place of teeth in pulling oft" the seaweed and prevent anything from falling 

 out of the mouth while the animal masticates. The inferior maxilla is shorter than 

 the superior; it alone is movable, but the li]>s of both maxillae move, as do the lips 

 of cattle. With these the submarine plants which they tear oft' from the rocks with 



