Sirenia — Rhytina gigas, etc. 



63 



They were observed by him to be gre- 

 garious in their habits, slow and inactive 

 in their movements, and very mild and in- 

 offensive in their disposition. Their colour 

 was dark-brown, sometimes varied with 

 spots. The skin was naked, but covered 

 with a very thick, hard, rugged, bark-like 

 epidermis. 



Like most of the Herbivora, they spent 

 the chief part of their time in browsing. 

 They were not easily disturbed whilst so 

 occupied, even by the presence of man. 

 They entertained great attachment for 

 each other ; and when one was harpooned, 

 the others made incredible attempts to 

 rescue it. They were so heavy and large 

 that they recpuired 40 men with ropes to 

 drag the body of one to land. 



The almost perfect skeleton set up in 

 the centre of the Gallery measures 19^ 

 feet in length, but a skull and some casts 

 of detached bones in the Pier-case adjoin- 

 ing give evidence of a much larger animal. 

 Although only seen for the first time by 

 civilized people in 1741, and described in 

 1751 by Steller, it was so easily killed, 

 and its flesh was found so excellent for 

 food, that in 40 years it had disappeared, 

 and since 1782 has not been seen alive. 



Its bones are obtained from peat 

 deposits on Behring's Island, whence 

 the specimen exhibited was procured. 

 Although the living Sirenia are only 

 found inhabiting the warmer sub-tropical 

 regions of the globe, fossil remains testify 

 their former abundance in Europe in the 

 Tertiary period. As many as fourteen 

 genera and thirty species are recorded, 

 namely, one species from the Pleistocene, 

 eight from the Pliocene, fifteen from the 

 Miocene, and four from the Eocene, rang- 

 ing from the West Indies and Carolina to 

 England, Belgium, France, Germany, 

 Italy, Malta, and Egypt, and from Beh- 

 ring's Island to Australia. 



The best preserved fossil form described 

 is the Hah 'the rium Schinzi, from the 

 Miocene of Hessen-Darmstadt, of which a 



