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DUGONG OIL. 



were met with, in flocks of 300 or 400 around the Isle of France (Mauri- 

 tius), and they were 20 feet long. 



HALICORE DUGONG. 



2nd. The Australian dugong is a native of the north-west coast of 

 Australia. It is the manate of Dampier, the whale-tailed rnanate of Pen- 

 nant. It is unnecessary here to enter into details of the specific anatomical 

 distinctions of these species, which have been pointed out by Dr Gray and 

 others, and can be referred to by those specially interested, under the 

 article "Cetacea," in the 'English Cyclopedia,' or any other work on Natural 

 History. These remarks have reference exclusively to its oil. 



About Moreton Bay the aborigines give the dugong the name of the 

 yungan, and are immoderately fond of its flesh. It is their greatest 

 delicacy ; and when one is speared on the coast, a general invitation is 

 Bent to the neighbouring tribes to come and eat, and the party never leave 

 the carcase till it is all gone. The colonists are, however, now taking the 

 capture into their own hands, for I see occasional shipments of about 50 

 gallons of dugong oil from Moreton Bay, valued at 40s. a gallon, and many 

 cwt. of dugong ivory (incisors), valued at 60s. a cwt. The animal frequently 

 weighs there from 12 to 14 cwt., and the skeleton of one forwarded a few 

 years ago to Europe measured 1 1 feet in length. 



Dugong oil was a few years ago brought into notice by medical men in 

 Australia as a therapeutic agent possessing all the advantages of cod-liver 

 oil, without its nauseous taste and smell. It has also been successfully used 

 in diseases of the ear, and has further been recommended as a depilatory. 

 Dr Hobbs, a practitioner of Moreton Bay, and Health-Officer of Brisbane, 

 in the new Northern Australian colony of Queensland, was the first to draw 

 attention to its virtues in Australia. He received a prize medal for it at the 

 Sydney Exhibition in 1854, and has now continued the use of it for upwards 

 of six years as a substitute for cod-liver oil ,- it has proved eminently bene- 

 ficial in the treatment of debility, atrophy or wasting of children, dyspepsia, 



