DUGONG OIL. 313 



chronic dysentery, consumption, chronic bronchitis, &c. &c. It has found 

 its way, through Dr Hobbs' agency, into the medical stores of Sydney, 

 Hobart Town, and other Australian cities. 



Dr M'Grigor Croft, of St John's Wood, Physician, late Staff-Surgeon 

 to H.M.F., and Medical Officer to the Ceylon Rifles, has the credit of having 

 introduced and tested its merits in this country in extensive private prac- 

 tice, and at the Hospital for Consumption, Brompton. Dr Croft is worthy 

 of all praise for the trouble he is now taking in endeavouring to make the 

 oil cheap and accessible to the British public, as he is highly successful in 

 his treatment of consumption and other cases with it. 



The animals of the allied genus, the Manatus, would, we should suppose, 

 prove equally useful for their oil. Three or four species are recognised. 

 The best known is the Manatus Americanus, Cuvier, which frequents the 

 mouths of rivers, and quiet, secluded bays and inlets among the islands of 

 the West Indies and the coasts of Guiana and Brazil. It is said to attain 

 nearly 20 feet in length, and differs from the dugong in having no 

 canines or incisors. An old author, R. Brookes, M.D. (Nat. Hist), speaking 

 of it, says, " The fat which lies between the cuticle and the skin, when 

 exposed to the sun, has a fine smell and taste, and far exceeds the fat of any 

 sea animal. It has this peculiar property, that the heat of the sun will not 

 spoil it, nor make it grow rancid. The taste is like* the oil of sweet almonds, 

 and it will serve very well in all cases instead of butter. Any quantity may 

 be taken inwardly with safety, for it has no other effect than keeping the 

 body open. The fat of the tail is of a harder consistence, and when boiled 

 is more delicate than the other." The flesh of the manatus is highly 

 esteemed as food in all those countries the shores of which it frequents. In 

 my work ' On the Curiosities of Food,' I have cited opinions regarding it. In 

 Brazil the natives call the manatus the " peixe boi." It is particularly 

 abundant in the lakes of the Amazon. Wallace, in his Travels up that 

 river, describes their capture. " Beneath the skin," he says, " is a layer of 

 fat of a greater or less thickness, generally about an inch, which is boiled 

 down to make an oil used for lighting and cooking. Each yields from five 

 to twenty-five gallons of oil." Edwards, in his ' Voyage up the River Amazon,' 

 speaks of them, and says, not unfrequently they are taken 8 feet in length. 

 It is said to be a distinct species from the manatus of the Gulf of Mexico. 



MUREXIDE. 



BY P. CKACE CALVERT. 



Prout was the first chemist to remark, that if the faeces of serpents were 

 heated with nitric acid and a little ammonia added, a beautiful purple 

 colour was produced. He named it purpurate of ammonia. This sub- 

 stance, when dry, has the appearance of a dark-red powder, soluble in 



