160 
is quite partial to common larve grass of the 
North, and it is expected that the sea-cow will 
occasionally make summer excursions to the 
northern United States outside of large city 
museums. 
One which was captured in Florida last April 
was taken to St. Augustine, far north of its 
usual habitat, and placed in a tank and care- 
fully tended in the museum of Dr. J. Vedders. 
He quickly learned that the animal preferred 
green cabbages to all the food offered it. This 
constituted the fare while in captivity, and the 
quantity of cabbages consumed in comparison 
to the size of the animal was really very small. 
Just at the time when the tourist season began, 
the manatee sickened and died, leaving its 
owner in the hole, so to speak, for the-vegeta- 
bles from April to December and no returns. 
This specimen was over nine feet long and 
weighed about six hundred pounds. 
NATURE'S REALM. 
My friend, Capt. John Baird, who sails the 
length of Florida and around to Honduras, in- 
forms me that he frequently met with manatees 
from Yucatan southward, and that they grow 
to a length of fifteen feet and quite 2,000 
pounds in weight. The flesh is said to be ex- 
cellent, much like beef, coarse, yet very tender. 
Unlike the whale, which floats when dead, the 
manatee sinks when killed, and is frequently 
lost when struck. It is a harmless creature, 
never taking the aggressive, and feeding wholly 
on vegetable growth. 
It bears one young at a time, which is nour- 
ished from mammal on the breast as in the 
monkey and bat tribes. Stories regarding the 
delusive mermaids are said to often take their 
rise from ignorant and superstitious persons 
only half observing this creature and drawing 
conclusions without foundations. G. 
