1878. ] The Sirenia, 295 
might as well have been cobblestones and the cabbage had about 
as much effect as a piece of rag carpet, so it was tempted with all 
the delicacies of the season in the way of vegetables, in the hope 
that something more easy to obtain than river grass might prove 
acceptable, but nothing would do, so a variety of sea-weed and 
aquatic plants were placed at its disposal: sedge grass, M/yriophyl- 
lum and Sagittaria were to be had in large quantities, but did 
not seem to be exactly the thing, until at last a variety of 
Potamogeton was found which the animal took to at once and in 
a month it had eaten all there was in the Schuylkill and Delaware 
rivers within reaching distance of Philadelphia, and it became 
necessary to give it something else—generally Sagzttarias, of 
which it ate the heads—while a new crop was growing up. It 
was remarkable to see with what dexterity the animal, though 
seemingly deficient in all the senses, would pick out the stalks of 
its favorite food from among a wheelbarrow load of stuff thrown 
into the tank. In this it appeared to me to be guided more by 
its sense of smell than by sight,—which agrees perfectly with the 
observations of Dr. H. C. Chapman, Prosector of the Society, on 
two specimens which had previously been kept in the garden, and 
also with the result of his dissection of those animals, which 
showed that the olfactory nerves were well developed. 
_ The manner of introducing food into the mouth appeared to be 
peculiar; the upper lip being chiefly used, and that by a motion 
rather lateral than downwards. The lip is fleshy and tumid, inca- 
pable of much mobility and is cleft in the centre, like a hare lip, 
_ and the motion seemed to be produced by muscular contractions, 
drawing the sides inward and toward the cleft, bringing into play 
the bristles with which they are clothed, almost as organs of pre- 
hension. 
It was difficult to observe this action, as the animal seemed to 
be somewhat nocturnal and fed at night; the water also became 
discolored by the mud which adhered to the plants, and the ani- 
mal, when feeding, quickly became obscured to view. 
It had been stated that the manatee was in the habit of crawl- 
ing partly out on the bank for the purpose of obtaining food; as 
_ it did not seem probable that the animal could move to any 
extent on land, considering the weakness of its fore-limbs, this 
was tested in the following manner: A shelf was arranged gently | 
sloping at an angle of about 30° from one side of the tank so that its — 2 
