2IO The Com7nercial Products of the Sea. 



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 countries the shores of 

 which it frequents. It is particularly abundant in the 



Fig. 17. 



Z 



I. Halicore Austrahs ; 2. Manatus Americanus. 



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

 river, describes it. 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 animal yields from 5 to 25 gallons of oil." 



