16 
upon the more recent animal,) to inRate the ])ulmona- 
ry sacs through the medium of the nostrils. But it is 
very easy, even in the animal similarly preserved, to 
inflate the lungs through the rima glotUdis. 
From the size and structure of his nostrils, there 
can be no doubt, that the Siren possesses a keen sense 
of smelling. He evidently employs this sense in 
searching for his food, among the mud, at the bottom 
of the waters, in which he resides: if I may presume 
to speak, with confidence, on this head, from what I 
have observed of the two animals, which have been 
the subjects of my patient inquiry, and numerous ex- 
periments, for many months. 
How has it happened, that Professor Camper fell 
into the enormous error, that the Siren has no lungs? 
I have carefully dissected and examined a large Si- 
ren, very soon after its death, and while all the parts 
were still fresh, and perfect. I found the lungs, as 
Garden^ and Himterf had represented them, re- 
markably distinct, and, considering the .size of the 
animal, uncommonly capacious. They consist of 
jiwo entirely separate sacs, which commence at the 
diaphragm, to which they are attached, and running 
down through almost the whole length of the abdomi- 
nal cavity, terminate at a small distance above the 
opening of the rectum, and immediately below the 
* The following is this truly respectable naturalist and physi- 
cian’s description of the lungs : “ Pubnones nmximi, longissime a 
thorace <id anum usque yjer totum abdomen dorso approximati, & 
iigati extenduntur separati, distir, cti &. Pulmoni utriusque lateris 
trachia propria, per Thoracem decurrente, inservit, & comxnuni- 
cationem cum bi’anchiis servat ” Amoenitates Academicae, &.c. 
>01. vii. p 321, 322 
f Philosophical Transactions. Vol 56. p. 307, 308, 
