HALICOEE HEMPEICHI. 
359 
SIEENIA. 
HALICOEID^. 
HALICOEE. 
Halicore, Illigerj Prod. Syst. Mamm. 1811, p. 140. 
Halicoee HEMPEICHI, Ehrenb. 
Halicora hemprichii, Ebrenb. Symb. Pbys. dec. ii. 1832, k. 
Halicora lottum, Ebrenb. Symb. Pbys. dec. ii. 1832, k. 
Halicore tabernacuU, Eiipp, & Somm. Mus. Seuck. i. 1834, pp. 99-113, pi. 6; Gray, Cat. Get. Brit. 
Mus. 1866, p. 364. 
Halicore dugong, Henglin, Peterm. Mittb. 1861, p. 17; Fitz. & Heugl. SB. Akad. Wien, liv. 
i. 1866, p. 609. 
Halicore -, Krauss, Archiv Anat. Pbys. Leipsig, 1870, p. 525. 
Halicore cetacea, Heugl. Eeise N.O.-Afr. ii. 1877, p. 135. 
This animal is supposed to be the origin of the legendary Mermaid, probably from 
its habit of carrying its young clasped to the breast. 
The Dugong inhabiting the Eed Sea has generally been considered specifically 
distinct from the earliest described species, H. dugong, Erxleb., inhabiting the 
shores and islands of the Indian Ocean, and from that of the coast of Northern 
Australia and New Guinea, H. australis, Owen. The difierences between the 
three forms, however, appear to be very slight. 
Ehrenberg was of opinion that there were two species inhabiting the Eed Sea. 
The species found on the northern shores he named after his travelling companion. 
The Arabic name given is ‘Nake.’ The form found further southward he named 
H. lottum, saying at the same time that it was only known to him from some 
teeth purchased in the island of Hanakel, which seemed “ scarcely to agree with the 
Indian H. dugong,'' and difiered from those of H. hemprichii. 
Eiippell gives a very full description of this animal, which he named H. tabernacuU, 
from observations taken on the spot and communicated through Dr. Sommerring, of 
Frankfort. It is said to be known among the Arabs as the “Sea Camel.” He 
considered that the “ Tachash ” of Moses in the Pentateuch, translated in the English 
Bible (Exodus, xxv. 5) “ Badger shins," used by the Israelites in the construction of 
the Tabernacle, was really the skin of the Dugong. 
