ON  SOME  SPECIMENS  OF  DUGONG  OIL. 
231 
and  is  found  on  the  northern  coast  of  Australia,  in  the  Red  Sea, 
the  Persian  Gulf,  and  also  in  the  Indian  seas.  Dugong  dou- 
joung,  or  dugong,  is  a  Malay  word,  which  signifies  sea-cow. 
The  Dutch  in  the  Indian  archipelago  called  it  zee-hoe  ;  among 
the  Spaniards  it  was  known  as  the  pesce  done,  or  sea- woman  ; 
and  French  naturalists  have  given  it  the  name  of  halicore,  sea- 
girl  or  syren.  The  Red  Sea  variety  has  been  named  by  Ruppel 
the  Halicore  tahernaeulus,  in  consequence  of  historical  researches 
having  led  him  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  with  the  skin  of  this 
animal  that  the  Jews  were  ordered  to  veil  the  tabernacle.  In 
the  Indian  seas  it  is  sometimes  found  of  large  size,  from  18  to 
20  feet  long ;  but  in  Australia  it  is  seldom  found  longer  than  12 
or  14  feet.  The  following  description  of  the  animal  is  borrowed 
from  the  Naturalists'  Library  and  other  works.  In  its  general 
form  the  dugong  resembles  the  common  whale.  The  skin  is 
smooth  and  thick,  bluish  above  and  white  beneath,  with  a  few 
remote  and  scattered  hairs ;  the  mammae  are  situated  on  the 
chest,  under  the  fins.  The  head  is  small  in  proportion  and  of 
a  peculiar  form.  The  upper  lip  is  very  large,  thick,  and  obliquely 
truncated,  forming  a  short,  thick,  and  nearly  vertical  kind  of 
snout,  something  like  the  trunk  of  an  elephant  cut  short  across. 
The  surface  of  the  truncated  portion  is  covered  with  soft  papillae, 
and  furnished  with  a  few  bristles ;  the  lips  are  covered  with  a 
horny  substance  which  assists  in  tearing  the  sea-weeds  for  food. 
The  lower  lip  is  much  smaller,  and  resembles  a  round  or  oblong 
chin.  To  assist  the  animals  in  browsing  upon  the  submarine 
vegetables,  the  anterior  portion  of  the  jaw  is  bent  downwards  at 
an  angle,  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  the  mouth  into  a  nearly 
vertical  position.  The  greatest  peculiarity  of  the  animal  is  that 
the  ventricles  of  the  heart  are  widely  detached  from  each  other, 
being  connected  at  the  base  only.  Another  singular  circum- 
stance is  that  the  inside  of  the  cheeks  are  studded  with  strong 
projecting  bristles.  The  pectoral  fins,  resembling  swimming 
paws,  have  no  nails,  but  are  verrucose.  The  tail  is  broad,  hori- 
zontal, and  crescent-shaped. 
"  Its  favorite  haunts  are  the  mouths  of  rivers  and  straits 
between  proximate  islands,  where  the  depth  of  water  is  but  trifling 
(three  or  four  fathoms),  and  where,  at  the  bottom,  grows  a 
luxuriant  pasturage  of  submarine  algae  and  fuci.    Here,  in  calm 
