"The external form of the Dugong," says Professor Owen, "is not so well calculated for moving rapidly through the water as that of the Dolphin and other Carnivorous Cetacca, which subsist by a perpetual pursuit of living animals. In these the snout is conical and peculiarly elongated, and in some, as the Delphian., Gangetic la, the jaws are pro duced to an extreme length, so as to give them every advantage in seizing their swift and slippery prey ; whilst in the herbiferous Dugoug the snout is as remarkable for its obtuse truncate character— form however which is equally advantageous to it, and well adapted to its habits of browsing upon the Algae and Fad which grow upon the submarine rocks of the Indian seas. As, from the fixed nature of the Dugong's food, the motions of the auimal during the time of feed ing must relate more immediately to the necessity of coming to the surfaec to respire, its tail, the principal locomotive organ of ascent and descent, is proportionally greater than in the true Cetacca, its breadth being rather more than one-third the length of the whole body. But the most important external differences are seen in the presence of the membrane nictitans, in the anterior position of the nostrils, and in the situation of the mamnee, which are pectoral, or rather axillary, being situated just behind the roots of the flippers in the female specimen examined, their base was about the size of a shilling, and they projected about half an inch from the surface. A coneiderable ridge extends along the middle of the upper surface of the posterior part of the back, which is coutinued upon and terminates in the tail." The haunts of the Dugong, which does not appear ever to frequent the land or fresh-water, are generally in the sea-shallows, where the water is not more than two or three fathoms.
Sir Stamford Reifies states that during six months four of these animals were secured at Singapore, but that the greatest number is said to be taken during the northern monsoon, when the sea is most calm, near the mouth of the Johoro River. They are usually caught by spearing, in which feat the natives are very expert, during the night, when the animal° indicate their approach by a snuffing noise which they make at the surface of the water. The first object of the captor is to secure and elevate the tail, when the animal becomes perfectly powerless. Sir Stamford adds, that the Dugongs mire seldom caught at Singapore above 8 or 9 feet in length ; but how much larger they grow is not ascertained, as when they exceed that size, their superior strength enables them to make their escape.
Leguat, who speaks of them as occurring at the Isle of France in great numbers about 120 years ago, says that they were 20 feet long, but were very easily taken. They fed in flocks like sheep in three or four fathota water, and made no attempt at escape when approached. Sometimes they were shot at the end of the musket, sometimes lxid hold of and forced on shore. Three or four hundred were met with together, and they were so far from shy that they suffered themselves to be handled, and the fattest were thus selected. The larger ones were avoided, not only on account of the trouble they gave in the capture, but because their flesh was not so good as that of the smaller and younger ones.
The female Dugong produces generally only one young at a birth, and to this the mother bears such strong affection that, if the young is speared, the mother will not depart, but is sure to be taken also. The Malays consider this animal as almost typical of maternal affection. The young utter a short and sharp cry, and are said to shed tears, which are carefully preserved by the common people as a charm, under the notion that they will secure the affections of those whom they love, as they attract the mother to the young Dugong.
The flesh Of the Dugong is delicate, and is said to be superior to that of the Buffalo or common Ox. It is considered by the Malaya as a royal fish, and the king has a right to all that are taken. Sir Stamford Raffles states that this species afforded much satisfaction on the table, as the flesh proved to be most excellent beef.
IL Tabernaculi, the Dugong of the Red Sea, is considered by Riippell a distinct species. He gave it its specific name under the impression that it was with the akin of this species that the Jews were directed to veil the Tabernacle. He saw it swimming among the coral banks on the Abyssinian coast near the Dalac Islands. The fishermen harpooned a female, which he dissected, 10 feet long. The Arabs stated that they live in pairs or small families, that they have feeble voices, feed on Algv, and that in February and Marsh bloody battles occur between the males, which attain the length of 18 feet. The female brings forth in November and December. The flesh, teeth, and akin are esteemed by the Arabs.
piece of a tusk in the Cabinet of Natural History of Lyons which had formerly been in that of Pestalozzi. (` Oss. Foss.') Remains of the M. nionoceros have been found in the neighbourhood of Loudon and in other parts of England. (Owen, Brit. Foss. Mam.') Ziphius. Cuvier founded this genus, which approximates the Cachalots and Hyperoodons, on crania discovered on the coast of Provence, and disinterred in excavating the docks at Antwerp, and on a fragment in the Paris Museum. On these materials he rests three species, cavirostris, Z. planirostris, and Z. longirostris, the remains of which be figures and describes. (` Oss. Foss.') Zeuglodon. This name was given by Professor Owen to the pasilo saurus of Dr. Harlan. It was at first regarded as a reptile by its discoverer, but Professor Owen found that the microscopic characters of the texture of the teeth were strictly of a mammiferoua character, and the nature of their investing substance limited the comparison of them with those of the few mammals in which the teeth are devoid of enamel. Among these are the Edentata, including the Megatherium and its congeners, the Morse, the Dugong, and the Cachalot It is to the teeth of the Cachalot and Dugong that those of the so-called Basilosaur offer the nearest resemblance ; and Professor Owen conceives that its position in the natural system was in the cetaeeous order, intermediate between the Cachalot and the herbivorous species. In a paper read before the Geological Society of London, Professor Owen says, "The teeth, in their combination of an exaggerated con dition of the conjugate form—which is but indicated in certain teeth of the Dugong, with two distinct fangs, in their oblique position in the jaw, and the irregular interspaces of their alveoli,—preseut very striking peculiarities ; and when to these dental characters we add the remarkable and abrupt contraction of the distal end of the humerus, which is nevertheless provided with an articulating surface fora ginglymoid joint, and its remarkably diminutive size—a cetaceoua character, which likewise is here carried to an extreme,—and when we also consider the dense laminated structure of the ribs, and the third exaggeration of a cetaceous structure in the extreme elongation of the body of the caudal vertebrte,—wo cannot hesitate in pronouncing the colossal Zeuglodon to have been one of the most extraordinary of the Mammalia which the revolutions of the globe have blotted out of the number of existing beings." australis. It is a native of the north-west coast of Australia. It is the Manato of Dampier and the Whale-Tailed Manate of Pennant. Two upper jaws and three skulls of this species are in the British , Museum.