DUGONG' ( Malay dfiyong, .1n va nese inching). A sirenian or 'sea-cow' (q.v.) of the family ITali corida• and genus Halicore. It is distinguished by its well-d•veloped dentition, and espeeially by the fact that in the males the incisors of the upper jaw are elongated almost into tusks: also by the fact that the tail is forked or ere:cent shaped, and the swimming paws are destitute of any vestiges of nails. In general form, it. much resembles the manatee Thu skull is re markable for the sudden bending downward of the upper jaw almost at a right angle. The upper lip is large, thick, and fleshy, covering the prominent incisor:. and forming a kind of snout, "something like the trunk of the elephant cut short across." The eyes are Nery small. and are furnished with a third eyelid or nietitati•• mem brane. The skin is smooth and thick, and that of the Australian species yields a valuable oil, used sometimes in medicine, the demand for which has eaused the animal to be almost exter minated in that region. The elugong is marine, inclined to gather near the shore in herds, which formerly sometimes munbered hundred:, and browses, with its head beneath the water, on the alga: which grow on submarine rocks in shallow seas. it is usually pursued in boats, and speared.
The female produces one young one at a birth, and shows an affection for it width is proverbial among the :\Talays. \\lien the young one is taken the mother is easily secured. its habit of rais ing its round head out of the water. and of carrying the young under the fore fin. steins to have given rise, among the imaginative early voyagers in the Indian Ocean. to the legendary beings. half human and half fish. in allusion 1.0 which the name Sirenia was bestowed by Illiger on the order. (See .11EnmAtn.) to Riippell, it was with the skin of the duping of the 1;ed Sea that the dews were directed to veil the tabernacle, and not 'badger' skins. as trans lated in the Authorized Version of the Bible. Three species of dugong arc known—one from the vicinity of Australia (Halieore Australis). one from the Red Sea (//a/icorc tabernarnli), and one from the East Indies (Halicore dugong). See .MANATEE and ExTiNcr ANImm.s: and for fossil forms allied to the dugongs, see HA LITHE futyMl