OCR Text |
Show 456 MISS A. CRANE ON THE MANATEE. [Apr. 5, finement having thrown little if any light upon this question, I wished to avail myself of the chance recently afforded of closely observing the movements of a pair of these animals in the Brighton Aquarium, and have on several occasions endeavoured to ascertain how far their behaviour in captivity would corroborate the above-quoted statements. My opportunities for doing so have, however, not been so frequent as those of Miss Crane, a constant and very observant visitor at the Aquarium; and she has therefore, at my request, drawn up the following notes, which contain much of interest in relation to the subject particularly in question, and also concerning the movements and habitual position of the animals in the water. These, as I have frequently noticed myself, differed greatly from those so carefully observed by Dr. Murie, especially in the circumstance that the Brighton animals never rested upon the dorsal surface of the tail, but always upon the ventral surface or extremity of that organ, if they allowed it to touch the bottom at all. It must, however, be remarked that the confined space in which the animals were kept in both cases and the different depth of the water rendered the observations less satisfactory than they might be. A large tank with a gradually shelving bottom rising from deep water at one end to dry land at the other would afford a better means of solving these problems. 2. Notes on the Habits of the Manatees (Manatus australis) in Captivity in the Brighton Aquarium. By A G N ES C R A N E . Communicated by Professor F L O W E R , Pres. Z, S. Two young Manatees (Manatus americanus, male and female) from the island of Trinidad arrived in Liverpool in September 1879, were purchased for the Brighton Aquarium, and have since been on view in that Institution. A young female had been obtained a few months previously from the same island; but this specimen, after living for some weeks in apparent health and feeding well, died suddenly from acute intestinal inflammation. As these interesting aquatic mammals have not yet become common in aquaria, observations on the habits of the Brighton specimens may be worth recording for comparison with those already noted. The young male, a fine animal in robust condition, measured in November 1879 four feet ten inches from snout to tail, with a maximum girth of four feet. The female was four feet eight inches in length, of a lighter slate-colour than her companion, of more slender build and proportions. Both are marked with white on the underside of their bodies. The pair occupied a tank twelve feet six inches in length by eight feet six inches in breadth, with an almost flat bottom. Temperature of water about 70° Fahr ; depth two feet six inches in the daytime, reduced six inches at night. The water is run off daily, a fresh supply being admitted at the requisite heat from a neighbouring tank filled with warmed fresh water. Although |