File:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17538407604).jpg

Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo16amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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Sea Cows, Past and Present Bv FREDERIC A. LUCAS JUST wliy the manatre, tlie first sireniaii known to Europeans, should have been called a "sea cow" (J'acca marina) is hard to say; possibly because its flesh resembled beef, certainly not because its form was in any way like that of a cow. It has also been suggested that it received this appella- tion on account of the style of its teeth, the character of its food, and its manner of browsing on water plants. There was a belief with many that everything on land had its counterpart or analogue in the sea, and when one is looking for re- semblances, they are gener- ally to be found. Thus, the ordinary seals were sea wolves; the fur seals, sea bears; while other animals did duty as sea dogs, sea horses, and sea elephants. At first sight one would hardly think of the chunky clumsy sea cows as in any way connected with mytli or fable, or as having con- tributed aught of interest to the pages of history. Yet for a family numbering so few members, and those of retiring hab- its, there is — save the elephants which naturall\- could not be overlooked — no group of animals so often mentioned in myth and history. In the first place the dugong, the sea cow of the Red Sea and iVfrican coast, has a good claim to be considered the original mermaid. True it does not look the part, when seen too near; but when the Arab traders cruising down the Red Sea, or on their way to Madagascar, caught glimpses of the round head of a dugong peering above the waves, or perhaps saw a mother with her baby tucked under her arm, they not unnatu- rally thought of them as having some human attributes. Thus, from saying that they looked like men, it was a short step to saying that they were men. A seal does not look much like a man, and yet anyone who has seen a seal's head bobliing above the waves will know how strong, under these conditions, is the
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Jhis figure of tlie manatee occurs in (Jviedo s History of the Indies, 1.535, and is the earliest known representation of the sea cow. One species of manatee inhabits the rivers of western Africa, another those of northern and eastern South America and parts of Florida resemblance of the seal to a human being. A little imagination is a great help in "seeing things" and the creation of the mermaid would seem to lie be- tween seal and sea cow, Norseman and Arab — with the odds in favor of the sea coW, since the seal was already bespoken for the sea wolf. Another claim to distinction possessed by the dugong is that its hide is believed to have been that used by the Israelites to cover the Ark of the Covenant, the 315

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