MANATEE

or Sea-cow, a large herbivorous mammal which looks like a long wrinkled seal, formerly plentiful in the rivers of Florida, the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America; as heavy as a cow, and with flesh white, tender, and excellent in flavor—much Jike that of a good veal cutlet. Some compare it to young pork. The manatee served the old-time huceaneers for fresh meat, and the female was perhaps one of the original **inerinaids,’? for the manatee face is a grotesque caricature of the human face, and the flipper-shaped fore-limbs are used as arms and hands..\ manatee, half out of the water, holding her voung by her flipper and suckling it at her breast, might well be taken for a ‘tbeautiful mermaid’? by the rum-soaked mariners of a bygone age, but Columbus thonght their appearance not so charming as he had been led to believe! The protection and breeding of the few of the creatures still found in Florida waters would be a laudable enterprise, ax a largely self-sustaining addition to our meat supply. Their principal food is the under-water ‘Omanatee gra ,’’? which is rich in nitrogen. MANGO (see the color-page opposite), a fruit believed to be native to tropical Asia, now grown in nearly aJl sub-tropical and tropical countries and found in many different shapes, sizes, and colors. The kidney-shape is the form most generally seen, but some are nearly round and others long and narrow, either crooked or straight. The size runs from a little larger than the biggest plum up to a weight of four pounds or more. The color may be red, green, or yellow—yellow or reddish yellow being the most common. The quality varies as greatly as the other characteristics. ‘The seed-stone of inferior grades is large and the flesh has so strong a flavor of turpentine and is so fibrous as to be of very little value, whereas in the best types the fiber is a negligible quantity and the stone is surrounded by a large ma of delicious, juicy, aromatic, generally orange-yellow pulp, which many consider the choicest of fruit offerings ing it back in a broad band, as shown in the accompanying illustration, or by making an X cut on each side, peeling the corners back as far as po ible, and;; temporarily laying the skin in place ihe again to prevent the aroma from escapy ¥ ing. The pulp can then in either case be _ “hee —_ eaten with a spoon, like a muskmelon, PT turning the skin back as nece ary. AF _ A third method sometimes employed, ee but requiring considerable deftne and - = “ °... add ” only appropriate, for immediate service am and consumption, is to halve the fruit “ee a lengthwise with a sharp knife, remove > the stone, and serve the two halves as one would muskmelon. ws. = With a le delicate specimen, a better qye pest way of preparing a fine mango for consumption way is to eut the skin in a circle around each end and make seven or eight lengthwise incisions from circle to circle. The skin can then be readily lifted in strips and the flesh cut off in sections, lengthwise, as one eats, or just before eating. To slice a mang» and let it stand before serving, as is customary for peaches, is to lose much of its delicate flavor—and to try to eat it out of hand as you would tackle an apple is to wish you had gotten into a bathtub to perform the operation! JL a