the tablet. In Short's engraving, while the front side corresponds
closely with the same view given by Squier and Davis, there is a notable
difference observable on the reverse side. For the formless depression
of the Squier and Davis cut not only occupies a somewhat different
position in relation to the top and sides of the tablet, but, as will be
seen by reference to the figure, it assumes a distinct form, having in
some mysterious way been metamorphosed into a figure which oddly enough
suggests the manatee. It does not appear that the attention of
archæologists has ever been directed to the fact that such a resemblance
exists; nor indeed is the resemblance sufficiently close to justify
calling it a veritable manatee. But with the aid of a little
imagination it may in a rude way suggest that animal, its earless head
and the flipper being the most striking, in fact the only, point of
likeness. Conceding that the figure as given by Short affords a rude
hint of the manatee, the question is how to account for its presence on
this the latest representation of the tablet which, according to Short,
Mr. Guest, its owner, pronounces "the first correct representations of
the stone." The cast of this tablet in the Smithsonian Institution
agrees more closely with Short's representation in respect to the
details mentioned than with that given in the "Ancient Monuments."
Nevertheless, if this cast be accepted as the faithful copy of the
original it has been supposed to be, the engraving in Short's volume is
subject to criticism. In the cast the outline of the figure, while
better defined than Squier and Davis represent it to be, is still very
indefinite, the outline not only being broken into, but being in places,
especially toward the head, indistinguishable from the surface of the
tablet into which it insensibly grades. In the view as found in Short
there is none of this irregularity and indefiniteness of outline, the
figure being perfect and standing out clearly as though just from the
sculptor's hand. As perhaps on the whole the nearest approach to the