MANASSEH. 778 MANATEE. The narrator in Kings, being so largely interested in the religious side of history, contents him- self merely with references to religious con- ditioos in the days of Manasseh. The King is not viewed with "favor by the pious narrator. The religious reforms introduced by Hezckiah, tending toward a purer Yahweh worship freed from the Canaanitish practices, naturally aroused opposition, and during Hczekiali's life- time symptoms of a reaction already began to manifest themselves. The death of Hezekiah marked the height of the reaction, and Ma- nasseh favored the old system and went even to greater lengths than his predecessors in blending the Yahweh with foreign elements. Be- sides readoption of the old Canaanitish practices, Babylonian and Assyrian customs were intro- duced ( II. Kings, xxi. 5-7), and for this the King naturally incurred the hatred of the later He- brew historians, who purposely ignored other events of his reign. It appears on the whole to have been peaceable and prosperous, but Ma- nasseh was obliged to pay tribute to Assyria. The story told in Chronicles (II. Chron. xxxiii.) of Manasseh's capture by the Assyrians, and of his humbling himself before God and Ills acts of repentance, is thought to be fictitious. The Book of Kings does not say a word about it. and it resembles a Iklidrashic tale to illustrate the pun- ishment merited by a king who, to the author of Chronicles, appeared the embodiment of wick- edness. The later .Jewish Haggada added to such stories of Manasseh's wickedness and subsequent conversion. The Prayer of ilanasseh. the com- position of which was suggested by the statement in IT. Chronicles xxxiii. 18-19, belongs to the Apocry[)hal literature, though received as canon- ical by the (Jreek Church. It appears to have been originally written in Greek, though the sentiments are distinctively Jewish. The date of composition is uncertain ; in a general way it jnay be said to belong to the Hellenistic period. Consult the commentary by Ball in the i^peaker's Commentary, and the German translation with notes by Ryssel, in Kautsch, Apokryphcn und Pseiiclciii<]ra']ihen (Halle, ISilO). MANASSEH BEN-ISEAEL (1604-57). A Hebrew scliular and Cabbalist. He was born at Lisbon and educated at Amsterdam, where his father had removed to escape persecution. At the age of eighteen he took the place of his former instructor. Rabbi Isaac Uzziel, in the Amsterdam synagogue. In 1626 he set up a Hebrew print- ing-press at Amsterdam, and in 1632 published the first volume of his Conciliador, a learned harmony of the Pentateuch. Its author was recognized as a great Hebrew scholar and among his correspondents were Vossius, Grotius. and Huet. In 1G.5G Manasseh came to England to obtain permission from Parliament for the re- estahlishmcnt of the .Tews in England, banished from that country since the time of Edward I. (1290). Parliament refused to pass the measure, but Cromwell favored it, and unofficially per- mitted a large number of .Jews to settle in Lon- don. Manasseh died at Middleburg on his way home. His wide learning, the services he ren- dered his people, the renown he enjoyed among men not of his race, his piety and amiability, have made him a venerated figure in .Jewish history. Besides the Concilindor. he published editions of the Talmud and Bible in Hebrew: also Eupcranza de Israel (1650); Pedro Glorioso (1655); and Tindiciw Jtidceorum, which appeared at London in 1U5G during his stay in England. MANASSES, Pr.^teb of. See Apocrypha, section. Old Testament. MAN'ATEE' (Sp. manati, from Haitian manali, big beaver). An American sea-cow of the genus Manatus. now nearly e.xtinct on the coast of the United States, but still to be found in the West Indies, Eastern Central America, and tropical South America. Manatees are large, seal-like animals, sometimes 10 feet long and weighing more than a ton, with rounded, Heshy tail-fins, no hind legs, and the fore legs modified into swimming paws, the bones within which are of the normal type, and which have small. Hat nails, except in the Orinoco species. The skin is very thick, dark gray, finely wrinkled, and sparsely provided with stout hairs, most nume- rous about the head and muzzle and on the pal- mar surface of the flippers. These animals are entirely aquatic, and spend their lives in estu- aries, lagoons, and rivers, rarely going out into salt water. They ascend the Amazon and Ori- noco almost to their sources, and are incessantly liunted by the natives for their veal-like flesh and tlie oil which may be obtained from the layer of blubber beneath the skin. They are good but by no means active swimmers, are sluggish in their movements, and spend most of their time in weedy places where they browse on the aquatic SKELETON* OF A MANATEE. plants, often by standing upright among them on their bent tails. The upper lip is cleft into halves, which are covered with bristles and work against each other like forceps, forming an in- strument by which they seize and draw into their mouths the leaves and grasses that form their fare. Connected with this food and manner of feeding is a remarkable dental feature, namely the large number of molar teeth. These seem in- definitely to increase during the animal's life, and it is suggested that they are worn away by the character of the food — chiefly algte mixed with much sand. Only one young one is produced an- nually, but this is nursed and guarded by the mother with extreme care. The young ap- parently are entirely defenseless, but have few enemies to menace them after they get their growth. JIanatees have frequent- ly been kept alive in aquariums for a few months, and have proved gentle and docile. Once they were plentiful along both coasts of Florida, but their helplessness led to their destruc- tion, imtil at the close of the nineteenth cen- tury none were left but a small, protected herd in the Miami River. Whether the Florida form, called Manatus (or Ufidrodamalis) latirostris. is really distinct from the widely distributed Man- atus Americanus is undecided. The animal of the Orinoco is certainly a separate species ( Man- atus inunguis). distinguished by lack of finger- nails. See Sea-Cow; and compare Ddgono.
