Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1869-06-19

~" 'atuTiay and sunday last, everv
ditch, brook, and pool on the prairie
north Of Taylorville was alive with non
dtscript creatures, which have been de
scribed TO us as being from one and a half
to two feat long, aud Of thrcc.fourths Of
an inch to an inch in diameter. This
diameter Is very slightly lessencd at the
head and tail. The tail is fiat, like that
OF an eel, but has no candal fin; indeed.
there is no fin at all. The head is in
shape that Of an eel, but the mouth is
that Of a sucker. The eyes are small,
and the ears are simple orifces. Imme-
diately behind the head, on each side, is
hlpper, like that Of a turtle, say three
iourths Of an inch in length. including
the limb, which has perfectly DEVELOPED
joint. In color, these snakes, or what.
ever they are, are Of dark hue.
The number OF these creatures is be.
yond all estimate. They swim in every
branch and puddle of water. Thei..
mode Of progression, in addition TO the
undulatory motion Of snake in the wa.
ter, is by the Use Of the flpper described
above, and they swim entirely under the
water or with the head aud few inches
OF the body above the surface, thus in
dlcating that the flippers are not abso-
lutely essential to motion. They are
perfectly harmless. Boys and men take
them from the pools in hundreds. and
they are brought TO town for inspection.
We are willing to admit that our
knowledge OF ichthyology is not sufici.
ent TO determine what they are. Eels
have teeth, are carniverous. and some
species are very vOracious and bcllipcr-
ent. These creatures are Of the genius
evelopterus, or suckers, having no teeth.
and are evidently unprepartd for attack,
aud except by flight, are defenceless,--
Furthermore they have 10 fins, and their
Hippers are onl Y adjuncts, and not their
principal means Of progression. They
are not serpents as they want fanrs.
either hooded or naked, which invari-
ably distinguish the order of ophidans.
We will not worry our readers with
any speculation on Il subject confessedlv
beyond our knowledge. We are prom
lsed some specimens, which will be sub
mltted to naturalists of acknowledge
ability, whose opinion we shall lay be-
fore the public
1t Is the universal testimony of all the
people of the country that no creature
anything like those was ever before seen
by them. The size renders it certain
that they have not been developed there.
as 1t is practically impossible that they
could have grown 10 that size without
having been seen. 1t is quite certain
they were never there before the storm.
and it is almost equally certain the
storm, brought them there. This storm. |
which passed over so large an extent of
country, and was so violent, uudoubted- !
ly gathered, as do most of such storms.
i'll the vest plai2s OF the northwest. 1t
was tornado, and, in passing through
the country, disturbed the usual atmos-
pheric and electrical conditions. SO as
to produce, i'll addition to the central
tornado, q high wind, heavy rain and an
electrical storm. The most plausible
theory which occurs to us as accounting
Tor the presence of these fishes, is that
tine tornado i'll passing over some lake
or river i'll the immense unknown region
of the northwest, drew up water, and
with it these animals which are evident
ly amphibious. The tornado then sped
on its mission of destruction, passing
perhaps miles above the earth, aud occl-
ioDally, as at Shipman, striking the |
earth. Near Tayloryille the central
body OF the storm was dissipated, as is |
shown by the fact that the wind blew in |
gusts from all directions, and these crea-
lures fell to the earth to astonish the !
people, and perpleX the scientific.