The Placer herald., 1870-08-06
A TRUE FISH STORY.

Under the above heading the " hitc Pine
Nel0s relates the following marvellous story
i bout one hundred miles to the southeast oi
Hamilton is a high plateau Of land contain
ng an extensive deposit OF marine shells anc
the fossil remains of large variety OF ex-
tinct species of fish. But the curiosity which
most challenges the interest and invest,ga-
tion of antiquaries is the petrifed form OF
what was evidently once an immense sea
monster. 1t lies on the high plateau in T
position giving rise to the theory that its To-
calc was once Il great shoal, and that ths
intediluvan leviathan floundcred and per
ished on its surface as the water receded.
The petrifiction is perfect, and il estimated
10 weigh about ten tons. 1t presents dual
appearance-the head and body that of a
humpback whale, and the extremities ex-
tend into feelers and antennp Ike the poly
pus or devilish, with the exception that they
were evidently, during life, lined with "a hare
and bony substance. The eyes are set on
each side of the head, which is Hat and OBJ
long, and are twenty-tour inches apart. tn,
mouth is armed with triple rows of teeth,
sharp in front, but underneath, and well into
the jaw, they turn into grinders, capped by
d solid osseous formation, running back from
the widest portion of the head. In this re-
spect it resembles the celebrated marsh COW
OF Central America, amphbious in habit
gramnverous on land and carniverous III
water. The length of this singular relic OF
in unknown age has not as yet been determ-
ned; but as the body blends into the tail, ii
tapers down to so small a size that, making
due allowance, its entire weight would no.
be far from that stated This inland country
abounds in curious fossile of "A marine char
acter. We have seen specimens OF crustacea
found in our immediate vicinity which puz-
lied scientists and antiquaries. There is a
pregnant field in this region for savans, sucl.
as Agassiz, who have made the piscal king
dom, both of this and past ages, "a study Oh
love. There is some talk among the parties
who discovered the remains of the stranded
monster described, of making an effort to re-
move them to the railroad. We see tha
Barnum has been buying one of the Calaveras
big trees; if he will turn his attention hither-
ward he can procure one Of the most astound-
ing curiosities of the day. We doubt wheth-
er it can be removed in bulk, and if an accident
should happen in the attempt, its value
would be greatly lessoned, and its usefulness
as study would be materially impaired
We would suggest The consideration of the
plan SO successfully carried out in the re-
moval of the Cardiff giant A plaster of
Paris mould could be taken first of the per-
feet form. Then the shape of the entire
anatomy would be preserved in case the ef-
fort to remove the whole should prove fail
ure. But in case Of brcakage, and the i'm
possibility of saving the curiosity without
mutilation, it might be reduced to powder,
removed in detail, and remolded in New
York, where it would doubtless be placed
on exhibition, and become an interesting aid
to science in determining many antediluvial
speculations now requiring investigation and
proof