Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1875-10-07
The Sea Serpent.

The followin. paper. read BY Dr. Samu-
el knecland at a meeting Of the Boston So-
cicty of Natural History on Iii. - Nv yidcnct.
For and Against Existence OF the su-calied
Sca-Scrpeut," has Just been issued, from
the volumes OF the proceedings OF the So
Ciety. II was read eighteen months ago.
on the 18th OF March ls7iand consequent
Is anticipated by long time the revived
discussion OF the subject =
Though An animal 80 named has been
seen by many CREDIBLE witnesses on the
coasts of Norway aud New England and
has been popularity believed 10 tor ccHtur-
les, all the researches OF naturalisi> have
failed 10 discover any remains "t >uch "A
creature, or To obtain any satisfactory ia
formation a. to IT, SIZE. proportions, ap-
pcarancc, or habits. There -. doubtless
much eNaggcration in the popular dcsctip.
tiOns OF the animal ; but in view oi the rrrat
mass OF testimony In favor Of lts existence
the fact that we are BY no means 90 5uiZant
OF ali the forms of lite in the ocean, aud
also the certainty that in former geological
ages more than one type existed to which
this animal may bear some resemblance. Il
is fair To assume that there may be 4 pur-
tlon OF truth at the foundation OF this qucs
tion.
After tracing the history Of the animal
from Pontoppidan IN the middle OF the ISL
century 10 the present time, and euumera.
ting the numerous references 10 its appear
ance ia Europe aud America, and quoting
Professor Owens remarks against It's eN.
istence. he brought in review the variou,
alleged sources OF error; none OF these
seemed To him probable, considering the
practised eyes OIL the principal witnesses in
marine objects.
After showing that this animal could not
be referred 70 fishes nor y serpeuts nor To
any described form OF living reptiles or
mammals, he drew attention to the fact
that many early geological types had been
transmitted To the present time. with or
without interruptisn-such as the ce>tra-
ciOn, lepidOsteus, chimRra, percopSl-, I'm
gula etc.
For the last thirty years il has been be-
lieyed that the closest atiiulties OF the ''>ca-
serpent" were the Enalio>aurians of fhe
secondary age, and especially with Pie
slosaurus The Mosasaurus. a marine
saurian OF the cretaCeous epoch, seems To
HI up still better the requirements Of this
animal.
Professor Agas-iz, in 1919. In a lecture
in Philadelphia, is reported to have said :
Il have asked myself whether there is not
such an animal as the sea-serpent. There
are many who will doubt the existence of
/ OF such a creature until il can be brought
! under the the dissecting knife; but it has
been seen by SO many on whom We may
rely. that 1t II wrong To doubt any longer
The truth is that If a naturalist had to
| sketch the outlines of an Ichthyosaurus or
Plesio,aurus from the remains We have Of
| them, he would make a drawing very SINH
| lar TO the sea serpent as it has been de-
scrlbed. There is reason TO believe that
| the parts are soft and perishable. but | stiIl
| consider it probable that ii will be the good
fortune OF some person on the coast OF
Norway or North America To find living
! representative OF this type of reptile, which
is thought TO have died out"
In his Geological Researches" 1871.
| Professor Agassiz writes twenty-tw years
later; at there exists any animal in our
waters not yet known to naturalistS. an
swering to the description of the 'sea-ser-
pent, IL must be closely allied To the Ple,i-
| osaurus. The occurrence ia the fresh wa
| tiers OF North America of fish, the Lepi-
dosteus, which Is closely allied TO the fos.
| sill fishes found with the Plesiosaurus in
the Jurassic beds, renders such a supposi-
ton probable.
| The undoubted rarity of such an animal
would account for the failure OF any frag-
ment To find Its way into collections; many
| cetaceans are SO uncommon that only sin
| gle specimens have ever been seen by nat
uralsts, and some have been entirely un-
known until within fifty years Inhabit-
ing tue ocean the chances of its BODY float
ing long enough for any part to be cast on
shore would be very small; the rocky
coasts which it seems to frequent are un-
favorable for the accidental casting up OF
any fragment. In the present creation.
| were it not for the persecution of man the
bones of seals and whales, of the beaver
OF the cougar. of monkeys and elephants
would hardly ever be found in the places
thickly inhabited by them. The non occur
renee of any fragments, therefore. is OF lit
tie weight In disproving the existence o
an animal, even of man himself
The cetacean ZeuglOdon of the tertiary
fulfils some OF the indications OF the prev
alent idea OF sea-serpents. and there is nc
reason priOri WHY slender and length
ened mammalian form should not exis
among the present cetaceaus. The ma
rine saurians of the secondary were re
placed by the marine mammals of the ter
tiary of the present ages. On the general
ly admitted laws of pal2ontology ther,
would be greater probability of the Ecu
glodon than of the PlesiOsaurus type de
scending in a modified form to the presen
epoch; and either. 10 the vast expause q
ocean. might for ages escape the examina
tion OF naturalists. The probability is tina
this animal belongs either to some second
ary form greatly mDdifed, of eiialiosau
rians, perhaps intermediate between thes
and the ophidians. or to tertiary ZeuXic
don form, with reptilian aHnities, lik
Elasmosaurus, intermediate between Plt
siOSaurus A0saSaurus, and the elongate