Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-01-25
Scientific Tyranny.

SCIENTIFIC TYRANNY
2 A. New York Times.l
The widespread unwillingness OF
to believe in the existence OF
the sea>serpent is striking illustration
Of the debasing influence OF science. IN
this philosopher ridden age free thought
ls crushed. We are compelled to believe
what scientific persons tell US, ana II
here and there fearless man ventures
10 express q doubt of protOplasm or to |
deny the infallibility of Tyndall, he is
instantly reviled as being no better than |
m open believer in Christianity, and is
hunted out of scientific circles. The
scientific men have agreed to deny the |
exist ence of the sea serpent, and it is as
much as any ones reputation for sanity
and good morals is worth to believe the
conclusive evidence that the sea serpent
is reality.
If we put aside all the assertions
which have been made as to the appear
ance of sea-serpents in the neighbour
hood of seaside hotels, there still re-
mains mass of unimpeachable evil
dence. On half dozen occasions the
sea serpent has passed within a few
yards of vessels at sea and has been seen
by entire ships companies. 1t is quite
possible that mass of floating sea-weed,
or a school of fish, when seen at dis
lance of mile or more, may be mlsta-
ken for huge marine animal, but it is
impossible that hundreds of:intelligent
mer should make such mistake con-
corning an object within few feet OF
them. The popular scientific hypothe
sis by which this repeated account Of
the appearance of ea-serpent close TO
q vessel is explained. is simply whlskey.
This hypothesis will not bear the slight
est examination There is not whiskey
enough in any one place to account for
the amount of sea-serpents that have
been seen. For example, some years
ago sea serpent passed close under the
stern of a British man war, and was
seen by fully two hundred men, as the
affihavits duly made on the spot conclu
sivelv prove. Now, on the scientific
hypothesis, that ships company must
have drunk at least two thousand pints
of wfiiskey within few days of the al
legged occurrence. That amount is the
very least that could have brought a
crew of hardened men, of wars men up
to the snake seeking point. 1t is folly
: to pretend thaLW hiskey is thus lavished
upon British seamen, and accordingly
in this case the whiskey hypothesis falls
to the ground. The same reasoning will
show that this hypothesis does not ex-
plain the five or six other instances in
which sea-serpents have been seen close
at hand by whole ships company
They can only be explained by admit
ting the existence of the sea serpent, or
by charging hundreds of men with pur-
poseless perjury We believe that Lake
Albert in Central Africa exists although
we have only the testimony of five wit
nesses, exclusive of native kings. Why
should we deny the existence of the sea
serpent when at least a thousand wit
nesses have testified that they have seen
it?
But, argues the scientific person, if
there were such animals as sea serpents
they would be captured, or at least the
remains of dead sea serpents would be
found. Until with few years this ar
gument was used to prove that the gi-
gantic cutie was mere fable, and the
evidence of men who had seen it was
rejected, until at last the animal was
accidentally captured on the New
foundiand coast. That we do not find
dead serpents on the shore proves moth
ing How often do we find dead whales
or dead sharks? When the wild ami
mails die, whether on land or sea, they
select retired places. Thousands of
birds must die every year, but who can
find dead bi d, unless it has been shot
by man or captured by cat? Shall we
deny the existence of wild rabbits be-
cause they die where their bodies are
not found, instead of ringing our front
door bells and announcing that they are
about to die on the front piazza?
Then there is the favorite scientific
argument that the sea- serpent is a
myth, because it is represented as hav-
ing bumps on its back, contrary to the
usual fashion prevailing among snakes
We may admit the force of this argu-
ment, out it simply goes to show that
the ea-serpent is not, strictly speaking,
serpent f. is monster with SER
pentine neck, but we need not assume
that he is q snake.
In all probability the sea-serpent is a
monster closely akin to the extinct pie
siosaurus. That pleasing reptile had
the head of the crocodile, the neck of a
serpent, and the body of fish: A great
many enormous and remarkable ami
mails existed in the period when the
plesiOsaurus swan the seas. So, like
wise, great many plants and she'll fish
existed in that early geological period.
and a number of them still survive. Is
it unreasonable to suppose that few OF
the gigantic and numerous lizards of the
las period may have been left over I'M
til the present day? If so, the humps on
the neck and back OF the so-called sea
serpent are readily explicable, and, in
fact, only render him the more prOba-
BILE.
There is moreover, positive evidence
as to the sau rian character of the sea-
serpent. In 1903 ser-serpent measur-
ing between thirty and forty feet in
length. was cast ashore on one of the
Scotch islands, aud fisherman made q
rude drawing of him, which closely re-
sembled Mr.. b. Waterhouse Hawkins's
charming reproduction of the plesiosau-
rus. There is no reason to doubt the
honesty of the fisherman's drawing. He
had certainly never seen model of the
plesiosaurus, and it is taxing the Scottish
imagination too highly to charge him
with having invented his monster.
During the present summer we shall
probably have several accounts OF the
appearance of sea- serpents. In the in
terest Of the unhappy persons who may
see them, and who will, therefore, be
promptly charged with intoxication, let
us protest against the scientific denial
of the sea- serpent's existence. We
have borne the yoke of science long
enough. Let US have.~a great protes-
tant re 7ival, and proclaim our enamel
patton from scientific tyranny by
maintaining the existence of the sea-ser
pent.
Everybody is not down upon the
jews in Berlin, as we suspected. The
Wahlmaenner (the voting men) have
just held a meeting in that capitol, in
which they took strong grounds for
religious liberty. An assemblage of
$500, adopted resolution, in which
they declared their desire to express re-
greet aud indignation that Berlin had