Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-01-04
THE FOSSIL SEA.SERpENT.
Old Settlers Of DTonu,o,,.,, r,ounrv.

THE FOSSIL SEA.SERPENT.
Old Settlers Of Monmouth County.
PROFESSOR LOCKWOOD ON REprr1 Es IN GENERAL
AND THE MARLBORO MONSTER IN PARTICULAR.
From the New York Tribune.
Inc announcement that bones of some gigan-
tic reptile have been dug out of Monmouth
county mari pit is never startling one. This
Is classic ground for the palaontologist, and an
active man with a shovel is never certain that
lie isn't disturbing the remains of some monster
VINO once made theOld cretaceous sea boil like
pot. These mari beds are deposits of that
ancient sea which rolled over so much of this
continent, sweeping from New Jersey to Texas
ana up the Red river valley to the TANKS of the
Rocky Mountains. The mari derives its value
as fertilizer mainly from the one, two or
three per cent. of phosphoric acid which
it contains, and the phosphorus is mani
testify derived from the phosphate of lime
in the bones which were buried in
this spacious cemetery. The New JERSEY end of
TINS graveyard has been worked longer than any
other area, and the'remains of the various rep
tiles found here are constantly referred to for
comparison in works on paI;eOntOloey. Exten-
sive discoveries in the west have been more re-
Gently made. but these old settlers of Monmouth
county were able to hold their own AGAINST any
dragon of the prime" in this age when the race
OF reptiles reached its elimination The differ
ent orders OF these saurians have been pretty
thoroughly studied and classified. but there is
always possibility of eXhumng some new
species. and therefore when it was announced
last week that sea-serpent with an equipment
Of tusES had been discovered in Marlboro. a rem
resentative of the Tribune called upon Profess
CO. Al %o1vrv -
what the find really was.
Professor Lockwood, who is fellow of half a
dozen learned societies, and recognized au-
thOrity in matters of this sort, alluded with
some disrespect to the amateur scientist who
decorated the old serpent with tusks. kind of
furniture which only belonged to mammals of
the more advanced type and of more recent
age. Nevertheless, this Marlboro reptile was an
interesting object to get away from when alive
and squirming. He was between 20 and so feet
in length. about One-thrd of his longitude being
broad. hattish tail. constructed of chevrOn-
shaped bones. SO as to make it a valuable engine
OF propulsion when used as scul. The data
furnished 10y the relics would imply that be-
tween the tip Of his muZZle and the back of his
head was distance Of four or five feet 1t is
possible that the specimen belongs to some I'M
described Species but perhaps the remains are
too imperfect to decide this. 1t is certain how
ever, that it belongs to the genus Ciidastes,
many species of which have been determined
and which have been abundantly found in the
west. Ciidastes was an own cousin to the
Mosasaurus. or the great lizard of the river
Meuse, described by Cuver. The European
reptile. however was of more chunky build
with shorter head and neck and stronger Jaws
Both belonged to the order of Pythonomorpfs
or Snake-lIke Sanrans, which were the genuine
sea-serpents OF the period.
The most wonderful fact in connection with
these Monmouth marls is that they contain
1iCtin nr,1nr Ss,f'
animal life which are now. with all the count
less species they embraced absolutely extinct
This was the age of the glorious Ammonites
not one of which has survived, and of the
Nautlli, OF which but two species are found in
modern seas. OF the six great orders OF Rep
tilians, representatives of but two survive, SO
destructive to animal life was the emergence Of
continents and the change of climate at the
close OF the cretaccOus era. OF the reptiles.
the order occupying the highest rank was the
Dinosaurs, who well deserved the epithet
TERRIBLE Professor Lockwood himself dis
covered the remains of colossal specimen of
the order in clay bank by Raritan Bay.
This monster walked about without a cane
ON his hind legs, which were Ii feet
long. In attitude and construction this order
was prophetic of the coming ostrich Next in
rank were the PterOsaulia. or flying lizards the
expanded wings OF some of these pleasant Great
ures measuring IS feet from tip to tip. Below
these came the Crocodile, resembling our ali@a-
tors, and cuirassed with bony plates. According
TO modern classification another order. the
Sauropterygia. came before the Testudnata or
turtles, with which the Jersey waters and shores
We're populGus. In this very Marlboro pit Pro-
lessor Lockwood once found the remains of "a
MesoZoic swapping turtle, with a shell as big as
cart wheel, and so strong that q battery of
artillery, if such thing can he imagined as ex-
listing in those days, might have been driven
over it without disturbing the creature under
the dome: Lowest of ali were the Pythono-
mOrphis, to which our serpent belonged. and
which had features foreshadowing the snakes of
our time.
All h@h-clasS snakes are particular about
swallowing their food whole. and since they are
ambitious to surround animals whose diameter
is twice as great as their own they need a
special provision to give hospitable admission
to big moutlifui without uujointing their Jaws
Ihey have therefore been provided with a hinge
Iii the bone on either side of the upper Jaw so
that after they open theirmouthsa as wide as pos
sible they can spring the jaw upward at this
extra joint and make still more rOomv pas
sage. Our Monmouth serpent had double
Jonted jaw of this datable pattern. Again.
after snake has seized his living prey. it would
be embarrassing for him to open his mouth to
take more comprehensive hold for q DISC
b2ing animal would take advantage of the OBJ
portunity to retire. To guard against such ali
accident, the snake is equipped with smaller
supernunerary jaw inside his upper one which
he drops on his prey to detan 1t while he takes
fresh hitch Our Monmouth serpent was fur
nshed with this extra grapnel jaw to aid him in
the process of ingestion so that his general
maxillary makeup plainly shows what he took
for dinner, ard how he took it. A thick. tlesliy
tongue would hardly be tolerated in mouth
where spaciousncss was a prime necessity
and, reasoning from analogy. we may assume
that this member was slender az it is in true
snakes, and capable of being neatly tucked
away in cavity Of the lower jaw. When Prof
Lockwood pictures the reptile, therefore he
represents him as ploughing through the sea
with his head lifted high above the waves and
brandishing a Notwithstanding biftlrcated and
cord-like tongue. He was probably not highly
intellectual. as his brain-case was comparatively
small. and the epithet "soft-pated" could be lit
orally applied to him. for the forward part of his
head was not ossiied. His impelling force,
mainly furnished by the tail, was increased by
four paddles. the upper bones of which were
short and OF immense strength, and perhaps
concealed in his side, leaving exposed only the
long hands and feet. The ankles and wrists
however, had no rotary movement. so that the
paddles could move only in one plane. I'm
doubleday he had basking habits. and when
glutted with his prey he would retire to some
shallow lagoon and snoOZe in the warm water
with his head turned to one side and his tail
a!fectiOnatpIy encirclnp it,