The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1886-10-06
THE SEA SERPENT.
Some OF the Monsters of the
Deep Which Have Been
Seen in Times Past.

eyes IN IL huge head
This testimony A. to the sNisienee of
an euormogs msrine animal. populariy
known a. the sea serpent, i eerruborafs-i
by that Of many intelligent Observers
during the past century ana more, and j..
besiies. sustained by she reports Of in
Vulnerable sailors. who commonly have
BEEN ,iiScue.iite-l because Of their prone
ness q superstition The monster has
generally been encountered in the North
ern seas. more especially about the osasts
Of Norway ami New England, and the
accounts Of his appearance 10 not differ
very widely. There Il also much ancient
evidence. but We viii pass that by.
In the last century the Rev Paul
Eger,le.a missionary to Greenland. wrote
a journal of his mission. in which be
described With minutest ACCURACY the
human inhabitants. and the birds, beasts
and fishes Of that country, aecolup upanyiHg
the descri0ti0ns with drawings Of great
scientific value.
0n the 6th Of July, l7S4, Erssie ~
cords having seen very barge AMI
frishtful - monster. with lone,
sharp snout. and body covered Vi,h
scales The skin was uneven and
wrinkie,i, and the lower part formed Ike
a snake. After some une tlie creature
pIungei backward into the water. and
then turned its Tail uPshoyr the surilee-
This description corresponds with tho-e
which were gwen of the monster report
e,i a. seen eff Gloucester several weeks
ago, that creature. too, going down tai
foremost.
Shortly after the appearance of E.-er,ie's
Journal. Bishop Pantoppidan of Bergen.
a member of the Copenhagen Academy
Of sciences. Published a Natural History
Of Norway. in which he collected the
evidence then obtainable as - the "a
serpent, belief IN whose existeuce he
found 20 BE- universal among the sailors
and fishermen captain Laurence dc
Ferry. al that time commander Of Ber-
gen. ulasie under oath the statement that
in August. l746. while on a voyage FROM
Trun,itheirp. he and his ships company
saw huge sea serpent, which was Of q
grayish color. and bad head. held two
feet above the water. resembling that Of
a horse Bssifies the head AMI nerk. -
swears the Captain We siw seven or
eight folds OF coils OF the snake. which
were very thick. and A. Ear a. We could
guess, there was about farhoni distance
between each soId.~ Bishop PonioppiJsn
gives much other testimony on the sub
let. and comes o. the conclusion that
this creature does not. like the eel or
land snake, taper Gradually to a point,
but the body. which looks % be- as big n
two hogshead-, grows remarkably snail
al once. just where the tail begins. tie
also describes It a. having very large
ewes. - ike couple of bright pewter
plates
In 1917 the reports Of the appearance
Of sea serpent of Gloucester. Mass.
were - frequent that the Linnan Society
Of New England made a careful investi-
CATION Of the sabjest. aRd reported that
it considered the testimony obtained
sufficient to place the existence of the
animal beyond doubt7 Captain Peter
McQu hae, in command Of the D,edalus.
Of the British navy, reported % the Al
mirilty that on the 9th Of August, ls9s.
on a passage from the East Indies. in
latitude ~ ~ south. and longitude
% - Eist. he encountered a -ea serpent
about ~ feet Of whose body wa visible
We might give much more testimony
u the same -ort and of exIml value. but
what We have summarized II enough %
SHOW that belief in the existence of the
sea serpent l. not confined u the ignorant
ami superstifious The subject. in Eict.
l. one with regard % which there Is
much serious scientific discussion and
speculation In bis Romance Of Natural
History. Mr. Philip Henry tios-e, the
Aa-AA---A ei'tflsAi-l 'is-ftAA- VIC - AfA-lANEs
and comes 70 the conclusion that there
exists some oceanic animal of immense
proportions which has not yet been ~
ceived into the category OF scientific
zoology7 This animal, according o. his
strong opinion, = possesses cloze aflinitie-
with the fissil enaIiosauria of the lirss.
The enaliosauria are great reptiles
ciass.d a. extinct and belonging 10 a past
geological period. the word meaning ga
savrians. or a species of reptiles having
paddles instead IF feet Mr. tiosSe's po-
siti0n x strengthened ty the remark II
the renowned Aglissiz. that i; would be-
in precise conformity with analogy that
such an sniinal should exist Ia tiie Amer
lean seas, a. he had found numer,us in
stances in which the fossil forms Of the
old World were repr-ented by living
iypes IN the New