The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-09-22
WHAT IS TIL. SEi-SIhl'ENT.
AN INQUIRY or FiSrE:.E>.i I'D >Ti nEAEs
OF NATURAL HISTORY.

4 scientific Statement o: What We !sao" EVA;
non't Hno~ About &.
(F4or: the Providence Jouroa!O
Twice within few days parties OF OBJ
servers whose trustworthincss is beyond
question, and in one case Including q
gentleman of such equablc and conScrva-
tive mind as Boston schooinlastc. 2-.ay
be presumed to possess, have reported
the appearance near Cape .inn Of what,
in deicrencc to an established phrase
they are pleased to cali 'tAc sea ser
pent." The account they give IS sub
stantiany the same as annually finds its
way to public notice, and is likely TO be
received in the same spirit OF scertical
levity which these narratives have 81
wavs encountered. An attitude OF f.&nk
unbehef toward Ill stories that smack CT
the sat water seems 10 be aI iDeratdca-
BILE peculiarity of the human mind. 4
ssfish story is synonym tor a f;iisehood
the world over; and indeed Il tie court
of public opinion every man WAC tells q
tale Of sights at sea is presumed 20 be a
liar until he is proved innocent. The
person, therefore, who las the tcrmcrltv
to state that he has seen the sea serpent
quite regains his Old position in public
esteem: to have Glanced to observe al
unfamiliar marine animal ':swiitiy ru!-
dulating along a quarter OF q mile to
lceward" is violation OF the propretles
which one can hardly hope to i've down.
This state of things may be only one
phase of the neralindisposition OF man
to acknowledge that others have seen
what circumstances have concealed from
his own sight, but at all events the Sc
called sea serpent, whose persistent re-
appearance may be regarded as & pathetic
attempt on its part to prove its own ex-
istence to skeptical world, IS elther
ieered by the paragraphist or silently
relegated to that region Of myths over
which Munchallscn and Sinbad hold
sway.
But even Sinbad's tales, when read il
the light of modern science, are readily
interpretable in many cases as distorted
and magnifed versions OF actual facts.
Aad, in much the same way. beneath the
cxaggerations and absurdities with which
different observers have described the
so-called sea serpent, there IS uDGoUbted-
" basis of truth. Indeed, what reason
is there to doubt that such al. animal
exists? The only considerable argument
against its existence is that advanced by
Professor Owen, who objects that II It
existed we should be able to tind either
its separate bones or its complete skelc-
ton. Such objection, however, has no
validity, because We never tnd the bones
of whales or seals save on beaches where
men have killed them; nor do We ever
discover the skeletons Of the countless
thousands of birds that die in the forests.
Nature is her own scavenger; we never
come upon her burying places. We may
not, therefore, deny the existence OF &
sea monster simply because It's skeleton
is not obtainable for the museums.
On the contrary, the fact Of the exist
ence OF some snake-like marine animal
unknown to the present Zoolo9lst IS at
tested by throng OF witnesses. We may
not rehearse here the long list Of ciIcUn~
stantial and detailed narratives OF those
more or less eminent men, from Diodo-
rus Sieulus to the president of the Glou-
cester Common Council, who profess to
have S. en- the monster IN question. Any
librarian can furnish the inquiring read
er with q sufficient number OF these ac-
counts to keep him II interesting read
ing for two days at L ast. The narrators
include clergymen Of all nationait1es and
creeds, physicians, experienced travellers,
hard-headed business men, naval officers
of such repute as our own Commander
Preble, and host Of others equally dis
interested. Many of these accounts
must be set aside as obyiousl colcre0 up
for effect. But even then there remains
an accumulation OF evidence too weighty
to be withstood. THERE'S, OF course, much
exaggeration; but after setting aside the
personal error for which trained OBJ
servers always allow, the general cohe-
renee OF the details given IL these vari-
ous accounts is indeed remarkable. All
the observers have found the animal only
in northern latitudes; ali agree thai Its
color is blackish brown above and white
beneath; that its prominent eyes are on
the top of its fattened head; that 1t
moves at the rate OF five or six knots al
hour; that it is harmless and even tlmid,
and that its undulatory movement IS
caterpillar like, that is, vertical and not
lateral. There IS, too, substantial agree
ment in placing its size at seventy feet
in length and twelve in circumference.
This concurrent testimony from hun
dreds of witnesses, strangers to each
other.and often separst ted by centuries
of time, sufficiently proves the existence
of such an animal as they describe. 4
line of porpoises, school OF horse
mackerel, mass Of sea weed, an Old
mast covered with barnacles and tossing
on the waves, have each been mistaken
for sea serpent many times. Never
theless, unless all the laws OF evidence
are at fault, there is in actual existence
precisely such marine monster as
reported near Cape Ann. The so-caled
sea serpent is not myth.
What, however, as a matter OF fact, IS
the animal which bears in popular
phraseology this alEtsrative name? We
may boldly assert that it IS nota serpent.
AL observers agree that it undulates Yer-
tically, like caterpillar. But any one
who takes the trouble to examine the
structure of the vertebrte Of serpc-lts viii
see at once that they are capable OF no
other undulatory moveman: than q later
,.In,