Morning journal and courier., 1894-01-31

Professor David Starr Jordan, of STAN
ford university, writes to the San Fran
cisco Examiner ~ follows about the ses-
serpent:
The question of Its existence lie solely
one Of fact. There is no a.prion reason
why such reptiles could not exist, and
orestures to which such @ name would
apply did exist In abundsncs I'm nesoxoic
times. Nevertheless, although there have
been many reports Of the discovery of the
"sea serpent" there is not at present the
slightest positive evidence to prove that
such . creature now inhsbits the sea. II
is not within the realm of probability that
any marine reptile of large sirs oshsr than
ses-turtles now exists.
The sea has bsen ss fully explored As the
land. The fshes of the sea, from the sur
face to the depth of ave miles, are % wen
known a. the animals of similar siss on
any of the continents except Europe.
The larger animals which swim near the
surfsos In the open ccssn are for the
most part well known, and have been
known ever since ocsAnic navigation be-
gan. Probably not half q dozen species
of marine animals reschiog q length of
century. Most of those now known wsrs
known 20 the sncisnts.
The ses serpent stories may be olassi6ed
90 followfs Pure invention, foreckstie
yarns. etc; kloohollsns; stories with Q
foundation of fact, the basis being . seal,
q fragment of o wreck, o iong strip of
kslp. or some other natural object mistsk-
en- for q serpent; practical JOKES, rs the
IodIs-rubbsr sea-ssrpsnt seen on Silver
Lake, N. Y, sbout 1855. This appeared
usually In the evening aud In sight Of
| the versnda Of the hotel.
The great osr-hsh, or hing Of the her
rings lRegslecus elesnel ts o long, slender,
ribbon. shaped Cab Of The open RES. II
swims In swift undulatlons, with great
Il speed, on the surface of the wster. 10
reaches Q length of twenty feet or more.
The dorsal IN op its bead forms q high
crest, Ike the name of horse, and the Sab
10 altogether striking object. 1t has been
bat once taken In American waters, o spec
linen having come ashore In Bermuda
some years ago. This fsh is re enoteiy al-
lied to the nsckerel. According 10 DR..
Goode, all the stories Of sea -serpentt with
"upreared head and the name Of q horse"
can be referred TO RegalecuK. A smaller
fsh of this type, too small 10 seem like o
serpent, lie occasionally taken Of our coast
and known as king Of the salmon Ora
mock Indians believe that II this 6sh In
caught the salmon will cease running. A
similar uoxious inEuence 10 exsrted BY the
bsrth of twins. Other swift moving, rib-
bon-shsped surfsce fshes, as The thread
eel, the cutlsss- fish, etc, have been re-
ported ks young seseerpentx
The great frili-shKrf lChlsnydos elAchns
anguinous) kasbSsu reported ss O sea-ser-
pent. II was correctly drawn as tuch by
a hafn al h&f1 fv,
the Atlantic ocean wss known. This 10 O
very rare shark, as aim and Hsrfhle 90 q
snske, aud grows TO be some fifteen feet or
more In length. II has the general struc-
oure of the shark, or rather OF the extinct
sharks, for one has 10 90 back 10 the car
boniferous age to fnd any more Hike him.
This shark with Its frill Of gills about its
neck 10 one of the rsrest Of fishes, only
about four existing In collections. IL 10
thought TO be the Oldest living vertebrate,
for all other sharks of similar structure
have long sines passed away. IL Ia the
original of The sss-serpent that swins low
with its head under water.
The great killer or gladiator tOrcsorcsl
is a water mammal allied to the Porpoise
and dolphin. 1t Ia very swift and strong,
aud of 90 savage q disposition that ID 10
the terror of whales, seals, shsrks. sword
fshes. and of large fishes generally. IL
reaches q length OF twenty TO thirty feet.
II is ordinarily detestsd by fishermen, but
this summer Il served them q good turn by
rounding up" In Monterey bay the shoals
of salmon from the neishb0ripg ocean.
In its spissfnl attacks on the whale, and ID
will kill even the biggest of them, IL has
been taken for S ses serpsnt. Its sword
snspsd dorsal In, some ak feet high, belps
on the Illusion All the sesssrpents
which attack whales, choking them In
their gigantic folds" and Flashing the wa
ter for rods into bloody FOAM" are doubt
less killers.
yenomous little ses-FnEkes sxstt In the
Indian ocean. These are well known and
are never taken for lees. serperts"
The q owe record includes sll the sea-
serpents of which l have seen records up
TO date.