The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-08-24
ABOUT SEA sERPENTs'
DR.. Gill Says There Are Sea serpents But
No Such Monsters As Some feopie
Think They Have Seen.

Think They Have Seen.
lis there such thing as sea sepents
Yes, indeed there are many species Vi
sea serpents we'll known to naturallsts.
This was the answer given yesterday ny
DR.. Theodore Gill, the eminent naturalist
of the Smithsonian, to the question above
repeated. DR.. Gill is known III sclentl1c
circles as the highest American autnorlty
on fishes and other creatures OF the sea-
lie is quoted in all the world standard
works on ichthyology, besides having
witten numerous volumes himself de-
voted to that particular branch OF ms lie
study. He has given much attentlon TO
sea serpents, and has reyealeu many IN
teresting facts concerning them III MS
writings and lectures
$50 you place credence in the many
statements lately come to hand concern
ing the appearance of the monster sea SER
pent in Long Island Sound.
81 do not by any means. AS soon as l
read the accounts of the large snake found
at Blackwell's Island | told several MEM
bers of the Cosmo Club that 1T was a
large python, or rock snake There are
no monster sea serpents. There IS no mon
ster of gigantic size now living IN the sea
which could be properly classed as SER
pent or even reptile. There is however,
an abundance of sea serpents in the east
ern seas and along the Pacific coasts OF
tropical America.
''There are enough of them in these
parts to annoy and threaten the lives OF
sailors who frequent the waters, but they
are very small creatures, as compared
with the sea serpents which we read
about in popular literature. as hydrldae,
which means sea snakes, or, IL you like,
sea serpents. They include numerous
families inhabiting the salt water estuarles
and tidal streams of the Indian and Pacific
oceans, from Madagascar to the lsthmus
of Panama.
''So1ne of them are much as twelve
feet long. They are very poisonous, ana
have heard that sailor, once bitten by
one, died within an hour and quarter
Lilly IlbNC 6llie1iA 1SSee>Ao sSA->>
bodies, somewhat like the head of snakes,
but particularly thick in their hind half,
and very compressed and flat, or oar. like,
at the tail. They live entirely in the sea,
and when thrown upon shore are helpless
and almost blind. These sea serpents are
frequently seen in great numbers swim
ming close to the surface of the water.
fBut it is not possible that there are
giant animals of this kind rowing the
seas which have not yet been found by
scientists.
eyes, there is possibility, but no prob
ability, that such an animal still exists.
1t is possible that giant selachian may
be found related to the frilled shark of
Japan. This would have an eel-like body,
fin back of the head. and if very long,
would agree to some extent with descrip-
ton of the great sea serpent As a
matter of fact, there was discovered not
many years ago a small snake-like shark,
resembling the gray sharks found in the
Pacific This would have an eel-like tail
and fin extending from the back, behind
the head.
"Then there are also the ancinet zeu-
glodonts, with their long tails and hori-
zontal caudal fins, like those of the
whales 1t may be that one Of these with
long neck still exists, having outlived
his ancestors of millions of years ago.
During the geological period known as
the eocene tertiary, which was many mil
lions of years back, there were living in
the seas zeugllodonts somewhat resem-
bling serpents Some of these were perhaps
nearly forty or fifty feet long, but none of
them could swim in the water with verti-
cal fluctuations or be adorned with the
name, both of which are associated with
the mythical monster. But, as I said,
all of this is mere possibility, accord
ing to the ways of nature. There is no
probability that any one will ever enjoy
the sight of any of these possibilities
CHOW, suppose summer tourist or
superstitious mariner should catch sight
of giant basking shark, such as inhabits
the north seas. These often measure
more than thirty feet in length. It is fire.
quently the case that they travel in pairs,
one following the other. The front por-
tin of one and the hind portion of the
other of these appearing above the water at
the same time would be sufficient to scare
any unsuspecting observer. remember
hearing Pro. Simon Newcomb, our emf
nent astronomer, telling how he once
thought he saw the veritable sea serpent
off Cape Ann. But the supposed mon
ster resolved itself into a school of por-
poises, one following the other"