The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-10-19
PLENTY OF SEA SERPENTS.
Among the Varieties tho Ancient Monster
May Possibly Exist

PLENTY OF SEA SERPENTS
Among the Varieties the Ancient Monste
May Possibly Exist
lis there such a thing as q sea ser
pent? Yes, indeed, there are many
species of sea serpents well known &c
| naturalists-"
This was the answer given by Or
Theodore Gill. the eminent naturalis'
of the Smithsonian, to the question
above repeated. DIR. Gill is known in
scientific circles as the highest Ameri
creatures of the sea. He is quoted in
all the worlds standard works on ich
THEOLOGY, besides having written nu-
merous volumes himself devoted &c
that particular branch of his life
study. He has given much attention
to sea serpents, and has revealed many
interesting facts concerning them in
his writings and lectures.
$50 you place credence in the many
statements lately come to hand con-
corning the appearance of the monster
sea serpent In Long Island sound?"
Il do not by any means. As soon as
| ] read the accounts of the large snake
| found at BlackweH's island / told sew
| eral fellow-membe rs of the Cosmos
| club that it was large py thon, or rock
snake. There are no monster sea SER
penis. There is no animal of gigantic
size now living in the sea which could
be properly elassed as a serpent or
even a peptile. 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 COM
pared with the sea serpents which we
read about in popular literature. Most
oe these are known to scientists as
hydrid4, which means sea snakes, or
if you like, sea serpents- They in
clude numerous families inhabiting
the salt water estuaries and tidal
streams of the Indian and Pacific
oceans, from Madagascar to the 18TH
mus of Panama.
Some of them are as much as twelve
feet long. They are very poisonous,
and l have heard that a sailor, once
bitten by one, died within an hour and
a quarter. They have conspicuously
small heads and bodies, somewhat like
the land snakes, but particularly thick
in their hind half. and very compressed
and fat, or oar-like, at the tail. They
live entirely in the sea, and when
oh halr ND
almost blind. These sea serpents are
frequently seen in great numbers
swimming close to the surface of the
water"
But is it not possible that there are
giant animals of this kind rowing the
seas which have not yet been found by
scientists?'
Yes, there is a possibility, but no
proba bility that such an animal still
exists. 1t is possible that a giant
selachiau NAV be found related TO tn,
frilled shark of Japan. This would
have an eel-lilxe body, fin back of the
head. and if very long would agree to
some extent with descriptions of the
great sea serpent As a matter of
fact. there was discovered not many
years ago q small snake-like shark, re.
senbling 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 ancient
zeuglodonts. with their long tails and
horizontal caudal fms. 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 millions of wears
back. there were living in the seas
zeuglodonts some what resem bling ser
penis. Some Of these were perhaps
nearly forty or fifty feetlong. but none
of them could swim in the water with
vertical undulations, or be adorned
with the name, both of which are as
sociated with the mythical monster
But, as said, all OF this is mere pos
sibility, according to the laws of ma
ture. There is no proba bility that any
one will ever enjoy the sight Of any Of
these possibilities
Now suppose summer tourist or
superstitious mariner should catch
sight of giant basking shark, such as
inhabits the north seas? They often
measure more than thirty feet il
length Il is frequently the case that
they travel in pairs one following the
other. The front portion of the one
and the hind portion OF the other OF
these appearing above the water al
the same time would be sufficient TO
scare any unSuspecting observer /
remember hearing Prof Simon New
comb. our eminent astronomer, telling
how he once thought he saw the veri-
table sea serpent of Cape Ann Bu;
the supposed monster resolved itself
into school of porpoises, one follow.
ing the other. "-WsShington Star.