The herald., 1896-08-31
THE FABLED SEA SERPENT
May Not Be Altogether a
Fable
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES
Prove That Something Like Him Did
Once Exist
The Genus May Not Be Entirely Extinct
Discoveries Of the Remains Of the
Rep.iIlan 1onsters
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES
Do sca scrreyts exist?

Do sea scrrelts exist?
perhaps At al events science does not
deny it, In fact scientific men OF late
haye'come to admit that such monsters
may prowl the seas
That there were actually sea serpents in
days gone by is n certainty. They existed
in enormous numbcrs-real marine snakes
of gigantic size corresponding in all i'm
portant respects to the modern monsters
Of news reports How is this known
Simply because their skeletons have been
dug up in great numbers.
In the Peabody museum at Yale college
arc the bones Of /, 400 of these sea serpcnts,
some of which were as much rs 80 feet in
length. Most Of them were collected by
Professor o. c. Marsh. III parts Of the
west the remains of these reptiles occur in
astonishing quantities In ono valley
Professor Marsh came across seven Of their
skeletons lying close together. When the
animals We're alive, the interior basin of
this continent was occupied by q sea. They
Gourished during the chalk forming or
cretaceous epoch. In the seas of that dis
tant period they fairly swarmed. Excess
lively voracious and predatory, they held a
sway that must have been undisputed.
That was the ago of monsters, but they
NcIt, vi ull, tIC DlOsu loiiiiltlDiC.
This was tho epoch at which the Rocky
mountains were beginning to emerge from
the waters 1t hes been said that the crea-
lures described were masters Of the seas
And why not? What more formidable ami
nal can Ike imagined than n fierce, carniv-
erous snake so feet in length, able by
means of it's swimming paddles, to mako
its way through the water with trcmen-
dous velocity? Such was the character of
the masGsaurs of the age of chalk. Their
lower jaws were provided with an attach
mcnt of cartilage by which they were en-
abled to open their mouths to an enormous
extent, in the same manner as u modern
snake. Many species of them existed to
some of which the namc tylosaur, lesto-
saur and etes-saur have been given by
scientists who have dug UP their remains
No fewer than ten species of mosasaurs arc
known to have inhabited tho United
States. and the remains of six of these have
been found in New Jersey.
The typical mosasaur was in truth per-
feet realization of the sea serpent of modern
fancy--if the latter be fancy and not fact.
1t had only one pair of paddles, which wcrc
in front, but these were very powerful. Its
head was fat and pointed the jaws being
armed with large and fierce teeth. Tho
enormously long tail was fiat and deep like
the tail Of great eel, forming tremen-
dous propeller. From what is known Of
this formidable reptile there is no difficulty
in picturing to the imagination's eyc its
rapid progress through the water, its 1.-the
movements over the land when it chose to
venture upon terra flrma, its ready coil, its
rapid stroke and the elevation of its head
and vertebral column--literally living
pillar towering above the waves or the
brush of the shore swamps. BY thus lift
ing its head on high by means of its long
neck it was able to docry its prey at dis
tance
Now and then it happened that one Of
those mighty snakes died under circum-
stances which caused its body to become
buried in mud, probably in shallow water.
Eventually the mud hardened and was
transformed into stone, SO that the sllcle-
ton of the creature was preserved through
the ages. Today, millions Of years later,
the scientist seeks for such remains in the
mountains which have been uplifted out of
the depths cf the vanished seas of long ago.
A famous hunting ground for fossil rep
lillian monsters is along the slopes Of the
Rocky mountains. Through "a region OF
this kind the scientific explorer travels
with his eyes wide open. If from the face
of cliff he chances to see projecting what
looks like bone, exposed by the action of
water that has cut away the hillside, he
sets party of men to quarrying with drill,
blast and pickax until whatever is there in
the way of remains has been taken out.
Now and then great deposit of antedi-
luvian reptiles is struck in this way, in
which case the find" is kept as secret as
l0Il Il
as his private mine. If he gave it away,
rival scientists would rush to the spot and
dig out all the animals for their own study
and glory.
The sea serpcnts of the age of chalk were
rendered additionally formidable by the
coats of mail which they wore They were
clad from snout to tail in bony armor
plates Apparently they were far more
numerous on this side of the world than
in the eastern hemisphere for it is very
rarely that fossil monster is discovered
in Europe. In Belgium about century
ago they came across skull of one, which
was regarded as such precious curiosity
that Napoleon, hesieging town on a
historic occasion, ordered his gunners to
avoid shelling museum where the already
famous reptilian Uranium was known to
be stored. 1t was subsequently conveyed
to Paris, and when that city was sllrren-
dercd to the allies special clause was in
serted in the treaty providing that the
skull should not be given up. OF course II
was not until long nfterward that fossil
hunters came across such numbers of skel-
etons of ancient sea serpents in the new
world
Science does not assert that some mosa-
saurs may not still exist In the oceans to-
day If they do, proof of the fact has not
yet been obtained The best evidence goes
to show that all of the numerous tribes OF
giant reptiles became extinct long ago
Nevertheless, It is quito conceivable tina,
many of the old time monsters dwell ever
now in the depths of the seas. What huge
| and frightful creatures may not lurk unsus
pected in such marine abysses as thost
which occslr in the Atlantic short dis
| tance north of Cuba and in the Pacific
| close by tho eastern shores of Japan s1
| miles or more beneath the surface of tht
water?-St. Louis Globe Democrat
Fine Specimen of the Genus.
| In a certain Irish college the student al