Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-06-23
PLENTY OF SEA sERPEMrs.
Among the yariestes tho Ancient mosstet
 May Possibly Exlst


 sls there such thing as a sea ser pent? Yes, indeed. there are many species of sea serpents well known to naturalists.
 This was the answer given by Dr. Theodore Gill, the eminent naturalist of the Smithsonian, to the question above repeated. Dr. Gill is known in scientific circles as the highest Ameri- can authority on fishes and other creatures of the sea. He is quoted in all the worlds standard works on ich- thyology, besides having written nu- merous volumes himself devoted to 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- cerning the appearance of the monster sea serpent in Long Island sound?"
 "l do not by any means. As soon as ] read the accounts of the large snake found at BlaclwelPs island I told sev. eral felloW-members of the Cosmos club that it was a large py thon, orrocis snake. There are no monster sea ser- pents There is no animal of gigantic 1 size now living in the sea which could be properly elassed as 4 serpent or even reptile. There is, however, an abundancs 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 wateSs, but they are very small creatures, as com. pared with the sea serpents which wa read about in popular literature. Most of these are known to scientists as hydrid@, which means sea snakes. Or. # you like, sea serperts. They in- elude numerous families inhabitine the salt water estuaries and tidal streams Of tho Indian and pacifffe oceans, from Madagascar to the isth. mus of Panama.
 Some of them are as much as twelve feet long. They are very poisonous, and I have heard that a sailor. once bitten by one, died within an hour and quarter They have conspicuouslv small heads and bodies, somewhat like Che land snakes but particularly thick In their hind half, and very compressed and flat, or oar-lilse, at tho tail. Trey live entirely ill the sea, and when thrown upon shore are helpless and 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 ave giant animals of this kind rowing the seas which have not yet been found by scientists?''
 Yes. there is possibility, but no probability that such an animal still exists. It is possible that q giant selachian may be found related to the fril1ed 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 descriptions of the great sea serpent As matter of fact, there was discovered not many years ago T small snalze-like shark, re- sembling 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 zeugiodonts, with their long tails and horizontal caudal fins, like those of the whales. It 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 years back, there were living in the seas zeuglodonts some what resembling ser. pents. Some of these were perhaps nearly forty or fifty feet long, but none of them could swim in the water with vertical undulations, or be adorned with the mane, both of which are as- soeiated with the mythical monster. But, as l said, all of this is a mere pos sibility, according to the laws of na- ture. There is no probability 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 thaa thirty feet in length. It is frequently the case that they travel in pairs one following the other Tine front portion of the 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 Prof Simon New comb, our eminent astronomer, telling how lie once thought he saw the veri- table sea serpent off Cape Ann. But the supposed monster resolved itself into school of porpoises, one follow ing the other Washington Star.
 He Had Sworn or.
 There was well known clergy man who had such a complete abhorrence