The Washington weekly post., 1899-06-20

Iowa City, June l5.-It IS a curoes s,--
I that creditabla witnesses. Sc .a-...-s
/ officers OF her majssty's NAM ....
Z more than once repcrtsd mer.n. va.
I they described as sea scrpC1is So r,.. ..
| IN water-suake fashion I'm Jroy cs. s.ss
! The fact that such creatures r-r- p
I tainly lived and lived in ~ sea. , rsh a.
I unchanging. lends the color o. rr'-aa
I TO reports that have. A. SAID. w,s- ..t1
/ once attracted the attention of "a. s-.s..
! tifc world once there were sen ~. So
I serDents or at least there were .".r.
| of reptile life that might havn r.r
every purpose OF sea SeTTCnts. co... rra.
+ have been perpetuated to ths .. ..~.
/ time Any one who has do. hts ,r p.
( subject may have his doubts r@UCyH'
! visiting the museum of the j1i-s~-.ry .s
( Iowa, for the Davenport AluUn' '~s1-
/ citation has just presented G. IN assign.
! ton one OF the mos; interesting s-r .~1
/ pIete skeletons Of these oid-fssrionr. g.
/ ard sarpents so far discovered IN unes
/ gone by shallow sea stood over W.z..r.
/ Kansas. and in this sea numherlss~ 'ra-
/ bodied. serpent-like creatures Eir7cr %
| in the ever-rccurring conflicts thu a-
| mails wage for food. The forms ;r o.. =
! tion had the elongated. flexible bciy ana
/ the fo-ked. pTotrudable tcugUe % ina ser
I pent The body. Furthermore. was CC. T.
! ed with scales. Fut. unlike Se~3-nrs tres.
; creatures had limbs. The limbs were .p.
; weak to be Of uSn IN terrcstr a I.r7--o.
. tiOn. but. being modified into ,i55,c-. ..-
/ served effectively as organs oI prop s.yB
| In the sea,
: Mosasaur is the name science Etvrs L
{ these strange reptiles. They are u8r s.g-
( pents, but are in reality Lizards Cs sUsSs-
( like proportions ana gigantic s-zr tas
( larger individuals measured fCr.v-l.p
/ feet In length. large enough 20 satisfy tAp
! most imaginative dweile: az our fashion
/ able seaside summer resorts Tie u-rl
! commoner dimensions met with. hnu vi.
/ Tanga from fifteen 20 thirty frel Nar.
/ seldom dre the skeletons perfect ,-aF
! were usually dismemhared and tie h1nss
were more or less scsttsrl b. ya.I.Hs
! agents before they were ,vmq.e''.y CO..
/ red and protected by tE" accuIn..atins
( Ooze of the sea bottom. Even ate. 'ne
/ complete imbeddins the bones w'Ev ( g.l-
/ orally broken or distorted by n b. %
ure of the superintendent sediments.
Skeleton Nearly Complete.
The specimen Just received a the NJ
versity OF Iowa is unusually peritst.
/ With the exception of q number o t.-c
| last caudal vertebrate, every h'-- Is
| uresent, and is practically free from is.
| tortiOn OF crushing. The ve'ienTal co
umn the head. the limb bones, the i.~,
| the pelvis-all are present except aS r"''I
| above. and all are practically Ia tA''T
| normal position and relations 10 s4c'
| other. The most unique and valuable
| specimen that has ever been recovered
! from the hardened ooze Of the cretaceous
/ sea bottoms indicates an individual tAd,,
when alive. must have measured ABOUT
| thirty-tive feat In length.
Thera is no denying that fossils such ds
that at present under consideration -oIN
a remarkably substantial background TO-
all sorts of sea-serpent stories. Amons
the most interesting of these stpri's may
be mentioned that of Capt McQuh-e,
| commanding r. NJ ). DaedalUs. who rn-
cuuntered sea-serpcnt near the Tr"fl-
| of Capricorn. and not very far from the
| coast Of Africa. The weather was dark
and cloudy. and with a lCng ocean swell
! In reporting the occurrence 70 the ADM
| raIty Capt. McQUlae described the dppt-
rition as an enormous serpent with he'H
ard shoulders kept about four feet con-
stantly above the surface OF the sea.
Description Of a serpent.
Continuing. Capt. McQuhae said: as
nearly as We could approximate by conf
| pairing it with the length Of what our
maintopsail-yard would show In the va
ter. there was AT the very least sixty Zee
~ HeTIr Il ufFr.ur OF
which was. TO our perception. used iu
pfopeling il through the water. either ~
vertical or horizontal undulstiOn. ].
passed rspidly. but so close under OuE Ice
quarter that had il been a man Of my
ACQUAINTANCE | should have easily reeos-
Dized his features with the naked g.
and il did not. either in approaching the
ship or after il had passed our wake. DE-
viate in the slightest degree from ~
course 10 the southwest which II held 0I
at the pace OF from twelve TO fifteen ri'f#
per hour. apparently on some de''r-
mined purpose The diameter Of the srr-
pent was about fifteen or sixteen in'h"-,
behind tn head, which was. without auE
doubt. that Of A snake, ard II was never,
during the twenty minutes that 10 cor
tinued in sight Of cur glasses once belo~
the surface Of the water: its colo 4 dark
brown, with yelloWish white aboJt ihH
throat 1t had no fms. but something Ike
the name Of a horse. or rather \ bunch o.
sea-Wced washed about ijs back
In the words Of another witness. Lieut.
DrummOnd: The appearance ~ the head
which. with the back IN. vas the only
portion Of the animal visible. vas ions
pointed and fattened ~ the top, Derhap-
ten feet In length. the upper ja0 pro-
jecting considerably; the nm was per
haps twenty feet in the rear of the head
and visible occasionally; the Captain also
asserted that he saw the tail. or anoth"r
IN. about the same distance behind y tn-
upper part OF the head and shoulders ap-
peared Of a dark brown color. and oS
meath the under-jaW brOVHisn white. T.
pursued a steady and undertaking coH-He.
keeping i,s head horizontal With rho
water. and In rather raised pcslN9E.
disappes ring occasionally beneath wave
for very brief interval and not appar-
entity for the purpose Of respiration j.
WAS going Al The rate OF. perhaps. from
twelve 20 fourteen miles an hour and
when nearest was perhaps 10 yards dis
tant In fact. il gave one quite the dea
OF large snake or eel
Aaothsr Careful View.
Another sea serpent Wa seen by The
Captain and offcers Of the Queens yacht
Osborne IN June 1877. N thr coast of
Sicily OF this appearance IN" ofleiei iF-
port says:
The time was O'Clock in the afer-
noon. The sea was excepilOnai} smooth.
and the officers we're provided With good
telescopes The monster had \ smooth
skin. aev.id a. scales, bui.ef-zhsped head
and face Ike an alligator II sss o.
immense length. and along the b1ck ats
ridge Of fms about fifteen feet ia l-HEt1
ana 50 feet apart e moved slowly ami
gas seen by all ~ rips Oficers
These stor.~s D. sea serpent nigh
be continues 30 al'f, ans length fhey
have always been received With more .
less lncFcdulity. DuI 70 often have lhs
been repeated that the sCOffsTE nave beer
unable 10 account for the f.Ct thaf sH
many reputable witnesses agree IN TIE
sea serI~nt subject. A. before stated g.
b. certain hat sea ssrpenfs once i:vsd ir
the ocean. and there IN no reason ~
doubt that ssms survivor Of the speciss