Evening star., 1915-01-03
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING

one OF the most important extensions
OF tho governments public health
work planned In recent
mental years, according to health
Hygiene. experts. PEI, Is provided Tor S,,,s' IN
sion Of mental hygiene Of tho United
States public health service, now pend
ing in the House and Senate. This new
division will act as clearing house
for information on the care OF insane
persons and mental detectives In the
United States. Part of the work will be
to standardize methods Of examina-
tion of alien or immigrant detectives
and another line Of investigation Will
be to examine mentally defective ana
backward children in conjunction Win
other government agencies.
! 1t is estimated that there are IN the
United States today 25O,00O insane
persons and more than 100000 mental
detectives. Health experts point out
that the influence Of insanity aha
feeble-mindedness on the production OF
pauperism and crimfnaltty ana OF race
development requires systematic m
vestigation to determine their causes
and methods Of prevention. Tne pro
posed division of mental hygiene IN
the public health service Will encourage
the extension of such studies as are are
now being made Of insanity, and Will
provide for the compilation ana ais-
tribution Of data concerning tne men
tai health Of the public at large ana
methods of ameliorating conditions
among those who are sunefihs AloiAi
mental disorders. .,..
| Insanity is looked upon by nealtn
officers today as preventaple oiseaeS,
a large part o. which Is que 10 , -
| Mt %
all medical men. According TO a stats
ment of DR.. J. W. Kerr, assistant sur
| geon general of the public health sery-
ice fully 20 .a per cent o. 3pr tna the rh insane
are on account of conditions due 70 al
coholism. Certain social diseases are
given as the cause Of almost as arg, iarge
per cent Of insanity ty,its rs a.cohs a.rDice he.
lieve that a thorough study OF al tne
causes of insanity, methods OF treat
ment and preventive measures VIII re-
suit in great Improvement OF pubic
of money which has to be expendeo py
the federal and state governments Tor
the maintenance Of insane persons VINO
become public charges.
X *
stitution received reports during the
past week of the
A SunDosed discovery Of the body
of a monster sea ser
oea oeIPeAt' pent on Derniere
Island, La, they were not startled.
There was not even a ripple of ex-
citement when the kilograms began to
come in. The receipt Of sea serpent
stories is considered part of the days
business at both the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition and the bureau Of fisheries.
The sea monster discovered on Der
Mere Island was described as huge fish,
"eighty feet long and with an estimat-
ed weight of ninety tons-1s0,000
pounds-with the head Of an elephant
with ivory tusks, the snout of an alli-
gator and the body Of a whale" The
story of the discovery OF the carcass
nence in first column, first page of the
New Orleans papers Christmas day,
and the first reports telegraphed to the
Smithsonian officials here at Washing
ton were positive in the assertion that
q new monster Of species hitherto
unknown and not even suggested in
any natural history had been cast
ashore.
officials Of the Smithsonian, however.
from the first believed that what had
large whale and the reports which fol-
lowed later in the week supported
| them fully in this theory. Their in
terest in the discovery, however, did
not cease when 1T was learned that
the supposedly unusual sea monster
was whale, because II the measure
ments of the carcass are eighty feet,
as Is reported in the kilograms 60 far
received, 1T is probable that the skele-
ton will be brought to Washington or
purchased by some state museum, be-
cause of its great size. The largest
whale skeleton which has been mount
ed by the government experts so far
Is approximately seventy-eight feet
long, which makes the report of the
finding Of the eighty-foot whale inter-
esting, even after the sea monster
myth had exploded.
Most frequently the fish which Is mis-
taken for a sea serpent is the thrasher
shark. which grows to a length of
twenty feet or more. This shark is
commonly known to fishermen in north
ern Atlantic waters, in the Mediter-
ranean sea and also of the coast Of
California as the "swingle- tailed
it's tail. Frequently when a number Of
these sharks travel together there is
the appearance of an extraordinarily
long fish, and the long tails. which are
used to thrash through the water, sup
port the belief that a sea serpent has
been seen.
DR.. W. C.. Kendall of the United
States bureau Of fisheries reports an
experience OF his during cruise on
the Isles Of Shoals. nearly twenty years
ago, when officers of his boat were
counting fin-back whales, which were
very numerous. Their attention was
soon called to a remarkable sight.
when. about a quarter of a mile away.
whale was seen to blow, and almost
Immediately a huge serpentlike form
rose in the air and descended with a
powerful blow on the whales back.
the sound being distinctly heard on
board the vessel. This sight would
have convinced almost any one, even
an experienced fisherman or sailor, that
sea serpent had delivered this blow.
The fishery experts, however, ascer-
tanned that this was merely an attack
Of thrasher or swingle-tailed shark
on one Of the whales.
Schools of porpoises travelling through
the water are also often mistaken for
sea serpents. and even small fish, par
ticularly the species known as skip
jack" which is less than a foot long,
and which skips part Of the time above
the surface of the water. have been
taken for sea serpents when schools of
these fish have been strung out hum
dred feet or more through the water.
There have also been times. according
to reports by the government experts.
when sea captains have mistaken q lot
of floating seaweed half q mile away