54 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



"Whilst Captain Sawyer, of the ship Harmony, of Hull, was in pursuit 

 of the bottle-nose porpoise, in latitude 02° north, by about 57° west, he 

 observed a body floating on the surface of the water, which was at first 

 mistaken by himself and his seamen for an inflated seal's skin, such as 

 the Esquimaux employ in the destruction of large aquatic animals, by 

 attaching a harpoon by which they are speared, and thus tiring them 

 out by its floating property. On a nearer approach, however, the object 

 which had excited their attention ]iroved to be a marine animal. The 

 "creature" was preserved by Captain Sawyer, who "obligingly aflbrded" 

 to Df. Harwood " an opportunity of examining it." 



" Its capture was occasioned by its being, when first observed, almost 

 worn out by unavailing eftbrts to gorge a tish of about seven inches in 

 circumference, with which it appeared to have been long contending, as 

 it exhibited very feeble signs of life. Its organs of motion being ex- 

 tremely small and its body greatly elongated, this creature would, on a 

 cursory view, be by all considered as an extraordinary kind of sea ser- 

 pent," in the opinion of Dr. Harwood. (P. 50.) 



" The total length of the specimen taken is 4 feet G inches. The en- 

 larged and extremely elastic pharynx communicates with the enormous 

 sac or air vessel, which extends in length from the extremity of the snout 

 abont 20 inches. The great delicacy of the parietes of this sac, and its 

 apparent liability to rupture from the action of the spirit, prevented my 

 inflating it to its full extent, but when partially tilled with air, it meas- 

 ured about 9 inches in circumference below its union with the tail, and 

 its greatest diameter, including the slender body to which it pertained, 

 was 4 inches. At about one inch below the last point of its attachment 

 with the body, the rectum was observed to perforate the sac, the tenuity 

 of which rendered the course of that intestine, as indeed that of all the 

 digestive organs, readily traced." (Pp. 52, 53.) 



"The skin all over the body of the Ophiognathus is particularly soft 

 and slimy, yet it has a slightly granulated appearance." (P. 55.) 



" The body exhibits no apparent lateral line." (P. 56.) No lateral 

 filaments were observed. 



" Perhaps the most curious structure which the creature presents to 

 our notice is connected with the head and jaws. The almost entire ab- 

 sence of a tongue^ might perhaps prove one of its characteristic distinc- 

 tions, were we as yet sufliciently acquainted with the condition of this 

 organ in those nearest allied to it. The teeth are disposed in a single 

 row above and below; above, they exist only along the margins of the 

 intermaxillary bones ; below, they extend almost the whole length of the 

 maxilla; but the ossa palati are entirely destitute of teeth. Lastly, 

 the jaw bones are so long, and their articulation is snch^ that their capa- 

 bility of expansion exceeds what I have seen in any other animal, the 

 rattlesnake not excepted; and as in snakes, when fully distended, the 

 edges of the jaws describe a large circle, and then appear but as the 

 hemming of an ample sack, the pharynx, which usuall}' occupies so 



