CHAPTER XV. 



♦ THE GREAT SEA SERPENT' 



THE question of varieties and of constriction brings us to 

 * The Great Sea Serpent;' for, putting all the evidence 

 together, if the creature exist at all he must be a constrictor. 



I do not intend to trouble my readers with the detailed 

 history of this great unknown, for his literature would more 

 than exceed the limits of this whole volume. Those who 

 are sufficiently interested in him will find ample reading in 

 most of the encyclopedias, which again refer us to various 

 books in which he has figured from his first supposed 

 appearance in modern times. 



Ever and again, when a new * sea monster ' has been 

 reported, the newspapers take up the theme, and often give 

 a resume of its history, from Bishop Pontoppidan's down to 

 the most recent specimen. References to the most important 

 of the journalistic authorities usually accompany the more 

 detailed accounts ; but among them an excellent abridgement 

 of ' sea serpent ' literature, which appeared in the llliistyated 

 London Nezvs of October 1 848, is worth studying. Another of 

 interest was in the Echo of January 15, 1877. In Silliman's 



