2 54 SNAKES. 



to be associated with 'the gigantic gooseberry,' and such 

 seasonable wonders, because the door to investigation is thus 

 closed. It is also to be regretted that many hoaxes have 

 undeniably been committed to print, really to fill up news- 

 paper columns, and feed a love of the marvellous. Professor 

 Owen's words may well be repeated here, ' It is far harder to 

 establish a truth than to kill an untruth.' 



One more little matter is also to be seriousl}' deplored ; 

 and this is the unscientific habit of calling all these un- 

 familiar animals ' monsters,' a word signifying truly a 

 monstrosity, a creature with two heads, a beast with five or 

 six legs instead of four, or other such malformations. These 

 are truly monsters, and to use the term otherwise only 

 creates mistaken impressions. Inadvertently even scientific 

 men fall into this habit ; naturalists and well-known autho- 

 rities are seen in print to talk of these sea ' monsters,' but 

 who in the same page denounce exaggerated expressions. 



In Land and Water of September 8, 1877, several of our 

 distinguished naturalists contributed papers on the evidence 

 of the officers of the royal yacht Osborne, relative to a large 

 marine animal seen off Sicily on June 3 of that year. 

 Professor Owen also acceded to an earnest request to 

 add a few words on the subject, and it was noticeable 

 that more than once In his few pithy lines this eminent 

 authority delicately hinted at the mistake of calling animals 

 'monsters' without just reason for so doing: 'The pheno- 

 mena were not necessarily caused by a monster] he writes ; 

 * and the words . . . denote rather a cetacean than a monster! 

 Again, ' There are no grounds for calling it a morister! 



On the occasion referred to, the official reports of the 



