796 



SEA-SERPENTS. 



as to the existence or non-existence of enor- 

 mous sea-serpents. Sea-snakes, true marine 

 ophidians, are more common in tropical seas 

 than is generally supposed. They are found 

 most abundantly in the Indian Ocean, but have 

 an extensive geographical range, and between 

 forty and fifty species are known. They are all 

 highly poisonous, and some are so ferocious 

 that they more frequently attack than avoid 

 man. The greatest length to which they are 

 known to attain is twelve feet. To suit their 

 aquatic habits, their form and structure differ 

 from those of land-serpents. The tail is com- 

 pressed vertically, flattened from the sides, so 

 as to form fins, like the tails of eels, by which 

 they propel themselves ; but, instead of taper- 

 ing to a point, it is rounded off at the end, like 

 the scabbard of a cavalry-saber. Like other 

 lung-breathing animals that live in water, they 

 are also provided with a respiratory apparatus 

 adapted to the circumstances and requirements 

 of their lives; their nostrils, which are very 

 small, being furnished, like those of the seal, 

 manatee, etc., with a valve. 



But when we speak of the great sea-serpents 

 that from time to time have appeared to won- 

 dering men, we mean animals different from 

 these sea-snakes. Such were the marine mon- 

 sters that, during the summer months of 1886, 



JONAH AND THE WHALE. 



visited various portions of the eastern coast of 

 North America, of whose previous appear- 

 ance in various portions of the globe we find 

 numerous records. In the museum of the Lat- 

 eran Palace in Rome is a collection of coffins 

 of early Christians, found in the Catacombs, 

 sculptured with Scriptural designs, one of which 

 represents the adventure of Jonah and the 

 " whale." In this representation, Jonah is be- 

 ing swallowed feet foremost (or possibly being 

 ejected, head first) by an enormous sea-mon- 

 ster, which has the chest and forelegs of a horse, 

 a long, arching neck with a mane at its base 

 near the shoulders, a head like nothing known 

 to-day in nature, but having hair upon and 

 beneath the cheeks, while the hinder portion 

 of its body is that of a serpent 

 of prodigious length. Experts 

 have placed the date of this 



sculpture at about 230 A. D. 



Coming to more recent times, 

 we find numerous traditions 

 about the sea-serpent among 

 the Scandinavian nations. OlausMagnus, Arch- 

 bishop of Upsala, who wrote in 1555, gave, in 

 his amusing and instructive history, an account 

 of several marine monsters, one of which is 

 represented in the accompanying picture. 



The Rev. Hans Egede, who has been called 

 " The Apostle to Greenland," in his journal of 

 a voyage thither, notes the appearance of a 

 marine monster that was sketched by one of 

 his fellow-voyagers, Mr. Bing. 



SEA-SERPENT, AFTER OLAUS MAGNUS. 



Of this monster Mr. Egede says : " On the 

 6th of July, 1734, there appeared a very large 

 and frightful sea-monster, which raised itself 

 so high out of the water that its head reached 

 above our maintop. It had a long, sharp snout, 

 and spouted water like a whale, and very 



MONSTER DESCRIBED BY EGEDE. 



broad flappers. The body seemed to be cov- 

 ered with scales, and the skin to be wrinkled 

 and uneven, and the lower part was formed 

 like a snake. After some time the creature 

 plunged backward into the water, and then 

 turned its tail up above the surface a whole 

 ship's-length from its head." 



PANTOPPIDAN'S SEA-SERPENT. 



Bishop Pantoppidan, of Bergen, Norway, 

 was the author of a natural history in which 

 appears the picture of a sea-serpent whose 

 length was said to be about 600 feet, whose 

 diameter was' that of two hogsheads, and 



