Sept 5, 1878] 



NATURE 



489 



The Sea-Serpent Explained 



On Monday, August 5, a number of geologists crossed in the 

 Folkestone boat to Boulogne, to study the interesting formations 

 of that neighbourhood, and, when about three or four miles 

 from the French coast, one of these gentlemen suddenly ex- 

 claimed, " Look at that extraordinary object passing across the 

 bow of the steamer, about a mile or a mile and a-half in advance 

 of us ! " On turning in this direction there was seen an immense 

 serpent, apparently about a furlong in length, rushing furiously 

 along at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles an hour ; it was 

 blackish in front and paler behind ; its elongated body was 

 fairly on the surface of the water, and it progressed with an 

 undulating or quivering motion : mirum erat spedaculum sane. 



Of course many suppositions were immediately started to 

 account for this extraordinary phenomenon, but they quickly 

 changed and settled into the fixed idea that the object before 

 them could be nothing less than the great sea-serpent himself ; 

 for, — 



"Prone on the flood, extended long and large. 

 Lay floating, many a rood, in bulk as huge 

 As whom the fables name of monstrous size. 

 Leviathan ; which, God of all his works 

 Created hugest, that swim the ocean stream." 



The writer fortunately had with him one of Baker's best opera- 

 glasses, and, after a few moments' use of this little instrument, 

 the wonder was satisfactorily resolved. The first half of the 

 monster was dark and glittering and the remainder of fainter 

 hue, gradually fading towards the tail. The glass did not de- 

 termine the matter until the extreme end was reached, and then 

 it was seen to consist of a mass of birds in rapid motion ; those 

 that were strong on the wing were able to keep well up with 

 the leaders, and so make the head appear thicker and darker 

 by their numbers, whilst those that had not such power of flight 

 were compelled to settle -into places nearer and nearer the tail. 

 Doubtless these birds were shags {Pelicanus cristatiis) returning to 

 their homes for the night from the distant waters in which they 

 had been fishing, during the day ; perchance it may be wrong 

 to assert positively as to the variety of bird, but inasmuch as the 

 writer has often seen shags on the Cornish coast in smaller 

 numbers returning in single or double file to their roosting 

 places, and since it is stated in works of natural history that they 

 have been noticed occasionally flying in this peculiar manner to the 

 number of a thousand or more, it does not appear an unwar- 

 ranted liberty in supposing that they really were Pelicani ctistati. 



It is to be feared some of the geological gentlemen still 

 doubt the interpretation of the lorgnette, preferring ^the fond 

 deceit of a large and imknown serpent ; but as in this case indi- 

 vidual birds (scores of them) were distinctly seen flapping 

 their wings, the writer has thought it his duty to report .the 

 circumstance to you that your readers who voyage across the 

 seas may keep their opera-glasses in their pockets and verify for 

 themselves, on the first opportunity, this interpretation of the 

 great sea-serpent. JOSEPH Drew 



4, Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, Kent ; 



Parental Affection in Sparrows 



I SAW a touching little incident showing the affection of 

 sparrows for their young on the Kennington Oval cricket-ground 

 last Thursday afternoon, a description of which you may, per- 

 haps, think it worth while to record. 



The afternoon was fine and the ground was surrounded by a 

 dense ring of spectators, when a young pale-coloured sparrow, 

 under the guidance of both its parents, was trying to acquire the 

 use of its wings. A slight wind was blowing towards the spec- 

 tators, and the poor little bird, in its weak attempt to fly, was, 

 to the evident consternation of its parents, carried straight into 

 the laps of the inner ring of spectators, one of whom caught it 

 gently in his hand and held it. 



When taken hold of the young bird gave two or three chirps 

 or caJls for help, and the old birds flew to within a few feet of 

 the ring of spectators, and, alighting on the grass in front of 

 them all, began to "beg" for the young bird in the most 

 touching and beseeching noanner. This they did by lowering 

 their heads and making the peculiar flutter of the wings by which 

 young birds beg for food from the old ones. This singularly 

 touching appeal moved the hearts of many in the crowd, who 

 called out — " Look ! look at the old birds ! "— " Don't hurt the 

 young bird ! " — " Give it back to them," &c. The anxiety and 

 the boldness of the old birds and their bumble beseechincr for 



the young was so evident as to come home to the hearts of these 

 somcM'hat rough spectators. 



My own feeling certainly was that I could not have believed 

 that a pair of sparrows could possibly have "begged "with 

 such touching humility and tenderness for the safety of the 

 y-oung bird. Their manner clearly displayed their sense of their 

 own want of power to help the object of their affection, they 

 therefore prayed for mercy in their own way, and with so much 

 feeling, as to excite the full sympathy of the crowd looking on, 

 and to make them, for the time, forget the game of cricket they 

 had come there to see. C. R. 



Bristol, August 17 



I PHYSICS IN PHOTOGRAPHY 



j TN taking a retrospective glance at the remarkable 

 ■*• phenomena exhibited in photography, an endeavour 

 ' will be made to explain them as far as possible by the light 

 I that may be thrown upon them by modem research, and at 

 ! the same time to suggest extensions which probably may 

 be given to this branch of science by further investiga- 

 ! tions. We may perhaps be open to rebuke from some 

 for venturing to call photography a science ; but surely 

 as long as there are problems in it to be solved which 

 require direct scientific solution, and which perhaps in- 

 directly lead to the research in other directions, so long, 

 at least, must it be something beyond a mere industrial 

 pursuit. It is not the fashion to deny to electricity the 

 honourable distinction of being a science, although it has 

 become an industry in its application to telegraphy ; why, 

 therefore, it should be considered correct to consider the 

 study of the chemical action of light upon compounds as 

 something to be remitted to the intellect of those who are 

 merely interested in it commercially, it is difficult to 

 understand. It would surely be much better that men of 

 science who employ photography in their laboratories 

 and observatories,' should endeavour J to understand the 

 science of attack with the weapon they are using, instead 

 of regarding it as a simply mechanical agency, which is 

 only worthy of the attention of, perhaps, a half-educated, 

 assistant. If our men of science who employ both 

 were to be as ignorant of the principles of electricity 

 as they too often are of those of photography, research 

 would be very much restricted in its results ; and it may, 

 it is believed, be said with truth that a familiarity with 

 even the first principles of photography would very much 

 extend it. We may remark, by the way, that to instil a 

 love of science into youth, an education in photography 

 would seem to be of great value, as experiments can be 

 made Avhich have a real meaning to the experimenter, 

 and which, by allowing an almost endless variation, 

 offer an unlimited field for the exercise of the reasoning 

 faculties. A study of photography, in short, must 

 encourage the study of chemical and physical sciences, 

 if a distinction may be made between the two. 



Photography must undoubtedly be divided into two- 

 distinct branches : the direct production of the visible 

 image by light itself, and the development of the invisible 

 image by chemical means. The recognition of the former 

 we owe to Wedgwood, and of the latter to Daguerre. 

 The discovery of the former is much less remarkable than 

 of the latter, since, without any particular research, a dis- 

 coloration of a compound by light must have been noticed, 

 whereas the development of an invisible image would have 

 been a matter of theoretical reasoning, unless accident 

 showed its feasibility. We know that the development 

 of Daguerrean images was discovered accidentally by 

 Daguerre, and we also know that the development of 

 the image on paper was discovered accidentally by Reade. 

 Without two such wonderful strokes of good fortune the 

 growth of photography might have been retarded for 

 years. The years which succeeded the discovery of the 

 developable image were productive of research into many 

 of the phenomena exhibited by the action of light on 

 sensitive compounds, and, owing to the great intellects 



