600 



Crtalurg nf Natural 



other figure represents the half of the same 

 animal divested of its spines, to show the 

 bases of their attachment. [See ECHINUS 



and ECHINODERMATA.] 



SEA-HORSE. [See HIPPOCAMPUS.] 

 SEA-OWL. [See LUMP-FISH.] 



SEA-PIE. One of the names of the Oys- 

 ter-Catcher (Hcematopus ostralegus.) [See 

 OVSTER-CATCHER.] 



SEA-SERPENT, [or the KRAKEN.] The 

 appearance of this fabulous monster is thus 

 accounted for by Mr. A. Adams : " In the 

 Sooloo seas I have often witnessed the phe- 

 nomenon which first gave origin to the mar- 

 vellous stories of the great Sea-serpent, 

 namely, lines of rolling porpoises, resembling 

 a long string of buoys, oftentimes extending 

 seventy, eighty, or a hundred yards. These 

 constitute the so-named protuberances of 

 the monster's back, keep in close single file, 

 progressing rapidly along the calm surface 

 of the water, by a succession of leaps or 

 demi-vaults forwards, part only of their 

 uncouth forms appearing to the eye. At 

 the same moment of time, I have seen beau- 

 tifully-banded Water-snakes, of the thick- 

 ness of a man's leg, lying extended supinely 

 along the glassy surfaoe, or diving and swim- 

 ming gracefully, with slow undulating la- 

 teral movements of their vertically-com- 

 pressed bodies." 



Shortly after the appearance of the first 

 edition of " The Treasury of Natural His- 

 tory," the public were equally surprised and 

 amused with a marvellous account of a ma- 

 rine monster which, on the authority of Capt. 

 M'Quhae of Her Majesty's ship Daedalus, was 

 called a Sea Serpent, and asserted to have 

 been seen by him and part of his crew while 

 sailing in lat. 24 44' S., long. 9 2(X E. Had 

 the said account appeared before the publica- 

 tion of our work we should have treated its 

 existence as doubtful (although vouched for 

 by a captain of the royal navy in a letter to 

 the admiralty), no record of any thing like it 

 being to be found in the works of zoologists, 

 nor any fragment of such a skeleton having 

 ever been seen in any part of the world. 

 Capt. M'Quhae's Sea Serpent, however, made 

 some considerable stir in the newspaper 



world; at length Professor Owen thought 

 to publish a long letter in " The 

 " of Nov. 14, containing a dissertation 

 on the subject, giving his reasons for presum- 

 ing that the animal was a species of seal, 

 and grounding his disbelief as to its reality 

 on various well-established zoological prin- 

 ciples (but too long for quotation here), and 

 concluding as follows : " I regard the nega- 

 tive evidence from the utter absence of any 

 of the recent remains of great sea serpents, 

 krakens, or Enaliosauria, as stronger against 

 their actual existence than the positive state- 

 ments which have hitherto weighed with the 



Cblic mind in favour of their existence. A 

 ger body of evidence from eye-witnesses 

 might be got together in proof of ghosts than 

 of the sea serpent." 



It is right, indeed, to mention that in our 

 volume entitled " The Scientific and Literary 

 Treasury" (first published in 1840) we showed 



that we had paid due attention to reports of 

 a similar nature, as will be seen from the 

 following notice we therein took of the " SEA 

 SERPENT. At various times within the last 

 quarter of a century the public have been 

 entertained with marvellous stories respect- 

 ing an enormous marine animal seen on the 

 coasts of America, of a size and length vary- 

 ing according to the opinions of those who 

 assert that they have witnessed it, some de- 

 claring it 100 feet long, while others describe 

 it as nearly as many yards. All accounts, 

 however, agree in regard to the protube- 

 rances on its back, its vertebral sinuosities, 

 and its serpent-shaped head. As there is no 

 absolute reliance to be placed on any of the 

 descriptions of this marine monster, we think 

 it merely necessary thus to notice it; and 

 we beg to refer our readers to the article 

 KRAKEN in this volume." 



SEA-SNIPE. [See TRUMPET-FISH.] 



SEA-SWALLOW. A species of Tern 

 [which see]. 



SEA-UNICORN. [See NARWHAL.] 



SEAL. (PAoca.) The family Phocidce, 

 or Seal tribe, are, of all four-limbed Main- 

 miferous animals, those which display the 

 most complete adaptation to residence in 

 the water. The Seal (PAoca vitulina) re- 

 sembles a quadruped in some respects, and 

 a fish in others. The head is round, and 

 the nose, which is broad, resembles that of a 

 dog, with the same look of intelligence and 

 mild and expressive physiognomy. It has 

 large whiskers, oblong nostrils, and great 

 black sparkling eyes. It has no external 

 ears, but a valve exists in the orifices, which 

 can be closed at will, so as to keep out the 

 water ; the nostrils have a similar valve ; 

 and the clothing of the body consists of stiff 

 glossy hairs, very closely set against the 

 skin. The body is elongated and conical, 

 gradually tapering from the shoulders to 

 the tail. The spine is provided with strong 

 muscles, which bend it with considerable 

 force ; and this movement is of great assist- 

 ance to the propulsion of the body. Al- 

 though in most of the foregoing particulars 

 the Seal resembles the quadruped kind, it 

 greatly differs from all ot them with respect 



SKELETON O 



to its feet ; for, though furnished with the 

 same number of bones as in quadrupeds, 

 they are united to the body in such a sin- 

 gular manner, and so covered with a mem- 

 brane, that they would rather resemble fins 

 than feet, did not the sharp strong claws 

 with which they are pointed show their pro- 



