THE GREAT SEA SERPENT, 379 



fortified towns. According to the historian, the annoyance 

 caused by it to the army did not cease with its death, for 

 the water was polluted with its gore, and the air with the 

 noxious fumes from its corrupted carcase, to such a degree 

 that the Romans were obliged to remove their camp. They, 

 however secured the animal's skin and skull, which were pre- 

 served in a temple at Rome till the time of the Numantine 

 war. This combat has been described, to the same effect, 

 by Florus (lib. ii.), Seneca (litt. 82), Silvius Italicus (1. vi.), 

 Aulus Gellius (lib. vi., cap. 3), Orosius, Zonaras, &c., and is 

 referred to by Pliny (lib. viii., cap. 14) as an incident known 

 to every one. Diodorus Siculus also tells of a great serpent, 

 sixty feet long, which lived chiefly in the water, but landed 

 at frequent intervals to devour the cattle in its neighbour- 

 hood. A party was 'collected to capture it ; but their first 

 attempt failed, and the monster killed twenty of them. It 

 was afterwards taken in a strong net, carried alive to 

 Alexandria, and presented to King Ptolemy II., the founder 

 of the Alexandrian Library and Museum, who was a great 

 collector of zoological and other curiosities. This snake 

 was probably one of the great boas. 



The " Serpens marinus " is figured and referred to by 

 many other writers, but as they evidently allude to the 

 Conger and the Murena, we will pass over their descrip- 

 tions. 



The sea serpents mentioned by Aristotle, Pliny, and 

 Diodorus were, doubtless, real sea-snakes, true marine 

 ophidians, which are more common in tropical seas than is 

 generally supposed. They are found most abundantly in 

 the Indian Ocean ; but they have an extensive geographical 

 range, and between forty and fifty species of them are 

 known. They are all highly poisonous, and some are so 

 ferocious that they more frequently attack than avoid man. 



