3 8o SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED. 



The greatest length to which they are authentically known 

 to attain is about twelve feet. The form and structure of 

 these hydrophides are modified from those of land serpents, 

 to suit their aquatic habits. The tail is compressed ver- 

 tically, flattened from the sides, so as to form a fin like the 

 tail of an eel, by which they propel themselves ; but instead 

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

 blade of a paper-knife, or the scabbard of a cavalry sabre. 

 Like other lung-breathing animals which live in water, they 

 are also provided with a respiratory apparatus adapted to 

 their circumstances and requirements their nostrils, which 

 are very small, being furnished, like those of the seal, 

 manatee, &c., with a valve opening at will to admit air, and 

 closing perfectly to exclude water. 



Leaving these water-snakes of the tropics, we come, 

 next in order of date, upon some very remarkable evidence 

 that there was current amongst a community where we 

 should little expect to find it, the idea of a marine monster 

 corresponding in many respects with some of the descrip- 

 tions given several centuries later of the sea serpent. In 

 an interesting article on the Catacombs of Rome in the 

 Illustrated London News of February 3rd, 1872, allusion 

 is made by the author to the collection of sarcophagi or 

 coffins of the early Christians, removed from the Catacombs, 

 and preserved in the museum of the Lateran Palace, where 

 they were arranged by the late Padre Marchi for Pope 

 Pius IX. There are more than twenty of these, sculptured 

 with various designs the Father and the Son, Adam and 

 Eve and the Serpent, the Sacrifice of Abraham, Moses 

 striking the Rock, Daniel and the Lions, and other Scripture 

 themes. Amongst them also is Jonah and the "whale." 

 A facsimile of this sculpture (Fig. 12) is one of the illustra- 

 tions of the article referred to. It will be seen that Jonah 



