THE GREAT SEA SERPENT. 433 



some feet in length, and having fin-like tails adapted for 

 swimming, abound over an extensive geographical range, 

 and are frequently met with far at sea, I cannot regard it 

 as impossible that some of these also may attain to an 

 abnormal and colossal development. Dr. Andrew Wilson, 

 who has given much attention to this subject, is of the 

 opinion that " in this huge development of ordinary forms 

 we discover the true and natural law of the production of 

 the giant serpent of the sea. It goes far, at any rate, 

 towards accounting for its supposed appearance. I am 

 convinced, however, that, whilst naturalists have been 

 searching amongst the vertebrata for a solution of the 

 problem, the great unknown, and therefore unrecognized 

 calamaries by their elongated, cylindrical bodies and 

 peculiar mode of swimming, have played the part of the 

 sea serpent in many a well-authenticated incident. In other 

 cases, such as some of those mentioned by Pontoppidan, 

 the supposed " vertical undulations " of the snake seen out 

 of water have been the burly bodies of so many porpoises 

 swimming in line the connecting undulations beneath the 

 surface have been supplied by the imagination. The dorsal 

 fins of basking sharks, as figured by Mr. Buckland, or of 

 ribbon-fishes, as suggested by Dr. Andrew Wilson to 

 account for the appearance seen from the Osborne, may 

 have furnished a " ridge of fins ; " an enormous conger is 

 not an impossibility ; a giant turtle may have done duty, 

 with its propelling flippers and broad back ; or a marine 

 snake of enormous size may, really, have been seen. But 

 if we accept as accurate the observations recorded (which I 

 certainly do not in all cases, for they are full of errors and 

 mistakes), the difficulty is not entirely met, even by this 

 last admission, for the instances are very few in which a 

 ophidian proper a true serpent is indicated. There has 



VOL. III. H. 2 F 



