THE ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



might be got together in proof of ghosts than of 

 the sea-serpent.''* 



Such was the explanation of the deposed facts 

 offered by the ablest of living physiologists. C om- 

 ing as it did from such a quarter, and supported 

 by so much intrinsic reason, it is not surprising, 

 that, although the romance was sadly shorn 

 away, most persons were willing to acquiesce in 

 the decision. 



Captain M'Quhae, however, promptly replied to 

 Professor Owen:— "I now assert, neither was it a 

 common seal, nor a sea-elephant; its great length, 

 and its totally differing physiognomy precluding 

 the possibility of its being a Phoca of any species. 

 The head was flat, and not a 'capacious vaulted 

 cranium;' nor had it 'a stiff inflexible trunk'— a 

 conclusion to which Professor Owen has jumped, 

 most certainly not justified by the simple state- 

 ment, that no 'portion of the sixty feet seen by us 

 was used in propelling it through the water, 

 either by vertical or horizontal undulation.' 



"It is also assumed that the 'calculation of its 

 length was made under a strong preconception of 

 the nature of the beast' ; another conclusion quite 

 the contrary to the fact. It was not until after 

 the great length was developed by its nearest 

 approach to the ship, and until after that most 

 important point had been duly considered and de- 

 bated, as well as such could be in the brief space of 

 time allowed for so doing, that it was pronounced 

 to be a serpent by all who saw it, and who are 

 too well accustomed to judge of lengths and 

 breadths of objects in the sea to mistake a real 

 substance and an actual living body, coolly and 

 dispassionately contemplated, at so short a dis- 

 tance too, for the 'eddy caused by the action of 

 * The Times of November 11, 1848. 

 312 



