THE SEA SERPE}^T QUESTION REVIVED. 107 



among the latter, it has been suggested that the sea serpent may represent, 

 in a modified form, some one of the immense marine lizards of the secondary 

 geological formations, such as the plesiosaurus, which disappeared in the 

 tertiary age and may have reappeared now, in similar manner as did the 

 chimsera perco/)sf5, of Lake Superior, and the soft-shelled tortoise (tryonych- 

 idce) of the same geological epoch. It is also argued that the absence of 

 fossil or other remains is not to be regarded as very strong proof of the non- 

 existence of sea serpents, since the remains of many animals which are 

 much more frequently seen, such as seals and whales, are rarely found, 

 which is a very natural circumstance considering the element in which they 

 live and in the depths of which their dead bodies might readily be con- 

 cealed forever. The conclusion of the best naturalists is that the existence 

 of the sea sei-pent is possible, a verity which will yet come under scientific 

 examination, and that it may prove to be some modified type of the second- 

 ary marine lizards. As the ichthyosaurus was replaced by the whale-like 

 cetaceans, so the plesiosaurus may have been by the zeuglodont cetaceans, 

 of which the sea serpent may prove to be a more or less modified form. 

 This theory also finds some support in the fact that while all the so-called 

 sea serpents are represented by their delineators as moving by vertical un- 

 dulations, which is, from the structure of their vertebrae, impossible with 

 serpents, the plesiosaurus, from its peculiar formation and vertebral struc- 

 ture, was enabled to perform this motion while swimming along, as well as in 

 thrusting its head beneath the waves in searching for its food or raising it 

 high above them in looking for aerial prey. 



Some writers believe that the leviathan of the Scriptures is an analogue 

 of the sea serpent, and quote Job as aptly describing a marine animal with 

 formidable teeth, compactly fitted scales, invulnerable to the slings and 

 spears of those days, fiercely flashing eyes, phosphorescent in appearance 

 and carnivorous in its habits. 



Ancient writers, as Palladius and Solinus, allude to a huge serpent, Odon- 

 totyrannus, which could swallow an elephant without masticating it. Pliny 

 also describes a similar monster as inhabiting the waters of the Ganges. 



Pontpoppidan, Bishop of Bergen, in his l^atural History of Norway,. 

 1752, states that if any one doubted the existence of the great sea serpent, 

 along the coast of Norway, he was regarded by the natives as a jester, who 

 might as well question the existence of the eel or any common reptile. He 

 also illustrates his book with an engraving showing an immense reptile, 

 whose length seems to be more than thrice that of the vessel, whose head 

 is projected above the water to half the height of the mast, and from whose 

 mouth volumes of water are being spouted. Large wing-like fins are at- 

 tached to the breast of the monster, which is covered with compact scales 

 from head to tail. 



Capt. Laurent de Ferry, in 1746, saw one of these monsters, near the 

 port of Malde, wjiich he says was of a gray color, with brown mouth, black 

 eyes, and a long mane floating about its neck. Its head resembled that of a 



