The Mythology of Fishes 153 
It is often hard to account for some of the stories of the sea- 
serpent. A gentleman of unquestioned intelligence and sincer- 
ity lately dercribed to the writer a sea-serpent he had seen at 
short range, 100 feet long, swimming at the surface, and with 
a head as large as a barrel. I do not know what he saw, but I 
do know that memory sometimes plays strange freaks. 
Little venomous snakes with flattened tails (Platyurus, 
Pelamis) are found in the salt bays in many tropical regions of 
the Pacifie (Gulf of California, Panama, East Indies, Japan), 
but these are not the conventional sea-serpents. 
Certain slender fishes, as the thread-eel (Nemichthys) and 
the wolf-eel (Anarrhichthys), have been brought to naturalists 
as young sea-serpents, but these of course are genuine fishes. 
Whatever the nature of the sea-serpent may be, this much 
is certain, that while many may be seen, none will ever be 
caught. The great swimming reptiles of the sea vanished at 
the end of Mesozoic time, and as living creatures will never be 
known of man. 
As a record of the Mythology of Science, we may add the 
following remarks of Rafinesque on the imaginary garpike 
(Litholepis adamantinus), of which a specimen was painted for 
him by the wonderful brush of Audubon: 
“This fish may be reckoned the wonder of the Ohio. It is 
only found as far up as the falls, and probably lives also in the 
Mississippi. I have seen it, but only at a distance, and have 
been shown some of its singular scales. Wonderful stories are 
related concerning this fish, but I have principally relied upon 
the description and picture given me by Mr. Audubon. Its 
length is from 4 to 10 feet. One was caught which weighed 
400 pounds. It lies sometimes asleep or motionless on the 
surface of the water, and may be mistaken for a log or snag. It 
is impossible to take it in any other way than with the seine 
or a very strong hook; the prongs of the gig cannot pierce the 
scales, which are as hard as flint, and even proof against lead 
balls! Its flesh is not good to eat. It is a voracious fish. Its 
vulgar names are diamond-fish (owing to its scales being cut 
like diamonds), devil-fish, jackfish, garjack, etc. The snout 
is large, convex above, very obtuse, the eyes small and black; 
nostrils small, round before the eyes; mouth beneath the eyes, 
