WOULD-BE SEA-SERPENTS. 73 
dried and shrivelled head of the animal of Stronsa, measures only 
twelve inches from the first vertebra to the farthest part that re- 
mains of the jaw.” 
“The diameter of the head of the squalus maximus, from night 
to left, at the angle of the mouth, was, according to Mr. Home, 
five feet. The broadest part of the head of the animal of Stronsa 
is, in its present state, only seven inches.” 
“The diameter of the larger vertebrae, near the head, in the 
squalus, was, according to Mr. Home, seven inches. The first 
cervical vertebra in the animal of Stronsa, is still adhering to the’ 
head, and is only two inches in diameter.” 
“Yet some of the vertebrae of this animal, which are still pre- 
served, are six inches and a half in diameter; and the first vertebrae 
which I saw, were from four to five and a half inches across.” 
“The smallness of the cervical vertebrae, in the animal of Stronsa, 
confirms the account of those who saw it, that the animal had a 
neck. But the Squalus maximus, if Mr. Home's figure be accurate, 
had nothing resembling a neck. And, mdeed, Artedi observes, 
that “omnes pisces qui pulmonibus destituuntur, collo quoque ca- 
rent: Ergo soli pisces cetacei collum habent.” The presence of a 
neck, therefore, as peculiar to cetaceous fishes, confirms likewise 
the account of the spiracula or ear-holes, ascribed to this animal 
of Stronsa.” 
“The length of Mr. Home’s squalus was thirty feet six inches. 
The length of the animal of Stronsa, by actual measurement was 
fifty five feet, or, exclusive of the head, fifty four; and yet a part 
of the tail was supposed to be wanting. The circumference of the 
animal of Stronsa was, by actual measurement, about ten feet, 
meant, | suppose, at the thickest part. If the animal had been 
cylindrical at that part, the diameter from the dorsal to the sternal 
aspect must have been about three feet four inches. The diameter of 
the squalus at the thickest part, measuring from the dorsal to the 
sternal aspect, is nearly six feet; its circumference, had it been 
cylindrical nearly eighteen feet.” 
“The animal of Stronsa had a mane, extending from the shoulder 
to near the caudal extremity (i. e. about thirty nine feet), after 
deducting the length of the head and neck, which, when together 
were sixteen feet. I have still a specimen of that mane, which | 
got from Mr. Urquhart; and all the specimens which were brought 
here, confirm the accounts that were sent of it from the Orkneys. 
The bristles of that mane are not like the radii of a fin, nor, 
