[ 1753. ] REPORTS AND PAPERS, 133 
taken in! But we must respect him that he did not rest before he 
knew the truth or the untruth of the fact, and that he also men- 
tions his inquiry. Though the Bishop may have been deceived, his 
endeavours to find out the truth enhance his trustworthiness. 
“That the flesh of these animals is soft, has been stated by some 
who tell of a small, and provably young sea-serpent which was 
taken unexpectedly on board a ship. It instantly died, and nobody 
dared to touch it, till the crew was forced at last to cast it over 
board, owing to the intolerable smell arismg from the soft and 
tough slime, in which it was dissolved by the action of the air. 
But this animal cannot have been a sea-serpent, for, as will be 
remembered, it is only seen in the calmest weather and sinks into 
the deep at the least motion in the air.” 
We agree with the Bishop, though for other reasons than he. 
After having related the two strandings of a sea-serpent (n°. 6, 7), 
PONTOPPIDAN goes on: 
“1 would that in such cases some one had inquired whether 
this serpent had a strong backbone, which seems to be necessary 
to keep together the mass of such a gigantic animal. The sharks, 
however, which are also cartilaginous fishes without bones, have 
such a backbone, but it is very subtile and even in the largest 
sharks only ten ells long. The sea-serpent, like sharks, eels and 
whales also seems to be a viviparous, not an oviparous fish, and 
most probably it seeks the other sex in the above mentioned season. 
It is said, that when this animal is ruttish, it looks after ships 
and boats, which it probably takes for something else. If this be 
true, as seamen say, those are wrong who think that the sea-ser- 
pent is not born in the sea, but on land, and lives in forests and 
among mountains, till it can no longer hide its body in it; it is 
said that it then seeks some river, and floats out to the sea, as 
some people pretend to have seen.” 
There is but one single reason why we think the sea-serpent is 
a viviparous being, viz. its hairy skin. It is certain that an animal 
with long hairs on its neck, has also hairs on its whole body, 
which has also been stated once already (n°. 8), and hairy animals 
are viviparous (except the Monotrymata). Most probably Ponrop- 
PiDAN called the sea-serpent viviparous for the same reason, other- 
wise I cannot find a single fact that would have led him to this 
conclusion. Its seeking the other sex cannot be a reason, for all 
animals do so in the warm season. I think that it looked after 
ships because it is a curious animal, knowing no fear of strange 
