[1819. | REPORTS AND PAPERS. papa | 
ever, from the detailed accounts of the circumstance which are 
preserved among the papers of sir Joseph Banks, the principal 
facts appear to be these.” 
And at p. 413: 
“The repeated accounts of the serpent’s appearance having attracted 
the attention of the Linnaean Society at Boston, one of its members 
was deputed to visit the spot and to examine into the truth of 
them. This was accordingly done; and the above is the general 
substance of the various depositions sworn to before General Hum- 
phreys. This gentleman, who was a corresponding member of the 
Society, despatched to Sir Joseph Banks copies of the whole of 
these, which are still preserved in his library. Sir Joseph entered 
with warmth into this curious investigation; and the minuteness, 
with which every particular was supplied, showed how greatly he 
felt interested in the question.” 
In Nov. 4, 1826, Dr. Francis Boort wrote a letter to Dr. 
Hooker, a part of which was published in the Hdinburgh Journal 
of Science, Vol. VI, 1827. Dr. Boorr, after some general remarks, 
goes on to express himself in the following terms: 
“All that I could collect upon the subject was sent to Sir Joseph 
Banks, with whom I had repeated conversations about the animal, 
and the respectability of the individuais who affirmed to the sight 
of him. The great mass of evidence is to be found in the pamphlet 
published by the Limnaean Society of New England. The question 
as to the real appearance of a large serpent off the coast of Mas- 
sachusetts, was put to rest by that publication. There could be no 
doubt of the fact, and the testimony of thousands who saw the 
animal for one or two years afterwards, must have been sufficient 
to satisfy the most incredulous.” 
“I believe 1 was one of the first who mentioned to Sir Joseph 
Banks, that a large serpent had been seen on the American coast; 
at all events, I distinctly remember that when I first spoke to 
him on the subject, he was incredulous, and showed me a Plate 
of a similar animal in Pontoppidan’s History of Norway. 1 myself 
had no doubt of the truth of the assertions of the early observers 
of it, for many of them were known to me, and | was anxious 
to convince Sir Joseph of the discovery of a new and remarkable 
animal. I therefore was in the habit of sending him every infor- 
mation I could collect respecting it. In one of my last visits to 
Boston, | gathered testimony from individuals, and from the public 
papers, and was happy to find on my return to Europe, that Sir 
