CONCLUSIONS. aay 
5. PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERS. 
a. Nutritory functions. 
1. Hating, Food. — Its eating cuttles, lobsters and all kind of 
sea-crabs (p. 105), may be true. With the greatest certainty it may 
be said to feed on fish. We have found the following notices which 
decide this: “He often disappeared and was gone five or ten mi- 
nutes under water; evidently he was diving or fishing for his food. 
He remained in nearly the same situation and thus employed for 
two hours. All kind of fish abound in the cove where the animal 
was seen’ (35). “It sometimes darted under water with the great- 
est velocity, as if seizing prey” (69), which in this instance surely 
was fish. “Large shoals of small fish were rushing landwards in 
great commotion, leaping from the water, crowding on each other, 
and showing all the symptoms of flight from the pursuit of some 
wicked enemy’ (133), and suddenly a sea-serpent appeared. “There 
was an unusual abundance of fish close in shore’ (150), a sea- 
serpent soon made its appearance. 
Not only does the animal prey on fish, but, by way of change, 
also on sea-mammals. When on Behring’s Isle Mr. Krruxor tells 
us that “the sea-lions were so terrified at the sight of the monster, 
that some rushed into the water, and others hid themselves on the 
shore. The sea often throws up pieces of the flesh, which, accord- 
ing to the Aleutians is that of this serpent’ (36). Evidently such 
pieces of flesh are washed aland only when a sea-serpent had made 
its appearance, otherwise there would be no reason to ascribe such 
pieces of flesh to sea-serpents. Sea-reptiles don’t exist in those 
regions; it is highly improbable that the pieces of flesh were of 
sea-birds; they are not of. fishes, as in that case they would not 
have been called flesh, consequently they are of sea-mammals. Of 
what kind of sea-mammals these pieces of flesh were, is not the 
question now, but I am sure that the sea-lions would not be so 
terrified, if they did not know the sea-serpent to be a terrible 
enemy. 
There is moreover no doubt, that sea-serpents sometimes prey 
on the smaller kind of whales, as dolphins, porpoises, grampuses , 
&c. It sometimes appears suddenly amidst a shoal of these animals: 
“It was surrounded by porpoises and grampuses’” (56); “There 
was an immense shoal of grampuses, which appeared in an unusual 
state of excitement’, no doubt because they were pursued by a 
