ON/ THE ORKNEY ANIMAL 



from nothing else than the sight of a Squalus or a 

 Squalus maximus, Mr Home is certainly entitled 

 to the credit of having discovered, if not a new 

 species of fish, at least a new and remarkable va- 

 riety of the human species, inhabiting the Ork- 

 neys. 



Our own opinion is, that the facts before us 

 lead to nothing precise and determinate as to the 

 species or genus of the animal ; and that if the 

 characters of genus and species be to rest on such 

 vague and conjectural evidence, as that which 

 proves this animal a Squalus, we* may as soon get 

 acquainted with nature through the dreams of 

 cosmogony, or the tales of a tub, as through the 

 observations of natural history, 



Outlines of the two animals which Mr Home 

 has considered as of the same species, are given 

 in Plate XL The outline, however, of the animal 

 of Stronsa, we can easily suppose, is not very aecu-* 

 rate ; though, accurate or not, it must have had 

 some general resemblance to the original, as it re- 

 called the appearance of the animal to the recol- 

 lection- of those who had seen it. 



The story of Pontoppidan's Snake, the account 

 of this animal of Stronsa, and what is related of 

 another animal seen near the coast of Coll, by the 



