ON THE ORKNEY ANIMAf,. 43£ 



that the drawing is an exact resemblance of the 

 fish, as it appeared when he measured it ; and 

 corresponds in all particulars with the idea which 

 he entertains of the figure, dimensions, and pro- 

 portions of the fish : That the substance of the 

 body appeared like coarse, ill-coloured beef, inter- 

 larded with fat or tallow, without the least resem- 

 blance or affinity to fish ; but when put into a 

 lamp, and the lamp placed on the fire, it neither 

 flamed nor melted, but burned away like a grist- 

 ly substance : That he perceived no teeth in the 

 upper jaw ; the lower jaw and tongue being a- 

 wanting, and the palate also away : That the aper- 

 ture of the throat appeared to be so wide, that he 

 might have put his foot down through it : That 

 the joints of the limbs were not united by a ball 

 and socket, but were lapped over each other, and 

 united by some means which he does not com- 

 prehend : That there were two canals, one above, 

 and another below the back-bone, large enough to 

 admit one's finger, and extending from the verte- 

 brae- of the neck, to the extremity of the tail, con- 

 taining two ligaments, which, he supposed, ena- 

 bled the animal to raise itself up, or to bend its 

 body in a spiral form : That a tract of strong 

 easterly wind had prevailed, before the body was 

 discovered upon the shore, and that he saw the 

 body on two or three different occasions, after he 

 had measured it, and before it went to pieces. 

 And all this he declares to be truth, &c. 



(Signed) Geo. Sherar, 

 Ee4 



