54 
SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED. 
The greatest length to which they are authentically known 
to attain is about twelve feet. The form and structure of 
these hydrophides are modified from those of land serpents, 
to suit their aquatic habits. The tail is compressed ver- 
tically, flattened from the sides, so as to form a fin like the 
tail of an eel, by which they propel themselves ; but instead 
of tapering to a point, it is rounded off at the end, like the 
blade of a paper-knife, or the scabbard of a cavalry sabre. 
Like other lung-breathing animals which live in water, they 
are also provided with a respiratory apparatus adapted to 
their circumstances and requirements — their nostrils, which 
are very small, being furnished, like those of the seal, 
manatee, &c., with a valve opening at will to admit air, and 
closing perfectly to exclude water. 
Leaving these water-snakes of the tropics, w^e come, 
next in order of date, upon some very remarkable evidence 
that there was current amongst a community where we 
should little expect to find it, the idea of a marine monster 
corresponding in many respects with some of the descrip- 
tions given several centuries later of the sea-serpent. In 
an interesting article on the Catacombs of Rome in the 
Illustrated London News of February 3rd, 1872, allusion 
is made by the author to the collection of sarcophagi or 
coffins of the early Christians, removed from the Catacombs, 
and preserved in the museum of the Lateran Palace, where 
they were arranged by the late Padre Marchi for Pope 
Pius IX. There are more than twenty of these, sculptured 
with various designs — the Father and the Son, Adam and 
Eve and the Serpent, the Sacrifice of Abraham, Moses 
striking the Rock, Daniel and the Lions, and other Scripture 
themes. Amongst them also is Jonah and the "whale." 
A facsimile of this sculpture (Fig. 11) is one of the illustra- 
tions of the article referred to. It will be seen that Jonah 
