98 
SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED. 
fossil remains are so abundant in the oolite and the lias. 
This view has also been^^taken by other writers, and empha- 
tically by Mr. Gosse. Neither he nor 
Mr. Newman insist that the "great 
unknown " must be the Plesiosanriis 
itself. Mr. Gosse says, " I should not 
look for any species, scarcely even 
any genus, to be perpetuated from 
the oolitic period to the present. Ad- 
mitting the actual continuation of 
the order Enaliosatiria, it would be, I 
think, quite in conformity with general 
analogy to find some salient features 
of several extinct forms." 
The form and habits of the recently- 
recognized gigantic cuttles account for 
so many appearances which, without 
knowledge of them, w^ere inexplicable 
when Mr. Gosse and Mr. Newman 
wrote, that I think this theory is not 
now forced upon us. Mr. Gosse well 
and clearly sums up the evidence as 
follows : " Carefully comparing the 
independent narratives of English 
witnesses of known character and 
position, most of them being officers 
under the crown, we have a creature 
possessing the following character- 
istics : 1st. The general form of a 
serpent. 2nd. Great length, say above 
sixty feet. 3rd. Head considered to 
resemble that of a serpent. 4th. Neck from twelve to 
sixteen inches in diameter. 5 th. Appendages on the head, 
FIG. 24. 
