744 
OAK PUCERONS. 
for which reason, ship, boat, and bark masters provide themseives 
with quantities of that drug, to prevent being overset; the serpent’s 
olfactory nerves being remarkably exquisite. The particularities 
related of this animal would be incredible, were they not attested 
upon oath. 
Egede, a very reputable author, says, that on the sixth day of July, 
1734, a large and frightful sea-monster raised itself so high out of 
the water, that its head reached above the main-top-mast of the ship; 
that it had a long sharp snout, broad paws, and spouted water like a 
whale; that the body seemed to be covered with scales; the skin 
was uneven and wrinkled, and the low'er part was formed like a snake. 
The body of this monster is said to be as thick as a hogshead ; his 
skin is variegated like a tortoise-shell ; and his excrement, which 
floated upon the surface of the w'ater, is corrosive.” 
Notw ithstanding the belief of Guthrie, and the testimony which he 
produces, many have doubted the existence of the sea-serpent. Its 
bulk is said to be so disproportionate to all the known animals of our 
globe, that it requires more than ordinary evidence to render it 
credible; while the evidence oftered is so very feeble and unsatisfac- 
tory, that no man of sound judgment would think it sufficient to 
establish the truth of an extraordinary fact. 
But although former accounts of the sea-serpent have been discre- 
dited, of late years the attestations of modern voyagers have in some 
measure revived the belief of its existence. In 1819 one of these 
monsters, of incredible dimensions, w^as said to have been seen by 
many persons in the Norwegian seas. That of which the following 
cut gives some representation, was seen by several witnesses off the 
coast of America in 1826. 
Since the above period, other accounts have been circulated respect- 
ing the actual existence of these monsters of the deep, so that even 
the most sceptical appear to be staggered, and all would rejoice if 
one of these creatures could be taken and brought on shore. 
OakPucerons. 
This is a name given by naturalists to a very remarkable species 
of animal of the Puceron kind. They bury themselves in the cleft of 
the oak and some other trees, and getting into the crevices, where 
the bark is a little separated from the wood, they live and feed with- 
out being exposed to their enemies. They are larger than the other 
pucerons, the winged ones being nearly as large as a common house- 
fly*. those without wings are also larger than any other species of the 
same genus. The winged ones are black, and the others of a coffee 
colour. Their trunk is twice the length of their bodies, and, when 
