48 
ed to be the navel towards the tail—the tapering of the body to¬ 
ward the tail—its roundness, and great flexibility, are all points of 
the closest resemblance. These coincidences cannot be the ef¬ 
fect of design, since all the depositions from Gloucester, relative 
to the great Serpent, were in the hands of your Committee be¬ 
fore the Scoliophis was discovered. 
Some other circumstances stated by the deponents, though 
not applying to the smaller serpent, are nevertheless easy to be 
accounted for. The prong or spear seen near the head of the an¬ 
imal when in motion, was probably the tongue The shape of 
a harpoon ascribed to that organ was doubtless an optical illu¬ 
sion, occasioned by its rapid vibration j and this, it is well known, 
is not the first instance of such a deception. 
The structure of the Scoliophis is well suited to a residence in 
the water, being capable of various and complicated motions. It 
bends horizontally, as did the great Serpent, in the act of turning , 
it bends vertically, as that animal was supposed to do, in the act 
of swimming ; and it might assume any compound and interme¬ 
diate motion, which should be most effectual in propelling it 
through the water. 
It is worthy of remark, that nearly all the circumstances with 
regard to the appearance of the great Serpent, stated by the depo¬ 
nents, as facts, agree with the structure of the Scoliophis. On 
the other hand, those stated as conjectures, such as these, that the 
whole belly was white, that the animal had a navel, and no bunch¬ 
es beyond that quite to the end of the tail, Scc.nlmost uniformly 
disagree with it. This is what might naturally be expected from 
honest men testifying in regard to an object, with which they 
were but partially acquainted. 
Supposing that the species of the two serpents is the same, it 
is not improbable that one is the progeny of the other. The Col- 
ubri without fangs, the tribe most nearly resembling the Scolio¬ 
phis, are said by naturalists to be generally if not always ovipa¬ 
rous, to deposit their eggs in the sand in the spring or the end of 
summer, and to abandon them. These eggs are hatched by the 
