50 
Dr. Harwood on a 
been highly interested by the contemplation of such ideal 
beings. As the difficulty therefore of eradicating error from 
the mind, when once received, imparts value to truth, though 
least adorned, on this ground I would presume to present to 
the attention of the Royal Society an account of a newly dis¬ 
covered, and a very extraordinary marine animal. Last 
autumn, whilst Captain Sawyer, of the ship Harmony, of 
Hull, was in pursuit of the bottle-nosed porpoise, in latitude 
62° north, by about 57° west, he observed a body floating on 
the surface of the water, which was at first mistaken by him¬ 
self and his seamen for an inflated seal’s skin, such as the 
Esquimaux employ in the destruction of large aquatic animals, 
by attaching it to the harpoon by which they are speared, 
and thus tiring them out by its floating property. On a 
nearer approach however, the object which had excited their 
attention proved to be a living marine animal. The creature 
is still in the possession of Captain Sawyer, who preserved it 
in rum soon after being taken, and who obligingly afforded 
me an opportunity of examining it. Its capture was occa¬ 
sioned by its being, when first observed, almost worn out by 
unavailing efforts to gorge a fish of about seven inches in 
circumference, with which it appeared to have been long 
contending, as it exhibited very feeble signs of life. Its 
organs of motion being extremely small, and its body greatly 
elongated, this creature would, on a cursory view, be by all 
considered as an extraordinary kind of sea serpent—a tribe 
of animals concerning which so much equivocal matter has 
been written ; and this idea would be even supported by a 
more close examination of some parts of its structure. The 
fact, that the sea contained animals nearly allied in form to 
