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diff --git a/36677-h/36677-h.htm b/36677-h/36677-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d777075 --- /dev/null +++ b/36677-h/36677-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8519 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED and SEA FABLES EXPLAINED, by Henry Lee, F.L.S., F.G.S., F.Z.S.. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +.hidden {visibility:hidden;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + visibility: hidden; + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.blockquote { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} + +.bbox {border: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.big {font-size: 150%;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnotes ol {margin-left:0; margin-right:0; padding:0; + width:100%; list-style-type:none;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i6 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +/* Table of contents */ + .toc {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .toc .label {text-align: right; position: absolute; right: 10%;} + + .toc {list-style-type: none;} + .toc ul {list-style-type: none;} + .toc ol {list-style-type: decimal; font-variant: normal;} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:smaller; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; } + .poem span.i12 {display: block; margin-left: 12em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i8 {display: block; margin-left: 8em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sea Monsters Unmasked and Sea Fables +Explained, by Henry Lee + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Sea Monsters Unmasked and Sea Fables Explained + +Author: Henry Lee + +Release Date: July 9, 2011 [EBook #36677] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED *** + + + + +Produced by Jeannie Howse, Anna Hall, Bryan Ness and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"> +<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="600" height="412" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">THE SEA SERPENT, AS FIRST SEEN FROM H.M.S. 'DÆDALUS.' Frontispiece.</span> +</div> + + + + +<p class="big center">(<i>International Fisheries Exhibition</i> +LONDON, 1883)</p> + +<h1>SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED</h1> + +<p class="center">BY<br /> +<span class="big">HENRY LEE</span>, <small>F.L.S.</small>, <small>F.G.S.</small>, <small>F.Z.S.</small></p> + +<p class="center">SOMETIME NATURALIST OF THE BRIGHTON AQUARIUM<br /> +AND<br /> +AUTHOR OF 'THE OCTOPUS, OR THE DEVIL-FISH OF FICTION AND FACT'</p> + +<p class="center">ILLUSTRATED</p> + +<p class="center">LONDON<br /> +WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED<br /> +INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION<br /> +AND 13 CHARING CROSS, S.W.<br /> +1883<br /></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>As I commence this little history of two sea monsters +there comes to my mind a remark made to me by my +friend, Mr. Samuel L. Clemens—"Mark Twain"—which +illustrates a feeling that many a writer must have +experienced when dealing with a subject that has been +previously well handled. Expressing to me one day the +gratification he felt in having made many pleasant +acquaintances in England, he added, with dry humour, +and a grave countenance, "Yes! I owe your countrymen +no grudge or ill-will. I freely forgive them, though one +of them did me a grievous wrong, an irreparable injury! +It was Shakspeare: if he had not written those plays of +his, I should have done so! They contain <i>my</i> thoughts, +<i>my</i> sentiments! He forestalled me!"</p> + +<p>In treating of the so-called "sea-serpent," I have been +anticipated by many able writers. Mr. Gosse, in his +delightful book, 'The Romance of Natural History,' +published in 1862, devoted a chapter to it; and numerous +articles concerning it have appeared in various papers and +periodicals.</p> + +<p>But, for the information from which those authors have +drawn their inferences, and on which they have founded +their opinions, they have been greatly indebted, as must +be all who have seriously to consider this subject, to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span> +late experienced editor of the <i>Zoologist</i>, Mr. Edward +Newman, a man of wonderful power of mind, of great +judgment, a profound thinker, and an able writer. At a +time when, as he said, "the shafts of ridicule were launched +against believers and unbelievers in the sea-serpent in a +very pleasing and impartial manner," he, in the true spirit +of philosophical inquiry, in 1847, opened the columns of +his magazine to correspondence on this topic, and all the +more recent reports of marine monsters having been seen +are therein recorded. To him, therefore, the fullest +acknowledgments are due.</p> + +<p>The great cuttles, also, have been the subject of articles +in various magazines, notably one by Mr. W. Saville +Kent, F.L.S., in the 'Popular Science Review' of April, +1874, and a chapter in my little book on the Octopus, +published in 1873, is also devoted to them. In writing +of them as the living representatives of the kraken, and as +having been frequently mistaken for the "sea-serpent," +my deductions have been drawn from personal knowledge, +and an intimate acquaintance with the habits, form, and +structure of the animals described. It was only by +watching the movements of specimens of the "common +squid" (<i>Loligo vulgaris</i>), and the "little squid" (<i>L. media</i>), +which lived in the tanks of the Brighton Aquarium, that +I recognised in their peculiar habit of occasionally +swimming half-submerged, with uplifted caudal extremity, +and trailing arms, the fact that I had before me the "sea-serpent" +of many a well-authenticated anecdote. A mere +knowledge of their form and anatomy after death had +never suggested to me that which became at once apparent +when I saw them in life.</p> + +<p>It is a pleasure to me to acknowledge gratefully the +kindness I have met with in connection with the illustrations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span> +of this book. The proprietors of the <i>Illustrated +London News</i> not only gave me permission to copy, in +reduced size, their two pictures of the <i>Dædalus</i> incident, +but presented to me electrotype copies of all others small +enough for these pages—namely, "Jonah and the Monster," +Egede's "Sea-Serpent," and the Whale as seen from the +<i>Pauline</i>. Equally kind have been the proprietors of the +<i>Field</i>. To them I am greatly indebted for their permission +to copy the beautiful woodcuts of the "Octopus at Rest," +"The Sepia seizing its Prey," and the arms of the Newfoundland +squids, and also for "electros" of the two curious +Japanese engravings, all of which originally appeared +in their paper. From the <i>Graphic</i> I have had similar +permission to copy any cuts that might be thought +suitable, and the illustrations of the sea-serpent, as seen +from Her Majesty's yacht <i>Osborne</i> and the <i>City of Baltimore</i>, +are from that journal. Messrs. Nisbet most courteously +allowed me to have a copy of the block of the <i>Enaliosaurus</i> +swimming, which was one of the numerous pictures in +Mr. Gosse's book, published by them, already referred to. +And last, not least, I have to thank Miss Ellen Woodward, +daughter of my friend, Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S., for +enabling me to better explain the movements and appearances +of the squids when swimming, and when raising their +bodies out of water in an erect position, by carefully +drawing them from my rough sketches.</p> + +<p class="right">HENRY LEE.<br /></p> +<p> +<span class="smcap">Savage Club</span>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>July 21st, 1883</i>.</span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + +<ul class="toc"> +<li><a href="#frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece.</i>—The Sea Serpent as first seen from H.M.S. +<i>Dædalus</i>.</a></li> +<li><span class="smcap">FIG. </span><span class="label"><small>PAGE</small></span></li> +<li><ol><li><a href="#fig_001">Beak and Arms of a Decapod Cuttle</a> <span class="label">16</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_002">The Octopus (<i>Octopus vulgaris</i>)</a> <span class="label">18</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_003">The Cuttle (<i>Sepia officinalis</i>)</a> <span class="label">21</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_004">Hooked Tentacles of <i>Onychoteuthis</i></a> <span class="label">23</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_005">Japanese fisherman attacked by a Cuttle</a> <span class="label">29</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_006">Arms of a great Cuttle exhibited in a Japanese fish</a> <span class="label">29</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_007">Facsimile of De Montfort's "<i>Poulpe colossal</i>"</a> <span class="label">32</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_008">Gigantic Calamary caught by the French despatch vessel <i>Alecton</i>, near Teneriffe</a> <span class="label">39</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_009">Tentacle of a great Calamary (<i>Architeuthis princeps</i>) taken in Conception Bay, Newfoundland</a> <span class="label">43</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_010">Head and Tentacles of a great Calamary (<i>Architeuthis princeps</i>) taken in Logie Bay, Newfoundland</a> <span class="label">44</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_011">Jonah and the Sea Monster</a> <span class="label">55</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_012">Sea Serpent seizing a man on board ship</a> <span class="label">58</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_013">Gigantic Lobster dragging a man from a ship</a> <span class="label">58</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_014">Pontoppidan's "Sea Serpent"</a> <span class="label">63</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_015">The Animal drawn by Mr. Bing as having been seen by Egede</a> <span class="label">66</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_016">The Animal which Egede probably saw</a> <span class="label">67</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_017">The Sea Serpent of the Wernerian Society (<i>facsimile</i>)</a> <span class="label">69</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_018">A Calamary swimming at the surface of the sea</a> <span class="label">77</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_019">The Sea Serpent passing under the quarter of H.M.S. <i>Dædalus</i></a> <span class="label">81</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_020">The Sea Serpent and Sperm Whale as seen from the <i>Pauline</i></a> <span class="label">91</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_021">The Sea Serpent as seen from the <i>City of Baltimore</i></a> <span class="label">93</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_022">The Sea Serpent as seen from H.M. yacht <i>Osborne</i>. Phase 1</a> <span class="label">94</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_023">The Sea Serpent as seen from H.M. yacht <i>Osborne</i>. Phase 2</a> <span class="label">94</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_024">Skeleton of the <i>Plesiosaurus</i>, restored by Mr. Conybeare</a> <span class="label">98</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig_025">The Sea Serpent on the Enaliosaurian hypothesis</a> <span class="label">100</span></li> +</ol></li> +</ul> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="big center">SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE KRAKEN.</h2> + + +<p>In the legends and traditions of northern nations, stories of +the existence of a marine animal of such enormous size +that it more resembled an island than an organised being +frequently found a place. It is thus described in an +ancient manuscript (about <small>A.D.</small> 1180), attributed to the +Norwegian King Sverre; and the belief in it has been +alluded to by other Scandinavian writers from an early +period to the present day. It was an obscure and +mysterious sea-monster, known as the Kraken, whose form +and nature were imperfectly understood, and it was peculiarly +the object of popular wonder and superstitious +dread.</p> + +<p>Eric Pontoppidan, the younger, Bishop of Bergen, and +member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen, +is generally, but unjustly, regarded as the inventor of the +semi-fabulous Kraken, and is constantly misquoted by +authors who have never read his work,<a name="Anchor_1_1" id="Anchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 1."> [1] </a> and who, one after +another, have copied from their predecessors erroneous statements +concerning him. More than half a century before him, +Christian Francis Paullinus,<a name="Anchor_2_2" id="Anchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 2."> [2] </a> a physician and naturalist of +Eisenach, who evinced in his writings an admiration of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>the marvellous rather than of the useful, had described +as resembling Gesner's 'Heracleoticon,' a monstrous animal +which occasionally rose from the sea on the coasts of +Lapland and Finmark, and which was of such enormous +dimensions, that a regiment of soldiers could conveniently +manœuvre on its back. About the same date, but a little +earlier, Bartholinus, a learned Dane, told how, on a certain +occasion, the Bishop of Midaros found the Kraken quietly +reposing on the shore, and mistaking the enormous creature +for a huge rock, erected an altar upon it and performed +mass. The Kraken respectfully waited till the ceremony +was concluded, and the reverend prelate safe on shore, and +then sank beneath the waves.</p> + +<p>And a hundred and fifty years before Bartholinus and +Paullinus wrote, Olaus Magnus,<a name="Anchor_3_3" id="Anchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 3."> [3] </a> Archbishop of Upsala, in +Sweden, had related many wondrous narratives of sea-monsters,—tales +which had gathered and accumulated +marvels as they had been passed on from generation to +generation in oral history, and which he took care to bequeath +to his successors undeprived of any of their fascination. +According to him, the Kraken was not so polite to +the laity as to the Bishop, for when some fishermen lighted +a fire on its back, it sank beneath their feet, and overwhelmed +them in the waters.</p> + +<p>Pontoppidan was not a fabricator of falsehoods; but, in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>collecting evidence relating to the "great beasts" living in +"the great and wide sea," was influenced, as he tells us, by +"a desire to extend the popular knowledge of the glorious +works of a beneficent Creator." He gave too much +credence to contemporary narratives and old traditions of +floating islands and sea monsters, and to the superstitious +beliefs and exaggerated statements of ignorant fishermen: +but if those who ridicule him had lived in his day and amongst +his people, they would probably have done the same; for +even Linnæus was led to believe in the Kraken, and catalogued +it in the first edition of his 'Systema Naturæ,' as +'<i>Sepia Microcosmos</i>.' He seems to have afterwards had +cause to discredit his information respecting it, for he +omitted it in the next edition. The Norwegian bishop was +a conscientious and painstaking investigator, and the tone of +his writings is neither that of an intentional deceiver nor of +an incautious dupe. He diligently endeavoured to separate +the truth from the cloud of error and fiction by which it +was obscured; and in this he was to a great extent successful, +for he correctly identifies, from the vague and perplexing +descriptions submitted to him, the animal whose habits +and structure had given rise to so many terror-laden +narratives and extravagant traditions.</p> + +<p>The following are some of his remarks on the subject of +this gigantic and ill-defined animal. Although I have +greatly abbreviated them, I have thought it right to quote +them at considerable length, that the modest and candid +spirit in which they were written may be understood:<a name="Anchor_4_4" id="Anchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 4."> [4] </a></p> + +<blockquote><p>"Amongst the many things," he says, "which are in the ocean, +and concealed from our eyes, or only presented to our view for a +few minutes, is the Kraken. This creature is the largest and most +surprising of all the animal creation, and consequently well deserves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +such an account as the nature of the thing, according to +the Creator's wise ordinances, will admit of. Such I shall give at +present, and perhaps much greater light on this subject may be +reserved for posterity.</p> + +<p>"Our fishermen unanimously affirm, and without the least +variation in their accounts, that when they row out several miles to +sea, particularly in the hot summer days, and by their situation +(which they know by taking a view of different points of land) +expect to find eighty or a hundred fathoms of water, it often +happens that they do not find above twenty or thirty, and sometimes +less. At these places they generally find the greatest plenty +of fish, especially cod and ling. Their lines, they say, are no +sooner out than they may draw them up with the hooks all full of +fish. By this they know that the Kraken is at the bottom. They +say this creature causes those unnatural shallows mentioned above, +and prevents their sounding. These the fishermen are always glad +to find, looking upon them as a means of their taking abundance +of fish. There are sometimes twenty boats or more got together +and throwing out their lines at a moderate distance from each +other; and the only thing they then have to observe is whether +the depth continues the same, which they know by their lines, or +whether it grows shallower, by their seeming to have less water. +If this last be the case they know that the Kraken is raising himself +nearer the surface, and then it is not time for them to stay any longer; +they immediately leave off fishing, take to their oars, and get away +as fast as they can. When they have reached the usual depth of +the place, and find themselves out of danger, they lie upon their +oars, and in a few minutes after they see this enormous monster +come up to the surface of the water; he there shows himself sufficiently, +though his whole body does not appear, which, in all +likelihood, no human eye ever beheld. Its back or upper part, +which seems to be in appearance about an English mile and a +half in circumference (some say more, but I chuse the least for +greater certainty), looks at first like a number of small islands surrounded +with something that floats and fluctuates like sea-weeds. +Here and there a larger rising is observed like sand-banks, on +which various kinds of small fishes are seen continually leaping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +about till they roll off into the water from the sides of it; at last +several bright points or horns appear, which grow thicker and +thicker the higher they rise above the surface of the water, and +sometimes they stand up as high and as large as the masts of +middle-sized vessels. It seems these are the creature's arms, and +it is said if they were to lay hold of the largest man of war they +would pull it down to the bottom. After this monster has been +on the surface of the water a short time it begins slowly to sink +again, and then the danger is as great as before; because the +motion of his sinking causes such a swell in the sea, and such an +eddy or whirlpool, that it draws everything down with it, like the +current of the river Male.</p> + +<p>"As this enormous sea-animal in all probability may be reckoned +of the Polype, or of the Starfish kind, as shall hereafter be +more fully proved, it seems that the parts which are seen rising at +its pleasure, and are called arms, are properly the tentacula, or +feeling instruments, called horns, as well as arms. With these they +move themselves, and likewise gather in their food.</p> + +<p>"Besides these, for this last purpose the great Creator has also +given this creature a strong and peculiar scent, which it can emit +at certain times, and by means of which it beguiles and draws +other fish to come in heaps about it. This animal has another +strange property, known by the experience of many old fishermen. +They observe that for some months the Kraken or Krabben is +continually eating, and in other months he always voids his excrements. +During this evacuation the surface of the water is coloured +with the excrement, and appears quite thick and turbid. This +muddiness is said to be so very agreeable to the smell or taste of +other fishes, or to both, that they gather together from all parts to +it, and keep for that purpose directly over the Kraken; he then +opens his arms or horns, seizes and swallows his welcome guests, +and converts them after due time, by digestion, into a bait for +other fish of the same kind. I relate what is affirmed by many; +but I cannot give so certain assurances of this particular, as I can +of the existence of this surprising creature; though I do not find +anything in it absolutely contrary to Nature. As we can hardly +expect to examine this enormous sea-animal alive, I am the more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +concerned that nobody embraced that opportunity which, according +to the following account once did, and perhaps never more may +offer, of seeing it entire when dead."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The lost opportunity which the worthy prelate thus +lamented, with the true feeling of a naturalist, was made +known to him by the Rev. Mr. Friis, Consistorial Assessor, +Minister of Bodoen in Nordland, and Vicar of the +college for promoting Christian knowledge, and was to the +following effect:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"In the year 1680, a Krake (perhaps a young and foolish one) +came into the water that runs between the rocks and cliffs in the +parish of Alstaboug, though the general custom of that creature is +to keep always several leagues from land, and therefore of course +they must die there. It happened that its extended long arms or +antennæ, which this creature seems to use like the snail in turning +about, caught hold of some trees standing near the water, +which might easily have been torn up by the roots; but beside +this, as it was found afterwards, he entangled himself in some +openings or clefts in the rock, and therein stuck so fast, and hung +so unfortunately, that he could not work himself out, but perished +and putrefied on the spot. The carcass, which was a long while +decaying, and filled great part of that narrow channel, made it +almost impassable by its intolerable stench.</p> + +<p>"The Kraken has never been known to do any great harm, +except," the Author quaintly says, "they have taken away the lives +of those who consequently could not bring the tidings. I have +heard but one instance mentioned, which happened a few years +ago, near Fridrichstad, in the diocess of Aggerhuus. They say that +two fishermen accidentally, and to their great surprise, fell into +such a spot on the water as has been before described, full of a thick +slime almost like a morass. They immediately strove to get out of +this place, but they had not time to turn quick enough to save +themselves from one of the Kraken's horns, which crushed the +head of the boat, so that it was with great difficulty they saved +their lives on the wreck, though the weather was as calm as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +possible; for these monsters, like the sea-snake, never appear at +other times."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Pontoppidan then reviews the stories of floating islands +which suddenly appear, and as suddenly vanish, commonly +credited, and especially mentioned by Luke Debes in his +'Description of Faroe.'</p> + +<blockquote><p>"These islands in the boisterous ocean could not be imagined," +he says, "to be of the nature of real floating islands, because they +could not possibly stand against the violence of the waves in the +ocean, which break the largest vessels, and therefore our sailors +have concluded this delusion could come from no other than the +great deceiver, the devil."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This accusation, the good bishop, in his desire to be +strictly impartial, will not admit on such hear-say evidence, +but is determined to, literally, "give the devil his due;" +for he warns his readers that "we ought not to charge +that apostate spirit without a cause; for," he adds, "I +rather think that this devil who so suddenly makes and +unmakes these floating islands, is nothing else but the +Kraken."</p> + +<p>Referring to a monster described by Pliny, he repeats +his belief that "This sea-animal belongs to the Polype, or +Star-fish species;" but he becomes very much "mixed" +between the <i>Cephalopoda</i> and the <i>Asteridæ</i>, between the +pedal segments, or arms, of the cuttle radiating from its +head, and the rays of a Star-fish radiating from a central +portion of the body. He evidently inclines strongly +towards a particular Star-fish, the rays of which continually +divide and subdivide themselves, or, as he describes it, +"which shoots its rays into branches like those of trees," +and to which he gave the name of "Medusa's Head," a title +by which, in its Greek form, <i>Gorgonocephalus</i>, it is still +known to zoologists. "These Medusa's Heads," he says,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +"are supposed by some seafaring people here, to be the +young of the Sea-Krake; perhaps they are its smallest +ovula." After considering other reports concerning the +Kraken, he arrives at the following definite opinion:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We learn from all this that the Polype or Starfish have amongst +their various species some that are much larger than others; and, +according to all appearance, amongst the very largest inhabitants +of the ocean. If the axiom be true that greatness or littleness +makes no change in the species, then this Krake must be of the +Polypus kind, notwithstanding its enormous size."</p></blockquote> + +<p>His diagnosis is correct; but it is stated with a modesty +which his detractors would do well to imitate; and his +concluding words on this subject place him in a light +very different from that in which he is popularly regarded:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I do not in the least insist on this conjecture being true," he +writes, "but willingly submit my suppositions in this and every +other dubious matter to the judgment of those who are better +experienced. If I was an admirer of uncertain reports and fabulous +stories, I might here add much more concerning this and other +Norwegian sea-monsters, whose existence I will not take upon me +to deny, but do not chuse, by a mixture of uncertain relations to +make such account appear doubtful as I myself believe to be true +and well attested. I shall therefore quit the subject here, and +leave it to future writers on this plan to complete what I have +imperfectly sketched out, by further experience, which is always +the best instructor."</p></blockquote> + +<p>It is easy to recognise in Pontoppidan's description of +the Kraken, the form and habits of one of the "Cuttle-fishes," +so-called. The appearance of its numerous arms, +with which it gathers in its food, and which grow thicker +and thicker as they rise above the surface, is just what +would take place in the case of one of the pelagic species +of these mollusks raising its head out of the sea. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +rendering of the water turbid and thick by the emission of +a substance which the narrator supposed to be fæcal +matter, is exactly that which occurs when a cuttle discharges +the contents of the remarkable organ known as +its ink-bag; and the strong and peculiar scent mentioned +as appertaining to it, is actually characteristic of its inky +secretion. The musky odour referred to, is more perceptible +in some species than in others. In one of the Octopods +(<i>Eledone moschatus</i>), it is so strong, that the specific +name of the animal is derived from it.</p> + +<p>The ancient Greeks and Romans, who were well acquainted +with the various kinds of cuttles and regarded +them all as excellent food, and even as delicacies of the +table, applied the word "polypus" especially to the +octopus. But Pontoppidan evidently uses it as descriptive +of all the cephalopods. It must not be forgotten, however, +that when he wrote, science was only slowly recovering +from neglect of many centuries' duration. In the enlightened +times of Greece and Rome, natural history +flourished, and as in our day, attracted and occupied the +attention of the man of science, and afforded recreation to +the man of business and the politician. Aristotle wrote +322 years before the birth of Christ, and his works are +monuments of practical wisdom. When we consider the +period during which he lived, and the isolated nature of his +labours, and compare them with the information which he +possessed, we are astonished at his sagacity and the great +scope and general accuracy of his knowledge. Pliny, 240 +years later, lived in times more favourable for the cultivation +of science; but with all his advantages made little +improvement on the work of the great master. And then, +later still, the sun of learning set; and there came over +Europe the long night of the dark ages which succeeded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +Roman greatness, during which science was degraded and +ignorance prevailed; and it is not till the middle of the +sixteenth century, that the zoologist finds much to interest +and instruct him. When we further reflect, that until +within the past five and twenty years—till our large +aquaria were constructed—Aristotle's knowledge of the +habits and life-history of marine animals, and amongst them +the cephalopods, was incomparably greater and more perfect +than that possessed by any man who had lived since he +recorded his observations, we cannot help feeling that in +some departments of knowledge there is still lost ground to +be recovered.</p> + +<p>In the old days of the Cæsars, a Greek or Roman house-wife +who was accustomed to see the cuttle, the squid, and +the octopus daily exposed for sale in the markets, would +of course have laughed at the idea of mistaking the one for +the other; but there are comparatively few persons in our +own country, at the present day, except those who have +made marine zoology their study, whose ideas on the subject +are not exceedingly hazy. This want of technical +knowledge is not confined to the masses; but is common, +if not general, amongst those who have been well educated, +and is frequently apparent even in leaders in the daily +papers—the productions, for the most part, of men of +receptive minds, trained discrimination, and great general +knowledge. As the subject is one in which I have long +felt especial interest, I venture to hope that I may succeed +in making clear the difference between the eight-footed +octopus and its ten-footed relatives, and thus enable the +reader to identify the member of the family from which we +are to strip the dress and "make up" in which it masqueraded +as the Kraken, and cause it to appear in its true +and natural form.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + +<p>One of the great primary groups or divisions of the +animal kingdom is that of the soft-bodied mollusca; which +includes the cuttle, the oyster, the snail, &c. It has been +separated into five "classes," of which the one we have +especially to notice is the <i>Cephalopoda</i>,<a name="Anchor_5_5" id="Anchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 5."> [5] </a> or "head-footed,"—the +animals belonging to it having their feet, or the +organs which correspond with the foot of other molluscs, so +attached to the head as to form a circle or coronet round +the mouth. Some of these have the foot divided into eight +segments, and are therefore called the <i>Octopoda</i>:<a name="Anchor_6_6" id="Anchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 6."> [6] </a> others +have, in addition to the eight feet, lobes, or arms, two +longer tentacular appendages, making ten in all, and are +consequently called the <i>Decapoda</i>.</p> + +<p>Of the ten-footed section of the cephalopods, there are +four "families;" two only of which exist in Britain—the +<i>Teuthidæ</i>, and the <i>Sepiidæ</i>. The <i>Teuthidæ</i> are the Calamaries, +popularly known as "Squids," and are represented +by the long-bodied <i>Loligo vulgaris</i>, that has internally +along its back a gristly, translucent stiffener, shaped like a +quill-pen; from which and its ink it derives its names of +"calamary" (from "<i>calamus</i>," a "pen"), "pen-and-ink +fish," and "sea-clerk." The <i>Sepiidæ</i> are generally known +as the Cuttles proper. As a type of them we may take the +common "cuttle-fish," <i>Sepia officinalis</i>, the owner of the +hard, calcareous shell often thrown up on the shore, and +known as "cuttle-bone," or "sea-biscuit."</p> + +<p>It must here be remarked, that as these head-footed mollusks +are not "fish," any more than lobsters, crabs, oysters, +mussels, &c., which fishmongers call "shell-fish," are "fish," +the word "fish" is misleading, and should be abandoned; +and secondly, that the names "cuttle" and "squid," as distinctive +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>appellations, are unsatisfactory. The word "cuttle" +is derived from "cuddle," to hug, or embrace—in allusion +to the manner in which the animal seizes its prey, and enfolds +it in its arms; and "squid" is derived from "squirt," +in reference to its habit of squirting water or ink. But as +all the known members of the class, except the pearly +nautilus, <i>Nautilus pompilius</i>, have these habits in common, +the distinguishing terms are hardly apposite. As, however, +they are conventionally accepted and understood, I prefer +to use them. As with other mollusks, so with the cephalopods, +some have shells, and some are naked or have only +rudimentary shells. The Argonaut, or paper nautilus, has +been regarded as the analogue of the snail, which, like it, +secretes an <i>external</i> shell for the protection of its soft body; +and the octopus as that of the garden slug, which, having +organs like those of the snail, as the octopus has organs +like those of the shell-bearing argonaut, has no shell. The +cuttles and squids may be compared to some of the sea-slugs, +as <i>Aplysia</i> and <i>Bullæa</i>, and to some land-slugs, as +<i>Parmacella</i> and <i>Limax</i>, which have an <i>internal</i> shell.</p> + +<p>The argonaut and the other families of the cephalopods +do not come within the scope of this treatise; we will therefore +confine our attention to the three above mentioned. Of +the anatomy and homology of the <i>Octopus</i>, <i>Sepia</i>, and <i>Calamary</i> +we need say no more than will suffice to show in what +manner they resemble each other, and wherein they differ, +in order that we may the more clearly perceive to which of +them the story of the Kraken probably owes its origin.</p> + +<p>The octopus, the sepia, and the calamary are all constructed +on one fundamental plan. A bag of fleshy +muscular skin, called the mantle-sac, contains the organs +of the body, heart, stomach, liver, intestines, a pair of gills +by which oxygen is absorbed from the water for the purification<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +of the blood, and an excurrent tube by which the +water thus deprived of its life-sustaining gas is expelled. +The outrush of water with more or less force, from this +"syphon-tube," is also the principal source of locomotion +when the animal is swimming, as it propels it backward—not +by the striking of the expelled fluid against the surrounding +water, as is generally supposed; but by the unbalanced +pressure of the fluid acting inside the body in the direction +in which the creature goes. Into this syphon-tube, or +funnel, opens, by a special duct, the ink-bag; and from it +is squirted at will the intensely black fluid therein secreted. +I doubt very much the correctness of the statement +mentioned by Pontoppidan and others, that the cuttle +ejects its ink with a desire to lie hidden and in ambush +for its intended prey, or with the intention to attract fish +within its reach by their partiality for the musky odour of +this secretion. It may be so, but during the long period +that I had these animals under close observation at the +Brighton Aquarium, I never witnessed such an incident. +I believe that the emission of the ink is a symptom +of fear, and is only employed as a means of concealment +from a suspected enemy. I have found, that +when first taken, the <i>Sepia</i>, of all its kind, is the most +sensitively timid. Its keen, unwinking eye watches for +and perceives the slightest movement of its captor; and if +even most cautiously looked at from above, its ink is +belched forth in eddying volumes, rolling over and over +like the smoke which follows the discharge of a great gun +from a ship's port, and mixes with marvellous rapidity with +the surrounding water. But, like all of its class, the <i>Sepia</i> +is very intelligent. It soon learns to discriminate between +friend and foe, and ultimately becomes very tame, and +ceases to shoot its ink, unless it be teased and excited. By<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +means of the communication between the ink-bag and the +locomotor tube, it happens that when the ink is ejected, +a stream of water is forcibly emitted with it, and thus the +very effort for escape serves the double purpose of propelling +the creature away from danger, and discolouring +the water in which it moves. Oppian has well described +this—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The endangered cuttle thus evades his fears,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And native hoards of fluids safely wears.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> A pitchy ink peculiar glands supply<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Whose shades the sharpest beam of light defy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Pursued, he bids the sable fountains flow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And, wrapt in clouds, eludes the impending foe.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The fish retreats unseen, while self-born night<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> With pious shade befriends her parent's flight."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Professor Owen has remarked that the ejection of the +ink of the cephalopods serves by its colour as a means of +defence, as corresponding secretions in some of the mammalia +by their odour.</p> + +<p>It is worthy of notice that the pearly nautilus and the +allied fossil forms are without this means of concealment, +which their strong external shells render unnecessary for +their protection.</p> + +<p>From the sac-like body containing the various organs, +protrudes a head, globose in shape, and containing a brain, +and furnished with a pair of strong, horny mandibles, which +bite vertically, like the beak of a parrot. By these the +flesh of prey is torn and partly masticated, and within +them lies the tongue, covered with recurved and retractile +teeth, like that of its distant relatives, the whelk, +limpet, &c., by which the food is conducted to the gullet. +Around this head is, as I have said, the organ which is +equivalent to the foot in other molluscs—that by which +the slug and the snail crawl—only that the head is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +placed in the centre, instead of in the front of it, and it +is divided into segments, which radiate from this central +head. These segments are very flexible, and capable of +movement in every direction, and are thus developed +into arms, prehensile limbs, by which their owner can +seize and hold its living prey. That this may be more +perfectly accomplished, these arms are studded along +their inner surface with rows of sucking discs, in each of +which, by means of a retractile piston, a vacuum can +be produced. The consequent pressure of the outer atmosphere +or water, causes them to adhere firmly to any +substance to which they are applied, whether stone, fish, +crustacean, or flesh of man.</p> + +<p>But, although in all these highly-organised head-footed +mollusks the same general build prevails, it is admirably +modified in each of them to suit certain habits and necessities. +Thus the octopus, being a shore dweller, its soft +and pliant, but very tough body, having merely a very +small and rudimentary indication of an internal shell (just +a little "style") is exactly adapted for wedging itself +amongst crevices of rocks. A large, rigid, cellular float, or +"sepiostaire," such as <i>Sepia</i> possesses, or a long, horny pen +such as <i>Loligo</i> has, would be in the way, and worse than +useless in such places as the octopus inhabits. Its eight +long powerful arms or feet are precisely fitted for clambering +over rocks and stones, and as its food of course consists +principally of the living things most abundant in such +localities, namely, the shore-crabs, its great flexible suckers, +devoid of hooks or horny armature, are exactly adapted to +firm and air-tight attachment to the smooth shells of the +crustacea.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig_001" id="fig_001"> +<img src="images/fig_001.jpg" width="470" height="258" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 1.--BEAK AND ARMS OF A DECAPOD CUTTLE.<br /> a, the eight shorter arms; t, the tentacles; f, the funnel, or locomotor tube.</span> +</div> + +<p>Unlike the octopus, which is capable only of short flights +through the water, the "cuttles" and "squids," such as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +<i>Sepia</i> and <i>Loligo</i>, are all free swimmers. For them it is +necessary for accuracy of natation that their soft, and in +the squids long bodies, should be supported by such a +framework as they possess. In <i>Sepia</i>, the mantle-sac is +flattened horizontally all along its lateral edges so as to +form a pair of fins, which nearly surround the trunk. These +fins could never be used, as they are, to enable the animal +to poise itself delicately in the water by means of their +beautiful undulations, which I have often watched with +delight, if their attached edges were not kept in a straight +line on either side. Then, these ten-footed or ten-armed +genera have not, because they need them not, eight long, +strong and highly mobile arms like those of the octopus, nor +have they large suckers upon them. Whereas a great length +of reach is an advantage to the octopus, animals which are +purely swimmers, and which hunt and overtake their prey +by speed, would be impeded by having to drag after them +a bundle of stout, lengthy appendages trailing heavily +astern. Their eight pedal arms are short and comparatively +weak, though strong enough, in individuals such as are +regarded on our own coasts as fullgrown, to seize and hold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +a fish or crustacean as strong as a good sized shore-crab. +But, as compensation for the shortness of the eight arms, they +are provided with two others more than three times the +length of the short ones. These are so slender that they +generally lie coiled up in a spiral cone in two pockets, one +on each side, just below the eye, when the animal is +quiescent, and are only seen when it takes its food. These +long, slender tentacular arms are expanded at their extremity, +and the inner surface of their enlarged part is studded +with suckers—some of them larger in size than those on +the eight shorter arms. As the food of these swimmers +consists, of course, chiefly of fish, their sucking disks are +curiously modified for the better retention of a slippery +captive. A horny ring with a sharply serrated edge is imbedded +in the outer circumference of each of them, and +when a vacuum is formed, the keen, saw-like teeth are +pressed into the skin or scales of the unfortunate prisoner, +and deprive it of the slightest chance of escape.</p> + +<p>The manner in which the eight-armed and ten-armed +cephalopods capture their prey is similar in principle and +plan, but differs in action in accordance with their mode of +life. The ordinary habit of the octopus is either to rest +suspended to the side of a rock to which it clings with the +suckers of several of its arms, or to remain lurking in some +favourite cranny; its body thrust for protection and concealment +well back in the interior of the recess; its bright eyes +keenly on the watch; three or four of its limbs firmly +attached to the walls of its hiding place—the others gently +waving, gliding, and feeling about in the water, as if to +maintain its vigilance, and keep itself always on the alert, +and in readiness to pounce on any unfortunate wayfarer +that may pass near its den. To a shore-crab that comes +within its reach the slightest contact with one of those lithe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +arms is fatal. Instantaneously as pull of trigger brings +down a bird, or touch of electric wire explodes a torpedo or +a mining fuse, the pistons of the series of suckers are +simultaneously drawn inward, the air is removed from the +pneumatic holders, and a vacuum created in each: the crab +tries to escape, but in a second is completely pinioned: +not a movement, not a struggle is possible; each leg, each +claw is grasped all over by suckers, enfolded in them, +stretched out to its fullest extent by them; the back of +the carapace is completely covered by the tenacious disks, +brought together by the adaptable contractions of the limb, +and ranged in close order, shoulder to shoulder, touching +each other; and the pressure of the air is so great that +nothing can effect the relaxation of their retentive power but +the destruction of the air-pump that works them, or the +closing of the throttle-valve by which they are connected +with it. Meanwhile the abdominal plates of the captive +crab are dragged towards the mouth; the black tip of the +hard horny beak is seen for a single instant protruding +from the circular orifice in the centre of the radiation of +the arms; and, the next, has crushed through the shell, and +is buried deep in the flesh of the victim.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="fig_002" id="fig_002"> +<img src="images/fig_002.jpg" width="600" height="428" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 2.—THE OCTOPUS (Octopus vulgaris).</span> +</div> + +<p>Unlike the skulking, hiding octopus, its ten-armed relative, +the <i>Sepia</i> loves the daylight and the freedom of the +upper water. Its predatory acts are not those of a concealed +and ambushed brigand lying in wait behind a +rock, or peeping furtively from within the gloomy shadow +of a cave; but it may better be compared to the war-like +Comanche vidette seated gracefully on his horse, and scanning +from some elevated knoll a wide expanse of prairie, in +readiness to swoop upon a weak or unarmed foe. Poised +near the surface of the water, like a hawk in the air, the +<i>Sepia</i> moves gently to and fro by graceful undulations of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +its lateral fins,—an exquisite play of colour occasionally +taking place over its beautifully barred and mottled back. +When thus tranquil, its eight pedal arms are usually +brought close together, and droop in front of its head, like +the trunk of an elephant, shortened; its two longer tentacular +arms being coiled up within their pouches and unseen. +Only when some small fish approaches it does it arouse +itself. Then, its eyes dilate, and its colours become more +bright and vivid. It carefully takes aim, advancing or +retreating to such a distance as will just allow the two +hidden tentacles to reach the quarry when they shall be shot +out. Next, the two highest or central feet are lifted up, +and the three others on each side are spread aside, so that +they may be all out of the way of the two concealed tentacles, +presently to be launched forth; and then, in a +moment—so instantaneously that the eye of an observer, +be he ever so watchful, can hardly see the act—this pair +of tentacles, side by side, are projected and withdrawn, as +if in a flash. The fish or shrimp has vanished, the suckers +of the dilated ends of the tentacles having adhered to it, +and left it, as they re-entered their pouches, within the fatal +"cuddle," or embrace, where it is torn to pieces by the +devouring beak.<a name="Anchor_7_7" id="Anchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 7."> [7] </a> This action of the tentacles of the +decapods is the most rapid motion that I know of in the +whole animal kingdom—not excepting even that of the +tongue of the toad and the lizard. These long tentacles +are not used when the food is within reach of the shorter +arms.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 596px;"> +<a name="fig_003" id="fig_003"> +<img src="images/fig_003.jpg" width="596" height="425" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 3.—THE CUTTLE (Sepia officinalis).</span> +</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + +<p>The calamaries or squids of our British Seas seize their +prey in the same manner as <i>Sepia</i>, and the description of one +will suffice for both. But there exist two groups of them, +which are armed with curved and sharp-pointed hooks or +claws, either in addition to, or instead of suckers. In the +one group (<i>Onychoteuthis</i>), the hooks are restricted to the +extremities of the pair of tentacles, in the other (<i>Enoploteuthis</i>), +both the tentacles and the shorter arms have hooks. +Professor Owen, in his description of these hook-armed +calamaries in the <i>Cyclopædia of Anatomy</i>, notices also +another structure which adds greatly to their prehensile +power (<a href="#fig_004">Fig. 4.</a>). "At the extremity of the long tentacles a cluster +of small, simple, unarmed suckers may be observed at the +base of the expanded part. When these latter suckers are +applied to one another the tentacles are securely locked +together at that part, and the united strength of both the +elongated peduncles can be applied to drag towards the +mouth any resisting object which has been grappled by the +terminal hooks. There is no mechanical contrivance which +surpasses this structure; art has remotely imitated it in +the fabrication of the obstetrical forceps, in which either +blade can be used separately, or, by the inter-locking of a +temporary blade, be made to act in combination."</p> + +<p>The cephalopods obtain and eat their food very much +like the rapacious birds. They are the falcons of the sea. +Some of them, like <i>Onychoteuthis</i>, strike their prey with +talons and suckers also, others lay hold of it with +suckers alone; but they all tear the flesh with their beaks, +and swallow and digest their food in the same manner as +the hawk or vulture.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 154px;"> +<a name="fig_004" id="fig_004"> +<img src="images/fig_004.jpg" width="154" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 4.—HOOKED TENTACLES +OF Onychoteuthis.</span> +</div> + +<p>The <i>Sepia</i>, the owner of the broad, flattened bone, has a +decided predilection for the vicinity of the shore, and for +comparatively shallow water. It +there attaches its grape-like eggs +to some convenient stone or growing +alga, and delights occasionally +to sink to the bottom, and there +to rest half covered by the sand, +a habit for which the form of its +body is well adapted. But the +calamaries—they of the horny pen—prefer +the wide waters of the +open ocean; and although they, +too, especially the smaller species, +are common upon the coasts, they +are frequently met with far out at +sea, and away from any land. The +elongated and almost arrow-like +shape of their bodies enables them +to glide through the water with +great rapidity, and the momentum +exerted by a vigorous out-rush from +their syphon-tube is sometimes so +great that when the opposite pressure +thus produced is so exerted as +to cause them to take an upward +direction they leap out of the water +to so great a height as to fall on the +decks of ships; and are, therefore, +called by sailors, "flying squids." +Their spawn is very different from +that of either octopus, or sepia. It +consists of dozens of semi-transparent,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +gelatinous, slender, cylindrical sheaths, about four +or five inches long, each containing many ova imbedded +in it (making a total number of about 40,000 embryos), all +springing from a common centre and resembling a mop +without a handle. I have never seen any of these "sea-mops" +attached to anything, and the pelagic habits of the +calamaries render it probable that they are left floating on +the surface of the sea.</p> + +<p>Having made ourselves acquainted with the structure +and habits of these three divisions of the eight-footed and +ten-footed mollusks, let us take evidence as to the size to +which they are respectively known to attain, and the degree +in which they may be regarded as dangerous to man.</p> + +<p>An octopus from our own coasts having arms two feet in +length may be considered a rather large specimen; and +Dr. J. E. Gray, who was always most kindly ready to place +at the disposal of any sincere inquirer the vast store of +knowledge laid up in his wonderful memory, told me that +"there is not one in the British Museum which exceeds +this size, or which would not go into a quart pot—body, +arms and all." The largest British specimen I have hitherto +seen had arms 2 ft. 6 in. long. We have sufficient evidence, +however, that it exceeds this in the South of France, and +along the Spanish and Italian coasts of the Mediterranean; +and my deceased friend John Keast Lord tells us in his +book, 'The Naturalist in British Columbia,' that he saw +and measured, in Vancouver's Island, an octopus which +had arms five feet long.</p> + +<p>I have often been asked whether an octopus of +the ordinary size can really be dangerous to bathers. +Decidedly, "Yes," in certain situations. The holding +power of its numerous suckers is enormous. It is +almost impossible forcibly to detach it from its adhesion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +to a rock or the flat bottom of a tank; and if a large one +happened to fix one or more of its strong, tough arms on +the leg of a swimmer whilst the others held firmly to a rock, +I doubt if the man could disengage himself under water +by mere strength, before being exhausted. Fortunately +the octopus can be made to relax its hold by grasping it +tightly round the "throat" (if I may so call it), and it may +be well that this should be known.</p> + +<p>That men are occasionally drowned by these creatures +is, unhappily, a fact too well attested. I have elsewhere<a name="Anchor_8_8" id="Anchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 8."> [8] </a> +related several instances of this having occurred. +Omitting those, I will give two or three others which have +since come under my notice. Sir Grenville Temple, in his +'Excursions in the Mediterranean Sea,' tells how a Sardinian +captain, whilst bathing at Jerbeh, was seized and drowned +by an octopus. When his body was found, his limbs were +bound together by the arms of the animal; and this took +place in water only four feet deep.</p> + +<p>Mr. J. K. Lord's account of the formidable strength of +these creatures in Oregon is confirmed by an incident +recorded in the <i>Weekly Oregonian</i> (the principal paper of +Oregon) of October 6th, 1877. A few days before that +date an Indian woman, whilst bathing, was held beneath +the surface by an octopus, and drowned. The body was +discovered on the following day in the horrid embrace of +the creature. Indians dived down and with their knives +severed the arms of the octopus and recovered the corpse.</p> + +<p>Mr. Clemens Laming, in his book, 'The French in Algiers,' +writes:—"The soldiers were in the habit of bathing +in the sea every evening, and from time to time several of +them disappeared—no one knew how. Bathing was, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +consequence, strictly forbidden; in spite of which several +men went into the water one evening. Suddenly one of +them screamed for help, and when several others rushed to +his assistance they found that an octopus had seized him +by the leg by four of its arms whilst it clung to the rock +with the rest. The soldiers brought the 'monster' home +with them, and out of revenge they boiled it alive and ate +it. This adventure accounted for the disappearance of the +other soldiers."</p> + +<p>The Rev. W. Wyatt Gill, who for more than a quarter +of a century has resided as a missionary amongst the inhabitants +of the Hervey Islands, and with whom I had the +pleasure of conversing on this subject when he was in +England in 1875, described in the <i>Leisure Hour</i> of April +20th, 1872, another mode of attack by which an octopus might +deprive a man of life. A servant of his went diving for +"poulpes" (octopods), leaving his son in charge of the +canoe. After a short time he rose to the surface, his arms +free, but his nostrils and mouth completely covered by a +large octopus. If his son had not promptly torn the +living plaister from off his face he must have been suffocated—a +fate which actually befell some years previously a +man who foolishly went diving alone.</p> + +<p>In <i>Appleton's American Journal of Science and Art</i>, +January 31st, 1874, a correspondent describes an attack +by an octopus on a diver who was at work on the wreck of +a sunken steamer off the coast of Florida. The man, a powerful +Irishman, was helpless in its grasp, and would have been +drowned if he had not been quickly brought to the surface; +for when dragged on to the raft from which he had +descended, he fainted, and his companions were unable to +pull the creature from its hold upon him until they had +dealt it a sharp blow across its baggy body.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<p>A similar incident occurred to the government diver of +the colony of Victoria, Australia. Whilst pursuing his +avocation in the estuary of the river Moyne he was seized +by an octopus. He killed it by striking it with an iron +bar, and brought to shore with him a portion of it with the +arms more than three feet long.</p> + +<p>Mr. Laurence Oliphant, in his 'China and Japan,' describes +a Japanese show, which consisted of "a series of groups +of figures carved in wood, the size of life, and as cleverly +coloured as Madame Tussaud's wax-works. One of these +was a group of women bathing in the sea. One of them +had been caught in the folds of a cuttle-fish; the others, +in alarm, were escaping, leaving their companion to her +fate. The cuttle-fish was represented on a huge scale, its +eyes, eyelids, and mouth being made to move simultaneously +by a man inside the head."</p> + +<p>An attack of this kind is most artistically represented +in a small Japanese ivory-carving in the possession of +Mr. Bartlett, of the Zoological Gardens.<a name="Anchor_9_9" id="Anchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 9."> [9] </a></p> + +<p>The Japanese are well acquainted with the octopus; for +it is commonly depicted on their ornaments, and forms no +unimportant item in their fisheries.</p> + +<p>I have recently had an opportunity of inspecting a most +curious Japanese book, in the possession of my friend Mr. +W. B. Tegetmeier, which is chiefly devoted to the representations +of the fisheries and fish-curing processes of the +country. It is in three volumes, and is entitled, 'Land and +Sea Products,' by Ki Kone. It is evidently ancient, for it +is slightly worm-eaten, but the plates, each 12 inches by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>8 inches, are full of vigour. Two of these illustrate in a +very interesting manner the subject before us, and by the +kindness of Mr. Tegetmeier I am able to give facsimiles of +them, which appeared with an article by him on this book, +in the <i>Field</i> of March 14th, 1874. <a href="#fig_005">Fig. 5</a> represents a fisherman +in a boat out at sea: a gigantic octopus has thrown +one of its arms over the side of the boat; the man, who is +alone, has started forward from the stern of the boat, and +has succeeded, by means of a large knife attached to a long +handle, in lopping off the dangerous limb of his enemy. +As Mr. Tegetmeier says, "From the extreme matter of fact +manner in which all these engravings are made, and the total +absence of exaggeration in any other representation, I cannot +but regard the relative sizes of the man, the boat, and +the octopus, as correctly given, in which case we have +evidence of the existence of gigantic cephalopods in +Japanese waters." The only doubt I have is whether the +fisherman correctly described his assailant as an octopus, +and whether it was not a calamary. <a href="#fig_006">Fig. </a>6 is a vivid +picture of a fishmonger's shop in a market, under the awning +of which may be seen two arms of a gigantic cuttle hung +up for sale as food. These are evidently of most unusual +size, judging from the action of the lookers on; the one +to the left, with a tall stand or case on his back, like a +Parisian cocoa-vendor, is holding out his hand in mute +astonishment; whilst the attention of the smaller personage +in the right-hand corner is directed to the suspended arms +of the cuttle by the man nearest to him, who is pointing to +them with upraised hand. In another plate in this most +interesting work a Japanese mode of fishing for cuttles is +delineated. A man in a boat is tossing crabs, one at a +time, into the sea, and when a cuttle rises at the bait he +spears it with a trident and tosses it into the boat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig_005" id="fig_005"> +<img src="images/fig_005.jpg" width="470" height="335" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 5.—JAPANESE FISHERMAN ATTACKED BY A CUTTLE.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig_006" id="fig_006"> +<img src="images/fig_006.jpg" width="470" height="461" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 6.—ARMS OF A GREAT CUTTLE EXHIBITED IN A JAPANESE +FISHMONGER'S SHOP.</span> +</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<p>The octopus, therefore, though not abundant on our own +coasts, is found in every sea in the temperate zone; and in +so far as that it secretes an ink with which it can render +the water turbid, and has many radiating arms with which +it can seize and drown a man, it possesses certain attributes +of the Kraken; but we have no authentic knowledge +of its ever attaining to greater dimensions than I have +stated, nor does it bask on the surface of the sea. It is not +amongst the <i>Octopidæ</i> therefore that we must look for a +solution of the mystery.</p> + +<p>The basking condition is fulfilled by the <i>Sepia</i>; and its +flattened back, supported and rendered hard and firm to +the touch by the calcareous <i>sepiostaire</i> beneath the skin, is +broader in proportion than that of the octopus or the squid. +Thus <i>Sepia</i> might pass as a microscopic miniature of the +great Scandinavian monster. But it lacks the character of +size. We have no reason to believe that any true <i>Sepia</i> +exists, as the family is now understood, that has a body +more than eighteen inches long. If it were otherwise it would +be more likely to be known of this family than of its relatives, +for its lightly constructed and well known "cuttle-bone" +would float on the surface for many weeks after the death +of its owner, and large specimens of it would be seen and +recognised from passing ships.</p> + +<p>As we can find no species of the <i>Octopidæ</i> or <i>Sepiidæ</i> +which can furnish a pretext for the stories told of the +Kraken, we must try to ascertain how far a similitude to it +may be traced in the third family we have discussed, the +<i>Teuthidæ</i>.</p> + +<p>The belief in the existence of gigantic cuttles is an +ancient one. Aristotle mentions it, and Pliny tells of an +enormous polypus which at Carteia, in Grenada—an old +and important Roman colony near Gibraltar—used to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +come out of the sea at night, and carry off and devour +salted tunnies from the curing depots on the shore; and +adds that when it was at last killed, the head of it (they +used to call the body the head, because in swimming it +goes in advance) was found to weigh 700 lbs. Ælian records +a similar incident, and describes his monster as +crushing in its arms the barrels of salt fish to get at the +contents. These two must have been octopods if they +were anything; the word "polypus" thus especially +designates it, and moreover, the free-swimming cuttles and +squids would be helpless if stranded on the shore. Some +of the old writers seem to have aimed rather at making their +histories sensational than at carefully investigating the +credibility or the contrary of the highly coloured reports +brought to them. These were, of course, gross exaggerations, +but there was generally a substratum of truth in +them. They were based on the rare occurrence of specimens, +smaller certainly, but still enormous, of some known +species, and in most cases the worst that can be said of +their authors is that they were culpably careless and foolishly +credulous.</p> + +<p>Unhappily so lenient a judgment cannot be passed on +some comparatively recent writers. Denys de Montfort, +half a century later than Pontoppidan, not only professed +to believe in the Kraken, but also in the existence of +another gigantic animal distinct from it; a colossal <i>poulpe</i>, +or octopus, compared with which Pliny's was a mere +pigmy. In a drawing fitter to decorate the outside of a +showman's caravan at a fair than seriously to illustrate a +work on natural history,<a name="Anchor_10_10" id="Anchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 10."> [10] </a> he depicted this tremendous +cuttle as throwing its arms over a three masted vessel, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>snapping off its masts, tearing down the yards, and on the +point of dragging it to the bottom, if the crew had not succeeded +in cutting off its immense limbs with cutlasses and +hatchets. De Montfort had good opportunities of obtaining +information, for he was at one time an assistant in the +geological department of the Museum of Natural History, +in Paris; and wrote a work on conchology,<a name="Anchor_11_11" id="Anchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 11."> [11] </a> besides that +already referred to. But it appears to have been his deliberate +purpose to cajole the public; for it is reported +that he exclaimed to M. Defrance: "If my entangled +ship is accepted, I will make my 'colossal poulpe' overthrow +a whole fleet." Accordingly we find him gravely +declaring<a name="Anchor_12_12" id="Anchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 12."> [12] </a> that one of the great victories of the British +navy was converted into a disaster by the monsters +which are the subject of his history. He boldly asserted +that the six men-of-war captured from the French by +Admiral Rodney in the West Indies on the 12th of April, +1782, together with four British ships detached from his +fleet to convoy the prizes, were all suddenly engulphed in +the waves on the night of the battle under such circumstances +as showed that the catastrophe was caused by +colossal cuttles, and not by a gale or any ordinary casualty.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 468px;"> +<a name="fig_007" id="fig_007"> +<img src="images/fig_007.jpg" width="468" height="732" alt="Giant octopus attacking a ship" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 7.—FACSIMILE OF DE MONTFORT'S "Poulpe colossal."</span> +</div> + +<p>Unfortunately for De Montfort, the inexorable logic of +facts not only annihilates his startling theory, but demonstrates +the reckless falsity of his plausible statements. The +captured vessels did not sink on the night of the action, +but were all sent to Jamaica to refit, and arrived there +safely. Five months afterwards, however, a convoy of nine +line-of-battle ships (amongst which were Rodney's prizes), +one frigate, and about a hundred merchantmen, were dispersed, +whilst on their voyage to England, by a violent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>storm, during which some of them unfortunately foundered. +The various accidents which preceded the loss of these +vessels was related in evidence to the Admiralty by the +survivors, and official documents prove that De Montfort's +fleet-destroying <i>poulpe</i> was an invention of his own, and +had no part whatever in the disaster that he attributed +to it.</p> + +<p>I have been told, but cannot vouch for the truth of +the report, that De Montfort's propensity to write that +which was not true culminated in his committing forgery, +and that he died in the galleys. But he records a statement +of Captain Jean Magnus Dens, said to have been +a respectable and veracious man, who, after having made +several voyages to China as a master trader, retired from a +seafaring life and lived at Dunkirk. He told De Montfort +that in one of his voyages, whilst crossing from St. Helena +to Cape Negro, he was becalmed, and took advantage of +the enforced idleness of the crew to have the vessel scraped +and painted. Whilst three of his men were standing on +planks slung over the side, an enormous cuttle rose from +the water, and threw one of its arms around two of the +sailors, whom it tore away, with the scaffolding on which +they stood. With another arm it seized the third man, who +held on tightly to the rigging, and shouted for help. His +shipmates ran to his assistance, and succeeded in rescuing +him by cutting away the creature's arm with axes and +knives, but he died delirious on the following night. The +captain tried to save the other two sailors by killing the +animal, and drove several harpoons into it; but they broke +away, and the men were carried down by the monster.</p> + +<p>The arm cut off was said to have been twenty-five feet +long, and as thick as the mizen-yard, and to have had on it +suckers as big as saucepan-lids. I believe the old sea-captain's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +narrative of the incident to be true; the dimensions +given by De Montfort are wilfully and deliberately false. +The belief in the power of the cuttle to sink a ship and +devour her crew is as widely spread over the surface of the +globe, as it is ancient in point of time. I have been told +by a friend that he saw in a shop in China a picture of a +cuttle embracing a junk, apparently of about 300 tons +burthen, and helping itself to the sailors, as one picks +gooseberries off a bush.</p> + +<p>Traditions of a monstrous cuttle attacking and destroying +ships are current also at the present day in the Polynesian +Islands. Mr. Gill, the missionary previously quoted, tells +us<a name="Anchor_13_13" id="Anchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 13."> [13] </a> that the natives of Aitutaki, in the Hervey group, have +a legend of a famous explorer, named Rata, who built a +double canoe, decked and rigged it, and then started off in +quest of adventures. At the prow was stationed the dauntless +Nganaoa, armed with a long spear and ready to slay +all monsters. One day when speeding pleasantly over the +ocean, the voice of the ever vigilant Nganaoa was heard: +"O Rata! yonder is a terrible enemy starting up from +ocean depths." It proved to be an octopus (query, squid?) +of extraordinary dimensions. Its huge tentacles encircled +the vessel in their embrace, threatening its instant destruction. +At this critical moment Nganaoa seized his spear, and +fearlessly drove it through the head of the creature. The +tentacles slowly relaxed, and the dead monster floated off +on the surface of the ocean.</p> + +<p>Passing from the early records of the appearance of +cuttles of unusual size, and the current as well as +the traditional belief in their existence by the inhabitants +of many countries, let us take the testimony of travellers +and naturalists who have a right to be regarded as competent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +observers. In so doing we must bear in mind that +until Professor Owen propounded the very clear and convenient +classification now universally adopted, the squids, +as well as the eight-footed <i>Octopidæ</i>, were all grouped +under the title of <i>Sepia</i>.</p> + +<p>Pernetty, describing a voyage made by him in the years +1763-4,<a name="Anchor_14_14" id="Anchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 14."> [14] </a> mentions gigantic cuttles met with in the Southern +Seas.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards, during the first week in March 1769, +Banks and Solander, the scientific fellow-voyagers with +Lieutenant Cook (afterwards the celebrated Captain Cook), +in H.M.S. <i>Endeavour</i>, found in the North Pacific, in latitude +38° 44´ S. and longitude 110° 33´ W., a large calamary +which had just been killed by the birds, and was floating in +a mangled condition on the water. Its arms were furnished, +instead of suckers, with a double row of very sharp talons, +which resembled those of a cat, and, like them, were retractable +into a sheath of skin from which they might be thrust +at pleasure. Of this cuttle they say, with evident pleasurable +remembrance of a savoury meal, they made one of the +best soups they ever tasted. Professor Owen tells us, in the +paper already referred to, that when he was curator of the +Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, and +preparing, in 1829, his first catalogue thereof, he was struck +with the number of oceanic invertebrates which Hunter had +obtained. He learned from Mr. Clift that Hunter had supplied +Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) Banks with stoppered +bottles containing alcohol, in which to preserve the new +marine animals that he might meet with during the circumnavigatory +voyage about to be undertaken by Cook. +Thinking it probable that Banks might have stowed some +parts of this great hook-armed squid in one of these bottles for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>his anatomical friend, he searched for, and found in a bottle +marked "J. B.," portions of its arms, the beak with tongue, a +heart ventricle, &c., and, amongst the dry preparations, the +terminal part of the body, with an attached pair of rhomboidal +fins. The remainder had furnished Cook and his +companions Banks and Solander with a welcome change of +diet in the commander's cabin of the <i>Endeavour</i>. As the +inner surface of the arms of the squid, as well as the +terminals of its tentacles, were studded with hooks, Professor +Owen named it <i>Enoploteuthis Cookii</i>. He estimates the +diameter of the tail fin at 15 inches, the length of its body +3 feet, of its head 10 inches, of the shorter arms 16 inches, +and of the longer tentacles about the same as its body—thus +giving a total length of about 6 ft. 9 in. Although +individuals of other species, of larger dimensions, are known +to have existed, this is the largest specimen of the hook-armed +calamaries that has been scientifically examined. +It would have been a formidable antagonist to a man under +circumstances favourable to the exertion of its strength, and +the use of its prehensile and lacerating talons.</p> + +<p>Peron,<a name="Anchor_15_15" id="Anchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 15."> [15] </a> the well-known French zoologist, mentions having +seen at sea, in 1801, not far from Van Diemen's Land, at a +very little distance from his ship, <i>Le Géographe</i>, a "Sepia," +of the size of a barrel, rolling with noise on the waves; its +arms, between 6 and 7 feet long, and 6 or 7 inches in +diameter at the base, extended on the surface, and writhing +about like great snakes. He recognised in this, and no +doubt correctly, one of the calamaries. The arms that he +saw were evidently the animal's shorter ones, as under such +circumstances, with neither enemy to combat nor prey to +seize at the moment, the longer tentacles would remain +concealed.</p> + +<p>Quoy and Gaimard<a name="Anchor_16_16" id="Anchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 16."> [16] </a> report that in the Atlantic Ocean, +near the Equator, they found the remains of an enormous +calamary, half eaten by the sharks and birds, which could +not have weighed less, when entire, than 200 lbs. A portion +of this was secured, and is preserved in the Museum of +Natural History, Paris.</p> + +<p>Captain Sander Rang<a name="Anchor_17_17" id="Anchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 17."> [17] </a> records having fallen in with, in +mid-ocean, a species distinct from the others, of a dark red +colour, having short arms, and a body the size of a hogshead.</p> + +<p>In a manuscript by Paulsen (referred to by Professor +Steenstrup, at a meeting of Scandinavian naturalists at +Copenhagen in 1847) is a description of a large calamary, +cast ashore on the coast of Zeeland, which the latter named +<i>Architeuthis monachus</i>. Its body measured 21 feet, and its +tentacles 18 feet, making a total of 39 feet.</p> + +<p>In 1854 another was stranded at the Skag in Jutland, +which Professor Steenstrup believed to belong to the same +genus as the preceding, but to be of a different species, and +called it <i>Architeuthis dux</i>. The body was cut in pieces by +the fishermen for bait, and furnished many wheelbarrow +loads. Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys<a name="Anchor_18_18" id="Anchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 18."> [18] </a> says Dr. Mörch informed him +that the beak of this animal was nine inches long. He adds +that another huge cephalopod was stranded in 1860 or +1861, between Hillswick and Scalloway, on the west of +Shetland. From a communication received by Professor +Allman, it appears that its tentacles were 16 feet long, the +pedal arms about half that length, and the mantle sac 7 +feet. The largest suckers examined by Professor Allman +were three-quarters of an inch in diameter.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 464px;"> +<a name="fig_008" id="fig_008"> +<img src="images/fig_008.jpg" width="464" height="714" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 8.—GIGANTIC CALAMARY CAUGHT BY THE FRENCH DESPATCH +VESSEL 'ALECTON,' NEAR TENERIFFE.</span> +</div> + +<p>We have also the statement of the officers and crew of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +the French despatch steamer, <i>Alecton</i>, commanded by Lieutenant +Bouyer, describing their having met with a great +calamary on the 30th of November, 1861, between Madeira +and Teneriffe. It was seen about noon on that day floating +on the surface of the water, and the vessel was stopped with +a view to its capture. Many bullets were aimed at it, but +they passed through its soft flesh without doing it much +injury, until at length "the waves were observed to be +covered with foam and blood." It had probably discharged +the contents of its ink-bag; for a strong odour of +musk immediately became perceptible—a perfume which I +have already mentioned as appertaining to the ink of many +of the cephalopoda, and also as being one of the reputed +attributes of the Kraken. Harpoons were thrust into it, +but would not hold in the yielding flesh; and the animal +broke adrift from them, and, diving beneath the vessel, +came up on the other side. The crew wished to launch +a boat that they might attack it at closer quarters, but the +commander forbade this, not feeling justified in risking the +lives of his men. A rope with a running knot was, however, +slipped over it, and held fast at the junction of the broad +caudal fin; but when an attempt was made to hoist it on +deck the enormous weight caused the rope to cut through +the flesh, and all but the hinder part of the body fell back into +the sea and disappeared. M. Berthelot, the French consul at +Teneriffe, saw the fin and posterior portion of the animal on +board the <i>Alecton</i> ten days afterwards, and sent a report +of the occurrence to the Paris Academy of Sciences. The +body of this great squid, which, like Rang's specimen, was +of a deep-red colour, was estimated to have been from +16 feet to 18 feet long, without reckoning the length of its +formidable arms.<a name="Anchor_19_19" id="Anchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 19."> [19] </a></p> + +<p>These are statements made by men who, by their intelligence, +character, and position, are entitled to respect and +credence; and whose evidence would be accepted without +question or hesitation in any court of law. There is, moreover, +a remarkable coincidence of particulars in their several +accounts, which gives great importance to their combined +testimony.</p> + +<p>But, fortunately, we are not left dependent on documentary +evidence alone, nor with the option of accepting +or rejecting, as caprice or prejudice may prompt us, the +narratives of those who have told us they have seen what +we have not. Portions of cuttles of extraordinary size are +preserved in several European museums. In the collection +of the Faculty of Sciences at Montpellier is one six feet +long, taken by fishermen at Cette, which Professor Steenstrup +has identified as <i>Ommastrephes pteropus</i>. One of the +same species, which was formerly in the possession of M. +Eschricht, who received it from Marseilles, may be seen in +the museum at Copenhagen. The body of another, +analogous to these, is exhibited in the Museum of Trieste: +it was taken on the coast of Dalmatia. At the meeting of +the British Association at Plymouth in 1841, Colonel Smith +exhibited drawings of the beak and other parts of a very +large calamary preserved at Haarlem; and M. P. Harting, +in 1860, described in the Memoirs of the Royal Scientific +Academy of Amsterdam portions of two extant in other +collections in Holland, one of which he believes to be Steenstrup's +<i>Architeuthis dux</i>, a species which he regards as +identical with <i>Ommastrephes todarus</i> of D'Orbigny.</p> + +<p>Still there remained a residuum of doubt in the minds of +naturalists and the public concerning the existence of +gigantic cuttles until, towards the close of the year 1873, +two specimens were encountered on the coast of Newfoundland,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +and a portion of one and the whole of the other, +were brought ashore, and preserved for examination by +competent zoologists.</p> + +<p>The circumstances under which the first was seen, as +sensationally described by the Rev. M. Harvey, Presbyterian +minister of St. John's, Newfoundland, in a letter to +Principal Dawson, of McGill College, were, briefly and +soberly, as follows:—Two fishermen were out in a small +punt on the 26th of October, 1873, near the eastern end of +Belle Isle, Conception Bay, about nine miles from St. John's. +Observing some object floating on the water at a short +distance, they rowed towards it, supposing it to be the <i>débris</i> +of a wreck. On reaching it one of them struck it with his +"gaff," when immediately it showed signs of life, and shot +out its two tentacular arms, as if to seize its antagonists. +The other man, named Theophilus Picot, though naturally +alarmed, severed both arms with an axe as they lay on the +gunwale of the boat, whereupon the animal moved off, and +ejected a quantity of inky fluid which darkened the surrounding +water for a considerable distance. The men went +home, and, as fishermen will, magnified their lost "fish." +They "estimated" the body to have been 60 feet in length, +and 10 feet across the tail fin; and declared that when +the "fish" attacked them "it reared a parrot-like beak +which was as big as a six-gallon keg."</p> + +<p>All this, in the excitement of the moment, Mr. Harvey +appears to have been willing to believe, and related without +the expression of a doubt. Fortunately, he was able to +obtain from the fishermen a portion of one of the tentacular +arms which they had chopped off with the axe, and by so +doing rendered good service to science. This fragment +(<a href="#fig_009">Fig. 9</a>), as measured by Mr. Alexander Murray, provincial +geologist of Newfoundland, and Professor Verrill, of Yale<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +College, Connecticut, is 17 feet long and 3½ feet in circumference. +It is now in St. John's Museum. By careful calculation +of its girth, the breadth and circumference of the +expanded sucker-bearing portion at its extremity, and the +diameter of the suckers, Professor Verrill has computed its +dimensions to have been as follows:—Length of body 10 feet; +diameter of body 2 feet 5 inches. Long tentacular arms +32 feet; head 2 feet; total length about 44 feet. The upper +mandible of the beak, instead of being "as large as a six-gallon +keg" would be about 3 inches long, and the lower +mandible 1½ inch long. From the size of the large suckers +relatively to those of another specimen to be presently +described, he regards it as probable that this individual was +a female.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 465px;"> +<a name="fig_009" id="fig_009"> +<img src="images/fig_009.jpg" width="465" height="203" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 9.—TENTACLE OF A GREAT CALAMARY (Architeuthis princeps) TAKEN +IN CONCEPTION BAY, NEWFOUNDLAND, OCT. 26, 1873.</span> +</div> + +<p>In November, 1873—about three weeks after the occurrence +in Conception Bay—another calamary somewhat +smaller than the preceding, but of the same species, also +came into Mr. Harvey's possession. Three fishermen, when +hauling their herring-net in Logie Bay, about three miles +from St. John's, found the huge animal entangled in its folds. +With great difficulty they succeeded in despatching it and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +bringing it ashore, having been compelled to cut off its head +before they could get it into their boat.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig_010" id="fig_010"> +<img src="images/fig_010.jpg" width="470" height="608" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 10.—HEAD AND TENTACLES OF A GREAT CALAMARY (Architeuthis +princeps) TAKEN IN LOGIE BAY, NEWFOUNDLAND, NOV. 1873.</span> +</div> + +<p>The body of this specimen was over 7 feet long; the +caudal fin 22 inches broad; the two long tentacular arms +24 feet in length; the eight shorter arms each 6 feet long, +the largest of the latter being 10 inches in circumference at +the base; total length of this calamary 32 feet. Professor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +Verrill considers that this and the Conception Bay squid +are both referable to one species—Steenstrup's <i>Architeuthis +dux</i>.</p> + +<p>Excellent woodcuts from photographs of these two specimens +were given in the <i>Field</i> of December 13th, 1873, and +January 31st, 1874, respectively, and I am indebted to the +proprietors of that journal for their kind and courteous permission +to copy them in reduced size for the illustration of +this little work.</p> + +<p>For the preservation of both of the above described +specimens we have to thank Mr. Harvey, and he produces +additional evidence of other gigantic cuttles having been +previously seen on the coast of Newfoundland. He mentions +two especially, which, as stated by the Rev. Mr. +Gabriel, were cast ashore in the winter of 1870-71, near +Lamaline on the south coast of the island, which measured +respectively 40 feet and 47 feet in length; and he also tells +of another stranded two years later, the total length of +which was 80 feet.</p> + +<p>In the <i>American Journal of Science and Arts</i>, of March +1875, Professor Verrill gives particulars and authenticated +testimony of several other examples of great calamaries, +varying in total length from 30 feet to 52 feet, which have +been taken in the neighbourhood of Newfoundland since +the year 1870. One of these was found floating, apparently +dead, near the Grand Banks in October 1871, by Captain +Campbell, of the schooner <i>B. D. Hoskins</i>, of Gloucester, +Mass. It was taken on board, and part of it used for bait. +The body is stated to have been 15 feet long, and the pedal +or shorter arms between 9 feet and 10 feet. The beak was +forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution.</p> + +<p>Another instance given by Professor Verrill is of a great +squid found alive in shallow water in Coomb's Cove,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +Fortune Bay, in the year 1872. Its measurements, taken by +the Hon. T. R. Bennett, of English Harbour, Newfoundland, +were, length of body 10 feet; length of tentacle 42 feet; +length of one of the ordinary arms 6 feet: the cups on the +tentacles were serrated. Professor Verrill also mentions a +pair of jaws and two suckers in the Smithsonian Institution, +as having been received from the Rev. A. Munn, with a +statement that they were taken from a calamary which +went ashore in Bonavista Bay, and which measured 32 feet +in total length.</p> + +<p>On the 22nd of September, 1877, another gigantic squid +was stranded at Catalina, on the north shore of Trinity +Bay, Newfoundland, during a heavy equinoctial gale. It +was alive when first seen, but died soon after the ebbing of +the tide, and was left high and dry upon the beach. Two +fishermen took possession of it, and the whole settlement +gathered to gaze in astonishment at the monster. Formerly +it would have been converted into manure, or cut up as +food for dogs, but, thanks to the diffusion of intelligence, +there were some persons in Catalina who knew the importance +of preserving such a rarity, and who advised the +fishermen to take it to St. John's. After being exhibited +there for two days, it was packed in half-a-ton of ice in +readiness for transmission to Professor Verrill, in the hope +that it would be placed in the Peabody or Smithsonian +Museum; but at the last moment its owners violated their +agreement, and sold it to a higher bidder. The final +purchase was made for the New York Aquarium, where it +arrived on the 7th of October, immersed in methylated +spirit in a large glass tank. Its measurements were as follows:—length +of body 10 feet; length of tentacles 30 feet; +length of shorter arm 11 feet; circumference of body 7 feet; +breadth of caudal fin 2 feet 9 inches; diameter of largest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +tentacular sucker 1 inch; number of suckers on each of +the shorter arms 250.</p> + +<p>The appearance of so many of these great squids on +the shores of Newfoundland during the term of seven years, +and after so long a period of popular uncertainty as to +their very existence had previously elapsed, might lead one +to suppose that the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean +which wash the north-eastern coasts of the American Continent +were, at any rate, temporarily, their principal habitat, +especially as a smaller member of their family, <i>Ommastrephes +sagittatus</i>, is there found in such extraordinary +numbers that it furnishes the greater part of the bait used +in the Newfoundland cod fisheries. But that they are by +no means confined to this locality is proved by recent +instances, as well as by those already cited.</p> + +<p>Dr. F. Hilgendorf records<a name="Anchor_20_20" id="Anchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 20."> [20] </a> observations of a huge squid +exhibited for money at Yedo, Japan, in 1873, and of another +of similar size, which he saw exposed for sale in the Yedo +fish market.</p> + +<p>When the French expedition was sent to the Island of +St. Paul, in 1874, for the purpose of observing the transit +of Venus, which occurred on the 9th of December in that +year, it was fortunately accompanied by an able zoologist, +M. Ch. Velain. He reports<a name="Anchor_21_21" id="Anchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 21."> [21] </a> that on the 2nd of November +a tidal wave cast upon the north shore of the island a great +calamary which measured in total length nearly 23 feet, +namely: length of body 7 feet; length of tentacles 16 feet. +There are several points of interest connected with its +generic characters, and M. Velain's grounds for regarding +it as being of a previously unknown species, but they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>are too technical for discussion here. This specimen was +photographed as it lay upon the beach by M. Cazin, the +photographer to the expedition.</p> + +<p>The following account of the still more recent capture of +a large squid off the west coast of Ireland was given in the +<i>Zoologist</i> of June 1875, by Sergeant Thomas O'Connor, of +the Royal Irish Constabulary:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On the 26th of April, 1875, a very large calamary was met +with on the north-west of Boffin Island, Connemara. The crew of +a 'curragh' (a boat made like the 'coracle,' with wooden ribs +covered with tarred canvas) observed to seaward a large floating +mass, surrounded by gulls. They pulled out to it, believing it to +be wreck, but to their astonishment found it was an enormous +cuttle-fish, lying perfectly still, as if basking on the surface of the +water. Paddling up with caution, they lopped off one of its arms. +The animal immediately set out to sea, rushing through the water +at a tremendous pace. The men gave chase, and, after a hard +pull in their frail canvas craft, came up with it, five miles out in +the open Atlantic, and severed another of its arms and the head. +These portions are now in the Dublin Museum. The shorter +arms measure, each, eight feet in length, and fifteen inches round +the base: the tentacular arms are said to have been thirty feet +long. The body sank."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Finally, there is in our own national collection, preserved +in spirit in a tall glass jar, a single arm of a huge cephalopod, +which, by the kindness and courtesy of the officers of the +department, I was permitted to examine and measure when +I first described it, in May, 1873. It is 9 feet long, and 12 +inches in circumference at the base, tapering gradually to a +fine point. It has about 300 suckers, pedunculated, or set +on tubular footstalks, placed alternately in two rows, and +having serrated, horny rings, but no hooks; the diameter +of the largest of these rings is half an inch; the smallest is +not larger than a pin's head. This is one of the eight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +shorter, or pedal, and not one of the long, or tentacular, +arms of the calamary to which it belonged. The relative +length of the arms to that of the body and tentacles +varies in different genera of the <i>Teuthidæ</i>, and it is not +impossible that this may be the case even in individuals +of the same species. But, judging from the proportions +of known examples, I estimate the length of the tentacles +at 36 feet, and that of the body at from 10 to +11 feet: total length 47 feet. The beak would probably +have been about 5 inches long from hinge socket to point, +and the diameter of the largest suckers of the tentacles +about 1 inch. So much for De Montfort's "suckers as big +as saucepan-lids." From a well defined fold of skin which +spreads out from each margin of that surface of the arm +over which the suckers are situated, Professor Owen has +given to this calamary the generic name of <i>Plectoteuthis</i>, +with the specific title of <i>grandis</i> to indicate its enormous +size. No history relating to this interesting specimen has +been preserved. No one knows its origin, nor when it was +received, but Dr. Gray told me that he believed it came +from the east coast of South America. It has, however, +long formed part of the stores of the British Museum, and, +although previously open to public view, was more recently +for many years kept in the basement chambers of the old +building in Bloomsbury, which were irreverently called by +the initiated "the spirit vaults and bottle department," +because fishes, mollusca, &c., preserved in spirits were +there deposited. I hope the public will have greater +facility of access to it in the new Museum.</p> + +<p>Here, then, in our midst, and to be seen by all who ask +permission to inspect it, is, and has long been, a limb of a +great cephalopod capable of upsetting a boat, or of hauling +a man out of her, or of clutching one engaged in scraping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +a ship's side, and dragging him under water, as described +by the old master-mariner Magnus Dens. The tough, +supple tentacles, shot forth with lightning rapidity, would +be long enough to reach him at a distance of a dozen yards, +and strong enough to drag him within the grasp of the +eight shorter arms, a helpless victim to the mandibles of a +beak sufficiently powerful to tear him in pieces and crush +some of his smaller bones. For, once within that dreadful +embrace, his escape, unaided, would be impossible. The +clinging power of this <i>Plectoteuthis</i> is so enormously augmented +by the additional surface given by the expanded +folds to the under side of the arms, that I doubt if even +one of the smaller whales, such as the "White Whale," or +the "Pilot Whale," could extricate itself from their combined +hold, if those eight supple, clammy, adhesive arms, +each 9 feet long, and 5 inches in diameter at the base +on the flat under surface, and armed with a battery of +2400 suckers, were once fairly lapped around it.</p> + +<p>Ought it to surprise us, then, that an uneducated seafaring +population, such as the fishermen of Fridrichstad, +mentioned by Pontoppidan, absolutely ignorant of the +habits and affinities, and even unacquainted with the real +external form of such a creature, should exaggerate its +dimensions and invest it with mystery? All that they +knew of it was that whilst their friends and neighbours, +whom we will call Eric Paulsen, Hans Ohlsen, and Olaf +Bruhn were out fishing one calm day, a shapeless "something" +rose just above the surface of the tranquil sea not +far from their boat. They could see that there was much +more of its bulk under water, but how far it extended they +could not ascertain. Mistrusting its appearance, and with +foreboding of danger, they were about to get up their +anchor, when, suddenly, from thirty feet away, a rope was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +shot on board which fastened itself on Hans; he was +dragged from amongst them towards the strange floating +mass; there was a commotion; from the foaming sea +upreared themselves, as it seemed to Eric and Olaf, several +writhing serpents, which twined themselves around Hans; +and as they gazed, helpless, in horror and bewilderment, +the monster sank, and with a mighty swirl the waters +closed for ever over their unfortunate companion. The +men would naturally hasten home, and describe the dreadful +incident—their imagination excited by its mysterious +nature; the tale would spread through the district, losing +nothing by repetition, and within a week the fabled Kraken +would be the result.</p> + +<p>The existence, in almost every sea, of calamaries capable +of playing their part in such a scene has been fully proved, +and this vexed question of marine zoology set at rest for +ever. The "much greater light on this subject," which, as +Pontoppidan sagaciously foresaw, was "reserved for posterity," +has been thrown upon it by the discoveries of the +last few years; and the "further experience which is +always the best instructor," and which he correctly anticipated +would be possessed by the "future writers," to whom +he bequeathed the completion of his "sketch," has been +obtained. Viewed by their aid, and seen in the clearer +atmosphere of our present knowledge, the great sea-monster +which loomed so indefinitely vast in the mist of ignorance and +superstition, stands revealed in its true form and proportions—its +magnitude reduced, its outline distinct, and its mystery +gone—and we recognise in the supposed Kraken, as the +Norwegian bishop rightly conjectured that we should, an +animal "of the Polypus (or cuttle) kind, and amongst the +largest inhabitants of the ocean."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE GREAT SEA SERPENT.</h2> + + +<p>The belief in the existence of sea-serpents of formidable +dimensions is of great antiquity. Aristotle, writing about +<small>B.C.</small> 340, says<a name="Anchor_22_22" id="Anchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 22."> [22] </a>:—"The serpents of Libya are of an enormous +size. Navigators along that coast report having seen +a great quantity of bones of oxen, which they believe, +without doubt, to have been devoured by the serpents. +These serpents pursued them when they left the shore, and +upset one of their triremes"—a vessel of a large class, +having three banks of oars.</p> + +<p>Pliny tells us<a name="Anchor_23_23" id="Anchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 23."> [23] </a> that a squadron sent by Alexander the +Great on a voyage of discovery, under the command of +Onesicritus and Nearchus, encountered, in the neighbourhood +of some islands in the Persian Gulf, sea-serpents +thirty feet long, which filled the fleet with terror.</p> + +<p>Valerius Maximus,<a name="Anchor_24_24" id="Anchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 24."> [24] </a> quoting Livy, describes the alarm +into which, during the Punic wars, the Romans, under +Attilius Regulus (who was afterwards so cruelly put to +death by the Carthaginians), were thrown by an aquatic, +though not marine, serpent which had its lair on the +banks of the Bagrados, near Ithaca. It is said to have +swallowed many of the soldiers, after crushing them in +its folds, and to have kept the army from crossing the +river, till at length, being invulnerable by ordinary weapons, +it was destroyed by heavy stones hurled by balistas, +catapults, and other military engines used in those days +for casting heavy missiles, and battering the walls of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>fortified towns. According to the historian, the annoyance +caused by it to the army did not cease with its death, for +the water was polluted with its gore, and the air with the +noxious fumes from its corrupted carcase, to such a degree +that the Romans were obliged to remove their camp. They, +however secured the animal's skin and skull, which were preserved +in a temple at Rome till the time of the Numantine +war. This combat has been described, to the same effect, +by Florus (lib. ii.), Seneca (litt. 82), Silvius Italicus (l. vi.), +Aulus Gellius (lib. vi., cap. 3), Orosius, Zonaras, &c., and is +referred to by Pliny (lib. viii., cap. 14) as an incident known +to every one. Diodorus Siculus also tells of a great serpent, +sixty feet long, which lived chiefly in the water, but landed +at frequent intervals to devour the cattle in its neighbourhood. +A party was collected to capture it; but their first +attempt failed, and the monster killed twenty of them. It +was afterwards taken in a strong net, carried alive to +Alexandria, and presented to King Ptolemy II., the founder +of the Alexandrian Library and Museum, who was a great +collector of zoological and other curiosities. This snake +was probably one of the great boas.</p> + +<p>The "<i>Serpens marinus</i>" is figured and referred to by +many other writers, but as they evidently allude to the +Conger and the Murena, we will pass over their descriptions.</p> + +<p>The sea-serpents mentioned by Aristotle, Pliny, and +Diodorus were, doubtless, real sea-snakes, true marine +ophidians, which are more common in tropical seas than is +generally supposed. They are found most abundantly in +the Indian Ocean; but they have an extensive geographical +range, and between forty and fifty species of them are +known. They are all highly poisonous, and some are so +ferocious that they more frequently attack than avoid man.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +The greatest length to which they are authentically known +to attain is about twelve feet. The form and structure of +these <i>hydrophides</i> are modified from those of land serpents, +to suit their aquatic habits. The tail is compressed vertically, +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.</p> + +<p>Leaving these water-snakes of the tropics, we 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 descriptions +given several centuries later of the sea-serpent. In +an interesting article on the Catacombs of Rome in the +<i>Illustrated London News</i> 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 (<a href="#fig_011">Fig. 11</a>) is one of the illustrations +of the article referred to. It will be seen that Jonah<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +is being swallowed feet foremost, or possibly being ejected +head first, by an enormous sea monster, having the chest +and fore-legs of a horse, a long arching neck, with a mane +at its base, near the shoulders, a head like nothing in +nature, but having hair upon and beneath the cheeks, the +hinder portion of the body being that of a serpent of +prodigious length, undulating in several vertical curves. +This sculpture appears to have been cut between the +beginning and the middle of the third century, about +<small>A.D.</small> 230, but it probably represents a tradition of far +greater antiquity.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 463px;"> +<a name="fig_011" id="fig_011"> +<img src="images/fig_011.jpg" width="463" height="155" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 11.—JONAH AND THE SEA MONSTER. + +From the Catacombs of Rome.</span> +</div> + +<p>We will now consider the accounts given by Scandinavian +historians, of the sea-serpent having been seen in northern +waters. Here, I suppose, I ought to indulge in the usual +flippant sneer at Bishop Pontoppidan. I know that in abstaining +from doing so I am sadly out of the fashion; but I +venture to think that the dead lion has been kicked at too +often already, and undeservedly. Whether there be, or be not, +a huge marine animal, not necessarily an ophidian, answering +to some of the descriptions of the sea-serpent—so called—Pontoppidan +did not invent the stories told of its appearance. +Long before he was born the monster had been +described and figured; and for centuries previously the +Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, and Fins had believed in its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +existence as implicitly as in the tenets of their religious +creed. Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala, in Sweden, +wrote of it in <small>A.D.</small> 1555 as follows:—<a name="Anchor_25_25" id="Anchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 25."> [25] </a></p> + +<blockquote><p>"They who in works of navigation on the coasts of Norway +employ themselves in fishing or merchandize do all agree in this +strange story, that there is a serpent there which is of a vast +magnitude, namely 200 foot long, and moreover, 20 foot thick; +and is wont to live in rocks and caves toward the sea-coast about +Berge: which will go alone from his holes on a clear night in +summer, and devour calves, lambs, and hogs, or else he goes into +the sea to feed on polypus (octopus), locusts (lobsters), and all +sorts of sea-crabs. He hath commonly hair hanging from his +neck a cubit long, and sharp scales, and is black, and he hath +flaming, shining eyes. This snake disquiets the shippers; and +he puts up his head on high like a pillar, and catcheth away men, +and he devours them; and this happeneth not but it signifies +some wonderful change of the kingdom near at hand; namely, +that the princes shall die, or be banished; or some tumultuous +wars shall presently follow. There is also another serpent of an +incredible magnitude in an island called Moos in the diocess of +Hammer; which, as a comet portends a change in all the world, +so that portends a change in the kingdom of Norway, as it was +seen anno 1522; that lifts himself high above the waters, and rolls +himself round like a sphere.<a name="Anchor_26_26" id="Anchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 26."> [26] </a> This serpent was thought to be +fifty cubits long by conjecture, by sight afar off: there followed +this the banishment of King Christiernus, and a great persecution +of the Bishops; and it shewed also the destruction of the +country."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The Gothic Archbishop, amongst other signs and omens, +also attributes this power of divination to the small red +ants which are sometimes so troublesome in houses, and +declares that they also portended the downfall, <small>A.D.</small> 1523,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +of the abominably cruel Danish king, Christian II., above +mentioned. His curious work is full of wild improbabilities +and odd superstitions, most of which he states with a +calm air of unquestioning assent; but as he wrote in the +time of our Henry VIII., long before the belief in witches +and warlocks, fairies and banshees, had died out in our own +country, we can hardly throw stones at him on that score. +It is a most amusing and interesting history, and gives a +wonderful insight of the habits and customs of the northern +nations in his day.</p> + +<p>Amongst his illustrations of the sea monsters he describes +are the two of which I give facsimiles on the next page. In +<a href="#fig_012">Fig. 12</a> a sea-serpent is seen writhing in many coils upon +the surface of the water, and having in its mouth a sailor, +whom it has seized from the deck of a ship. The poor fellow +is trying to grasp the ratlins of the shrouds, but is being +dragged from his hold and lifted over the bulwarks by the +monster. His companions, in terror, are endeavouring to +escape in various directions. One is climbing aloft by the +stay, in the hope of getting out of reach in that way, +whilst two others are hurrying aft to obtain the shelter of +a little castle or cabin projecting over the stern. I am +strongly of the opinion that this is but the fallacious representation +of an actual occurrence. Read by the light of +recent knowledge, these old pictures convey to a practised +eye a meaning as clear as that of hieroglyphics to an +Egyptologist, and my translation of this is the following: +The crew of a ship have witnessed the dreadful sight of a +serpent-like form issuing from the sea, rising over the +bulwarks of their vessel, seizing one of their messmates<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +from amongst them, and dragging him overboard and +under water. Awe-stricken by the mysterious disappearance +of their comrade, and too frightened and anxious for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>their own safety to be able, during the short space of time +occupied by an affair, which all happened in a few seconds, +to observe accurately their terrible assailant, they naturally +conjecture that it must have been a snake. It was probably +a gigantic calamary, such as we now know exist, +and the dead carcases of which have been found in the +locality where the event depicted is supposed to have taken +place. The presumed body of the serpent was one of the arms +of the squid, and the two rows of suckers thereto belonging +are indicated in the illustration by the medial line traversing +its whole length (intended to represent a dorsal fin) and +the double row of transverse septa, one on each side of it.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig_012" id="fig_012"> +<img src="images/fig_012.jpg" width="470" height="293" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 12.—A SEA SERPENT SEIZING A MAN ON BOARD SHIP. + +After Olaus Magnus.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig_013" id="fig_013"> +<img src="images/fig_013.jpg" width="470" height="302" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 13.—A GIGANTIC LOBSTER DRAGGING A MAN FROM A SHIP. + +After Olaus Magnus.</span> +</div> + +<p>In Fig. 13 an enormous lobster is in the act of similarly +dragging overboard from a vessel a man whom it has seized +by the arm with one of its great claws. From the crude +image of a lobster having eight minor claws and two larger +ones, to that of a cuttle having eight minor arms and two +longer ones, the transition is not great; and I believe that +this also is a pictorial misrepresentation of a casualty +by the attack of a calamary similar to that above described, +possibly another view of the same incident. The +idea is that of a sea animal capable of suddenly seizing and +grasping a man, and we must remember that we have +evidence, in the writings of Pontoppidan and others, that, +even two centuries later than Olaus Magnus, the Norsemen's +knowledge of the cuttles was exceedingly vague and +indistinct. Any one who has seen, as I frequently have at +the Brighton Aquarium, and as they doubtless had whilst +lobster-catching, the threatening and ferocious manner in +which a lobster will brandish, and, if I may use the term, +"gnash" its claws at an intruding hand, even if held above +the surface of the water, can well imagine a party of fishermen +discussing such a tragic occurrence as the foregoing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +and differing in opinion as to the identity of the creature +which had caused the catastrophe, some maintaining that it +must have been a sea-serpent, and others shaking their +heads and asserting that nothing but a colossal lobster +could have done it.</p> + +<p>Pontoppidan, in writing his history of Norway, of course +had before him the statements of Olaus Magnus; but, though +their author was an archbishop, he did not accept them +with the childlike simplicity generally ascribed to him. +Quoting, and, singularly enough, misquoting, the Swedish +prelate as referring to a sea-serpent, when he is describing, +incorrectly, one of the <i>Acalephæ</i>, or sea-nettles, Pontoppidan +says:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I have never heard of this sort, and should hardly believe +the good Olaus if he did not say that he affirmed this from his +own experience. The disproportion makes me think there must +be some error of the press.... He mixes truth and fable together +according to the relations of others; but this was excusable in +that dark age when that author wrote. Notwithstanding all this, +we, in the present more enlightened age, are much obliged to him +for his industry and judicious observations."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Of the sea-serpent Pontoppidan writes:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I have questioned its existence myself, till that suspicion was +removed by full and sufficient evidence from creditable and experienced +fishermen and sailors in Norway, of which there are hundreds +who can testify that they have annually seen them. All +these persons agree very well in the general description; and +others who acknowledge that they only know it by report or by +what their neighbours have told them, still relate the same particulars. +In all my inquiry about these affairs I have hardly spoke +with any intelligent person born in the manor of Nordland who +was not able to give a pertinent answer, and strong assurances of +the existence of this fish; and some of our north traders that +come here every year with their merchandize think it a very strange<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +question when they are seriously asked whether there be any such +creature: they think it as ridiculous as if the question was put to +them whether there be such fish as eel or cod."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The worthy Bishop of Bergen did his best to sift truth +from fable, but he could not always succeed in separating +them. Many stupendous falsehoods were brought to him, +and some of them passed through his sieve in spite of his +care. Of these are the accounts of the "spawning times" +of the sea-serpent, its dislike of certain scents, &c. We +must pass over all this, and confine ourselves to the +evidence offered by him of its having been seen.</p> + +<p>The first witness he adduces is Captain Lawrence de +Ferry, of the Norwegian navy, and first pilot in Bergen, +who, premising that he had doubted a great while whether +there were any such creature till he had ocular demonstration +of it, made the following statement, addressed formally +and officially to the procurator of Bergen:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"Mr. <span class="smcap">John Reutz</span>—</p> + +<p>"The latter end of August, in the year 1746, as I was on a +voyage, on my return from Trundhiem, on a very calm and hot +day, having a mind to put in at Molde, it happened that when +we were arrived with my vessel within six English miles of +the aforesaid Molde, being at a place called Jule-Næss, as +I was reading in a book, I heard a kind of a murmuring +voice from amongst the men at the oars, who were eight in +number, and observed that the man at the helm kept off from +the land. Upon this I inquired what was the matter, and was +informed that there was a sea-snake before us. I then ordered +the man at the helm to keep to the land again, and to come up +with this creature of which I had heard so many stories. Though +the fellows were under some apprehension, they were obliged to +obey my orders. In the meantime the sea-snake passed by us, +and we were obliged to tack the vessel about in order to get nearer +to it. As the snake swam faster than we could row, I took my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +gun, that was ready charged, and fired at it; on this he immediately +plunged under the water. We rowed to the place where +it sunk down (which in the calm might be easily observed) and +lay upon our oars, thinking it would come up again to the surface; +however it did not. Where the snake plunged down, the water +appeared thick and red; perhaps some of the shot might wound it, +the distance being very little. The head of this snake, which it held +more than two feet above the surface of the water, resembled that +of a horse. It was of a greyish colour, and the mouth was quite +black, and very large. It had black eyes, and a long white mane, +that hung down from the neck to the surface of the water. +Besides the head and neck, we saw seven or eight folds, or coils, +of this snake, which were very thick, and as far as we could guess +there was about a fathom distance between each fold. I related +this affair in a certain company, where there was a person of distinction +present who desired that I would communicate to him an +authentic detail of all that happened; and for this reason two of +my sailors, who were present at the same time and place where I +saw this monster, namely, Nicholas Pedersen Kopper, and Nicholas +Nicholsen Anglewigen, shall appear in court, to declare on oath +the truth of every particular herein set forth; and I desire the +favour of an attested copy of the said descriptions.</p> + +<p> +"I remain, Sir, your obliged servant,<br /> +<br /> +"<span class="smcap">L. de Ferry</span>.<br /> +<br /> +"Bergen, 21st February, 1751.<br /> +</p> + +<p>"After this the before-named witnesses gave their corporal +oaths, and, with their finger held up according to law, witnessed +and confirmed the aforesaid letter or declaration, and every particular +set forth therein to be strictly true. A copy of the said +attestation was made out for the said Procurator Reutz, and +granted by the Recorder. That this was transacted in our court +of justice we confirm with our hand and seals. <i>Actum Bergis die +et loco, ut supra.</i></p> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">A. C. Dass</span> (<i>Chief Advocate</i>).<br /> +<br /> +"<span class="smcap">H. C. Gartner</span> (<i>Recorder</i>)."<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 151px;"> +<a name="fig_014" id="fig_014"> +<img src="images/fig_014.jpg" width="151" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 14.—PONTOPPIDAN'S +"SEA SERPENT."</span> +</div></blockquote> + +<p>The figure of the sea-serpent (Fig. 14) given by Pontoppidan +was drawn, he tells us, under the inspection of a +clergyman, Mr. Hans Strom, from +descriptions given of it by two of +his neighbours, Messrs. Reutz and +Teuchsen, of Herroe; and was declared +to agree in every particular +with that seen by Captain de Ferry, +and another subsequently observed +by Governor Benstrup. The supposed +coils of the serpent's body +present exactly the appearance of +eight porpoises following each other +in line. This is a well-known habit +of some of the smaller cetacea. +They are often met with at sea +thus proceeding in close single file, +part only of their rotund forms +being visible as they raise their +backs above the surface of the +water to inhale air through their +"blow-holes." Under these circumstances +they have been described +by naturalists and seamen as resembling +a long string of casks or +buoys, often extending for sixty, +eighty, or a hundred yards. This +is just such a spectacle as that +described by Olaus Magnus—his +"long line of spherical convolutions," +and also as one reported +to Pontoppidan as being descriptive of the sea-serpent:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p><blockquote><p>"'I have been informed,' he says, 'by some of our sea-faring +men that a cable<a name="Anchor_27_27" id="Anchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 27."> [27] </a> would not be long enough to measure the +length of some of them when they are observed on the surface of +the water in an even line. They say those round lumps or folds +sometimes lie one after another as far as a man can see. I +confess, if this be true, that we must suppose most probably that +it is not one snake, but two or more of these creatures lying in +a line that exhibit this phenomenon.' In a foot-note he adds: +'If any one enquires how many folds may be counted on a sea-snake, +the answer is that the number is not always the same, but +depends upon the various sizes of them: five and twenty is the +greatest number that I find well attested.' Adam Olearius, in his +Gottorf Museum, writes of it thus: 'A person of distinction from +Sweden related here at Gottorf that he had heard the burgomaster +of Malmoe, a very worthy man, say that as he was once standing +on the top of a very high hill, towards the North Sea, he saw in +the water, which was very calm, a snake, which appeared at that +distance to be as thick as a pipe of wine, and had twenty-five +folds. Those kind of snakes only appear at certain times, and +in calm weather.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>I believe that in every case so far cited from Pontoppidan, +as well as that given by Olaus Magnus, the supposed coils +or protuberances of the serpent's body, were only so many +porpoises swimming in line in accordance with their habit +before mentioned. If an upraised head, like that of a horse, +was seen preceding them, it was either unconnected with +them, or it certainly was not that of a snake; for no serpent +could throw its body into those vertical undulations. +The form of the vertebræ in the ophidians renders such a +movement impossible. All their flexions are horizontal; +the curving of their body is from side to side, not up and +down.</p> + +<p>The sea-monster seen by Egede was of an entirely different +kind; and his account of it—let sceptics deride it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>as they may—is worthy of attention and careful consideration. +The Rev. Hans Egede, known as "The Apostle of +Greenland," was superintendent of the Christian missions to +that country. He was a truthful, pious, and single-minded +man, possessing considerable powers of observation, and a +genuine love of natural history. He wrote two books on +the products, people, and natural history of Greenland,<a name="Anchor_28_28" id="Anchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 28."> [28] </a> +and his statements therein are modest, accurate, and free +from exaggeration. His illustrations are little, if at all, +superior in style of art to the two Japanese wood-cuts +shown on <a href="#Page_29">page 29</a>, but they bear the same unmistakable +signs of fidelity which characterise those of the Japanese.</p> + +<p>In his 'Journal of the Missions to Greenland' this author +tell us that—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On the 6th of July, 1734, there appeared a very large and +frightful sea monster, which raised itself so high out of the water +that its head reached above our main-top. It had a long, sharp +snout, and spouted water like a whale; and very broad flappers. +The body seemed to be covered with scales, and the skin was +uneven and wrinkled, and the lower part was formed like a snake. +After some time the creature plunged backwards into the water, +and then turned its tail up above the surface, a whole ship-length +from the head. The following evening we had very bad weather."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The high character of the narrator would lead us to +accept his statement that he had seen something previously +unknown to him (he does not say it was a sea-serpent) +even if we could not explain or understand what it was +that he saw. Fortunately, however, the sketch made by +Mr. Bing, one of his brother missionaries, has enabled us to +do this. We must remember that in his endeavour to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +portray the incident he was dealing with an animal with +the nature of which he was unacquainted, and which was +only partially, and for a very short time, within his view. +He therefore delineated rather the impression left on his +mind than the thing itself. But although he invested it +with a character that did not belong to it, his drawing is so +far correct that we are able to recognise at a glance the +distorted portrait of an old acquaintance, and to say unhesitatingly +that Egede's sea-monster was one of the great +calamaries which have since been occasionally met with, +but which have only been believed in and recognised within +the last few years. That which Mr. Egede believed to be +the creature's head was the tail part of the cuttle, which +goes in advance as the animal swims, and the two side +appendages represent very efficiently the two lobes of the +caudal fin. In propelling itself to the surface the squid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +raised this portion of its body out of the water to a considerable +height, an occurrence which I have often witnessed, and +which I have elsewhere described (see pp. 23 and 27). The +supposed tail, which was turned up at some distance from +the other visible portion of the body, after the latter had sunk +back into the sea, was one of the shorter arms of the cuttle, and +the suckers on its under side are clearly and conspicuously +marked. Egede was, of course, in error in making the +"spout" of water to issue from the mouth of his monster. +The out-pouring jet, which he, no doubt, saw, came from +the locomotor tube, and the puff of spray which would +accompany it as the orifice of the tube rose to the surface +of the water is sketched with remarkable truthfulness. In +quoting Egede, Pontoppidan gives a copy (so-called) of this +engraving, but his artist embellished it so much as to +deprive it of its original force and character, and of the +honestly drawn points which furnish proofs of its identity.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="fig_015" id="fig_015"> +<img src="images/fig_015.jpg" width="600" height="382" alt="Smoke breathing sea dragon" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 15—THE ANIMAL DRAWN BY MR. BING AS HAVING BEEN SEEN BY HANS EGEDE.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig_016" id="fig_016"> +<img src="images/fig_016.jpg" width="470" height="387" alt="Cuttle" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 16.—THE ANIMAL WHICH EGEDE PROBABLY SAW.</span> +</div> + +<p>Pontoppidan records other supposed appearances of the +sea-serpent, but from the date of his history I know of no +other account of such an occurrence until that of an animal +"apparently belonging to this class," which was stranded +on the Island of Stronsa, one of the Orkneys, in the year +1808:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"According to the narrative, it was first seen entire, and +measured by respectable individuals. It measured fifty-six feet +in length, and twelve in circumference. The head was small, not +being a foot long from the snout to the first vertebra; the neck +was slender, extending to the length of fifteen feet. All the witnesses +agree in assigning it blow-holes, though they differ as to the +precise situation. On the shoulders something like a bristly mane +commenced which extended to near the extremity of the tail. It +had three pairs of fins or paws connected with the body; the +anterior were the largest, measuring more than four feet in length, +and their extremities were something like toes partially webbed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +The skin was smooth and of a greyish colour; the eye was of +the size of a seal's. When the decaying carcass was broken up +by the waves, portions of it were secured (such as the skull, the +upper bones of the swimming paws, &c.) by Mr. Laing, a neighbouring +proprietor, and some of the vertebræ were preserved and +deposited in the Royal University Museum, Edinburgh, and in +the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London. An +able paper," says Dr. Robert Hamilton, in his account of it,<a name="Anchor_29_29" id="Anchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 29."> [29] </a> "on +these latter fragments and on the wreck of the animal was read +by the late Dr. Barclay to the Wernerian Society, and will be +found in Vol. I. of its Transactions, to which we refer. We have +supplied a wood-cut of the sketch" (of which I give a <i>facsimile</i> +here) "which was taken at the time, and which, from the many +affidavits proffered by respectable individuals, as well as from +other circumstances narrated, leaves no manner of doubt as to the +existence of some such animal."</p></blockquote> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig_017" id="fig_017"> +<img src="images/fig_017.jpg" width="470" height="69" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 17.—THE "SEA SERPENT" OF THE WERNERIAN SOCIETY. (Facsimile.)</span> +</div> + +<p>Well! one would think so. It looks convincing, and +there is a savour of philosophy about it that might lull +the suspicions of a doubting zoologist. What more could +be required? We have accurate measurements and a +sketch taken of the animal as it lay upon the shore, minute +particulars of its outward form, characteristic portions of +its skeleton preserved in well-known museums, and any +amount of affidavits forthcoming from most respectable +individuals if confirmation be required. And yet,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'Tis true, 'tis pity;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And pity 'tis 'tis true,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>the whole fabric of circumstances crumbled at the touch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +of science. When the two vertebræ in the Museum of the +Royal College of Surgeons were examined by Sir Everard +Home he pronounced them to be those of a great shark of +the genus <i>Selache</i>, and as being undistinguishable from +those of the species called the "basking shark," of which +individuals from thirty to thirty-five feet in length have been +from time to time captured or stranded on our coasts. Professor +Owen has confirmed this. Any one who feels inclined +to dispute the identification by this distinguished +comparative anatomist of a bone which he has seen and +handled can examine these vertebræ for himself. If they +had not been preserved, this incident would have been cited +for all time as among the most satisfactorily authenticated +instances on record of the appearance of the sea-serpent. +As it is, it furnishes a valuable warning of the necessity for +the most careful scrutiny of the evidence of well-meaning +persons to whom no intentional deception or exaggeration +can be imputed.</p> + +<p>In 1809, Mr. Maclean, the minister of Eigg, in the Western +Isles of Scotland, informed Dr. Neill, the secretary of the +Wernerian Society, that he had seen, off the Isle of Canna, +a great animal which chased his boat as he hurried ashore +to escape from it; and that it was also seen by the crews +of thirteen fishing-boats, who were so terrified by it that +they fled from it to the nearest creek for safety. His description +of it is exceedingly vague, but is strongly indicative +of a great calamary.</p> + +<p>In 1817 a large marine animal, supposed to be a serpent, +was seen at Gloucester Harbour, near Cape Ann, Massachusetts, +about thirty miles from Boston. The Linnæan +Society of New England investigated the matter, and took +much trouble to obtain evidence thereon. The depositions +of eleven credible witnesses were certified on oath before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +magistrates, one of whom had himself seen the creature, +and who confirmed the statements. All agreed that the +animal had the appearance of a serpent, but estimated its +length, variously, at from fifty to a hundred feet. Its head +was in shape like that of a turtle, or snake, but as large +as the head of a horse. There was no appearance of a +mane. Its mode of progressing was by vertical undulations; +and five of the witnesses described it as having the hunched +protuberances mentioned by Captain de Ferry and others. +Of this, I can offer no zoological explanation. The testimony +given was apparently sincere, but it was received +with mistrust; for, as Mr. Gosse says, "owing to a habit +prevalent in the United States of supposing that there is +somewhat of wit in gross exaggeration or hoaxing invention, +we do naturally look with a lurking suspicion +on American statements when they describe unusual or +disputed phenomena."</p> + +<p>On the 15th of May, 1833, a party of British officers, +consisting of Captain Sullivan, Lieutenants Maclachlan and +Malcolm of the Rifle Brigade, Lieutenant Lister of the +Artillery, and Mr. Ince of the Ordnance, whilst crossing +Margaret's Bay in a small yacht, on their way from Halifax +to Mahone Bay, "saw, at a distance of a hundred and fifty +to two hundred yards, the head and neck of some denizen +of the deep, precisely like those of a common snake in the +act of swimming, the head so far elevated and thrown +forward by the curve of the neck, as to enable them to see +the water under and beyond it. The creature rapidly +passed, leaving a regular wake, from the commencement of +which to the fore part, which was out of water, they judged +its length to be about eighty feet." They "set down the +head at about six feet in length (considerably larger than +that of a horse), and that portion of the neck which they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +saw at the same." "There could be no mistake—no delusion," +they say; "and we were all perfectly satisfied that we +had been favoured with a view of the true and veritable +sea-serpent." This account was published in the <i>Zoologist</i>, +in 1847 (p. 1715), and at that date all the officers above +named were still living.</p> + +<p>The next incident of the kind in point of date that we +find recorded carries us back to the locality of which +Pontoppidan wrote, and in which was seen the animal +vouched for by Captain de Ferry. In 1847 there appeared +in a London daily paper a long account translated from +the Norse journals of fresh appearances of the sea-serpent. +The statement made was, that it had recently been +frequently seen in the neighbourhood of Christiansand +and Molde. In the large bight of the sea at Christiansand +it had been seen every year, only in the warmest weather, +and when the sea was perfectly calm, and the surface of +the water unruffled. The evidence of three respectable +persons was taken, namely, Nils Roe, a workman at Mr. +William Knudtzon's, who saw it twice there, John Johnson, +merchant, and Lars Johnöen, fisherman at Smolen. The +latter said he had frequently seen it, and that one afternoon +in the dog-days, as he was sitting in his boat, he saw it +twice in the course of two hours, and quite close to him. +It came, indeed, to within six feet of him, and, becoming +alarmed, he commended his soul to God, and lay down in +the boat, only holding his head high enough to enable him +to observe the monster. It passed him, disappeared, and +returned; but, a breeze springing up, it sank, and he saw +it no more. He described it as being about six fathoms +long, the body (which was as round as a serpent's) two feet +across, the head as long as a ten-gallon cask, the eyes +large, round, red, sparkling, and about five inches in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +diameter: close behind the head a mane like a fin commenced +along the neck, and spread itself out on both sides, +right and left, when swimming. The mane, as well as the +head, was of the colour of mahogany. The body was +quite smooth, its movements occasionally fast and slow. +It was serpent-like, and moved up and down. The few +undulations which those parts of the body and tail that +were out of water made, were scarcely a fathom in length. +These undulations were not so high that he could see +between them and the water.</p> + +<p>In confirmation of this account Mr. Soren Knudtzon, +Dr. Hoffmann, surgeon in Molde, Rector Hammer, Mr. +Kraft, curate, and several other persons, testified that they +had seen in the neighbourhood of Christiansand a sea-serpent +of considerable size.</p> + +<p>Mr. William Knudtzon, and Mr. Bochlum, a candidate +for holy orders, also gave their account of it, much to the +same purport; but some of these remarks are worthy of +note for future comment. They say, "its motions were in +undulations, and so strong that white foam appeared before +it, and at the side, which stretched out several fathoms. +It did not appear very high out of the water; the head +was long and small in proportion to the throat: as the +latter appeared much greater than the former, probably it +was furnished with a mane."</p> + +<p>Sheriffe Göttsche testified to a similar effect. "He +could not judge of the animal's entire length; he could +not observe its extremity. At the back of the head there +was a mane, which was the same colour as the rest of the +body."</p> + +<p>We must take one more Norwegian account, for it is +a very important one. The venerable P. W. Deinbolt,<a name="Anchor_30_30" id="Anchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 30."> [30] </a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>Archdeacon of Molde, gives the following account of an +incident that occurred there on the 28th of July, 1845:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"J. C. Lund, bookseller and printer; G. S. Krogh, merchant; +Christian Flang, Lund's apprentice, and John Elgenses, labourer, +were out on Romsdal-fjord, fishing. The sea was, after a warm, +sunshiny day, quite calm. About seven o'clock in the afternoon, +at a little distance from the shore, near the ballast place and +Molde Hooe, they saw a long marine animal, which slowly moved +itself forward, as it appeared to them, with the help of two fins, +on the fore-part of the body nearest the head, which they judged +by the boiling of the water on both sides of it. The visible part +of the body appeared to be between forty and fifty feet in length, +and moved in undulations, like a snake. The body was round +and of a dark colour, and seemed to be several ells in thickness. +As they discerned a waving motion in the water behind the animal, +they concluded that part of the body was concealed under water. +That it was one continuous animal they saw plainly from its movement. +When the animal was about one hundred yards from the +boat, they noticed tolerably correctly its fore parts, which ended +in a sharp snout; its colossal head raised itself above the water +in the form of a semi-circle; the lower part was not visible. The +colour of the head was dark-brown and the skin smooth; they +did not notice the eyes, or any mane or bristles on the throat. +When the serpent came about a musket-shot near, Lund fired +at it, and was certain the shots hit it in the head. After the +shot it dived, but came up immediately. It raised its neck in the +air, like a snake preparing to dart on his prey. After he had +turned and got his body in a straight line, which he appeared to +do with great difficulty, he darted like an arrow against the boat. +They reached the shore, and the animal, perceiving it had come +into shallow water, dived immediately and disappeared in the +deep. Such is the declaration of these four men, and no one has +cause to question their veracity, or imagine that they were so +seized with fear that they could not observe what took place so +near them. There are not many here, or on other parts of the +Norwegian coast, who longer doubt the existence of the sea-serpent. +The writer of this narrative was a long time sceptical,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +as he had not been so fortunate as to see this monster of the +deep; but after the many accounts he has read, and the relations +he has received from credible witnesses, he does not dare longer +to doubt the existence of the sea-serpent.</p> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">P. W. Deinbolt.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Molde, 29th Nov., 1845."<br /> +</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>We may at once accept most fully and frankly the +statements of all the worthy people mentioned in this +series of incidents. There is no room for the shadow of a +doubt that they all recounted conscientiously that which +they saw. The last quoted occurrence, especially, is most +accurately and intelligently described—so clearly, indeed, +that it furnishes us with a clue to the identity of the +strange visitant.</p> + +<p>Here let me say—and I wish it to be distinctly understood—that +I do not deny the possibility of the existence +of a great sea serpent, or other great creatures at present +unknown to science, and that I have no inclination to +explain away that which others have seen, because I +myself have not witnessed it. "Seeing is believing," it is +said, and it is not agreeable to have to tell a person that, in +common parlance, he "must not trust his own eyes." It +seems presumptuous even to hint that one may know +better what was seen than the person who saw it. And +yet I am obliged to say, reluctantly and courteously, but +most firmly and assuredly, that these perfectly credible +eye-witnesses did not correctly interpret that which they +witnessed. In these cases, it is not the eye which deceives, +nor the tongue which is untruthful, but the imagination +which is led astray by the association of the thing seen with +an erroneous idea. I venture to say this, not with any +insolent assumption of superior acumen, but because we +now possess a key to the mystery which Archdeacon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +Deinbolt and his neighbours had not access to, and which +has only within the last few years been placed in our +hands. The movements and aspect of their sea monster +are those of an animal with which we are now well +acquainted, but of the existence of which the narrators +of these occasional visitations were unaware; namely, the +great calamary, the same which gave rise to the stories of +the Kraken, and which has probably been a denizen of the +Scandinavian seas and fjords from time immemorial. It +must be remembered, as I have elsewhere said, that until +the year 1873, notwithstanding the adventure of the +<i>Alecton</i> in 1861, a cuttle measuring in total length fifty +or sixty feet was generally looked upon as equally +mythical with the great sea-serpent. Both were popularly +scoffed at, and to express belief in either was to incur +ridicule. But in the year above mentioned, specimens of +even greater dimensions than those quoted were met with +on the coasts of Newfoundland, and portions of them were +deposited in museums, to silence the incredulous and +interest zoologists. When Archdeacon Deinbolt published +in 1846 the declaration of Mr. Lund and his companions +of the fishing excursion, he and they knew nothing of there +being such an animal. They had formed no conception of +it, nor had they the instructive privilege, possessed of late +years by the public in England, of being able to watch +attentively, and at leisure, the habits and movements of +these strangely modified mollusks living in great tanks of +sea-water in aquaria. If they had been thus acquainted +with them, I believe they would have recognised in their +supposed snake the elongated body of a giant squid.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 88px;"> +<a name="fig_018" id="fig_018"> +<img src="images/fig_018.jpg" width="88" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 18.—A CALAMARY SWIMMING AT THE SURFACE OF THE SEA.</span> +</div> + +<p>When swimming, these squids propel themselves backwards +by the out-rush of a stream of water from a tube +pointed in a direction contrary to that in which the animal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +is proceeding. The tail part, therefore, goes in advance, +and the body tapers towards this, almost +to a blunt point. At a short +distance from the actual extremity two +flat fins project from the body, one +on each side, as shown in Figs. 16 +and 18, so that this end of the squid's +body somewhat resembles in shape +the government "broad arrow." It +is a habit of these squids, the small +species of which are met with in some +localities in teeming abundance, to swim +on the smooth surface of the water in +hot and calm weather. The arrow-headed +tail is then raised out of water, +to a height which in a large individual +might be three feet or more; and, as it +precedes the rest of the body, moving +at the rate of several miles an hour, it +of course looks, to a person who has +never heard of an animal going tail first +at such a speed, like the creature's head. +The appearance of this "head" varies +in accordance with the lateral fins being +seen in profile or in broad expanse. The +elongated, tubular-looking body gives the +idea of the neck to which the "head" +is attached; the eight arms trailing behind +(the tentacles are always coiled +away and concealed) supply the supposed +mane floating on each side; the +undulating motion in swimming, as the +water is alternately drawn in and expelled, accords with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +the description, and the excurrent stream pouring aft +from the locomotor tube, causes a long swirl and swell to +be left in the animal's wake, which, as I have often seen, +may easily be mistaken for an indefinite prolongation of +its body. The eyes are very large and prominent, and +the general tone of colour varies through every tint of +brown, purple, pink, and grey, as the creature is more or +less excited, and the pigmentary matter circulates with +more or less vigour through the curiously moving cells.</p> + +<p>Here we have the "long marine animal" with "two fins +on the forepart of the body near the head," the "boiling of +the water," the "moving in undulations," the "body round, +and of a dark colour," the "waving motion in the water +behind the animal, from which the witnesses concluded +that part of the body was concealed under water," the +"head raised, but the lower part not visible," "the sharp +snout," the "smooth skin," and the appearance described +by Mr. William Knudtzon, and Candidatus Theologiæ +Bochlum, of "the head being long and small in proportion +to the throat, the latter appearing much greater than the +former," which caused them to think "it was <i>probably</i> furnished +with a mane." Not that they <i>saw</i> any mane, but +as they had been told of it, they thought they <i>ought to have +seen it</i>. Less careful and conscientious persons would have +persuaded themselves, and declared on oath, that they +<i>did see it</i>.</p> + +<p>I need scarcely point out how utterly irreconcileable is +the proverbially smooth, gliding motion of a serpent, with +the supposition of its passage through the water causing +such frictional disturbance that "white foam appeared +before it, and at the side, which stretched out several +fathoms," and of "the water boiling around it on both sides +of it." The cuttle is the only animal that I know of that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +would cause this by the effluent current from its "syphon +tube." I have seen a deeply laden ship push in front of +her a vast hillock of water, which fell off on each side in +foam as it was parted by her bow; but that was of man's +construction. Nature builds on better lines. No swimming +creature has such unnecessary friction to overcome. Even +the seemingly unwieldy body of a porpoise enters and +passes through the water without a splash, and nothing can +be more easy and graceful than the feathering action of the +flippers of the awkward-looking turtle.</p> + +<p>We now come to an incident which, from the character +of those who witnessed it, immediately commanded attention, +and excited popular curiosity. In the <i>Times</i> of +the 9th of October, 1848, appeared a paragraph stating +that a sea-serpent had been met with by the <i>Dædalus</i> +frigate, on her homeward voyage from the East Indies. +The Admiralty immediately inquired of her commander, +Captain M'Quhæ, as to the truth of the report; and +his official reply, as follows, addressed to Admiral Sir +W. H. Gage, G.C.H., Devonport, was printed in the <i>Times</i> +of the 13th of October, 1848.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p> +"H.M.S. <i>Dædalus</i>, Hamoaze,<br /> +"October 11th, 1848.<br /> +</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—In reply to your letter of this date, requiring information +as to the truth of the statement published in the <i>Times</i> newspaper, +of a sea-serpent of extraordinary dimensions having been seen +from H.M.S. <i>Dædalus</i>, under my command, on her passage from +the East Indies, I have the honour to acquaint you, for the information +of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that at 5 +o'clock <small>P.M.</small> on the 6th of Aug. last, in lat. 24° 44' S. and long. +9° 22' E., the weather dark and cloudy, wind fresh from the N.W. +with a long ocean swell from the W., the ship on the port tack, +head being N.E. by N., something very unusual was seen by Mr. +Sartoris, midshipman, rapidly approaching the ship from before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +the beam. The circumstance was immediately reported by him +to the officer of the watch, Lieut. Edgar Drummond, with whom +and Mr. Wm. Barrett, the Master, I was at the time walking the +quarter-deck. The ship's company were at supper. On our +attention being called to the object it was discovered to be an +enormous serpent, with head and shoulders kept about four feet +constantly above the surface of the sea, and, as nearly as we could +approximate by comparing it with the length of what our main-topsail +yard would show in the water, there was at the very least +sixty feet of the animal <i>à fleur d'eau</i>, no portion of which was, to +our perception, used in propelling it through the water, either by +vertical or horizontal undulation. It passed rapidly, but so close +under our lee quarter that had it been a man of my acquaintance +I should easily have recognised his features with the naked eye; +and it did not, either in approaching the ship or after it had +passed our wake, deviate in the slightest degree from its course +to the S.W., which it held on at the pace of from twelve to +fifteen miles per hour, apparently on some determined purpose.</p> + +<p>"The diameter of the serpent was about fifteen or sixteen +inches behind the head, which was without any doubt that of a +snake; and it was never, during the twenty minutes it continued +in sight of our glasses, once below the surface of the water; its +colour dark brown, and yellowish white about the throat. It had +no fins, but something like the mane of a horse, or rather a bunch +of seaweed, washed about its back. It was seen by the quartermaster, +the boatswain's mate, and the man at the wheel, in +addition to myself and the officers above mentioned.</p> + +<p>"I am having a drawing of the serpent made from a sketch +taken immediately after it was seen, which I hope to have ready +for transmission to my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty by +to-morrow's post.—<span class="smcap">Peter M'Quhæ</span>, Captain."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The sketches referred to in the captain's letter were +made under his supervision, and copies of them, of which +he certified his approbation, were published in the <i>Illustrated +London News</i> on the 28th of October, 1848. I am kindly +permitted by the proprietors of that journal to reproduce<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>two of them, reduced in size to suit these pages—one +showing the relative positions of the "serpent" and the +ship when the former was first seen (<i>Frontispiece</i>), and the +other (Fig. 19) representing the animal afterwards passing +under the frigate's quarter. An enlarged drawing of its +head was also given, which I have not thought it necessary +to copy.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="fig_019" id="fig_019"> +<img src="images/fig_019.jpg" width="600" height="390" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 19.—THE "SEA SERPENT" PASSING UNDER THE QUARTER OF H.M.S. 'DÆDALUS.'</span> +</div> + +<p>Lieutenant Drummond, the officer of the watch mentioned +in Captain M'Quhæ's report, published his memorandum +of the impression made on his mind by the +animal at the time of its appearance. It differs somewhat +from the captain's description, and is the more cautious of +the two.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I beg to send you the following extract from my journal. +H.M.S. 'Dædalus,' August 6, 1848, lat. 25° S., long. 9° 37' E., St. +Helena 1,015 miles. In the 4 to 6 watch, at about 5 o'clock, +we observed a most remarkable fish on our lee-quarter, crossing +the stern in a S.W. direction. The appearance of its head, which +with the back fin was the only portion of the animal visible, was +long, pointed and flattened at the top, perhaps ten feet in length, +the upper jaw projecting considerably; the fin was perhaps 20 feet +in the rear of the head, and visible occasionally; the captain also +asserted that he saw the tail, or another fin, about the same distance +behind it; the upper part of the head and shoulders appeared +of a dark brown colour, and beneath the under-jaw a brownish-white. +It pursued a steady undeviating course, keeping its head +horizontal with the surface of the water, and in rather a raised +position, disappearing occasionally beneath a wave for a very brief +interval, and not apparently for purposes of respiration. It was +going at the rate of perhaps from twelve to fourteen miles an hour, +and when nearest was perhaps one hundred yards distant; in fact +it gave one quite the idea of a large snake or eel. No one in the +ship has ever seen anything similar; so it is at least extraordinary. +It was visible to the naked eye for five minutes, and with a glass +for perhaps fifteen more. The weather was dark and squally at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +the time, with some sea running.—<span class="smcap">Edgar Drummond</span>, Lieut. +H.M.S. 'Dædalus;' Southampton, Oct. 28, 1848."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Statements so interesting and important, of course, +elicited much correspondence and controversy. Mr. J. D. +Morries Stirling, a director of the Bergen Museum, wrote +to the Secretary of the British Admiralty, Captain +Hamilton, R.N., saying that while becalmed in a yacht +between Bergen and Sogne, in Norway, he had seen, three +years previously, a large fish or reptile of cylindrical form +(he would not say "sea serpent") ruffling the otherwise +smooth surface of the fjord. No head was visible. This +appears to have been, like the others from the same +locality, a large calamary. Mr. Stirling unaware, doubtless, +that Mr. Edward Newman, editor of the <i>Zoologist</i>, +had previously propounded the same idea, suggested that +the supposed serpent might be one of the old marine +reptiles, hitherto supposed only to exist in the fossil state. +This letter was published in the <i>Illustrated News</i> of October +28th, and four days afterwards, November 2nd, a +letter signed F.G.S. appeared in the <i>Times</i>, in which the +same idea was mooted, and the opinion expressed that it +might be the <i>Plesiosaurus</i>. This brought out that great +master in physiology, Professor Owen, who in a long, and, +it is needless to say, most able letter to the <i>Times</i>, dated +the 9th of November, 1848, set forth a series of weighty +arguments against belief in the supposed serpent, which +I regret that I am unable, from want of space, to quote +<i>in extenso</i>. The reasoning of the most eminent of living +physiologists of course had its influence on those who +could best appreciate it; but, as it went against the +current of popular opinion, it met with little favour from +the public, and has been slurred over much too superciliously +by some subsequent writers. He suggested also<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +that the creature seen might have been a great seal, such +as the leonine seal, or the sea-elephant (the head, as +shown in the enlarged drawing, was wonderfully seal-like), +but it was generally felt that this explanation was unsatisfactory. +The nature of his criticism of the official +statement will be seen from Captain M'Quhæ's reply, +which was promptly given in the <i>Times</i> of the 21st of +November, 1848, as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Professor Owen correctly states that I evidently saw a large +creature moving rapidly through the water very different from +anything I had before witnessed, neither a whale, a grampus, a +great shark, an alligator, nor any of the larger surface-swimming +creatures fallen in with in ordinary voyages. I now assert—neither +was it a common seal nor a sea-elephant, its great length and its +totally differing physiognomy precluding the possibility of its being +a '<i>Phoca</i>' of any species. The head was flat, and not a 'capacious +vaulted cranium;' nor had it a stiff, inflexible trunk—a +conclusion at which Professor Owen has jumped, most certainly +not justified by the simple statement, that no portion of the sixty +feet seen by us was used in propelling it through the water either +by vertical or horizontal undulation.</p> + +<p>"It is also assumed that the 'calculation of its length was made +under a strong preconception of the nature of the beast;' another +conclusion quite contrary to the fact. It was not until after the +great length was developed by its nearest approach to the ship, +and until after that most important point had been duly considered +and debated, as well as such could be in the brief space of time +allowed for so doing, that it was pronounced to be a serpent by all +who saw it, and who are too well accustomed to judge of lengths +and breadths of objects in the sea to mistake a real substance and +an actual living body, coolly and dispassionately contemplated, at +so short a distance, too, for the 'eddy caused by the action of the +deeper immersed fins and tail of a rapidly moving gigantic seal +raising its head above the surface of the water,' as Professor Owen +imagines, in quest of its lost iceberg.</p> + +<p>"The creative powers of the human mind may be very limited.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +On this occasion they were not called into requisition; my purpose +and desire throughout being to furnish eminent naturalists, such +as the learned Professor, with accurate facts, and not with exaggerated +representations, nor with what could by any possibility proceed +from optical illusion; and I beg to assure him that old +Pontoppidan having clothed his sea-serpent with a mane could +not have suggested the idea of ornamenting the creature seen +from the 'Dædalus' with a similar appendage, for the simple +reason that I had never seen his account, or even heard of his +sea-serpent, until my arrival in London. Some other solution +must therefore be found for the very remarkable coincidence +between us in that particular, in order to unravel the mystery.</p> + +<p>"Finally, I deny the existence of excitement or the possibility +of optical illusion. I adhere to the statements, as to form, colour, +and dimensions, contained in my official report to the Admiralty, +and I leave them as data whereupon the learned and scientific +may exercise the 'pleasures of imagination' until some more fortunate +opportunity shall occur of making a closer acquaintance +with the 'great unknown'—in the present instance most assuredly +no ghost.</p> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">P. M'Quhæ</span>, late Captain of H.M.S. 'Dædalus.'"<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Of course neither Professor Owen, nor any one else, +doubted the veracity or <i>bona fides</i> of the captain and +officers of one of Her Majesty's ships; and their testimony +was the more important because it was that of men accustomed +to the sights of the sea. Their practised eyes would, +probably, be able to detect the true character of anything +met with afloat, even if only partially seen, as intuitively as +the Red Indian reads the signs of the forest or the trail; and +therefore they were not likely to be deceived by any of the +objects with which sailors are familiar. They would not be +deluded by seals, porpoises, trunks of trees, or Brobdingnagian +stems of algæ; but there was one animal with which +they were not familiar, of the existence of which they were +unaware, and which, as I have said, at that date was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +generally believed to be as unreal as the sea-serpent itself—namely, +the great calamary, the elongated form of which +has certainly in some other instances been mistaken for +that of a sea-snake. One of these seen swimming in the +manner I have described, and endeavoured to portray +(p. 77), would fulfil the description given by Lieutenant +Drummond, and would in a great measure account for the +appearances reported by Captain M'Quhæ. "<i>The head long, +pointed and flat on the top</i>," accords with the pointed extremity +and caudal fin of the squid. "<i>Head kept horizontal +with the surface of the water, and in rather a raised position, +disappearing occasionally beneath a wave for a very brief +interval, and not apparently for purposes of respiration.</i>" +A perfect description of the position and action of a squid +swimming. "<i>No portion of it perceptibly used in propelling +it through the water, either by vertical or horizontal undulations.</i>" +The mode of propulsion of a squid—the outpouring +stream of water from its locomotor tube—would be unseen +and unsuspected, because submerged. Its effect, the swirl +in its wake, would suggest a prolongation of the creature's +body. The numerous arms trailing astern at the surface +of the water would give the appearance of a mane. I +think it not impossible that if the officers of the <i>Dædalus</i> +had been acquainted with this great sea creature the impression +on their mind's eye would not have taken the +form of a serpent. I offer this, with much diffidence, as a +suggestion arising from recent discoveries; and by no means +insist on its acceptance; for Captain M'Quhæ, who had a +very close view of the animal, distinctly says that "the +head was, without any doubt, that of a serpent," and one of +his officers subsequently declared that the eye, the mouth, +the nostril, the colour, and the form were all most distinctly +visible.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>In a letter addressed to the Editor of the <i>Bombay Times</i>, +and dated "Kamptee, January 3rd, 1849," Mr. R. Davidson, +Superintending Surgeon, Nagpore Subsidiary Force, describes +a great sea animal seen by him whilst on board +the ship <i>Royal Saxon</i>, on a voyage to India, in 1829. The +features of this incident are consistent with his having seen +one of the, then unknown, great calamaries.</p> + +<p>Dr. Scott, of Exeter, sent to the Editor of the <i>Zoologist</i> +(p. 2459), an extract from the memorandum-book of Lieutenant +Sandford, R.N., written about the year 1820, when +he was in command of the merchant ship <i>Lady Combermere</i>. +In it he mentions his having met with, in lat. 46, long. 3 +(Bay of Biscay), an animal unknown to him, an immense +body on the surface of the water, spouting, not unlike the +blowing of a whale, and the raising up of a triangular extremity, +and subsequently of a head and neck erected six +feet above the surface of the water. This was evidently a +great squid seen under circumstances similar to those +described by Hans Egede (p. 67).</p> + +<p>In the <i>Sun</i> Newspaper of July 9th, 1849, was published +the following statement of Captain Herriman, of the ship +<i>Brazilian</i>:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On the morning of the 24th February, the ship being becalmed +in lat. 26° S., long. 8° E. (about forty miles from the place +where Captain M'Quhæ is said to have seen the serpent), the +captain perceived something right astern, stretched along the +water to a length of twenty five or thirty feet, and perceptibly +moving from the ship, with a steady sinuous motion. The head, +which seemed to be lifted several feet above the water, had something +resembling a mane running down to the floating portion, +and within about six feet of the tail. Of course Captain Herriman, +Mr. Long, his chief officer, and the passengers who saw this came +to the conclusion that it must be the sea-serpent. As the 'Brazilian' +was making no headway, to bring all doubts to an issue,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +the captain had a boat lowered, and himself standing in the +bow, armed with a harpoon, approached the monster. It was +found to be an immense piece of sea-weed, drifting with the +current, which sets constantly to the westward in this latitude, +and which, with the swell left by the subsidence of a previous +gale, gave it the sinuous snake-like motion."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Captain Harrington, of the ship <i>Castilian</i>, reported in the +<i>Times</i> of February 5th, 1858, that:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On the 12th of December, 1857, N.E. end of St. Helena +distant ten miles, he and his officers were startled by the sight of +a huge marine animal which reared its head out of the water +within twenty yards of the ship. The head was shaped like a long +nun-buoy,<a name="Anchor_31_31" id="Anchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 31."> [31] </a> and they supposed it to have been seven or eight feet +in diameter in the largest part, with a kind of scroll or tuft of loose +skin, encircling it about two feet from the top. The water was +discoloured for several hundred feet from its head, so much so +that on its first appearance my impression was that the ship was +in broken water."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Evidently, again, a large calamary raising its caudal +extremity and fin above the surface, and discolouring the +water by discharging its ink.</p> + +<p>This was immediately followed by a letter from Captain +Frederick Smith, of the ship <i>Pekin</i>, who stated that:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On December 28th, 1848, being then in lat. 26° S., long. 6° E. +(about half-way between the Cape and St. Helena), he saw a very +extraordinary-looking thing in the water, of considerable length. +With the telescope, he could plainly discern a huge head and neck, +covered with a shaggy-looking kind of mane, which it kept lifting +at intervals out of water. This was seen by all hands, and was +declared to be the great sea-serpent. A boat was lowered; a line +was made fast to the 'snake,' and it was towed alongside and +hoisted on board. It was a piece of gigantic sea-weed, twenty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +feet long, and completely covered with snaky-looking barnacles. +So like a huge living monster did this appear, that had circumstances +prevented my sending a boat to it, I should certainly have +believed I had seen the great sea-serpent."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In September, 1872, Mr. Frank Buckland published, in +<i>Land and Water</i>, an account by the late Duke of Marlborough, +of a "sea-serpent" having been seen several times +within a few days, in Loch Hourn, Scotland. A sketch of +it was given which almost exactly accorded with that of +Pontoppidan's sea-serpent, namely, seven hunches or protuberances +like so many porpoises swimming in line, preceded +by a head and neck raised slightly out of water. Many other +accounts have been published of the appearance of serpent-like +sea monsters, but I have only space for two or three +more of the most remarkable of them.</p> + +<p>On the 10th of January, 1877, the following affidavit was +made before Mr. Raffles, magistrate, at Liverpool:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We, the undersigned officers and crew of the barque 'Pauline' +(of London), of Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, in the +United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, do solemnly and +sincerely declare that, on July 8, 1875, in lat. 5° 13' S., long. 35° W., +we observed three large sperm whales, and one of them was gripped +round the body with two turns of what appeared to be a huge +serpent. The head and tail appeared to have a length beyond the +coils of about thirty feet, and its girth eight feet or nine feet. The +serpent whirled its victim round and round for about fifteen +minutes, and then suddenly dragged the whale to the bottom, head +first.</p> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">Geo. Drevar</span>, Master; <span class="smcap">Horatio Thompson</span>, <span class="smcap">John Henderson<br /> +Landells</span>, <span class="smcap">Owen Baker</span>, and <span class="smcap">William<br /> +Lewarn</span>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>"Again, on July 13, a similar serpent was seen, about two +hundred yards off, shooting itself along the surface, head and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +neck being out of the water several feet. This was seen only +by the captain and one ordinary seaman.</p> + +<p> +"<span class="smcap">George Drevar</span>, Master.<br /> +</p> + +<p>"A few moments after it was seen some 60 feet elevated perpendicularly +in the air by the chief officer and the following +seamen:—Horatio Thompson, Owen Baker, Wm. Lewarn. And +we make this solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the +same to be true."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In the <i>Illustrated London News</i>, of November 20th, 1875, +there had previously appeared a letter from the Rev. E. L. +Penny, Chaplain to H.M.S. <i>London</i>, at Zanzibar, describing +this occurrence and also the representation of a sketch +(which I am kindly permitted to reproduce here), drawn by +him from the descriptions given by the captain and crew +of the <i>Pauline</i>. "The whale," he said, "should have been +placed deeper in the water, but he would then have been +unable to depict so clearly the manner in which the animal +was attacked." He adds that, "Captain Drevar is a singularly +able and observant man, and those of the crew and officers +with whom he conversed were singularly intelligent; nor did +any of their descriptions vary from one another in the least: +there were no discrepancies." The event took place whilst +their vessel was on her way from Shields to Zanzibar, with +a cargo of coals, for the use of H.M.S. <i>London</i>, then the +guard ship on that station.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to doubt for a moment the genuineness +of the statement made by Captain Drevar and his crew, or +their honest desire to describe faithfully that which they +believed they had seen; but the height to which the snake is +said to have upreared itself is evidently greatly exaggerated; +for it is impossible that any serpent could "elevate its body +some sixty feet perpendicularly in the air"—nearly one-third +of the height of the Monument of the Great Fire of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>London. I have no desire to force this narrative of the +master and crew of the <i>Pauline</i> into conformity with any +preconceived idea. They may have seen a veritable sea-serpent; +or they may have witnessed the amours of two +whales, and have seen the great creatures rolling over and +over that they might breathe alternately by the blow-hole +of each coming to the surface of the water; or the supposed +coils of the snake may have been the arms of a great +calamary, cast over and around the huge cetacean. The +other two appearances—1st, the animal "seen shooting +itself along the surface with head and neck raised" (p. 77), +and 2nd, the elevation of the body to a considerable height, +as in Egede's sea monster, (p. 67), would certainly accord +with this last hypothesis; but, taking the statement as it +stands, it must be left for further elucidation.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="fig_020" id="fig_020"> +<img src="images/fig_020.jpg" width="600" height="335" alt="serpent wrapped around a whale" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG 20.—THE "SEA SERPENT" AND SPERM WHALE AS SEEN FROM THE 'PAULINE.'</span> +</div> + +<p>On the 28th of January, 1879, a "sea-serpent" was seen +from the s.s. <i>City of Baltimore</i>, in the Gulf of Aden, by +Major H. W. J. Senior, of the Bengal Staff Corps. The +narrator "observed a long, black object darting rapidly in +and out of the water, and advancing nearer to the vessel. +The shape of the head was not unlike pictures of the +dragon he had often seen, with a bull-dog expression of the +forehead and eyebrows. When the monster had drawn its +head sufficiently out of the water, it let its body drop, as it +were a log of wood, prior to darting forward under the +water. This motion caused a splash of about fifteen feet +in length on either side of the neck much in the 'shape +of a pair of wings.'" This last particular of its appearance, +as well as its movements, suggest a great calamary; but, +as one with "a bull-dog expression of eyebrow, visible at +500 yards distance," does not come within my ken, I will +not claim it as such.</p> + +<p>In June 1877 Commander Pearson reported to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +Admiralty, that on the 2nd of that month, he and other +officers of the Royal Yacht <i>Osborne</i>, had seen, off Cape +Vito, Sicily, a large marine animal, of which the following +account and sketches were furnished by Lieutenant Haynes, +and were confirmed by Commander Pearson, Mr. Douglas +Haynes, Mr. Forsyth, and Mr. Moore, engineer.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 471px;"> +<a name="fig_021" id="fig_021"> +<img src="images/fig_021.jpg" width="471" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 21.—THE "SEA SERPENT" AS SEEN FROM THE 'CITY OF +BALTIMORE.'</span> +</div> + +<blockquote><p>"Lieutenant Haynes writes, under date, 'Royal Yacht <i>Osborne</i>, +Gibraltar, June 6': On the evening of that day, the sea being perfectly +smooth, my attention was first called by seeing a ridge of fins above<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +the surface of the water, extending about thirty feet, and varying +from five to six feet in height. On inspecting it by means of a +telescope, at about one and a-half cables' distance, I distinctly saw +a head, two flappers, and about thirty feet of an animal's shoulder. +The head, as nearly as I could judge, was about six feet thick, the +neck narrower, about four to five feet, the shoulder about fifteen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +feet across, and the flappers each about fifteen feet in length. The +movements of the flappers were those of a turtle, and the animal +resembled a huge seal, the resemblance being strongest about the +back of the head. I could not see the length of the head, but +from its crown or top to just below the shoulder (where it became +immersed), I should reckon about fifty feet. The tail end I did +not see, being under water, unless the ridge of fins to which my +attention was first attracted, and which had disappeared by the +time I got a telescope, were really the continuation of the shoulder +to the end of the object's body. The animal's head was not always +above water, but was thrown upwards, remaining above for a few +seconds at a time, and then disappearing. There was an entire +absence of 'blowing,' or 'spouting.' I herewith beg to enclose +a rough sketch, showing the view of the 'ridge of fins,' and also +of the animal in the act of propelling itself by its two fins."</p></blockquote> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig_022" id="fig_022"> +<img src="images/fig_022.jpg" width="470" height="373" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 22.—THE "SEA SERPENT" AS SEEN FROM H.M. YACHT 'OSBORNE.' + +PHASE I.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig_023" id="fig_023"> +<img src="images/fig_023.jpg" width="470" height="372" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 23.—THE "SEA SERPENT" AS SEEN FROM H.M. YACHT 'OSBORNE.' + +PHASE 2.</span> +</div> + +<p>It seems to me that this description cannot be explained +as applicable to any one animal yet known. The ridge of +dorsal fins might, possibly, as was suggested by Mr. Frank +Buckland, belong to four basking sharks, swimming in +line, in close order; but the combination of them with long +flippers, and the turtle-like mode of swimming, forms a +zoological enigma which I am unable to solve.</p> + +<p>This brings us face to face with the question: "Is it then +so impossible that there may exist some great sea creature, +or creatures, with which zoologists are hitherto unacquainted, +that it is necessary in every case to regard the authors of +such narratives as wilfully untruthful, or mistaken in their +observations, if their descriptions are irreconcileable with +something already known?" I, for one, am of the opinion +that there is no such impossibility. Calamaries or squids +of the ordinary size have, from time immemorial, been +amongst the commonest and best known of marine +animals in many seas; but only a few years ago any one +who expressed his belief in one formidable enough to capsize<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +a boat, or pull a man out of one, was derided for his +credulity, although voyagers had constantly reported that +in the Indian seas they were so dreaded that the natives +always carried hatchets with them in their canoes, with +which to cut off the arms or tentacles of these creatures, if +attacked by them. We now know that their existence is +no fiction; for individuals have been captured measuring +more than fifty feet, and some are reported to have +measured eighty feet, in total length. As marine snakes +some feet in length, and having fin-like tails adapted for +swimming, abound over an extensive geographical range, +and are frequently met with far at sea, I cannot regard it +as impossible that some of these also may attain to an +abnormal and colossal development. Dr. Andrew Wilson, +who has given much attention to this subject, is of the +opinion that "in this huge development of ordinary forms +we discover the true and natural law of the production of +the giant serpent of the sea." It goes far, at any rate, +towards accounting for its supposed appearance. I am +convinced that, whilst naturalists have been searching amongst +the vertebrata for a solution of the problem, the great unknown, +and therefore unrecognized, calamaries by their elongated, +cylindrical bodies and peculiar mode of swimming, have +played the part of the sea-serpent in many a well-authenticated +incident. In other cases, such as some of those mentioned +by Pontoppidan, the supposed "vertical undulations" +of the snake seen out of water have been the burly bodies +of so many porpoises swimming in line—the connecting +undulations beneath the surface have been supplied by the +imagination. The dorsal fins of basking sharks, as figured +by Mr. Buckland, or of ribbon-fishes, as suggested by Dr. +Andrew Wilson, may have furnished the "ridge of fins;" +an enormous conger is not an impossibility; a giant turtle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +may have done duty, with its propelling flippers and broad +back; or a marine snake of enormous size may, really, have +been seen. But if we accept as accurate the observations +recorded (which I certainly do not in all cases, for they are +full of errors and mistakes), the difficulty is not entirely met, +even by this last admission, for the instances are very few +in which an ophidian proper—a true serpent—is indicated. +There has seemed to be wanting an animal having a long +snake-like neck, a small head and a slender body, and propelling +itself by paddles.<a name="Anchor_32_32" id="Anchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 32."> [32] </a></p> + +<p>The similarity of such an animal to the <i>Plesiosaurus</i> of +old was remarkable. That curious compound reptile, which +has been compared with "a snake threaded through the +body of a turtle," is described by Dean Buckland, in his +<i>Bridgewater Treatise</i>, as having "the head of a lizard, the +teeth of a crocodile, a neck of enormous length resembling +the body of a serpent, the ribs of a chameleon, and the +paddles of a whale." In the number of its cervical vertebræ +(about thirty-three) it surpasses that of the longest-necked +bird, the swan.</p> + +<p>The form and probable movements of this ancient saurian +agree so markedly with some of the accounts given of the +"great sea-serpent," that Mr. Edward Newman advanced +the opinion that the closest affinities of the latter would be +found to be with the <i>Enaliosauria</i>, or marine lizards, whose +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>fossil remains are so abundant in the oolite and the lias. +This view has also been taken by other writers, and emphatically +by Mr. Gosse. Neither he nor +Mr. Newman insist that the "great +unknown" must be the <i>Plesiosaurus</i> +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. Admitting +the actual continuation of +the order <i>Enaliosauria</i>, it would be, I +think, quite in conformity with general +analogy to find some salient features +of several extinct forms."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 140px;"> +<a name="fig_024" id="fig_024"> +<img src="images/fig_024.jpg" width="140" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG 24. + +Plesiosaurus Dolichodeirus +restored by The Rev. W. D. Canybeare.</span> +</div> + +<p>The form and habits of the recently-recognized +gigantic cuttles account for +so many appearances which, without +knowledge of them, were 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 characteristics: +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. 5th. Appendages on the head,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +neck, or back, resembling a crest or mane. (Considerable +discrepancy in details.) 6th. Colour dark brown, or green, +streaked or spotted with white. 7th. Swims at surface of +the water with a rapid or slow movement, the head and +neck projected and elevated above the surface. 8th. +Progression, steady and uniform; the body straight, but +capable of being thrown into convolutions. 9th. Spouts +in the manner of a whale. 10th. Like a long nun-buoy." +He concludes with the question—"To which of the recognized +classes of created beings can this huge rover of +the ocean be referred?"</p> + +<p>I reply: "To the Cephalopoda. There is not one of +the above judiciously summarized characteristics that is +not supplied by the great calamary, and its ascertained +habits and peculiar mode of locomotion.</p> + +<p>"Only a geologist can fully appreciate how enormously the +balance of probability is contrary to the supposition that +any of the gigantic marine saurians of the secondary +deposits should have continued to live up to the present time. +And yet I am bound to say, that this does not amount +to an impossibility, for the evidence against it is entirely +negative. Nor is the conjecture that there may be in +existence some congeners of these great reptiles inconsistent +with zoological science. Dr. J. E. Gray, late of the British +Museum, a strict zoologist, is cited by Mr. Gosse as having +long ago expressed his opinion that some undescribed form +exists which is intermediate between the tortoises and the +serpents."<a name="Anchor_33_33" id="Anchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 33."> [33] </a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="fig_025" id="fig_025"> +<img src="images/fig_025.jpg" width="600" height="372" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 25.—THE "SEA SERPENT," ON THE ENALIOSAURIAN HYPOTHESIS. + +After Mr. P. H. Gosse, F.R.S.</span> +</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>Professor Agassiz, too, is adduced by a correspondent of +the <i>Zoologist</i> (p. 2395), as having said concerning the present +existence of the <i>Enaliosaurian</i> type that "it would be in +precise conformity with analogy that such an animal should +exist in the American Seas, as he had found numerous +instances in which the fossil forms of the Old World were +represented by living types in the New."</p> + +<p>On this point, Mr. Newman records, in the <i>Zoologist</i> +(p. 2356), an actual testimony which he considers, "in all +respects, the most interesting natural-history fact of the +present century." He writes:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Captain the Hon. George Hope states that when in H.M.S. +'Fly,' in the Gulf of California, the sea being perfectly calm and +transparent, he saw at the bottom a large marine animal with the +head and general figure of the alligator, except that the neck was +much longer, and that instead of legs the creature had four large +flappers, somewhat like those of turtles, the anterior pair being +larger than the posterior; the creature was distinctly visible, and +all its movements could be observed with ease; it appeared to +be pursuing its prey at the bottom of the sea; its movements +were somewhat serpentine, and an appearance of annulations, or +ring-like divisions of the body, was distinctly perceptible. Captain +Hope made this relation in company, and as a matter of conversation. +When I heard it from the gentleman to whom it was narrated, +I enquired whether Captain Hope was acquainted with +those remarkable fossil animals <i>Ichthyosauri</i> and <i>Plesiosauri</i>, the +supposed forms of which so nearly correspond with what he describes +as having seen alive, and I cannot find that he had heard +of them; the alligator being the only animal he mentioned as +bearing a partial similarity to the creature in question."</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p>Unfortunately, the estimated dimensions of this creature +are not given.</p> + +<p>That negative evidence alone is an unsafe basis for argument +against the existence of unknown animals, the following +illustrations will show:</p> + +<p>During the deep-sea dredgings of H.M.S. <i>Lightning</i>, +<i>Porcupine</i>, and <i>Challenger</i>, many new species of mollusca, +and others which had been supposed to have been extinct +ever since the chalk epoch, were brought to light; and by +the deep-sea trawlings of the last-mentioned ship, there have +been brought up from great depths fishes of unknown +species, and which could not exist near the surface, owing +to the distension and rupture of their air-bladder when +removed from the pressure of deep water.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gosse mentions that the ship in which he made the +voyage to Jamaica was surrounded in the North Atlantic, +for seventeen continuous hours by a troop of whales of +large size of an undescribed species, which on no other +occasion has fallen under scientific observation. Unique +specimens of other cetaceans are also recorded.</p> + +<p>We have evidence, to which attention has been directed +by Mr. A. D. Bartlett, that, "even on land there exists at +least one of the largest mammals, probably in thousands, +of which only one individual has been brought to notice, +namely, the hairy-eared, two horned rhinoceros (<i>R. lasiotis</i>), +now in the Zoological Gardens, London. It was captured +in 1868, at Chittagong, in India, where for years collectors +and naturalists have worked and published lists of the +animals met with, and yet no knowledge of this great beast +was ever before obtained, nor is there any portion of one in +any museum. It remains unique."</p> + +<p>I arrive, then, at the following conclusions: 1st. That, +without straining resemblances, or casting a doubt upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +narratives not proved to be erroneous, the various appearances +of the supposed "Great Sea-serpent" may now be +nearly all accounted for by the forms and habits of known +animals; especially if we admit, as proposed by Dr. Andrew +Wilson, that some of them, including the marine snakes, +may, like the cuttles, attain to an extraordinary size.</p> + +<p>2nd. That to assume that naturalists have perfect cognizance +of every existing marine animal of large size, would +be quite unwarrantable. It appears to me more than probable +that many marine animals, unknown to science, and +some of them of gigantic size, may have their ordinary +habitat in the great depths of the sea, and only occasionally +come to the surface; and I think it not impossible that +amongst them may be marine snakes of greater dimensions +than we are aware of, and even a creature having close +affinities with the old sea-reptiles whose fossil skeletons tell +of their magnitude and abundance in past ages.</p> + +<p>It is most desirable that every supposed appearance of +the "Great Sea-serpent" shall be faithfully noted and +described; and I hope that no truthful observer will be +deterred from reporting such an occurrence by fear of the +disbelief of naturalists, or the ridicule of witlings.</p> + + +<p>FINIS.</p> + + + + +<p class="center">LONDON: +PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, +STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.</p> + +<hr style="width: 95%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 456px;"> +<a name="frontispiece02" id="frontispiece02"> +<img src="images/frontispiece02.jpg" width="456" height="769" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">A MERMAID. + +From a Picture by Otto Sinding.</span> +</div> + + + + +<p class="center"><i>International Fisheries Exhibition</i></p> + +<p class="center">LONDON, 1883</p> + +<p class="center">SEA FABLES EXPLAINED</p> + +<p class="center">BY</p> + +<p class="center">HENRY LEE, <small>F.L.S., F.G.S., F.Z.S.</small></p> + +<p class="center">SOMETIME NATURALIST OF THE BRIGHTON AQUARIUM +AND +AUTHOR OF 'THE OCTOPUS, OR THE DEVIL-FISH OF FICTION AND FACT;' +'SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED,' ETC.</p> + +<p class="center">ILLUSTRATED</p> + +<p class="center">LONDON</p> + +<p class="center">WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, <span class="smcap">Limited</span> +INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION +AND 13 CHARING CROSS, S.W. +1883 +</p> + + + +<p class="center">LONDON: +PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, <span class="smcap">Limited</span>, +STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.</p> + + + +<p>PREFACE.</p> + + +<p>The little book 'Sea Monsters Unmasked,' recently +issued as one of the Handbooks in connection with the +Great International Fisheries Exhibition has met with so +favourable a reception, that I have been honoured by the +request to continue the subject, and to treat also of some +of the Fables of the Sea, which once were universally +believed, and even now are not utterly extinct.</p> + +<p>The topic is not here exhausted. Other sea fables and +fallacies might be mentioned and explained; but the +amount of letter-press, and the number of illustrations that +can be printed without loss for the small sum of one +shilling—the price at which these Handbooks are uniformly +published—is necessarily limited. I have, therefore, thought +it better to endeavour to make each chapter as complete +as possible than to crowd into the space allotted to me a +greater variety of subjects less fully and carefully discussed.</p> + +<p>I have the pleasure of acknowledging the kind assistance +I have again received in the matter of illustrations. +I gratefully appreciate Mr. Murray's permission to use +the woodcut of Hercules slaying the Hydra, taken from +Smith's 'Classical Dictionary,' and those of the golden +ornaments found by Dr. Schliemann at Mycenæ, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi_b" id="Page_vi_b">[Pg vi]</a></span> +figured in the very interesting book in which his excavations +there are described. I have also to thank the +proprietors of the <i>Illustrated London News</i>, the <i>Leisure +Hour</i>, and <i>Land and Water</i>, for the use of illustrations +especially mentioned in the text.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 20em;">HENRY LEE.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Savage Club</span>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Sept. 4th, 1883</i>.</span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii_b" id="Page_vii_b">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii_b" id="Page_viii_b">[Pg viii]</a></span></p> + +<ul class="toc"> +<li> <span class="label"><small>PAGE</small></span></li> +<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_MERMAID">The Mermaid</a></span> <span class="label">1</span></li> +<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_LERNEAN_HYDRA">The Lernean Hydra</a></span> <span class="label">48</span></li> +<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#SCYLLA_AND_CHARYBDIS">Scylla and Charybdis</a></span> <span class="label">59</span></li> +<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_SPOUTING_OF_WHALES">The "Spouting" of Whales</a></span> <span class="label">62</span></li> +<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_SAILING_OF_THE_NAUTILUS">The "Sailing" of the Nautilus</a></span> <span class="label">76</span></li> +<li><span class="smcap"><a href="#BARNACLE_GEESE_GOOSE_BARNACLES">Barnacle Geese—Goose Barnacles</a></span> <span class="label">98</span></li> +</ul> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix_b" id="Page_ix_b">[Pg ix]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + + +<ul class="toc"> +<li><small>FIG.</small> <span class="label"><small>PAGE</small></span></li> +<li><a href="#frontispiece02"><span class="smcap">A Mermaid.</span> <i>From a picture by Otto Sinding</i></a> <span class="label"><i>Frontispiece</i></span></li> +<li><ol> +<li><a href="#fig02_001"><span class="smcap">Noah, His Wife and Three Sons, as Fish-tailed Deities.</span> <i>From a gem in the Florentine Gallery. After Calmet</i></a> <span class="label">2</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_002"><span class="smcap">Hea, or Noah, the God of the Flood.</span> <i>Khorsabad</i></a> <span class="label">3</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_003"><span class="smcap">Dagon.</span> <i>From a bas-relief. Nimroud</i></a> <span class="label">4</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_004"><span class="smcap">Dagon: Half Man, Half Fish.</span> <i>From Lamy's 'Apparatus Biblicus'</i></a> <span class="label">5</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_005"><span class="smcap">Dagon.</span> <i>From an agate signet. Nineveh</i></a> <span class="label">"</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_006"><span class="smcap">Fish Avatar of Vishnu.</span> <i>After Calmet and Maurice</i></a> <span class="label">6</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_007"><span class="smcap">Atergatis, The Goddess of the Syrians.</span> <i>From a Phœnician Coin</i></a> <span class="label">8</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_008"><span class="smcap">Venus Rising from the Sea, Supported by Tritons.</span> <i>After Calmet</i></a> <span class="label">9</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_009"><span class="smcap">Venus Drawn in Her Chariot by Tritons.</span> <i>From two Corinthian Coins</i></a> <span class="label">10</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_010"><span class="smcap">Ditto.</span></a> <span class="label">11</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_011"><span class="smcap">Seal, Drawn as a Fish.</span> <i>From the Catacombs at Rome</i></a> <span class="label">"</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_012"><span class="smcap">Mermaid and Fishes of Amboyna.</span> <i>After Valentyn</i></a> <span class="label">17</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_013"><span class="smcap">A Japanese Artificial Mermaid</span></a> <span class="label">27</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_014"><span class="smcap">An Artificial Mermaid.</span> <i>Probably Japanese</i></a> <span class="label">28</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_015"><span class="smcap">Portrait of a Mermaid said to have been Captured in Japan</span></a> <span class="label">29</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_016"><span class="smcap">The Dugong.</span> <i>From Sir J. Emerson Tennent's 'Ceylon'</i></a> <span class="label">43</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_017"><span class="smcap">The Manatee</span></a> <span class="label">45</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_018"><span class="smcap">Figure of a Calamary, From the Temple of Bayr-el-Bahree</span></a> <span class="label">50</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_019"><span class="smcap">Figure of an Octopus on a Gold Ornament found by Dr. Schliemann at Mycenæ</span></a> <span class="label">51</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_020"><span class="smcap">Ditto.</span></a> <span class="label">52</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_021"><span class="smcap">Ditto.</span></a> <span class="label">53</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_022"><span class="smcap">Ditto.</span></a> <span class="label">"</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_023"><span class="smcap">Hercules Slaying the Lernean Hydra</span></a> <span class="label">57</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_024"><span class="smcap">The Physeter Inundating a Ship.</span> <i>After Olaus Magnus</i></a> <span class="label">64</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_025"><span class="smcap">A Whale Pouring Water into a Ship from its Blow-hole.</span> <i>After Olaus Magnus</i></a> <span class="label">64</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_026"><span class="smcap">Sperm Whales "Spouting"</span></a> <span class="label">65</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_027"><span class="smcap">The Paper Nautilus</span> (<i>Argonauta argo</i>) <span class="smcap">Sailing</span></a> <span class="label">76</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_028"><span class="smcap">Ditto. Retracted Within its Shell</span></a> <span class="label">81</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_029"><span class="smcap">Ditto. Crawling</span></a> <span class="label">86</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_030"><span class="smcap">Ditto. Swimming</span></a> <span class="label">87</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_031"><span class="smcap">Shell of the Paper Nautilus</span> (<i>Argonauta argo</i>)</a> <span class="label">88</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_032"><span class="smcap">Shell of the Pearly Nautilus</span> (<i>Nautilus pompilius</i>)</a> <span class="label">89</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_033"><span class="smcap">The Pearly Nautilus</span> (<i>Nautilus Pompilius</i>) <span class="smcap">and Section of its Shell</span></a> <span class="label">90</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_034"><span class="smcap">The Goose-Tree.</span> <i>From Gerard's 'Herball'</i></a> <span class="label">104</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_035"><span class="smcap">Ditto.</span> <i>Fac-simile from Aldrovandus</i></a> <span class="label">110</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_036"><span class="smcap">Development of Barnacles into Geese.</span> <i>Fac-simile from Aldrovandus</i></a> <span class="label">111</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_037"><span class="smcap">Section of a Sessile Barnacle.</span> <i>Balanus tintinnabulum</i></a> <span class="label">113</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_038"><span class="smcap">Pedunculated Barnacle.</span> <i>Lepas anatifera</i></a> <span class="label">115</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_039"><span class="smcap">A Ship's Figure-head Partly Covered with Barnacles</span></a> <span class="label">116</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_040"><span class="smcap">Whale Barnacle.</span> <i>Coronula diadema</i></a> <span class="label">117</span></li> +<li><a href="#fig02_041"><span class="smcap">A Young Barnacle.</span> <i>Larva of Chthamalus stellatus</i></a> <span class="label">118</span></li> +</ol></li> +</ul> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1_b" id="Page_1_b">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="big center">SEA FABLES EXPLAINED.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_MERMAID" id="THE_MERMAID"></a>THE MERMAID.</h2> + + +<p>Next to the pleasure which the earnest zoologist derives +from study of the habits and structure of living animals, +and his intelligent appreciation of their perfect adaptation +to their modes of life, and the circumstances in which they +are placed, is the interest he feels in eliminating fiction +from truth, whilst comparing the fancies of the past with the +facts of the present. As his knowledge increases, he learns +that the descriptions by ancient writers of so-called "fabulous +creatures" are rather distorted portraits than invented +falsehoods, and that there is hardly one of the monsters of old +which has not its prototype in Nature at the present day. +The idea of the Lernean Hydra, whose heads grew again +when cut off by Hercules, originated, as I have shown in +another chapter, in a knowledge of the octopus; and in +the form and movements of other animals with which we +are now familiar we may, in like manner, recognise the +similitude and archetype of the mermaid.</p> + +<p>But we must search deeply into the history of mankind +to discover the real source of a belief that has prevailed in +almost all ages, and in all parts of the world, in the +existence of a race of beings uniting the form of man with +that of the fish. A rude resemblance between these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2_b" id="Page_2_b">[Pg 2]</a></span> +creatures of imagination and tradition and certain aquatic +animals is not sufficient to account for that belief. It +probably had its origin in ancient mythologies, and in the +sculptures and pictures connected with them, which were +designed to represent certain attributes of the deities of +various nations. In the course of time the meaning of +these was lost; and subsequent generations regarded as +the portraits of existing beings effigies which were at first +intended to be merely emblematic and symbolical.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_001" id="fig02_001"> +<img src="images/fig02_001.jpg" width="470" height="358" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 1.—NOAH, HIS WIFE, AND THREE SONS, AS FISH-TAILED DEITIES. + +From a Gem in the Florentine Gallery. After Calmet.</span> +</div> + +<p>Early idolatry consisted, first, in separating the idea of +the One Divinity into that of his various attributes, and of +inventing symbols and making images of each separately; +secondly, in the worship of the sun, moon, stars, and +planets, as living existences; thirdly, in the deification of +ancestors and early kings; and these three forms were +often mingled together in strange and tangled confusion.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3_b" id="Page_3_b">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<p>Amongst the famous personages with whose history men +were made acquainted by oral tradition was Noah. He +was known as the second father of the human race, and +the preserver and teacher of the arts and sciences as they +existed before the Great Deluge, of which so many separate +traditions exist among the various races of mankind. Consequently, +he was an object of worship in many countries +and under many names; and his wife and sons, as his +assistants in the diffusion of knowledge, were sometimes +associated with him.</p> + +<p>According to Berosus, of Babylon,—the Chaldean priest +and astronomer, who extracted from the sacred books of +"that great city" much interesting ancient lore, which he introduced +into his 'History of Syria,' written, about <small>B.C.</small> 260, +for the use of the Greeks,—at a time when men were sunk +in barbarism, there came up from the Erythrean Sea (the +Persian Gulf), and landed on the Babylonian shore, a creature +named Oannes, which had the body and head of a fish. But +above the fish's head was the head of a man, and below the +tail of the fish were human feet. It had also human arms, a +human voice, and human language. This strange monster +sojourned among the rude people during +the day, taking no food, but retiring to +the sea at night; and it continued for +some time thus to visit them, teaching +them the arts of civilized life, and instructing +them in science and religion.<a name="Anchor_34_34" id="Anchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 34."> [34] </a></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<a name="fig02_002" id="fig02_002"> +<img src="images/fig02_002.jpg" width="150" height="171" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 2.—HEA, OR +NOAH, THE GOD +OF THE FLOOD. +Khorsabad.</span> +</div> + +<p>In this tale we have a distorted account +of the life and occupation of Noah +after his escape from the deluge which +destroyed his home and drowned his +neighbours. Oannes was one of the names under which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4_b" id="Page_4_b">[Pg 4]</a></span>he was worshipped in Chaldea, at Erech ("the place of the +ark"), as the sacred and intelligent fish-god, the teacher +of mankind, the god of science and knowledge. There he +was also called Oes, Hoa, Ea, Ana, Anu, Aun, and Oan. +Noah was worshipped, also, in Syria and Mesopotamia, +and in Egypt, at "populous +No,"<a name="Anchor_35_35" id="Anchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 35."> [35] </a> or Thebes—so named +from "Theba," "the ark."</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;"> +<a name="fig02_003" id="fig02_003"> +<img src="images/fig02_003.jpg" width="200" height="456" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 3.—DAGON. From a bas +relief. Nimroud.</span> +</div> + +<p>The history of the coffin of +Osiris is another version of +Noah's ark, and the period +during which that Egyptian +divinity is said to have been +shut up in it, after it was set +afloat upon the waters, was +precisely the same as that +during which Noah remained +in the ark.</p> + +<p>Dagon, also—sometimes +called Odacon—the great fish-god +of the Philistines and +Babylonians, was another +phase of Oannes. "Dag," in +Hebrew, signifies "a male +fish," and "Aun" and "Oan" +were two of the names of +Noah. "Dag-aun" or "Dag-oan" +therefore means "the fish Noah." He was portrayed +in two ways. The more ancient image of him was that +of a man issuing from a fish, as described of Oannes by +Berosus; but in later times it was varied to that of a man +whose upper half was human, and the lower parts those of +a fish. The image of Dagon which fell upon its face to +the ground before "the ark of the God of Israel," was +probably of this latter form, for we read<a name="Anchor_36_36" id="Anchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 36."> [36] </a> that in its fall, +"the head of Dagon and +both the palms of his hands +were cut off upon the threshold: +only the <i>stump</i> (in the +margin, "<i>the fishy part</i>") of +Dagon was left to him. This +was evidently Milton's conception +of him:</p> + +<p> +"Dagon his name; sea-monster, upward man<br /> +And downward fish."<a name="Anchor_37_37" id="Anchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 37."> [37] </a><br /> +</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;"> +<a name="fig02_004" id="fig02_004"> +<img src="images/fig02_004.jpg" width="200" height="506" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 4.—DAGON. After Calmet.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;"> +<a name="fig02_005" id="fig02_005"> +<img src="images/fig02_005.jpg" width="100" height="176" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 5.—DAGON. +From an Agate +Signet. Nineveh.</span> +</div> + +<p>In some of the Nineveh +sculptures of the fish-god, +the head of +the fish forms +a kind of +mitre on the +head of the +man, whilst +the body of +the fish appears +as a +cloak or cape +over his +shoulders and +back. The fish varies in length; in some cases the tail +almost touches the ground; in others it reaches but little +below the man's waist.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 250px;"> +<a name="fig02_006" id="fig02_006"> +<img src="images/fig02_006.jpg" width="250" height="621" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 6.—FISH AVATAR OF VISHNU. + +After Calmet and Maurice.</span> +</div> + +<p>In one of his "avatars," +or incarnations, +the god Vishnu "the +Preserver," is represented +as issuing from +the mouth of a fish. +He is celebrated as +having miraculously +preserved one righteous +family, and, also, the +Vedas, the sacred records, +when the world +was drowned. Not only +is this legend of the +Indian god wrought up +with the history of +Noah, but Vishnu and +Noah bear the same +name—Vishnu being +the Sanscrit form of +"Ish-nuh," "the man +Noah." The word +"avatar" also means +"out of the boat." In +fact the whole mythology +of Greece and +Rome, as well as of +Asia, is full of the history +and deeds of Noah, +which it is impossible +to misunderstand. In all the representations of a deity +having a combined human and piscine form, the original idea +was that of a person coming out of a fish—not being part of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7_b" id="Page_7_b">[Pg 7]</a></span> +one, but issuing from it, as Noah issued from the ark. In +all of them the fish denoted "preservation," "fecundity," +"plenty," and "diffusion of knowledge."<a name="Anchor_38_38" id="Anchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 38."> [38] </a> As the image +was not the effigy of a divine personage, but symbolized +certain attributes of Divinity, its sex was comparatively +unimportant, although it is possible that, combined with +the fecundity of the fish, the idea of Noah's wife, as the +second mother of all subsequent generations, according to +the widely-spread and accepted traditions of the deluge, +may have influenced the impersonation.</p> + +<p>Atergatis, the far-famed goddess of the Syrians, was also +a fish-divinity. Her image, like that of Dagon, had at +first a fish's body with human extremities protruding +from it; but in the course of centuries it was gradually +altered to that of a being the upper portion of whose +body was that of a woman and the lower half that of +a fish. Gatis was a powerful queen of Sidon, and mother +of Semiramis. She received the title of "Ater," or "Ader," +"the Great," for the benefits she conferred on her people; +one of these benefits being a strict conservation of their +fisheries, both from their own imprudent use, and from foreign +interference. She issued an edict that no fish should be +eaten without her consent, and that no one should take fish +in the neighbouring sea without a licence from herself. It +is not improbable that she and her celebrated daughter, who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8_b" id="Page_8_b">[Pg 8]</a></span>is said by Ovid and others to have been the builder of the +walls of Babylon, were worshipped together; for that +Atergatis was the same as the fish-goddess Ashteroth, or +Ashtoreth, "the builder of the encompassing wall," we have, +amongst other proofs, a remarkable one in Biblical history. +In the first book of Maccabees v. 43, 44, we read that "all +the heathen being discomfited before him (Judas Maccabeus) +cast away their weapons, and fled unto the temple that was +at <i>Carnaim</i>. But they took the city, and burned the temple +with all that were therein. Thus was <i>Carnaim</i> subdued, +neither could they stand any longer before Judas." In the +second book of Maccabees xii. 26, we are told that "Maccabeus +marched forth to <i>Carnion</i>, and to the temple of <i>Atargatis</i>, +and there he slew five and twenty thousand persons." +In Genesis xiv. 5, this city and temple are referred to as +"<i>Ashteroth Karnaim</i>."</p> + +<p>Fig. 7 is a representation of Atergatis +on a medal coined at Marseilles. +It shows that when the Phœnician +colony from Syria, by whom that city +was founded, settled there, they +brought with them the worship of +the gods of their country.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;"> +<a name="fig02_007" id="fig02_007"> +<img src="images/fig02_007.jpg" width="150" height="157" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 7.—ATERGATIS. + +<i>From a Phœnician coin.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>Atergatis was worshipped by the +Greeks as Derceto and Astarte. +Lucian writes<a name="Anchor_39_39" id="Anchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 39."> [39] </a>:—"In Phœnicia I saw the image of Derceto, +a strange sight, truly! For she had the half of +a woman, and from the thighs downwards a fish's tail." +Diodorus Siculus describes (lib. ii.) the same deity, as +represented at Ascalon, as "having the face of a woman, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9_b" id="Page_9_b">[Pg 9]</a></span>but all the rest of the body a fish's." And this very same +image at Ascalon, which Diodorus calls Derceto, or +Atergatis, is denominated by Herodotus<a name="Anchor_40_40" id="Anchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 40."> [40] </a> "the celestial +Aphrodite," who was identical with the Cyprian and Roman +Venus. Of all the sacred buildings erected to the goddess, +this temple was by far the most ancient; and the Cyprians +themselves acknowledged that their temple was built after +the model of it by certain Phœnicians who came from +that part of Syria.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_008" id="fig02_008"> +<img src="images/fig02_008.jpg" width="470" height="454" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 8.—VENUS RISING FROM THE SEA, SUPPORTED BY TRITONS. + +After Calmet.</span> +</div> + +<p>Thus the worship of Noah, as the second father of mankind, +the repopulator of the earth, passed through various +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10_b" id="Page_10_b">[Pg 10]</a></span>phases and transformations till it merged in that of Venus, +who rose from the sea, and was regarded as the representative +of the reproductive power of Nature—the goddess whom +Lucretius thus addressed:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Blest Venus! Thou the sea and fruitful earth<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Peoplest amain; to thee whatever lives<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Its being owes, and that it sees the sun:"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and to whom refers the passage in the Orphic hymn:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"From thee are all things—all things thou producest<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Which are in heaven, or in the fertile earth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Or in the sea, or in the great abyss."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Under this latter phase—the impersonation of Venus—the +fish portion of the body was discarded, and the cast-off +form was allotted in popular credence to the Tritons—minor +deities, who acknowledged the supremacy of the goddess, +and were ready to render her homage and service by bearing +her in their arms, drawing her chariot, etc., but who still +possessed considerable power as sea-gods, and could calm +the waves and rule the storm, at pleasure.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;"> +<a name="fig02_009" id="fig02_009"> +<img src="images/fig02_009.jpg" width="200" height="191" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 9.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;"> +<a name="fig02_010" id="fig02_010"> +<img src="images/fig02_010.jpg" width="200" height="191" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 10.</span> +</div> +<hr class="hidden" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<span class="caption">VENUS DRAWN IN HER CHARIOT BY TRITONS. From two Corinthian coins.</span> +</div> + + +<p>Figs. 9 and 10 are from two Corinthian medals, each +shewing Venus in a car or chariot drawn by Tritons, one +male, the other female. On the obverse of Fig. 9, is the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11_b" id="Page_11_b">[Pg 11]</a></span> +head of Nero, and on that of Fig. 10, the head of his +grandmother Agrippina.<a name="Anchor_41_41" id="Anchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 41."> [41] </a></p> + +<p>From the very earliest period of history, then, the +conjoined human and fish form was known to every +generation of men. It was presented to their sight in +childhood by sculptures and pictures, and was a conspicuous +object in their religious worship. By the lapse of time its +original import was lost and debased; and, from being +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12_b" id="Page_12_b">[Pg 12]</a></span>an emblem and symbol, it came to be accepted as the +corporeal shape and structure of actually-existent sea-deities, +who might present themselves to the view of the +mariner, in visible and tangible form, at any moment. +Thus were men trained and prepared to believe in mermen +and mermaids, to expect to meet with them at sea, and to +recognise as one of them any animal the appearance and +movements of which could possibly be brought into conformity +with their pre-conceived ideas.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, and very naturally, we find that from north +to south this belief has been entertained. Megasthenes, +who was a contemporary of Aristotle, but his junior, and +whose geographical work was probably written at about the +period of the great philosopher's death, reported that the sea +which surrounded Taprobana, the ancient Ceylon, was inhabited +by creatures having the appearance of women. +Ælian stated that there were "whales," or "great fishes," +having the form of satyrs. The early Portuguese settlers in +India asserted that true mermen were found in the Eastern +seas, and old Norse legends tell of submarine beings of conjoined +human and piscine form, who dwell in a wide territory +far below the region of the fishes, over which the sea, like +the cloudy canopy of our sky, loftily rolls, and some of whom +have, from time to time, landed on Scandinavian shores, +exchanged their fishy extremities for human limbs, and +acquired amphibious habits. Not only have poets sung of +the wondrous and seductive beauty of the maidens of these +aquatic tribes, but many a Jack tar has come home from +sea prepared to affirm on oath that he has seen a mermaid. +To the best of his belief he has told the truth. He has +seen some living being which looked wonderfully human, +and his imagination, aided by an inherited superstition, has +supplied the rest.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13_b" id="Page_13_b">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<p>Before endeavouring to identify the object of his delusion, +it may be well to mention a few instances of the supposed +appearance of mermen and mermaidens in various localities.</p> + +<p>Pliny writes<a name="Anchor_42_42" id="Anchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 42."> [42] </a>: "When Tiberius was emperor, an embassy +was sent to him from Olysippo (Lisbon) expressly to +inform him that a Triton, which was recognised as such by +its form, had shown itself in a certain cave, and had been +heard to produce loud sounds on a conch-shell. The +Nereid, also, is not imaginary: its body is rough and +covered with scales, but it has the appearance of a human +being. For one was seen upon the same coast; and when +it was dying those dwelling near at hand heard it moaning +sadly for a long time. And the Governor of Gaul wrote to +the divine Augustus that several Nereids had been found +dead upon the shore. I have many informants—illustrious +persons in high positions—who have assured me that they +saw in the Sea of Cadiz a merman whose whole body was +exactly like that of a man, that these mermen mount on +board ships by night, and weigh down that end of the +vessel on which they rest, and that if they are allowed to +remain there long they will sink the ship."</p> + +<p>Ælian in one of his short, jerky, disconnected chapters,<a name="Anchor_43_43" id="Anchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 43."> [43] </a> +which rarely exceed a page in length, and some of which +only contain two lines, writes: "It is reported that the +great sea which surrounds the island of Taprobana (Ceylon) +contains an immense multitude of fishes and whales, and +some of them have the heads of lions, panthers, rams, and +other animals; and (which is more wonderful still) some of +the cetaceans have the form of satyrs. There are others +which have the face of a woman, but prickles instead of +hair. In addition to these, it is said there are other +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14_b" id="Page_14_b">[Pg 14]</a></span>creatures of so strange and monstrous a kind that it would +be impossible exactly to explain their appearance without +the aid of a skilfully drawn picture: these have elongated +and coiled tails, and, for feet, have claws<a name="Anchor_44_44" id="Anchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 44."> [44] </a> or fins. And I +hear that in the same sea there are great amphibious +beasts which are gregarious, and live on grain, and by night +feed on the corn crops and grass, and are also very fond of +the ripe fruit of the palms. To obtain these they encircle +in their embrace the trees which are young and flexible, +and, shaking them violently, enjoy the fruit which they thus +cause to fall. When morning dawns they return to the +sea, and plunge beneath the waves."</p> + +<p>Ælian seems to have derived this information from +Megasthenes, already referred to; but in another chapter,<a name="Anchor_45_45" id="Anchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 45."> [45] </a> +he writes with greater certainty concerning these semi-human +whales, and claims divine authority for his belief in the existence +of tritons. "Although," he says, "we have no rational +explanation nor absolute proof of that which fishermen are +said to be able to affirm concerning the form of the tritons, +we have the sworn testimony of many persons that there are +in the sea cetaceans which from the head down to the middle +of the body resemble the human species. Demostratus, +in his works on fishing, says that an aged triton was seen +near the town of Tanagra, in Bœotia, which was like the +drawings and pictures of tritons, but its features were so +obscured by age, and it disappeared so quickly, that its true +character was not easily perceptible. But on the spot +where it had rested on the shore were found some rough +and very hard scales which had become detached from it. +A certain senator—one of those selected by lot to carry on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15_b" id="Page_15_b">[Pg 15]</a></span>the administration of Achaia and the duties of the annual +magistracy" (the mayor, in fact,) "being anxious to investigate +the nature of this triton, put a portion of its skin +on the fire. It gave out a most horrible odour; and those +standing by were unable to decide whether it belonged +to a terrestrial or marine animal. But the magistrate's +curiosity had an evil ending, for very soon afterwards, +whilst crossing a narrow creek in a boat, he fell overboard +and was drowned; and the Tanagreans all regarded this as +a judgment upon him for his crime of impiety towards the +triton—an interpretation which was confirmed when his +decomposing body was cast ashore, for it emitted exactly +the same odour as had the burned skin of the triton. The +Tanagreans and Demostratus explain whence the triton +had strayed, and how it was stranded in this place. I +believe," continues Ælian, "that tritons exist, and I reverentially +produce as my witness a most veracious god—namely, +Apollo Didymæus, whom no man in his senses would +presume to regard as unworthy of credit. He sings thus +of the triton, which he calls the sheep of the sea:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'<i>Dum vocale maris monstrum natat æquore triton,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Neptuni pecus, in funes forte incidit extra</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Demissos navim</i>';"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>which I venture to translate as follows:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A triton, vocal monster of the deep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One of a flock of Neptune's scaly sheep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Was caught, whilst swimming o'er the watery plain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By lines which fishers from their boat had lain.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Therefore," Ælian concludes, "if he, the omniscient god, +pronounces that there are tritons, it does not behove us to +doubt their existence."</p> + +<p>Sir J. Emerson Tennent, in his 'Natural History of +Ceylon,' quoting from the <i>Histoire de la Compagnie de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16_b" id="Page_16_b">[Pg 16]</a></span> +Jésus</i>, mentions that the annalist of the exploits of the +Jesuits in India gravely records that seven of these +monsters, male and female, were captured at Manaar, in +1560, and carried to Goa, where they were dissected by +Demas Bosquez, physician to the Viceroy, "and their +internal structure found to be in all respects conformable to +the human." He also quotes Valentyn, one of the Dutch +colonial chaplains, who, in his account of the Natural History +of Amboyna,<a name="Anchor_46_46" id="Anchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 46."> [46] </a> embodied in his great work on the Netherlands' +possessions in India, published in 1727,<a name="Anchor_47_47" id="Anchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 47."> [47] </a> devoted +the first section of his chapter on the fishes of that island +to a minute description of the "Zee-Menschen," "Zee-Wyven," +and mermaids, the existence of which he warmly +insists on as being beyond cavil. He relates that in 1663, +when a lieutenant in the Dutch service was leading a party +of soldiers along the sea-shore in Amboyna, he and all his +company saw the mermen swimming at a short distance +from the beach. They had long and flowing hair of a +colour between grey and green. Six weeks afterwards the +creatures were again seen by him and more than fifty +witnesses, at the same place, by clear daylight. "If any +narrative in the world," adds Valentyn, "deserves credit it +is this; since not only one, but two mermen together were +seen by so many eye-witnesses. Should the stubborn +world, however, hesitate to believe it, it matters nothing, +as there are people who would even deny that such cities +as Rome, Constantinople, or Cairo, exist, merely because +they themselves have not happened to see them. But +what are such incredulous persons," he continues, "to make +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17_b" id="Page_17_b">[Pg 17]</a></span>of the circumstance recorded by Albrecht Herport<a name="Anchor_48_48" id="Anchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 48."> [48] </a> in his +account of India, that a merman was seen in the water +near the church of Taquan on the morning of the 29th of +April, 1661, and a mermaid at the same spot the same +afternoon? Or what do they say to the fact that in 1714 +a mermaid was not only seen but captured near the island +of Booro, five feet, Rhineland measure, in height; which +lived four days and seven hours, but, refusing all food, +died without leaving any intelligible account of herself?" +Valentyn, in support of his own faith in the mermaid, cites +many other instances in which both "sea-men and sea-women" +were seen and taken at Amboyna; especially one +by a district visitor of the church, who presented it to the +Governor Vanderstel. Of this "well-authenticated" specimen +he gives an elaborate portrait amongst the fishes of the island,<a name="Anchor_49_49" id="Anchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 49."> [49] </a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18_b" id="Page_18_b">[Pg 18]</a></span>with a minute description of each for the satisfaction of +men of science.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_012" id="fig02_012"> +<img src="images/fig02_012.jpg" width="470" height="336" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 12.—MERMAID AND FISHES OF AMBOYNA. After Valentyn.</span> +</div> + +<p>The fame of this creature having reached Europe, the +British minister in Holland wrote to Valentyn on the 28th +of December, 1716, whilst the Emperor Peter the Great, of +Russia, was his guest at Amsterdam, to communicate the +desire of the Czar that the mermaid should be brought +home from Amboyna for his inspection. To complete his +proofs of the existence of mermen and merwomen, Valentyn +points triumphantly to the historical fact that in Holland, +in the year 1404, a mermaid was driven, during a tempest, +through a breach in the dyke of Edam, and was taken alive +in the lake of Purmer. Thence she was carried to Haarlem, +where the Dutch women taught her to spin, and where +several years after, she died in the Roman Catholic faith;—"but +this," says the pious Calvinistic chaplain, "in no way +militates against the truth of her story." The worthy +minister citing the authority of various writers as proof that +mermaids had in all ages been known in Gaul, Naples, +Epirus, and the Morea, comes to the conclusion that as +there are "sea-cows," "sea-horses," "sea-dogs," as well as +"sea-trees," and "sea-flowers," which he himself had seen, +there are no reasonable grounds for doubt that there may +also be "sea-maidens" and "sea-men."</p> + +<p>In an early account of Newfoundland,<a name="Anchor_50_50" id="Anchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 50."> [50] </a> Whitbourne +describes a "maremaid or mareman," which he had seen +"within the length of a pike," and which "came swimming +swiftly towards him, looking cheerfully on his face, as it had +been a woman. By the face, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, ears, +neck and forehead, it appeared to be so beautiful, and in +those parts so well proportioned, having round about the +head many blue streaks resembling hair, but certainly it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19_b" id="Page_19_b">[Pg 19]</a></span> +was no hair. The shoulders and back down to the middle +were square, white, and smooth as the back of a man, and +from the middle to the end it tapered like a broad-hooked +arrow." The animal put both its paws on the side of the +boat wherein its observer sat, and strove much to get in, +but was repelled by a blow.</p> + +<p>In 1676, a description was given by an English surgeon +named Glover, of an animal of this kind. The author did +not designate it by any name, but the incident has the +honour of being recorded in the <i>Philosophical Transactions</i>.<a name="Anchor_51_51" id="Anchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 51."> [51] </a> +About three leagues from the mouth of the river Rappahannock, +in America, while alone in a vessel, he observed, at +the distance of about half a stone-throw, he says, "a most +prodigious creature, much resembling a man, only somewhat +larger, standing right up in the water, with his head, neck, +shoulders, breast and waist, to the cubits of his arms, above +water, and his skin was tawny, much like that of an Indian; +the figure of his head was pyramidal and sleek, without +hair; his eyes large and black, and so were his eyebrows; +his mouth very wide, with a broad black streak on the +upper lip, which turned upwards at each end like +mustachios. His countenance was grim and terrible. His +neck, shoulders, arms, breast and waist, were like unto the +neck, arms, shoulders, breast and waist of a man. His +hands, if he had any, were under water. He seemed to +stand with his eyes fixed on me for some time, and afterwards +dived down, and, a little after, rose at somewhat +a greater distance, and turned his head towards me again, +and then immediately fell a little under water, that I could +discern him throw out his arms and gather them in as a +man does when he swims. At last, he shot with his head +downwards, by which means he cast his tail above the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20_b" id="Page_20_b">[Pg 20]</a></span>water, which exactly resembled the tail of a fish, with a +broad fane at the end of it."</p> + +<p>Thormodus Torfæus<a name="Anchor_52_52" id="Anchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 52."> [52] </a> maintains that mermaids are found +on the south coast of Iceland, and, according to Olafsen,<a name="Anchor_53_53" id="Anchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 53."> [53] </a> +two have been taken in the surrounding seas, the first in the +earlier part of the history of that island, and the second in +1733. The latter was found in the stomach of a shark. Its +lower parts were consumed, but the upper were entire. +They were as large as those of a boy eight or nine years +old. Both the cutting teeth and grinders were long and +shaped like pins, and the fingers were connected by a large +web. Olafsen was inclined to believe that these were +human remains, but the islanders all firmly maintained +that they were part of "a marmennill," by which name the +mermaid is known among them.</p> + +<p>Of course the worthy bishop of Bergen, Pontoppidan, +has something to tell us about mermaids in his part of +the world. "Amongst the sea monsters," he says,<a name="Anchor_54_54" id="Anchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 54."> [54] </a> "which +are in the North Sea, and are often seen, I shall give the +first place to the Hav-manden, or merman, whose mate +is called Hav-fruen, or mermaid. The existence of this +creature is questioned by many, nor is it at all to be +wondered at, because most of the accounts we have had of +it are mixed with mere fables, and may be looked upon as +idle tales." As such he regards the story told by Jonas +Ramus in his 'History of Norway,' of a mermaid taken by +fishermen at Hordeland, near Bergen, and which is said to +have sung an unmusical song to King Hiorlief. In the +same category he places an account given by Besenius in +his life of Frederic II. (1577), of a mermaid that called +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21_b" id="Page_21_b">[Pg 21]</a></span>herself Isbrandt, and held several conversations with a +peasant at Samsoe, in which she foretold the birth of +King Christian IV., "and made the peasant preach repentance +to the courtiers, who were very much given to +drunkenness." Equally "idle" with the above stories is, +in his opinion, another, extracted from an old manuscript +still to be seen in the University Library at Copenhagen, +and quoted by Andrew Bussæus (1619), of a merman caught +by the two senators, Ulf Rosensparre and Christian Holch, +whilst on their voyage home to Denmark from Norway. +This sea-man frightened the two worshipful gentlemen so +terribly that they were glad to let him go again; for +as he lay upon the deck he spoke Danish to them, and +threatened that if they did not give him his liberty "the ship +should be cast away, and every soul of the crew should +perish."</p> + +<p>"When such fictions as these," says Pontoppidan, "are +mixed with the history of the merman, and when that creature +is represented as a prophet and an orator; when they +give the mermaid a melodious voice, and tell us that she is +a fine singer, we need not wonder that so few people of sense +will give credit to such absurdities, or that they even doubt +the existence of such a creature." The good prelate, however, +goes on to say that "whilst we have no ground to believe +all these fables, yet, as to the existence of the creature we +may safely give our assent to it," and, "if this be called in +question, it must proceed entirely from the fabulous stories +usually mixed with the truth." Like Valentyn, he argues +that as there are "sea-horses," "sea-cows," "sea-wolves," +"sea-dogs," "sea-hogs," etc., it is probable from analogy, +that "we should find in the ocean a fish or creature which +resembles the human species more than any other." As +for the objection "founded on self-love and respect to our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22_b" id="Page_22_b">[Pg 22]</a></span> +own species which is honoured with the image of God, who +made man lord of all creatures, and that, consequently, we +may suppose he is entitled to a noble and heavenly form +which other creatures must not partake of," he thinks "its +force vanishes when we consider the form of apes, and +especially of another African creature called 'Quoyas +Morrov' described by Odoard Dapper" in his work on +Africa, and which appears to have been a chimpanzee. +Pontoppidan regarded it as being the Satyr of the ancients. +He therefore claims that "if we will not allow our +Norwegian Hastromber the honourable name of merman, +we may very well call it the 'Sea-ape,' or the 'Sea-Quoyas-Morrov;'" +especially as the author already quoted +says that, "in the Sea of Angola mermaids are frequently +caught which resemble the human species. They are taken +in nets, and killed by the negroes, and are heard to shriek +and cry like women."</p> + +<p>The Bishop adds that in the diocese of Bergen, as well +as in the manor of Nordland, there were hundreds of +persons who affirmed with the strongest assurances that +they had seen this kind of creature; sometimes at a distance +and at other times quite close to their boats, standing +upright, and formed like a human creature down to the +middle—the rest they could not see—but of those who had +seen them out of water and handled them he had not been +able to find more than one person of credit who could vouch +it for truth. This informant, "the Reverend Mr. Peter +Angel, minister of Vand-Elvens Gield, on Suderoe," +assured his bishop, when he was on a visitation journey, +that "in the year 1719, he (being then about twenty years +old) saw what is called a merman lying dead on a point of +land near the sea, which had been cast ashore by the waves +along with several sea-calves (seals), and other dead fish.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23_b" id="Page_23_b">[Pg 23]</a></span> +The length of this creature was much greater than what +has been mentioned of any before, namely, above three +fathoms. It was of a dark grey colour all over: in the +lower part it was like a fish, and had a tail like that of a +porpoise. The face resembled that of a man, with a mouth, +forehead, eyes, etc. The nose was flat, and, as it were, +pressed down to the face, in which the nostrils were +very visible. The breast was not far from the head; the +arms seemed to hang to the side, to which they were +joined by a thin skin, or membrane. The hands were, to +all appearance, like the paws of a sea-calf. The back of this +creature was very fat, and a great part of it was cut off, +which, with the liver, yielded a large quantity of train-oil." +The author then quotes a description by Luke Debes<a name="Anchor_55_55" id="Anchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 55."> [55] </a> of +a mermaid seen in 1670 at Faroe, westward of Qualboe +Eide, by many of the inhabitants, as also by others from +different parts of Suderoe. She was close to the shore, and +stood there for two hours and a half, and was up to her +waist in water. She had long hairs on her head, which +hung down to the surface of the water all round about her, +and she held a fish in her right hand.</p> + +<p>Pontoppidan mentions other instances of similar appearances, +and says that the latest he had heard of was of a +merman seen in Denmark on the 20th of September, 1723, +by three ferrymen who, at some distance from the land, +were towing a ship just arrived from the Baltic. Having +caught sight of something which looked like a dead body +floating on the water, they rowed towards it, and there, +resting on their oars, allowed it to drift close to them. It +sank, but immediately came to the surface again, and then +they saw that it had the appearance of an old man, strong-limbed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24_b" id="Page_24_b">[Pg 24]</a></span>and with broad shoulders, but his arms they could +not see. His head was small in proportion to his body, +and had short, curled, black hair, which did not reach below +his ears; his eyes lay deep in his head, and he had a +meagre and pinched face, with a black, coarse beard, that +looked as if it had been cut. His skin was coarse, and +very full of hair. He stood in the same place for half a +quarter of an hour, and was seen above the water down to +his breast: at last the men grew apprehensive of some +danger, and began to retire; upon which the monster +blew up his cheeks, and made a kind of roaring noise, and +then dived under water, so that they did not see him any +more. One of them, Peter Gunnersen, related (what the +others did not observe) that this merman was, about the +body and downwards, quite pointed, like a fish. This same +Peter Gunnersen likewise deposed that "about twenty years +before, as he was in a boat near Kulleor, the place where +he was born, he saw a mermaid with long hair and large +breasts." He and his two companions were, by command +of the king, examined by the burgomaster of Elsineur, +Andrew Bussæus, before the privy-councillor, Fridrich von +Gram, and their testimony to the above effect was given +on their respective oaths.</p> + +<p>Brave old Henry Hudson, the sturdy and renowned +navigator, who thrice, in three successive years, gave battle +to the northern ice, and was each time defeated in his +endeavour to discover a north-west or north-east passage +to China, though he stamped his name on the title-page +of a mighty nation's history, records the following incident: +"This evening (June 15th) one of our company, +looking overboard, saw a mermaid, and, calling up some of +the company to see her, one more of the crew came up, and +by that time she was come close to the ship's side, looking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25_b" id="Page_25_b">[Pg 25]</a></span> +earnestly on the men. A little after a sea came and overturned +her. From the navel upward, her back and breasts +were like a woman's, as they say that saw her; her body as +big as one of us, her skin very white, and long hair hanging +down behind, of colour black. In her going down they saw +her tail, which was like the tail of a porpoise and speckled +like a mackarel's. Their names that saw her were Thomas +Hilles and Robert Rayner."</p> + +<p>Steller, who was a zoologist of some repute, reports +having seen in Behrings Straits a strange animal, which he +calls a "sea-ape," and in which one might almost recognise +Pontoppidan's "Sea-Quoyas-Morrov." It was about +five feet long, had sharp and erect ears and large eyes, +and on its lips a kind of beard. Its body was thick and +round, and it tapered to the tail, which was bifurcated, with +the upper lobe longest. It was covered with thick hair, +grey on the back, and red on the belly. No feet nor paws +were visible. It was full of frolic, and sported in the +manner of a monkey, swimming sometimes on one side of +the ship and sometimes on the other. It often raised one-third +of its body out of the water, and stood upright for a +considerable time. It would frequently bring up a sea-plant, +not unlike a bottle-gourd, which it would toss about +and catch in its mouth, playing numberless fantastic tricks +with it.</p> + +<p>Somewhat similar accounts have been brought from the +Southern Hemisphere, two, at least, of which are worth +transcribing.</p> + +<p>Captain Colnett, in his 'Voyage to the South Atlantic,' +says:—"A very singular circumstance happened off the +coast of Chili, in lat. 24° S., which spread some alarm +amongst my people, and awakened their superstitious apprehensions. +About 8 o'clock in the evening an animal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26_b" id="Page_26_b">[Pg 26]</a></span> +rose alongside the ship, and uttered such shrieks and tones +of lamentation, so much like those produced by the female +human voice when expressing the deepest distress as to +occasion no small degree of alarm among those who first +heard it. These cries continued for upwards of three hours, +and seemed to increase as the ship sailed from it. I never +heard any noise whatever that approached so near those +sounds which proceed from the organs of utterance in the +human species."</p> + +<p>Captain Weddell, in his 'Voyage towards the South +Pole' (p. 143), writes that one of his men, having been left +ashore on Hall's Island to take care of some produce, heard +one night about ten o'clock, after he had lain down to rest, +a noise resembling human cries. As daylight does not +disappear in those latitudes at the season in which the +incident occurred, the sailor rose and searched along the +beach, thinking that, possibly, a boat might have been upset, +and that some of the crew might be clinging to the detached +rocks.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Roused by that voice of silver sound,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> From the paved floor he lightly sprung,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And, glaring with his eyes around,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Where the fair nymph her tresses wrung,"<a name="Anchor_56_56" id="Anchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 56."> [56] </a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>guided by occasional sounds, he at length saw an object +lying on a rock a dozen yards from the shore, at which he +was somewhat frightened. "The face and shoulders appeared +of human form and of a reddish colour; over the +shoulders hung long green hair; the tail resembled that of +a seal, but the extremities of the arms he could not see +distinctly."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"As on the wond'ring youth she smiled,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Again she raised the melting lay,"<a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 56."> [56] </a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27_b" id="Page_27_b">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<p>for the creature continued to make a musical noise during +the two minutes he gazed at it, and, on perceiving him, +disappeared in an instant.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_013" id="fig02_013"> +<img src="images/fig02_013.jpg" width="470" height="171" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 13.—A JAPANESE ARTIFICIAL MERMAID.</span> +</div> + +<p>The universality of the belief in an animal of combined +human and fish-like form is very remarkable. That it +exists amongst the Japanese we have evidence in their +curious and ingeniously-constructed models which are +occasionally brought to this country. I have one of +these which is so exactly the counterpart of that which +my friend Mr. Frank Buckland described, originally in +<i>Land and Water</i>, and which forms the subject of a +chapter in his 'Curiosities of Natural History,'<a name="Anchor_57_57" id="Anchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 57."> [57] </a> that the +portrait of the one (Fig. 13) will equally well represent +the other. The lower half of the body is made of the skin +and scales of a fish of the carp family, and fastened on +to this, so neatly that it is hardly possible to detect where +the joint is made, is a wooden body, the ribs of which are so +prominent that the poor mermaid has a miserable and half-starved +appearance. The upper part of the body is in the +attitude of a Sphinx, leaning upon its elbows and fore-arms. +The arms are thin and scraggy, and the fingers attenuated +and skeleton-like. The nails are formed of small pieces of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28_b" id="Page_28_b">[Pg 28]</a></span> +ivory or bone. The head is like that of a small monkey, and +a little wool covers the crown, so thinly and untidily that if +the mermaid possessed a crystal mirror she would see the +necessity for the vigorous use of her comb of pearl. The +teeth are those of some fish—apparently of the cat-fish, +(<i>Anarchicas lupus</i>). These Japanese artificial mermaids have +brought many a dollar into the pockets of Mr. Barnum and +other showmen.</p> + +<p>Somewhat different in appearance from this, but of the +same kind, was an artificial mermaid described in the +<i>Saturday Magazine</i> of June 4th, 1836. +Fig. 14 is a facsimile of the woodcut +which accompanied it. This grotesque +composition was exhibited in a glass +case, some years previously, "in a +leading street at the west end" of +London. It was constructed "of the +skin of the head and shoulders of a +monkey, which was attached to the +dried skin of a fish of the salmon kind +with the head cut off, and the whole +was stuffed and highly varnished, the +better to deceive the eye." It was +said to have been "taken by the crew +of a Dutch vessel from on board a +native Malacca boat, and from the +reverence shown to it, it was supposed +to be a representative of one of their idol gods." I am +inclined to think that it was of Japanese origin.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 152px;"> +<a name="fig02_014" id="fig02_014"> +<img src="images/fig02_014.jpg" width="152" height="300" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 14.—AN ARTIFICIAL +MERMAID, PROBABLY +JAPANESE.</span> +</div> + +<p><a href="#fig02_015">Fig. 15</a> is described in the article above referred to as +having been copied from a Japanese drawing, and as being +a portrait of one of their deities. Its similarity to one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29_b" id="Page_29_b">[Pg 29]</a></span> +those of the Assyrians (<a href="#fig02_002">Fig. 2</a>, page 3) is remarkable. The +inscription, however, does not indicate this. The Chinese +characters in the centre—"<i>Nin giyo</i>"—signify "human +fish;" those on the right in Japanese <i>Hira Kana</i>, or running-hand, +have the same purport, and those on the left, in <i>Kata +Kana</i>, the characters of the Japanese alphabet, mean "<i>Ichi +hiru ike</i>"—"one day kept alive." The whole legend seems +to pretend that this human fish was actually caught, and +kept alive in water for twenty-four hours, but, as the box on +which it is inscribed is one of those in which the Japanese +showmen keep their toys, it was +probably the subject of a +"penny peep-show."</p> + +<p>We need not travel from our +own country to find the belief +in mermaids yet existing. It is +still credited in the north of +Scotland that they inhabit the +neighbouring seas: and Dr. +Robert Hamilton, F.R.S.E., +writing in 1839, expressed emphatically +his opinion that there +was then as much ignorance on this subject as had prevailed +at any former period.<a name="Anchor_58_58" id="Anchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 58."> [58] </a></p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;"> +<a name="fig02_015" id="fig02_015"> +<img src="images/fig02_015.jpg" width="200" height="222" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 15.—A MERMAID. From a +Japanese picture.</span> +</div> + +<p>In the year 1797, Mr. Munro, schoolmaster of Thurso, +affirmed that he had seen "a figure like a naked female, +sitting on a rock projecting into the sea, at Sandside Head, +in the parish of Reay. Its head was covered with long, +thick, light-brown hair, flowing down on the shoulders. +The forehead was round, the face plump, and the cheeks +ruddy. The mouth and lips resembled those of a human +being, and the eyes were blue. The arms, fingers, breast,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30_b" id="Page_30_b">[Pg 30]</a></span> +and abdomen were as large as those of a full-grown +female," and, altogether,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"That sea-nymph's form of pearly light<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Was whiter than the downy spray,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And round her bosom, heaving bright,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Her glossy yellow ringlets play."<a name="Anchor_59_59" id="Anchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 59."> [59] </a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"This creature," continued Mr. Munro, "was apparently +in the act of combing its hair with its fingers, which seemed +to afford it pleasure, and it remained thus occupied during +some minutes, when it dropped into the sea." The Dominie</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"saw the maiden there,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Just as the daylight faded,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Braiding her locks of gowden hair<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> An' singing as she braided,"<a name="Anchor_60_60" id="Anchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 60."> [60] </a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>but he did not remark whether the fingers were webbed. +On the whole, he infers that this was a marine animal of +which he had a distinct and satisfactory view, and that +the portion seen by him bore a narrow resemblance to the +human form. But for the dangerous situation it had chosen, +and its appearance among the waves, he would have supposed +it to be a woman. Twelve years later, several persons +observed near the same spot an animal which they also +supposed to be a mermaid.</p> + +<p>A very remarkable story of this kind is one related by +Dr. Robert Hamilton in the volume already referred to, +and for the general truth of which he vouches, from his +personal knowledge of some of the persons connected with +the occurrence. In 1823 it was reported that some fishermen +of Yell, one of the Shetland group, had captured a mermaid +by its being entangled in their lines. The statement was that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31_b" id="Page_31_b">[Pg 31]</a></span>"the animal was about three feet long, the upper part of the +body resembling the human, with protuberant mammæ, +like a woman; the face, forehead, and neck were short, +and resembled those of a monkey; the arms, which were +small, were kept folded across the breast; the fingers were +distinct, not webbed; a few stiff, long bristles were on the +top of the head, extending down to the shoulders, and +these it could erect and depress at pleasure, something like +a crest. The inferior part of the body was like a fish. +The skin was smooth, and of a grey colour. It offered no +resistance, nor attempted to bite, but uttered a low, plaintive +sound. The crew, six in number, took it within their boat, +but, superstition getting the better of curiosity, they carefully +disentangled it from the lines and a hook which had +accidentally become fastened in its body, and returned it +to its native element. It instantly dived, descending in a perpendicular +direction." Mr. Edmonston, the original narrator +of this incident, was "a well-known and intelligent observer," +says Dr. Hamilton, and in a communication made by him +to the Professor of Natural History in the Edinburgh +University gave the following additional particulars, which +he had learned from the skipper and one of the crew of +the boat. "They had the animal for three hours within +the boat: the body was without scales or hair; it was of a +silvery grey colour above, and white below; it was like the +human skin; no gills were observed, nor fins on the back +or belly. The tail was like that of a dog-fish; the mammæ +were about as large as those of a woman; the mouth and lips +were very distinct, and resembled the human. Not one of +the six men dreamed of a doubt of its being a mermaid, +and it could not be suggested that they were influenced by +their fears, for the mermaid is not an object of terror to +fishermen: it is rather a welcome guest, and danger is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32_b" id="Page_32_b">[Pg 32]</a></span> +apprehended from its experiencing bad treatment." Mr. +Edmonston concludes by saying that "the usual resources +of scepticism that the seals and other sea-animals appearing +under certain circumstances, operating upon an +excited imagination, and so producing ocular illusion, +cannot avail here. It is quite impossible that six Shetland +fishermen could commit such a mistake." It would seem +that the narrator demands that his readers shall be silenced, +if unconvinced; but</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"He that complies against his will<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Is of his own opinion still."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This incident is well-attested, and merits respectful and +careful consideration; but I decline to admit any such impossibility +of error in observation or description on the part +of the fishermen, or the further impossibility of recognising +in the animal captured by them one known to naturalists. +The particulars given in this instance, and also of the +supposed merman seen cast ashore dead in 1719 by the +Rev. Peter Angel (p. 22), are sufficiently accurate descriptions +of a warm-blooded marine animal, with which the +Shetlanders, and probably Mr. Edmonston also, were unacquainted, +namely, the rytina, of which I shall have more +to say presently; and these occurrences afford some slight +hope that this remarkable beast may not have become +extinct in 1768, as has been supposed, but that it may still +exist somewhat further south than it was met with by its +original describer, Steller.</p> + +<p>Turning to Ireland, we find the same credence in the +semi-human fish, or fish-tailed human being. In the +autumn of 1819 it was affirmed that "a creature appeared +on the Irish coast, about the size of a girl ten years of age,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33_b" id="Page_33_b">[Pg 33]</a></span> +with a bosom as prominent as one of sixteen, having a +profusion of long dark-brown hair, and full, dark eyes. The +hands and arms were formed like those of a man, with a +slight web connecting the upper part of the fingers, which +were frequently employed in throwing back and dividing +the hair. The tail appeared like that of a dolphin." This +creature remained basking on the rocks during an hour, in +the sight of numbers of people, until frightened by the flash +of a musket, when</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Away she went with a sea-gull's scream,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And a splash of her saucy tail,"<a name="Anchor_61_61" id="Anchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 61."> [61] </a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>for it instantly plunged with a scream into the sea.</p> + +<p>From Irish legends we learn that those sea-nereids, the +"Merrows," or "Moruachs" came occasionally from the sea, +gained the affections of men, and interested themselves in +their affairs; and similar traditions of the "Morgan" (sea-women) +and the "Morverch" (sea-daughters) are current in +Brittany.</p> + +<p>In English poetry the mermaid has been the subject of +many charming verses, and Shakspeare alludes to it in his +plays no less than six times. The head-quarters of these +"daughters of the sea" in England, or of the belief in their +existence, are in Cornwall. There the fisherman, many a +time and</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"Oft, beneath the silver moon,<a name="Anchor_62_62" id="Anchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 62."> [62] </a><br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Has heard, afar, the mermaid sing,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and has listened, so they say, to</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The mermaid's sweet sea-soothing lay<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> That charmed the dancing waves to sleep."<a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 62."> [62] </a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34_b" id="Page_34_b">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Robert Hunt, F.R.S., in his collection of the traditions +and superstitions of old Cornwall,<a name="Anchor_63_63" id="Anchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 63."> [63] </a> records several +curious legends of the "merrymaids" and "merrymen" (the +local name of mermaids), which he had gathered from the +fisher-folk and peasants in different parts of that county.</p> + +<p>And, in a pleasant article in 'All the Year Round,'<a name="Anchor_64_64" id="Anchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 64."> [64] </a> 1865, +"A Cornish Vicar"<a name="Anchor_65_65" id="Anchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 65."> [65] </a> mentions some of the superstitions of the +people in his neighbourhood, and the perplexing questions +they occasionally put to him. One of his parishioners, an +old man named Anthony Cleverdon, but who was popularly +known as "Uncle Tony," having been the seventh son of +his parents, in direct succession, was looked upon, in consequence, +as a soothsayer. This "ancient augur" confided to +his pastor many highly efficacious charms and formularies, +and, in return, sought for information from him on other +subjects. One day he puzzled the parson by a question +which so well illustrates the local ideas concerning mermaids, +and the sequel of which is, moreover, so humorously +related by the vicar, that I venture to quote his own words, +as follows:—</p> + +<p>"Uncle Tony said to me, 'Sir, there is one thing I want +to ask you, if I may be so free, and it is this: why should +a merrymaid, that will ride about upon the waters in such +terrible storms, and toss from sea to sea in such ruckles as +there be upon the coast, why should she never lose her +looking-glass and comb?' 'Well, I suppose,' said I, 'that +if there are such creatures, Tony, they must wear their +looking-glasses and combs fastened on somehow, like fins +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35_b" id="Page_35_b">[Pg 35]</a></span>to a fish.' 'See!' said Tony, chuckling with delight, 'what +a thing it is to know the Scriptures, like your reverence; I +should never have found it out. But there's another point, +sir, I should like to know, if you please; I've been bothered +about it in my mind hundreds of times. Here be I, that +have gone up and down Holacombe cliffs and streams fifty +years come next Candlemas, and I've gone and watched +the water by moonlight and sunlight, days and nights, on +purpose, in rough weather and smooth (even Sundays, too, +saving your presence), and my sight as good as most men's, +and yet I never could come to see a merrymaid in all my +life: how's that, sir?' 'Are you sure, Tony,' I rejoined, +'that there are such things in existence at all?' 'Oh, sir, +my old father seen her twice! He was out one night for +wreck (my father watched the coast, like most of the old +people formerly), and it came to pass that he was down at +the duck-pool on the sand at low-water tide, and all to +once he heard music in the sea. Well, he croped on +behind a rock, like a coastguardsman watching a boat, and +got very near the music ... and there was the merrymaid, +very plain to be seen, swimming about upon the +waves like a woman bathing—and singing away. But +my father said it was very sad and solemn to hear—more +like the tune of a funeral hymn than a Christmas carol, by +far—but it was so sweet that it was as much as he could do +to hold back from plunging into the tide after her. And +he an old man of sixty-seven, with a wife and a houseful of +children at home. The second time was down here by +Holacombe Pits. He had been looking out for spars—there +was a ship breaking up in the Channel—and he saw +some one move just at half-tide mark, so he went on very +softly, step by step, till he got nigh the place, and there +was the merrymaid sitting on a rock, the bootyfullest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36_b" id="Page_36_b">[Pg 36]</a></span> +merrymaid that eye could behold, and she was twisting +about her long hair, and dressing it, just like one of our +girls getting ready for her sweetheart on the Sabbath-day. +The old man made sure he should greep hold of her before +ever she found him out, and he had got so near that a +couple of paces more and he would have caught her by the +hair, as sure as tithe or tax, when, lo and behold, she looked +back and glimpsed him! So, in one moment she dived +head-foremost off the rock, and then tumbled herself topsy-turvy +about in the water, and cast a look at my poor father, +and grinned like a seal.'" And a seal it probably was that +Tony's "poor father" saw.</p> + +<p>What, then, are these mermaids and mermen, a belief in +whose existence has prevailed in all ages, and amongst all +the nations of the earth? Have they, really, some of the +parts and proportions of man, or do they belong to another +order of mammals on which credulity and inaccurate +observation have bestowed a false character?</p> + +<p>Mr. Swainson, a naturalist of deserved eminence, has +maintained on purely scientific grounds, that there must exist +a marine animal uniting the general form of a fish with that +of a man; that by the laws of Nature the natatorial type +of the <i>Quadrumana</i> is most assuredly wanting, and that, +apart from man, a being connecting the seals with the +monkeys is required to complete the circle of quadrumanous +animals.<a name="Anchor_66_66" id="Anchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 66."> [66] </a></p> + +<p>Mr. Gosse<a name="Anchor_67_67" id="Anchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 67."> [67] </a> argues that all the characters which Mr. +Swainson selects as marking the natatorial type of animals +belong to man, and that he being, in his savage state, a great +swimmer, is the true aquatic primate, which Mr. Swainson +regards as absent. Mr. Gosse admits, however, that "nature +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37_b" id="Page_37_b">[Pg 37]</a></span>has an odd way of mocking at our impossibilities, and" that +"it <i>may be</i> that green-haired maidens with oary tails, lurk +in the ocean caves, and keep mirrors and combs upon their +rocky shelves;" and the conclusion he arrives at is that the +combined evidence "induces a strong suspicion that the +northern seas may hold forms of life as yet uncatalogued +by science."</p> + +<p>That there are animals in the northern and other seas +with which we are unacquainted, is more than probable: +discoveries of animals of new species are constantly being +made, especially in the life of the deep sea. But I venture +to think that the production of an animal at present +unknown is quite unnecessary to account for the supposed +appearances of mermaids.</p> + +<p>We have in the form and habits of the <i>Phocidæ</i>, or earless +seals, a sufficient interpretation of almost every incident of +the kind that has occurred north of the Equator—of those +in which protuberant <i>mammæ</i> are described, we must +presently seek another explanation. The round, plump, +expressive face of a seal, the beautiful, limpid eyes, the +hand-like fore-paws, the sleek body, tapering towards the +flattened hinder fins, which are directed backwards, and +spread out in the form of a broad fin, like the tail of a fish, +might well give the idea of an animal having the anterior +part of its body human and the posterior half piscine.</p> + +<p>In the habits of the seals, also, we may trace those of the +supposed mermaid, and the more easily the better we are +acquainted with them. All seals are fond of leaving the +water frequently. They always select the flattest and most +shelving rocks which have been covered at high tide, and +prefer those that are separated from the mainland. They +generally go ashore at half-tide, and invariably lie with +their heads towards the water, and seldom more than a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38_b" id="Page_38_b">[Pg 38]</a></span> +yard or two from it. There they will often remain, if +undisturbed, for six hours; that is, until the returning tide +floats them off the rock. As for the sweet melody, +"so melting soft," that must depend much on the ear and +musical taste of the listener. I have never heard a seal +utter any vocal sounds but a porcine grunt, a plaintive +moan, and a pitiful whine. But another habit of the seals +has, probably more than anything else, caused them to be +mistaken for semi-human beings—namely, that of poising +themselves upright in the water with the head and the +upper third part of the body above the surface.</p> + +<p>One calm sunny morning in August, 1881, a fine schooner-yacht, +on board of which I was a guest, was slowly gliding +out of the mouth of the river Maas, past the Hook of +Holland, into the North Sea, when a seal rose just ahead +of us, and assumed the attitude above described. It waited +whilst we passed it, inspecting us apparently with the +greatest interest; then dived, swam in the direction in +which we were sailing, so as to intercept our course, and +came up again, sitting upright as before. This it repeated +three times, and so easily might it have been taken for a +mermaid, that one of the party, who was called on deck to +see it, thought, at first, that it was a boy who had swam off +from the shore to the vessel on a begging expedition.</p> + +<p>Laing, in his account of a voyage to the North, mentions +having seen a seal under similar circumstances.</p> + +<p>A young seal which was brought from Yarmouth to the +Brighton Aquarium in 1873, habitually sat thus, showing +his head and a considerable portion of his body out of +water. His bath was so shallow in some parts that he was +able to touch the bottom, and, with his after-flippers tucked +under him, like a lobster's tail, and spread out in front, he +would balance himself on his hind quarters, and look inquisitively<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39_b" id="Page_39_b">[Pg 39]</a></span> +at everybody, and listen attentively to everything +within sight and hearing. When he was satisfied +that no one was likely to interfere with him, and that it +was unnecessary to be on the alert, he would half-close his +beautiful, soft eyes, and either contentedly pat, stroke, and +scratch his little fat stomach with his right paw, or flap +both of them across his breast in a most ludicrous manner, +exactly as a cabman warms the tips of his fingers on a +wintry day, by swinging his arms vigorously across his +chest, and striking his hands against his body on either +side. He was very sensitive to musical sounds, as many +dogs are, and when a concert took place in the building a +high note from one of the vocalists would cause him to +utter a mournful wail, and to dive with a splash that made +the water fly, the audience smile, and the singer frown.</p> + +<p>Captain Scoresby tells us that he had seen the walrus +with its head above water, and in such a position that it +required little stretch of imagination to mistake it for a +human being, and that on one occasion of this kind the +surgeon of his ship actually reported to him that he had +seen a man with his head above water.</p> + +<p>Peter Gunnersen's merman (p. 24), who "blew up his +cheeks and made a kind of roaring noise" before diving, +was probably a "bladder-nose" seal. The males of that +species have on the head a peculiar pad, which they can +dilate at pleasure, and their voice is loud and discordant.</p> + +<p>The appearance and behaviour of Steller's "sea-ape," +described on p. 25, may, I think, be attributed to one of +the eared seals, the so-called sea-lions, or sea-bears. Every +one who has seen these animals fed must have noticed the +rapidity with which they will dive and swim to any part of +their pond where they expect to receive food, and how, +like a dog after a pebble, they will keenly watch their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40_b" id="Page_40_b">[Pg 40]</a></span> +keeper's movements, and start in the direction to which he +is apparently about to throw a fish, even before the latter +has left his hand. This may be seen at the Zoological +Gardens, Regent's Park, and, better than anywhere else in +Europe, at the Jardin d'Acclimatation, Paris. It would be +quite in accordance with their habits that one of these +<i>Otaria</i> should dive under a ship, and rise above the surface +on either side, eagerly surveying those on board, in hope of +obtaining food, or from mere curiosity.</p> + +<p>The seals and their movements account for so many +mermaid stories, that all accounts of sea-women with +prominent bosoms were ridiculed and discredited until +competent observers recognised in the form and habits of +certain aquatic animals met with in the bays and estuaries +of the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the west coast of Africa, +and sub-tropical America, the originals of these "travellers' +tales." These were—first, the <i>manatee</i>, which is found in +the West Indian Islands, Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and +Brazil, and in Africa in the River Congo, Senegambia, and +the Mozambique Channel; second, the <i>dugong</i>, or <i>halicore</i>, +which ranges along the east coast of Africa, Southern Asia, +the Bornean Archipelago, and Australia; and, third, the +<i>rytina</i>, seen on Behring's Island in the Kamschatkan Sea +by Steller, the Russian zoologist and voyager, in 1741, and +which is supposed to have become extinct within twenty-seven +years after its discovery, by its having been recklessly +and indiscriminately slaughtered.<a name="Anchor_68_68" id="Anchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 68."> [68] </a> Then science, in the +person of Illeger, made the <i>amende honorable</i>, and frankly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41_b" id="Page_41_b">[Pg 41]</a></span>accepting Jack's introduction to his fish-tailed <i>innamorata</i>, +classed these three animals together as a sub-order of the +animal kingdom, and bestowed on them the name of the +<i>Sirenia</i>. This was, of course, in allusion to the Sirens of +classical mythology, who, in later art, were represented as +having the body of a woman above the waist, and that +of a fish below, although the lower portion of their body +was originally described as being in the form of a bird.</p> + +<p>It has been found difficult to determine to which order +these <i>Manatidæ</i> are most nearly allied. In shape they most +closely resemble the whales and seals. But the cetacea +are all carnivorous, whereas the manatee and its relatives +live entirely on vegetable food. Although, therefore, Dr. +J. E. Gray, following Cuvier, classed them with the cetacea +in his British Museum catalogue, other anatomists, as +Professor Agassiz, Professor Owen, and Dr. Murie, regard +their resemblance to the whales as rather superficial than +real, and conclude from their organisation and dentition +that they ought either to form a group apart or be classed +with the pachyderms—the hippopotamus, tapir, etc.—with +which they have the nearest affinities, and to which they +seem to have been more immediately linked by the now +lost genera, <i>Dinotherium</i> and <i>Halitherium</i>. With the +opinion of those last-named authorities I entirely agree. I +regard the manatee as exhibiting a wonderful modification +and adaptation of the structure of a warm-blooded land +animal which enables it to pass its whole life in water, and +as a connecting link between the hippopotamus, elephant, +etc., on the one side, and the whales and seals on the other.</p> + +<p>The <i>Halitherium</i> was a Sirenian with which we are only +acquainted by its fossil remains found in the Miocene +formation of Central and Southern Europe. These indicate +that it had short hind limbs, and, consequently, approached<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42_b" id="Page_42_b">[Pg 42]</a></span> +more nearly the terrestrial type than either the manatee, +the rytina, or the dugong, in which the hind limbs are +absent. The two last named tend more than does the +manatee to the marine mammals; but there is a strong +likeness between these three recent forms. They all have +a cylindrical body, like that of a seal, but instead of hind +limbs there is in all a broad tail flattened horizontally; and +the chief difference in their outward appearance is in the +shape of this organ. In the manatee it is rounded, in the +dugong forked like that of a whale, in the rytina crescent-shaped. +The tail of the <i>Halitherium</i> appears to have been +shaped somewhat like that of the beaver. The body of +the manatee is broader in proportion to its length and +depth than that of the dugong. In a paper read before the +Royal Society, July 12th, 1821, on a manatee sent to +London in spirits by the Duke of Manchester, then +Governor of Jamaica, Sir Everard Home remarked of this +greater lateral expansion that, as the manatee feeds on +plants that grow at the mouths of great rivers, and the dugong +upon those met with in the shallows amongst small islands +in the Eastern seas, the difference of form would make the +manatee more buoyant and better fitted to float in fresh +water.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_016" id="fig02_016"> +<img src="images/fig02_016.jpg" width="470" height="258" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 16.—THE DUGONG. From Sir J. Emerson Tennent's 'Ceylon.'</span> +</div> + +<p>In all the <i>Manatidæ</i> the mammæ of the female, which +are greatly distended during the period of lactation, are +situated very differently from those of the whales, being +just beneath the pectoral fins. These fins or paws are +much more flexible and free in their movements than +those of the cetæ, and are sufficiently prehensile to enable +the animal to gather food between the palms or inner +surfaces of both, and the female to hold her young one +to her breast with one of them. Like the whales, they are +warm-blooded mammals, breathing by lungs, and are therefore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43_b" id="Page_43_b">[Pg 43]</a></span> +obliged to come to the surface at frequent intervals +for respiration. As they breathe through nostrils at the +end of the muzzle, instead of, like most of the whales, +through a blow-hole on the top of the head, their habit is +to rise, sometimes vertically, in the water, with the head +and fore part of the body exposed above the surface, and +often to remain in this position for some minutes. When +seen thus, with head and breast bare, and clasping its +young one to its body, the female presents a certain resemblance +to a woman from the waist upward. When +approached or disturbed it dives; the tail and hinder portion +of the body come into view, and we see that if there was +little of the "<i>mulier formosa superne</i>," at any rate "<i>desinit +in piscem</i>." The manatee has thence been called by the +Spaniards and Portuguese the "woman-fish," and by the +Dutch the "manetje," or mannikin. The dugong, having +the muzzle bristly, is named by the latter the "baardmanetje," +or "little bearded man." There are no bristles +or whiskers on the muzzle of the manatee; all the portraits<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44_b" id="Page_44_b">[Pg 44]</a></span> +of it in which these are shown are in that respect erroneous. +The origin of the word "manatee" has by some been +traced to the Spanish, as indicating "an animal with +hands." On the west coast of Africa it is called by the +natives "Ne-hoo-le." By old writers it was described as +the "sea-cow." Gesner depicts it in the act of bellowing; +and Mr. Bates, in his work, "The Naturalist on the +Amazon," says that its voice is something like the bellowing +of an ox. The Florida "crackers" or "mean whites," +make the same statement. Although I have had opportunities +of prolonged observation of it in captivity, I have +not heard it give utterance to any sound—not even a grunt—and +Mr. Bartlett, of the Zoological Gardens, tells me that +his experience of it is the same. His son, Mr. Clarence +Bartlett, says that a young one he had in Surinam used to +make a feeble cry, or bleat, very much like the voice of +a young seal. This is the only sound he ever heard from +a manatee.<a name="Anchor_69_69" id="Anchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 69."> [69] </a></p> + +<p>I believe the dugong to be more especially the animal +referred to by Ælian as the semi-human whale, and that +which has led to this group having been supposed by southern +voyagers to be aquatic human beings. In the first place, +the dugong is a denizen of the sea, whereas the manatee +is chiefly found in rivers and fresh-water lagoons; and +secondly, the dugong accords with Ælian's description of +the creature with a woman's face in that it has "prickles +instead of hairs," whilst the manatee has no such stiff +bristles.</p> + +<p>In the case of either of these two animals being mistaken +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45_b" id="Page_45_b">[Pg 45]</a></span>for a mermaid, however, "distance" must "lend enchantment +to the view," and a sailor must be very impressible +and imaginative who, even after having been deprived for +many months of the pleasure of females' society, could be +allured by the charms of a bristly-muzzled dugong, or +mistake the snorting of a wallowing manatee for the love-song +of a beauteous sea-maiden.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_017" id="fig02_017"> +<img src="images/fig02_017.jpg" width="470" height="640" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 17.—THE MANATEE. ITS USUAL POSITION.</span> +</div> + +<p>Unfortunately both the dugong and the manatee are +being hunted to extinction.</p> + +<p>The flesh of the manatee is considered a great delicacy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46_b" id="Page_46_b">[Pg 46]</a></span> +Humboldt compares it with ham. Unlike that of the +whales, which is of a deep and dark red hue, it is as white +as veal, and, it is said, tastes very like it. It is remarkable +for retaining its freshness much longer than other meat, +which in a tropical climate generally putrefies in twenty-eight +hours. It is therefore well adapted for pickling, as +the salt has time to penetrate the flesh before it is tainted. +The Catholic clergy of South America do not object to its +being eaten on fast days, on the supposition that, with +whales, seals, and other aquatic mammals, it may be liberally +regarded as "fish." The "Indians" of the Amazon and +Orinoco are so fond of it that they will spend many days, +if necessary, in hunting for a manatee, and having killed one +will cut it into slabs and slices on the spot, and cook these +on stakes thrust into the ground aslant over a great fire, +and heavily gorge themselves as long as the provision lasts. +The milk of this animal is said to be rich and good, and +the skin is valuable for its toughness, and is much in +request for making leathern articles in which great strength +and durability are required. The tail contains a great +deal of oil, which is believed to be extremely nutritious, +and has also the property of not becoming rancid. Unhappily +for the dugong, its oil is in similarly high repute, +and is greatly preferred as a nutrient medicine to cod-liver +oil. As its flesh also is much esteemed, it is so +persistently hunted on the Australian coasts that it will +probably soon become extinct, like the rytina of Steller. +The same fate apparently awaits the manatee, which is +becoming perceptibly more and more scarce.</p> + +<p>I fear that before many years have elapsed the Sirens of +the Naturalist will have disappeared from our earth, before +the advance of civilization, as completely as the fables and +superstitions with which they have been connected, before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47_b" id="Page_47_b">[Pg 47]</a></span> +the increase of knowledge; and that the mermaid of fact +will have become as much a creature of the past as the +mermaid of fiction. With regard to the latter—the Siren of +the poets,—the water-maiden of the pearly comb, the crystal +mirror, and the sea-green tresses,—there are few persons I +suppose, at the present day who would not be content to +be classed with Banks, the fine old naturalist and formerly +ship-mate of Captain Cook. Sir Humphry Davy in his +<i>Salmonia</i> relates an anecdote of a baronet, a profound +believer in these fish-tailed ladies, who on hearing some one +praise very highly Sir Joseph Banks, said that "Sir Joseph +was an excellent man, but he had his prejudices—he did +not believe in the mermaid." I confess to having a similar +"prejudice;" and am willing to adopt the further remark +of Sir Humphry Davy:—"I am too much of the school of +Izaac Walton to talk of impossibility. It doubtless might +please God to make a mermaid, but I don't believe God +ever did make one."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48_b" id="Page_48_b">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_LERNEAN_HYDRA" id="THE_LERNEAN_HYDRA"></a>THE LERNEAN HYDRA.</h2> + + +<p>The mystery of the Kraken, of which I treated in a companion +volume to the present, recently published, is not +difficult to unravel. The clue to it is plain, and when +properly taken up is as easily unwound, to arrive at the +truth, as a cocoon of silk, to get at the chrysalis within +it. It was a boorish exaggeration, a legend of ignorance, +superstition, and wonder. But when such a skein of facts +has passed through the hands of the poets, it is sure to be +found in a much more intricate tangle; and many a knot of +pure invention may have to be cut before it is made clear.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, we shall be able to discern that more than +one of the most famous and hideous monsters of old +classical lore originated, like the Kraken, in a knowledge by +their authors of the form and habits of those strange sea-creatures, +the head-footed mollusks. There can be little +doubt that the octopus was the model from which the old +poets and artists formed their ideas, and drew their +pictures of the Lernean Hydra, whose heads grew again +when cut off by Hercules; and also of the monster Scylla, +who, with six heads and six long writhing necks, snatched +men off the decks of passing ships and devoured them in +the recesses of her gloomy cavern.</p> + +<p>Of the Hydra Diodorus relates that it had a hundred +heads; Simonides says fifty; but the generally received +opinion was that of Apollodorus, Hyginus, and others, that +it had only nine.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49_b" id="Page_49_b">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<p>Apollodorus of Athens, son of Asclepiades, who wrote in +stiff, quaint Greek about 120 <small>B.C.</small>, gives in his 'Bibliotheca' +(book ii. chapter 5, section 2) the following account of the +many-headed monster. "This Hydra," he says, "nourished +in the marshes of Lerne, went forth into the open country +and destroyed the herds of the land. It had a huge body +and nine heads, eight mortal, but the ninth immortal. +Having mounted his chariot, which was driven by Iolaus, +Hercules got to Lerne and stopped his horses. Finding +the Hydra on a certain raised ground near the source of the +Amymon, where its lair was, he made it come out by pelting +it with burning missiles. He seized and stopped it, but +having twisted itself round one of his feet, it struggled with +him. He broke its head with his club: but that was useless; +for when one head was broken two sprang up, and a +huge crab helped the Hydra by biting the foot of Hercules. +This he killed, and called Iolaus, who, setting on fire part +of the adjoining forest, burned with torches the germs of +the growing heads, and stopped their development. Having +thus out-manœuvred the growing heads, he cut off the +immortal head, buried it, and put a heavy stone upon it, +beside the road going from Lerne to Eleonta, and having +opened the Hydra, dipped his arrows in its gall."</p> + +<p>If we wish to find in nature the counterpart of this +Hydra, we must seek, firstly, for an animal with eight out-growths +from its trunk, which it can develop afresh, or +replace by new ones, in case of any or all of them being +amputated or injured. We must also show that this +animal, so strange in form and possessing such remarkable +attributes, was well known in the locality where the legend +was believed. We have it in the octopus, which abounded +in the Mediterranean and Ægean seas, and whose eight +prehensile arms, or tentacles, spring from its central body,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50_b" id="Page_50_b">[Pg 50]</a></span> +the immortal head, and which, if lost or mutilated by +misadventure, are capable of reproduction.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_018" id="fig02_018"> +<img src="images/fig02_018.jpg" width="470" height="218" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 18.—FIGURE OF A CALAMARY. From the temple of Bayr-el-Bahree.</span> +</div> + +<p>That a knowledge of the octopus existed at a very early +period of man's history we have abundant evidence. The +ancient Egyptians figured it amongst their hieroglyphics, +and an interesting proof that they were also acquainted +with other cephalopods was given to me by the late +Mr. E. W. Cooke, R.A. Whilst on a trip up the Nile, in +January, 1875, he visited the temple of Bayr-el-Bahree, +Thebes (date 1700 <small>B.C.</small>), the entrance to which had been +deeply buried beneath the light, wind-drifted sand, accumulated +during many centuries. By order of the Khedive, +access had just at that time been obtained to its interior, +by the excavation and removal of this deep deposit, and, +amongst the hieroglyphics on the walls, were found, between +the zig-zag lines which represent water, figures of various +fishes, copies of which Mr. Cooke kindly gave me, and +which are so accurately portrayed as to be easily identified. +With them was the outline of a squid fourteen inches long, +a figure of which, from Mr. Cooke's drawing, is here shown. +As this temple is five hundred miles from the delta of the +Nile, it is remarkable that nearly all the fishes there represented +are of marine species.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51_b" id="Page_51_b">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_019" id="fig02_019"> +<img src="images/fig02_019.jpg" width="470" height="455" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 19.—FIGURE OF AN OCTOPUS ON A GOLD ORNAMENT, FOUND BY +DR. SCHLIEMANN AT MYCENÆ.</span> +</div> + +<p>That the octopus was a familiar object with the +ancient Greeks, we know by the frequency with which its +portrait is found on their coins, gems, and ornaments. +Aldrovandus describes "very ancient coins" found at +Syracuse and Tarentum bearing the figure of an octopus. +He says the Syracusans had two coins, one of bronze, the +other of gold, both of which had an octopus alone on one +side. On the reverse of the bronze one was a veiled +female face in profile, with the inscription [Greek: SURA]. I have one +of these bronze Syracusan coins; it was kindly given to +me, some years ago, by my friend, Dr. John Millar, F.L.S. +The octopus is really well depicted. On the gold coin the +female head was differently veiled, and at the back of the +neck was a fish. The inscription on this coin was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52_b" id="Page_52_b">[Pg 52]</a></span> +[Greek: SURAKOSIÔN]. Goltzius was of the opinion that the head +was that of Arethusa. The coins found at Tarentum had +on one side a figure of Neptune seated on a dolphin, and +holding an octopus in one hand and a trident in the +other.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_020" id="fig02_020"> +<img src="images/fig02_020.jpg" width="470" height="362" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 20.—GOLDEN ORNAMENT IN FORM OF AN OCTOPUS, FOUND BY +DR. SCHLIEMANN AT MYCENÆ.</span> +</div> + +<p>Lerne, or Lerna, the reputed home of the Hydra, was a +port of Southern Greece, situated at the head of the Gulf +of Nauplia, and between the existing towns of Argos and +Tripolitza. Within a few miles of it was Mycenæ; and it +is remarkable that Dr. Schliemann, during his excavations +there in 1876, found in a tomb a gold plate, or button, two +and a half inches in diameter (Fig. 19), on which is figured an +octopus, the eight arms of which are converted into spirals, +the head and the two eyes being distinctly visible. In +another sepulchre he discovered fifty-three golden models +of the octopus (Fig. 20), all exactly alike, and apparently +cast in the same mould. The arms are very naturally +carved. By the kindness of Mr. Murray, his publisher, I am +enabled to give illustrations of these and two other +handsome ornaments.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53_b" id="Page_53_b">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>Having ascertained that the octopus was a familiar +object in the very locality where the combat between +Hercules and the Hydra is supposed to have taken place, +let us compare the animal as it exists with the monstrous +offspring of Typhon and Echidna.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;"> +<a name="fig02_021" id="fig02_021"> +<img src="images/fig02_021.jpg" width="200" height="193" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 21.</span> +</div> +<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;"> +<a name="fig02_022" id="fig02_022"> +<img src="images/fig02_022.jpg" width="200" height="193" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 22.</span> +</div> +<hr class="hidden" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<span class="caption">FIGURES OF THE OCTOPUS ON GOLD ORNAMENTS FOUND BY +DR. SCHLIEMANN AT MYCENÆ.</span> +</div> + +<p>It is a not uncommon occurrence that when an octopus +is caught it is found to have one or more of its arms shorter +than the rest, and showing marks of having been amputated, +and of the formation of a new growth from the old cicatrix. +Several such specimens were brought to the Brighton +Aquarium whilst I had charge of its Natural History +Department. One of them was particularly interesting. Two +of its arms had evidently been bitten off about four inches +from the base: and out from the end of each healed stump +(which in proportion to the length of the limb was as if +a man's arm had been amputated halfway between the +shoulder and the elbow), grew a slender little piece of newly-formed +arm, about as large as a lady's stiletto, or a small +button-hook—in fact just the equivalent of worthy Captain +Cuttle's iron hook, which did duty for his lost hand. It +was an illustrative example of the commencement of the +repair and restoration of mutilated limbs.</p> + +<p>This mutilation is so common in some localities, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54_b" id="Page_54_b">[Pg 54]</a></span> +Professor Steenstrup says<a name="Anchor_70_70" id="Anchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 70."> [70] </a> that almost every octopus he +has examined has had one or two arms reproduced; and +that he has seen females in which all the eight arms had +been lost, but were more or less restored. He also +mentions a male in which this was the case as to seven of its +arms. He adds that whilst the <i>Octopoda</i> possess the power +of reproducing with great facility and rapidity their arms, +which are exposed to so many enemies, the <i>Decapoda</i>—the +<i>Sepiidæ</i> and Squids—appear to be incapable of thus +repairing and replacing accidental injuries. This is +entirely in accord with my own observations.</p> + +<p>This reparative power is possessed by some other animals, +of which the starfishes and crustacea are the most familiar +instances. In the case of the lobster or crab, however, the +only joint from which new growth can start is that connected +with the body, so that if a limb be injured in any +part, the whole of it must be got rid of, and the animal has, +therefore, the power of casting it off at will. The octopus, +on the contrary, is incapable of voluntary dismemberment, +but reproduces the lost portion of an injured arm, as an +out-growth from the old stump.</p> + +<p>The ancients were well acquainted with this reparative +faculty of the octopus: but of course the simple fact was +insufficient for an imaginative people: and they therefore +embellished it with some fancies of their own. There +lingers still amongst the fishermen of the Mediterranean a +very old belief that the octopus when pushed by hunger +will gnaw and devour portions of its arms. Aristotle knew +of this belief, and positively contradicted it; but a fallacy +once planted is hard to eradicate. You may cut it down, +and apparently destroy it, root and branch, but its seeds +are scattered abroad, and spring up elsewhere, and in unexpected +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55_b" id="Page_55_b">[Pg 55]</a></span>places. Accordingly, we find Oppian, more than +five centuries later, disseminating the same old notion, and +comparing this habit of the animal with that of the bear +obtaining nutriment from his paws by sucking them during +his hybernation.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"When wintry skies o'er the black ocean frown,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And clouds hang low with ripen'd storms o'ergrown,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Close in the shelter of some vaulted cave<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The soft-skinn'd prekes<a name="Anchor_71_71" id="Anchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 71."> [71] </a> their porous bodies save.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> But forc'd by want, while rougher seas they dread,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> On their own feet, necessitous, are fed.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> But when returning spring serenes the skies,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Nature the growing parts anew supplies.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Again on breezy sands the roamers creep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Twine to the rocks, or paddle in the deep.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Doubtless the God whose will commands the seas,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Whom liquid worlds and wat'ry natives please,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Has taught the fish by tedious wants opprest<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Life to preserve and be himself the feast."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The fact is, that the larger predatory fishes regard an +octopus as very acceptable food, and there is no better +bait for many of them than a portion of one of its arms. +Some of the cetacea also are very fond of them, and +whalers have often reported that when a "fish" (as they +call it) is struck it disgorges the contents of its stomach, +amongst which they have noticed parts of the arms of +cuttles which, judging from the size of their limbs, must +have been very large specimens. The food of the sperm +whale consists largely of the gregarious squids, and +the presence in spermaceti of their undigested beaks is +accepted as a test of its being genuine. That old fish-reptile, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56_b" id="Page_56_b">[Pg 56]</a></span>the Ichthyosaurus, also, preyed upon them; and +portions of the horny rings of their suckers were discovered +in its coprolites by Dean Buckland. Amongst the worst +enemies of the octopus is the conger. They are both rock-dwellers, +and if the voracious fish come upon his cephalopod +neighbour unseen, he makes a meal of him, or, failing to +drag him from his hold, bites off as much of one or two +of his arms as he can conveniently obtain. The conger, +therefore, is generally the author of the injury which the +octopus has been unfairly accused of inflicting on itself.</p> + +<p>Continuing our comparison with the hydra, we have in +the octopus an animal capable of quitting its rocky lurking-place +in the sea, and going on a buccaneering expedition +on dry land. Many incidents have been related in connection +with this; but I can attest it from my own observation. +I have seen an octopus travel over the floor of a +room at a very fair rate of speed, toppling and sprawling +along in its own ungainly fashion; and in May, 1873, we +had one at the Brighton Aquarium which used regularly +every night to quit its tank, and make its way along the +wall to another tank at some distance from it, in which +were some young lump-fishes. Day after day, one of these +was missing, until, at last, the marauder was discovered. +Many days elapsed, however, before he was detected, for +after helping himself to, and devouring a young "lump-sucker," +he demurely returned before daylight to his own +quarters.</p> + +<p>Of this habit of the octopus the ancients were, also, fully +aware. Aristotle wrote that it left the water and walked +in stony places, and Pliny and Ælian related tales of +this animal stealing barrels of salt fish from the wharves, +and crushing their staves to get at the contents. An +octopus that could do this would be as formidable a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57_b" id="Page_57_b">[Pg 57]</a></span> +predatory monster as the Lernean Hydra, which had the +evil reputation of devouring the Peloponnesian cattle.</p> + +<p>Whoever first described the counter-attack of the Hydra +on Hercules must have had the octopus in his thoughts. "It +twisted itself round one of his feet"—exactly that which an +octopus would do.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_023" id="fig02_023"> +<img src="images/fig02_023.jpg" width="470" height="475" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 23.—HERCULES SLAYING THE LERNEAN HYDRA. + +From Smith's 'Classical Dictionary.'</span> +</div> + +<p>Finally, according to the legend, Hercules dipped his +arrow-heads in the gall of the Hydra, and, from its poisonous +nature, all the wounds he inflicted with them upon his +enemies proved fatal. It is worthy of notice that the +ancients attributed to the octopus the possession of a +similarly venomous secretion. Thus Oppian writes:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The crawling preke a deadly juice contains<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Injected poison fires the wounded veins."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The accompanying illustration (Fig. 23) of Hercules +slaying the Hydra is taken from a marble tablet in the +Vatican. It will be immediately seen how closely the +Hydra, as there depicted, resembles an octopus. The body<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58_b" id="Page_58_b">[Pg 58]</a></span> +is elongated, but the eight necks with small heads on them +bear about the same proportion to the body as the arms to +the body of an octopus.</p> + +<p>The Reverend James Spence, in his 'Polymetis,' published +in 1755, gives a figure, almost the counterpart of this, +copied from an antique gem, a carnelian, in the collection of +the Grand Duke of Tuscany at Florence. Only seven +necks of the hydra are, however, there visible, and there +are two coils in the elongated body. On the upper part +are two spots which have been supposed to represent +breasts. This was probably intended by the artificer; but +that the idea originated from a duplication of the syphon +tube is evident from the figures (Figs. 21, 22) of the octopus +on the smaller gold ornaments found by Dr. Schliemann at +Mycenæ. In the same work is also an engraving from a +picture in the Vatican Virgil, entitled 'The River, or +Hateful Passage into the Kingdom of Ades,' wherein an +octopus-hydra, of which only six heads and necks are +shown, is one of the monsters called by the author "Terrors +of the Imagination."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59_b" id="Page_59_b">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="SCYLLA_AND_CHARYBDIS" id="SCYLLA_AND_CHARYBDIS"></a>SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS.</h2> + + +<p>In the description given by Homer, in the twelfth book of +the 'Odyssey,' of the unfortunate nymph Scylla, transformed +by the arts of Circe into a frightful monster, the same +typical idea as in the case of the Hydra is perceptible. The +lurking octopus, having its lair in the cranny of a rock, +watching in ambush for passing prey, seizing anything +coming within its reach with one or more of its prehensile +arms, even brandishing these fear-inspiring weapons out of +water in a threatening manner, and known in some localities +to be dangerous to boats and their occupants, is transformed +into a many-headed sea monster, seizing in its +mouths, instead of by the adhesive suckers of its numerous +arms, the helpless sailors from passing vessels, and devouring +them in the abysses of its cavernous den.</p> + +<p>Circe, prophesying to Ulysses the dangers he had still to +encounter, warned him especially of Scylla and Charybdis, +within the power of one of whom he must fall in passing +through the narrow strait (between Italy and Sicily) where +they had their horrid abode. Describing the lofty rock of +Scylla, she tells him:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Full in the centre of this rock displayed<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> A yawning cavern casts a dreadful shade,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Nor the fleet arrow from the twanging bow<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Sent with full force, could reach the depth below.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Wide to the west the horrid gulf extends,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And the dire passage down to hell descends.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60_b" id="Page_60_b">[Pg 60]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0"> O fly the dreadful sight! expand thy sails,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Ply the strong oar, and catch the nimble gales;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Here Scylla bellows from her dire abodes;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Tremendous pest! abhorred by man and gods!<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Hideous her voice, and with less terrors roar<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The whelps of lions in the midnight hour.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Twelve feet deformed and foul the fiend dispreads;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Six horrid necks she rears, and six terrific heads;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<hr style="width: 45%;" /><br /> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> When stung with hunger she embroils the flood,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The sea-dog and the dolphin are her food;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> She makes the huge leviathan her prey,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And all the monsters of the wat'ry way;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The swiftest racer of the azure plain<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Here fills her sails and spreads her oars in vain;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Fell Scylla rises, in her fury roars,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> At once six mouths expands, at once six men devours."<a name="Anchor_72_72" id="Anchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 72."> [72] </a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Circe then describes the perils of the whirling waters of +Charybdis as still more dreadful; and, admonishing Ulysses +that once in her power all must perish, she advises him to +choose the lesser of the two evils, and to</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">"shun the horrid gulf, by Scylla fly;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis better six to lose than all to die."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Ulysses continues his voyage; and as his ship enters the +ominous strait,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Struck with despair, with trembling hearts we viewed<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The yawning dungeon, and the tumbling flood;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> When, lo! fierce Scylla stooped to seize her prey,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Stretched her dire jaws, and swept six men away.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Chiefs of renown! loud echoing shrieks arise;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> I turn, and view them quivering in the skies;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> They call, and aid, with outstretched arms, implore,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> In vain they call! those arms are stretched no more.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> As from some rock that overhangs the flood,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The silent fisher casts th' insidious food;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61_b" id="Page_61_b">[Pg 61]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0"> With fraudful care he waits the finny prize,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And sudden lifts it quivering to the skies;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> So the foul monster lifts her prey on high,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> So pant the wretches, struggling in the sky;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> In the wide dungeon she devours her food,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And the flesh trembles while she churns the blood."<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62_b" id="Page_62_b">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_SPOUTING_OF_WHALES" id="THE_SPOUTING_OF_WHALES"></a>THE "SPOUTING" OF WHALES.</h2> + + +<p>One of the sea-fallacies still generally believed, and accepted +as true, is that whales take in water by the mouth, and +eject it from the spiracle, or blow-hole.</p> + +<p>The popular ideas on this subject are still those which +existed hundreds of years ago, and which are expressed by +Oppian in two passages in his 'Halieutics':</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Uncouth the sight when they in dreadful play<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Discharge their nostrils and refund a sea,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"While noisy fin-fish let their fountains fly<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And spout the curling torrent to the sky."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Eminent zoologists and intelligent observers, who have +had full opportunities of obtaining practical knowledge of +the habits of these great marine mammals, have forcibly +combated and repeatedly contradicted this erroneous idea; +but their sensible remarks have been read by few, in comparison +with the numbers of those to whom a wrong impression +has been conveyed by sensational pictures in which +whales are represented <i>with their heads above the surface</i>, +and throwing up from their nostrils columns of water, like +the fountains in Trafalgar Square. One can hardly be +surprised that the old writers on Natural History were unacquainted +with the real composition of the whale's "spout." +Those of them who sought for any original information on +marine zoology, obtained it chiefly from uninstructed and +superstitious fishermen; but they generally contented<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63_b" id="Page_63_b">[Pg 63]</a></span> +themselves with diligent compilation, and thus copied and +transmitted the errors of their predecessors, with the +addition of some slight embellishments of their own. Accordingly, +we find Olaus Magnus<a name="Anchor_73_73" id="Anchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 73."> [73] </a> describing, as follows, +the <i>Physeter</i>, or, as his translator, Streater, calls it, the +<i>Whirlpool</i>. "The <i>Physeter</i> or <i>Pristis</i>," he says, "is a kind +of whale, two hundred cubits long, and is very cruel. For, +to the danger of seamen, he will sometimes raise himself +above the sail-yards, and casts such floods of waters above +his head, which he had sucked in, that with a cloud of them +he will often sink the strongest ships, or expose the mariners +to extreme danger. This beast hath also a large round +mouth, like a lamprey, whereby he sucks in his meat or +water, and by his weight cast upon the fore or hinder deck, +he sinks and drowns a ship."</p> + +<p>Figures 24 and 25 (p. 64) are facsimiles of the illustrations +which accompany the above description. It will be seen +that, in the first, the <i>Physeter</i> is depicted as uprearing a +maned neck and head, like that of a fabled dragon; whilst +in <a href="#fig02_025">Fig. 25</a> it is shown as a whale flinging itself on board a +ship, which is sinking under its ponderous weight. In +both, torrents of water are issuing from its head, and it is +evident that they are merely exaggerated misrepresentations +of the "spouting" of whales.</p> + +<p>Gesner copies many of Olaus Magnus's illustrations, and +improves upon Fig. 25 by putting a numerous crew on +board the ship. The unfortunate sailors are depicted in +every attitude of terror and despair, and seem to be incapacitated +from any attempt to save themselves by the +flood of water which the whale is deliberately pouring upon +them from its blow-holes.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64_b" id="Page_64_b">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_024" id="fig02_024"> +<img src="images/fig02_024.jpg" width="470" height="295" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 24.—THE PHYSETER INUNDATING A SHIP. After Olaus Magnus.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_025" id="fig02_025"> +<img src="images/fig02_025.jpg" width="470" height="295" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 25.—A WHALE POURING WATER INTO A SHIP FROM ITS BLOW-HOLE. +After Olaus Magnus.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 520px;"> +<a name="fig02_026" id="fig02_026"> +<img src="images/fig02_026.jpg" width="520" height="368" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 26—SPERM WHALES SPOUTING.</span> +</div> + +<p>These old pictures appear, no doubt, ridiculous, but they +are, really, very little more absurd and untrue to nature +than many of those which disfigure some otherwise useful +books on Natural History of the present day. I could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65_b" id="Page_65_b">[Pg 65]</a></span> +refer to several, in which whales are represented as spouting +from their blow-holes one or more columns of water, which, +after ascending skyward to a considerable distance, fall +over gracefully as if issuing from the nozzle of an ornamental +fountain. I select one from amongst them (Fig. 26), not with +any disrespect for the artist, author, or publisher of the work<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66_b" id="Page_66_b">[Pg 66]</a></span> +from which it is taken, but because, whilst it shows correctly +the position of the blow-hole of the sperm whale, it also exhibits +exactly that which I wish to confute. The publishers +of the valuable work in which this picture appeared have +generously consented to my reproducing it here.</p> + +<p>When, in describing, in 1877, the White Whale then exhibited +at the Westminster Aquarium, I said that whales +do not spout water out of their blow-holes, and that the +idea that they do so is a popular error, the statement was +so contrary to generally-accepted notions that I was not +surprised by receiving more than one letter on the subject. +One very reasonable suggestion made to me was that, +although the lesser whales, such as the porpoises, which I +had had opportunities of watching in confinement at +Brighton for two years, and the <i>Beluga</i>, which had been +observed for a similar period at the New York Aquarium, +and also at Westminster, did not "spout," the respiratory +apparatus of the larger whales might be so modified as to +permit them to do so. Let us consider the construction of +the breathing apparatus which would have to be thus +modified, as shown in the porpoise.</p> + +<p>In the first place, there is a pair of lungs as perfect as +those of any land mammal, fitted to receive air, and to +bring the hot blood into contact with the air, that it may +absorb the oxygen of the air, and so be purified. But this +air cannot well be breathed through the mouth of an +animal which has to take its food from and in water; so it +has to be inhaled only by the nostrils. If these were +situated as they are in land mammals, near the extremity +of the nose, the porpoise would be obliged to stop when +pursuing its prey, or, escaping from its enemies, to put the +tip of its nose above the surface of the water every time it +required to breathe. A much more convenient arrangement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67_b" id="Page_67_b">[Pg 67]</a></span> +has, therefore, been provided for it, and for almost all +whales, by which that difficulty is removed. Instead of +running along the bones of the nose, the nostrils are placed +on the top of the head, and the windpipe is turned up to +them without having any connection with the palate. The +upper jaw is quite solid. Thus the mouth is solely devoted +to the reception of food, and the animal is enabled to continue +its course when swimming, however rapidly, by rising +obliquely to the surface, and exposing the top of its head +above it. On the blow-hole being opened, the air, from +which the oxygen has been absorbed, is expelled in a +sudden puff, another supply is instantaneously inhaled, and +rushes into the lungs with extreme velocity, and then the +porpoise can either descend into the depths, or remain with +its spiracle exposed to the air, as it may prefer. In this +act of breathing the spiracle is normally brought above the +water, the breath escapes, and the immediate inhalation is +effected almost in silence. But frequently, and in some +whales habitually, the blow-hole is opened just below the +surface, and then the outrush of air causes a splash upwards +of the water overlying it.</p> + +<p>I may here mention that I have frequently seen the +porpoises at the Brighton Aquarium lying asleep at the +surface, with the blow-hole exposed above it, breathing +automatically, and without conscious effort. Aristotle was +acquainted with this habit of the cetacea 2,200 years ago, +for he wrote: "They sleep with the blow-hole, their organ +of respiration, elevated above the water."</p> + +<p>The apparatus for closing the blow-hole, so that not a +drop of water shall enter the windpipe, even under great +pressure, is a beautiful contrivance, complex in its structure, +yet most simple in its working. The external aperture is +covered by a continuation of the skin, locally thickened, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68_b" id="Page_68_b">[Pg 68]</a></span> +connected with a conical stopper, of a texture as tough as +india-rubber, which fits perfectly into a cone or funnel +formed by the extremity of the windpipe, and closes more +and more firmly as the pressure upon it is increased. +Whilst the orifice is thus guarded, the lower end of the +tube is surrounded by a strong compressing muscle, which +clasps also the glottis, and thus the passage from the blow-hole +to the lungs is completely stopped.</p> + +<p>There is nothing in this which indicates the possibility of +the spouting of water from the nostrils; but as assertions +that water had been seen to issue from them were positive +and persistent, anatomists seem to have felt themselves +obliged to try to account for it somehow. Accordingly +the theory was propounded by F. Cuvier that the water +taken into the mouth is reserved in two pouches (one on +each side), until the whale rises to blow, when, the gullet +being closed, it is forced by the action of the tongue and +jaws through the nasal passages, somewhat as a smoker +occasionally expels the smoke of his cigar through his +nostrils. Although these pouches, or sacs analogous to +them, are found at the base of the nostrils of the horse, +tapir, etc.,—animals which do not "spout" from the nostrils +water taken in by the mouth—the explanation was accepted +for a time.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bell held this opinion when the first edition of his +'British Quadrupeds' was published in 1837, but before +the issue of the second edition, in 1874, he had found +reasons for taking a different view of the matter; and, +under the advice of his judicious editors, Mr. Alston, and +Professor Flower (the latter of whom supervised the proofs +of the chapters on the Cetacea) his sanction of the illusion +was withdrawn as follows:—"The results of more recent +and careful observations, amongst which we may notice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69_b" id="Page_69_b">[Pg 69]</a></span> +those of Bennett, Von Baer, Sars and Burmeister, are directly +opposed to the statement that water is thus ejected; and +there can now be no doubt that the appearance which has +given rise to the idea is caused by the moisture with which +the expelled breath is supercharged, which condenses at +once in the cold outer air, and forms a cloud or column of +white vapour. It is possible indeed that if the animal +begins to 'blow' before its head is actually at the surface, +the force of the rushing air may drive up some little spray +along with it, but this is quite different from the notion that +water is really expelled from the nasal passages. We may +add that on the only occasion when we ourselves witnessed +the 'spouting' of a large whale we were much struck with +its resemblance to the column of white spray which is +dashed up by the ricochetting ball fired from one of the +great guns of a man-of-war."</p> + +<p>The simile is admirable, and nothing could better describe +the appearance of a whale's "spout"; but, in the previous +portion of the passage (except with reference to the sperm +whale, the nostrils of which are not on the top of the head), +I think sufficient importance is not conceded to the volume +of water propelled into the air by the outrush of breath +from the submerged blow-hole. I do not know how many +cubic feet of air the lungs of a great whale are capable of +containing, but the quantity is sufficient to force up to a +height of several feet the water above the valve when the +latter is opened, not only in "some little spray," but, for some +distance in a good solid jet—enough, in fact, to give the +appearance of its actually issuing from the blow-hole, and +to account for the erroneous belief of sailors that it does so. +It must be remembered that the escape of air is not by a +prolonged wheeze, but by a sudden blast, and thus when +the spiracle is opened just beneath the surface, an instant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70_b" id="Page_70_b">[Pg 70]</a></span> +before it is uncovered to take in a fresh supply of air, the +water above its orifice is thrown up as by a slight subaqueous +explosion, or as by the momentary opening under +water of the safety-valve of a steam boiler. Some idea of +the force and volume of the blast of air from the lungs of +even the common porpoise may be formed when I mention +that one of the porpoises at the Brighton Aquarium, +happening to open its spiracle just beneath an illuminating +gas jet fixed over its tank, blew out the light.</p> + +<p>In the sperm whale the nostrils are placed near the +extremity of the nose, and therefore this whale has to raise +its snout above the surface when it requires to breathe; +but instead of this being necessary, as in the case of the +porpoise twice or thrice in a minute, the sperm whale only +rises to "blow" at intervals of from an hour to an hour and +twenty minutes. Mr. Beale says<a name="Anchor_74_74" id="Anchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 74."> [74] </a> that in a large bull sperm +whale the time consumed in making one expiration and one +inspiration is ten seconds, during six of which the nostril is +beneath the surface of the water—the expiration occupying +three seconds, and the inspiration one second. At each +breathing time this whale makes from sixty to seventy +expirations, and remains, therefore, at the surface ten or +eleven minutes, and then, raising its tail, it descends +perpendicularly, head first. In different individuals the +time required for performing these several acts varies; but +in each they are minutely regular, and this well-known +regularity is of considerable use to the fishers, for when a +whaler has once noticed the periods of any particular whale +which is not alarmed, he knows to a minute when to expect +it to come to the surface, and how long it will remain there. +The "spout" of the sperm whale differs much from that of +other whales. Unlike, for instance, the straight perpendicular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71_b" id="Page_71_b">[Pg 71]</a></span> +twin jets of the "right whale," the single, forward-slanting +"spout" of the sperm whale presents a thick curled +bush of white mist. Each whale has a different mode and +time of breathing, and the form of the "spout" differs +accordingly.</p> + +<p>It is said that the blowing of the <i>Beluga</i>, or "White +Whale," is not unmusical at sea, and that when it takes +place under water it often makes a peculiar sound which +might be mistaken for the whistling of a bird. Hence is +derived one of the names given to this whale by sailors—the +"Sea-canary." Though I have had opportunities of +attentively watching the breathing and other actions in +captivity of two specimens of this whale I have never been +able to detect the sound alluded to.</p> + +<p>Besides the opinions cited by Mr. Bell concerning whales +spouting water from their blow-holes, we have other +evidence which is most clear and definite, and which ought +to be convincing.</p> + +<p>We will take first that of Mr. Beale, who as surgeon on +board the "Kent" and "Sarah and Elizabeth," South Sea +whalers, passed several seasons amongst sperm whales. +He says:—"I can truly say when I find myself in opposition +to these old and received notions, that out of the +thousands of sperm whales which I have seen during my +wanderings in the South and North Pacific Oceans, I have +never observed one of them to eject a column of water from +the nostril. I have seen them at a distance, and I have +been within a few yards of several hundreds of them, and +I never saw water pass from the spout-hole. But the +column of thick and dense vapour which is certainly +ejected is exceedingly likely to mislead the judgment of +the casual observer in these matters; and this column does +indeed appear very much like a jet of water when seen at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72_b" id="Page_72_b">[Pg 72]</a></span> +the distance of one or two miles on a clear day, because of +the condensation of the vapour which takes place the +moment it escapes from the nostril, and its consequent +opacity, which makes it appear of a white colour, and +which is not observed when the whale is close to the spectator. +It then appears only like a jet of white steam. +The only water in addition is the small quantity that may +be lodged in the external fissure of the spout hole, when +the animal raises it above the surface to breathe, and which +is blown up into the air with the 'spout,' and may probably +assist in condensing the vapour of which it is +formed.... I have been also very close to the <i>Balæna +mysticetus</i> (the Greenland, or Right whale) when it has been +feeding and breathing, and yet I never saw even that +animal differ in the latter respect from the sperm whale in +the nature of the spout.... If the weather is fine and +clear, and there is a gentle breeze at the time, the spout +may be seen from the masthead of a moderate-sized vessel +at the distance of four or five miles."</p> + +<p>Captain Scoresby, who was a veteran and successful +whaler, a good zoologist, and a highly intelligent observer, +says:—"A moist vapour mixed with mucus is discharged +from the nostrils when the animal breathes; but no water +accompanies it unless an expiration of the breath be made +under the surface."</p> + +<p>Dr. Robert Brown, who communicated to the Zoological +Society, in May, 1868, a valuable series of observations on +the mammals of Greenland, made during his voyages to the +Spitzbergen, Iceland, and Jan Mayen Seas, and along the +eastern and western shores of Davis's Strait and Baffin's +Bay to near the mouth of Smith's Sound, remarks, in a +chapter on the Right whale (<i>Balæna mysticetus</i>):—"The +'blowing,' so familiar a feature of the <i>Cetacea</i>, but especially<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73_b" id="Page_73_b">[Pg 73]</a></span> +of the <i>Mysticetus</i> is, quite analogous to the breathing +of the higher mammals, and the blow-holes are the homologues +of the nostrils. It is most erroneously stated that +the whale ejects water from the blow-holes. I have been +many times only a few feet from a whale when 'blowing,' +and, though purposely observing it, could never see that it +ejected from its nostrils anything but the ordinary breath—a +fact which might almost have been deduced from analogy. +In the cold arctic air this breath is generally condensed, and +falls upon those close at hand in the form of a dense spray +which may have led seamen to suppose that this vapour +was originally ejected in the form of water. Occasionally, +when the whale blows just as it is rising out of or sinking in +the sea, a little of the superincumbent water may be forced +upwards by the column of breath. When the whale is +wounded in the lungs, or in any of the blood-vessels immediately +supplying them, blood, as might be expected, is +ejected in the death-throes along with the breath. When +the whaleman sees his prey 'spouting red,' he concludes +that its end is not far distant; it is then mortally wounded."</p> + +<p>Captain F. C. Hall, the commander of the unfortunate +"Polaris" Expedition, thus describes, in his 'Life with the +Esquimaux,' the spout of a whale:—"What this blowing is +like," he says, "may be described by asking if the reader +has ever seen the smoke produced by the firing of an old-fashioned +flint-lock. If so, then he may understand the +'blow' of a whale—a flash in the pan and all is over."</p> + +<p>Captain Scammon, an experienced American whaling +captain, who, like Scoresby, could wield well both harpoon +and pen, in his fine work on 'The Marine Mammals of the +North-Western Coast of America,' writes to the same +effect.</p> + +<p>Mr. Herman Melville, who is not a naturalist, but +has served before the mast in a sperm-whaler and borne<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74_b" id="Page_74_b">[Pg 74]</a></span> +his part in all the hardships and dangers of the chase, +writes, in his remarkable book, 'The Whale':—"As for +this 'whale-spout' you might almost stand in it, and yet be +undecided as to what it is precisely. Nor is it at all prudent +for the hunter to be over curious respecting it. For, even +when coming into slight contact with the outer vapoury +shreds of the jet, which will often happen, your skin will +feverishly smart from the acrimony of the thing so touching +you. And I know one who, coming into still closer +contact with the spout—whether with some scientific +object in view or otherwise I cannot say—the skin peeled +off from his cheek and arm. Wherefore, among whalemen, +the spout is deemed poisonous; they try to evade it. I +have heard it said, and I do not much doubt it, that if the +jet were fairly spouted into your eyes it would blind you."</p> + +<p>The only other eye-witness I will cite is Mr. Bartlett, of +the Zoological Gardens, whose experience and accuracy as +an observer of the habits of animals is unsurpassed. He +spent an autumn holiday in accompanying the late Mr. +Frank Buckland and his colleagues, Messrs. Walpole and +Young, in a tour of inquiry into the condition of the +herring fishery in Scotland. When the commissioners +left Peterhead, he remained there for a few days as the +guest of Captain David Gray, of the steam whaler, +"Eclipse," and as it was reported that large whales had +been seen in the offing, his host invited him to go in search +of them, and pay them a visit in his steam-launch. When +about twelve miles out, they saw the whales, which were +"finners," at a distance of four or five miles. Fourteen +were counted—all large ones—some of which were seventy +feet in length. On approaching them the captain shut off +steam, and the launch was allowed to float in amongst +them. So close were they to the boat that it would not +have been difficult to jump upon the back of one of them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75_b" id="Page_75_b">[Pg 75]</a></span> +had that been desirable. Mr. Bartlett tells me that he was +greatly astonished by the immense force of the sudden outrush +of air from their blow-holes, and the noise by which it +was accompanied. He believes that the blast was strong +enough to blow a man off the spiracle if he were seated on +it. He authorizes me to say that having seen and watched +these whales under such favourable circumstances, he +entirely agrees with all that I have here written concerning +the so-called "spout." The volume of hot, vaporous breath +expelled is enormous, and this is accompanied by no small +quantity of water, forced up by it when the blow-hole is +opened below the surface.</p> + +<p>An effect similar in appearance to the whale's spout is +produced by the breathing of the hippopotamus. When +this great beast opens its nostrils beneath the surface, +water and spray are driven and scattered upward by the +force of the air, but, of course, do not issue from the nasal +passages. I have, also, seen this effect produced, though +in a less degree, by the breathing of sea-lions.</p> + +<p>I repeat, therefore, that not a drop of sea-water enters or +passes out of the blow-hole of a whale. If the spiracle +valve were in a condition to allow it to do so the animal +would soon be drowned. Everyone knows the extreme +irritation and the horrible feeling of suffocation caused to +a human being, whilst eating or drinking, by a crumb or a +little liquid "going the wrong way"—that is, being accidentally +drawn to the air-passages instead of passing to the +œsophagus. If water were to enter the bronchi of a whale +it would instantly produce similar discomfort.</p> + +<p>The neck of a popular error is hard to break; but it is +time that one so palpable as that concerning the "spouting" +of whales should cease to be promulgated and disseminated +by fanciful illustrations of instructive books.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76_b" id="Page_76_b">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_SAILING_OF_THE_NAUTILUS" id="THE_SAILING_OF_THE_NAUTILUS"></a>THE "SAILING" OF THE NAUTILUS.</h2> + + +<p>One of the prettiest fables of the sea is that relating to the +Paper Nautilus, the constructor and inhabitant of the +delicate and beautiful shell which looks as if it were made +of ivory no thicker than a sheet of writing paper.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_027" id="fig02_027"> +<img src="images/fig02_027.jpg" width="470" height="482" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 27.—THE PAPER NAUTILUS (Argonauta argo) SAILING.</span> +</div> + +<p>It is an old belief that in calm weather it rises from the +bottom of the sea, and, elevating its two broadly-expanded +arms, spreads to the gentle air, as a sail, the membrane, +light as a spider's web, by which they are united; and that,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77_b" id="Page_77_b">[Pg 77]</a></span> +seated in its boat-like shell, it thus floats over the smooth +surface of the ocean, steering and paddling with its other +arms. Should storm arise or danger threaten, its masts +and sail are lowered, its oars laid in, and the frail craft, +filling with water, sinks gently beneath the waves.</p> + +<p>When and where this picturesque idea originated I am +unable to discover. It dates far back beyond the range +of history; for Aristotle mentions it, and, unfortunately, +sanctioned it. With the weight of his honoured name in +its favour, this fallacy has maintained its place in popular +belief, even to our own times; for the mantle of the great +father of natural history, who was generally so marvellously +correct, fell on none of his successors; Pliny, and Ælian, +and the tribe of compilers who succeeded them, having been +more concerned to make their histories sensational than to +verify their statements.</p> + +<p>Naturally, the Paper Nautilus has been the subject of many +a poet's verses. Oppian wrote of it in his 'Halieutics':—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Sail-fish in secret, silent deeps reside,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> In shape and nature to the preke<a name="Anchor_75_75" id="Anchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 75."> [75] </a> allied;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Close in their concave shells their bodies wrap,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Avoid the waves and every storm escape.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> But not to mirksome depths alone confined;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> When pleasing calms have stilled the sighing wind,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Curious to know what seas above contain,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> They leave the dark recesses of the main;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Now, wanton, to the changing surface haste,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> View clearer skies, and the pure welkin taste.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> But slow they, cautious, rise, and, prudent, fear<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The upper region of the watery sphere;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Backward they mount, and as the stream o'erflows,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Their convex shells to pressing floods oppose.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Conscious, they know that, should they forward move,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> O'erwhelming waves would sink them from above,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78_b" id="Page_78_b">[Pg 78]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Fill the void space, and with the rushing weight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Force down th' inconstants to their former seat.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> When, first arrived, they feel the stronger blast,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> They lie supine and skim the liquid waste.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The natural barks out-do all human art<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> When skilful floaters play the sailor's part.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Two feet they upward raise, and steady keep;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> These are the masts and rigging of the ship:<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> A membrane stretch'd between supplies the sail,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Bends from the masts, and swells before the gale.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Two other feet hang paddling on each side,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And serve for oars to row and helm to guide.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> 'Tis thus they sail, pleased with the wanton game,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The fish, the sailor, and the ship, the same.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> But when the swimmers dread some dangers near<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The sportive pleasure yields to stronger fear.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> No more they, wanton, drive before the blasts,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> But strike the sails, and bring down all the masts;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The rolling waves their sinking shells o'erflow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And dash them down again to sands below."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Montgomery also thus exquisitely paraphrases the same +idea in his 'Pelican Island':—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Light as a flake of foam upon the wind,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Keel upwards, from the deep emerged a shell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Shaped like the moon ere half her orb is filled.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Fraught with young life, it righted as it rose,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And moved at will along the yielding water.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The native pilot of this little bark<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Put out a tier of oars on either side,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Spread to the wafting breeze a twofold sail,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And mounted up, and glided down, the billows<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> In happy freedom, pleased to feel the air,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And wander in the luxury of light."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Byron mentions the Nautilus in his 'Mutiny of the +Bounty' as follows:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The tender Nautilus, who steers his prow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The sea-born sailor of his shell canoe,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The ocean Mab—the fairy of the sea,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Seems far less fragile, and alas! more free.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79_b" id="Page_79_b">[Pg 79]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0"> He, when the lightning-winged tornadoes sweep<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> The surge, is safe: his port is in the deep;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And triumphs o'er the armadas of mankind<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Which shake the world, yet crumble in the wind."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The very names by which this animal is known to the +science which some persons erroneously think must be so +hard and dry are poetic. In Aristotle's day it was called +the <i>Nautilus</i> or <i>Nauticus</i>, "the mariner," and though two +thousand two hundred years have passed since the great +master wrote, the name still clings to it. As the Pearly +Nautilus, a very different animal, also bears that name, +Gualtieri perceived the necessity of distinguishing the Paper +Nautilus from it, and was followed by Linnæus, who therefore +entitled the genus to which the latter belongs, +<i>Argonauta</i>, after the ship <i>Argo</i>, in which Jason and his +companions sailed to Colchis to carry off the "Golden +Fleece" suspended there in the temple of Mars, and +guarded by brazen-hoofed bulls, whose nostrils breathed +out fire and death, and by a watchful dragon that never +slept. According to the Greek legend, the <i>Argo</i> was +named after its builder Argus, the son of Danaus, and was +the first ship that ever was built. Oppian ('Halieutics,' +book I.) expresses his opinion that the Nautilus served as +a model for the man who first conceived the idea of constructing +a ship, and embarking on the waters:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ye Powers! when man first felled the stately trees,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And passed to distant shores on wafting seas,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Whether some god inspired the wondrous thought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Or chance found out, or careful study sought;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> If humble guess may probably divine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And trace th' improvement to the first design,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Some wight of prying search, who wond'ring stood<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> When softer gales had smoothed the dimpled flood,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Observed these careless swimmers floating move,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And how each blast the easy sailor drove;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80_b" id="Page_80_b">[Pg 80]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Hence took the hint, hence formed th' imperfect draught,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> And ship-like fish the future seaman taught.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Then mortals tried the shelving hull to slope,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> To raise the mast, and twist the stronger rope,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> To fix the yards, let fly the crowded sails,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Sweep through the curling waves, and court auspicious gales."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Pope, too, in his 'Essay on Man' (Ep. 3), adopted the +idea in his exhortation—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Learn of the little Nautilus to sail,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Poetry, like the wizard's spell, can make</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"A nutshell seem a gilded barge,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> A sheeling seem a palace large,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>but the equally enchanting wand of science is able by a +touch to dispel the illusion, and cause the object to appear +in its true proportions. So with the fiction of the "Paper +Sailor."</p> + +<p>I have elsewhere described the affinities of the Nautili +and their place in nature, therefore it will only be necessary +for me here to allude to these very briefly, to explain the +great and essential difference that exists between the two +kinds of Nautilus which are popularly regarded as being +one and the same animal.</p> + +<p>The <i>Pearly</i> Nautilus (<i>Nautilus pompilius</i>) and the +Argonaut, which from having a fragile shell of somewhat +similar external form is called the <i>Paper</i> Nautilus, both +belong to that great primary group of animals known as +the <i>Mollusca</i>, and to the class of it called the <i>Cephalopoda</i>, +from their having their head in the middle of that which is +the foot in other mollusks. In the Cephalopoda the foot is +split or divided into eight segments in some families, and +in others into ten segments, which radiate from the central +head, like so many rays. These rays are not only used as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81_b" id="Page_81_b">[Pg 81]</a></span> +feet, but, being highly flexible, are adapted for employment +also as prehensile arms, with which their owner captures +its prey, and they are rendered more perfect for this purpose +by being furnished with suckers which hold firmly to any +surface to which they are applied. The Cephalopods +which have the foot divided into ten of these segments or +arms are called the <i>Decapoda</i>, those which have only eight +of them are called the <i>Octopoda</i>. All of these have <i>two</i> +plume-like gills—one on each side—and so are called +<i>Dibranchiata</i>; and in the eight-armed section of these is the +argonaut or Paper Nautilus. Of the Pearly Nautilus and +the four-gilled order I shall have more to say by-and-by: +at present we will follow the history of the argonaut.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 220px;"> +<a name="fig02_028" id="fig02_028"> +<img src="images/fig02_028.jpg" width="220" height="162" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 28—THE PAPER NAUTILUS +(Argonauta argo) RETRACTED +WITHIN ITS SHELL.</span> +</div> + +<p>Notwithstanding all that has +been written of it, it is only +within the last fifty years +that this has been correctly +understood. An eight-armed +cuttle was recognised and named +<i>Ocythoe</i>, which, instead of having, +like the common octopus, +all of its eight arms thong-like +and tapering to a point, had +the two dorsal limbs flattened into a broad thin membrane. +Although this animal was sometimes seen dead +without any covering, it was generally found contained in +a thin and slightly elastic univalve shell of graceful form, +and bearing some resemblance to an elegantly shaped boat. +It did not penetrate to the bottom of this shell; it was not +attached to it by any muscular ligament, nor was the shell +moulded on its body, nor apparently made to fit it. Hence +it was long regarded as doubtful, and even by naturalists so +recent and eminent as Dumeril and De Blainville, whether<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82_b" id="Page_82_b">[Pg 82]</a></span> +the octopod really secreted the shell, or whether, like the +hermit-crab, it borrowed for its protection the shell of some +other mollusk. Aristotle left the subject with the faithful +acknowledgment: "As to the origin and growth of this +shell nothing is yet exactly determined. It appears to be +produced like other shells; but even this is not evident, +any more than it is whether the animal can live without it." +Pliny, as usual, instead of throwing light on the matter, +obscured it. He regarded the shell as the property of a +gasteropod like the snail, and the octopod as an amateur +yachtsman who occasionally went on board and took a trip +in the frail craft, and assisted its owner to navigate it for the +fun of the thing. This is what he says about it<a name="Anchor_76_76" id="Anchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 76."> [76] </a>: +"Mutianus reports that he saw in the Propontis a shell +formed like a little ship, having the poop turned up and +the prow pointed. An animal called the <i>Nauplius</i>, resembling +an octopus, was enclosed in the shell with its +owner, for its amusement in the following manner. When +the sea is calm the guest lowers his arms, and uses them as +oars and a helm, whilst the owner of the shell expands +himself to catch the wind; so that one has the pleasure of +carrying and sailing, and the other of steering. Thus, these +two otherwise senseless animals take their pleasure together; +but the meeting them sailing in their shell is a bad omen +for mariners, and foretells some great calamity."</p> + +<p>Although the animal was never found in any other shell, and +the shell was never known to contain any other animal, and +though, when the shell and the animal were found together +they were always of proportionate size, this octopod, as I have +said, was looked upon by some conchologists as a pirate who +had taken possession of a ship which did not belong to him, +until Madame Jeannette Power, a French lady then +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83_b" id="Page_83_b">[Pg 83]</a></span>residing in Messina, having succeeded in keeping alive for a +time an argonaut the shell of which had been broken in its +capture, discovered that the animal quickly repaired the +fracture, and reproduced the portions that had been broken +off. Induced by this to make further experiments, she +kept a number of living argonauts in cages sunk in the +sea near the citadel of Messina, and in 1836 laid before +the "Academy" at Catania the following results of her +observations of them:—</p> + +<p>1st. That the argonaut constructs the shell which it +inhabits.</p> + +<p>2nd. That it quits the egg entirely naked, and forms the +shell after its birth.</p> + +<p>3rd. That it can repair its shell, if necessary, by a fresh +deposit of material having the same chemical composition +as its original shell.</p> + +<p>4th. That this material is secreted by the palmate, or +sail, arms, and is laid on the outside of the shell, to the +exterior of which these membranous arms are closely +applied.</p> + +<p>Madame Power was mistaken on two points. Firstly, +the construction of the shell does not commence after the +birth of the animal, but, as has been shown by M. +Duvernoy, its rudimentary form is distinctly visible by the +aid of the microscope in the embryo, whilst still in the +egg; and secondly, she continued to believe in the use of +the membranous arms as sails, and of the others as oars. +This fallacy was exploded by Captain Sander Rang, an +officer of the French navy, and "port-captain" at Algiers, +who carefully followed up Madame Power's experiments, +and confirmed the more important of them. Thus were +set at rest questions which for centuries had divided the +opinions of zoologists.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84_b" id="Page_84_b">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + +<p>The "Paper Nautilus" is, in fact, a female octopod +provided with a portable nest, in which to carry about and +protect her eggs, instead of brooding over them in some +cranny of a rock, or within the recesses of a pile of shells, +as does her cousin the octopus. From the membranes of +the two flattened and expanded arms she secretes and, if +necessary, repairs her shell, and by applying them closely +to its outer surface on each side, holds herself within it, for +it is not fastened to her body by any attaching muscles. +When disturbed or in danger she can loosen her hold, and, +leaving her cradle, swim away independently of it. It +has been said that, having once left it, she has not the +ability nor perhaps the sagacity to re-enter her nest, and +resume the guardianship of her eggs.<a name="Anchor_77_77" id="Anchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 77."> [77] </a> From my own +observations of the breeding habits of other octopods I +think this most improbable. The use and purpose of the +shell of the argonaut will be better understood if I briefly +describe what I have witnessed of the treatment of its eggs +by its near relative, the octopus.</p> + +<p>"The eggs of the octopus," as I have elsewhere said, "when +first laid, are small, oval, translucent granules, resembling +little grains of rice, not quite an eighth of an inch long. +They grow along and around a common stalk, to which +every egg is separately attached, as grapes form part of a +bunch. Each of the elongated bunches is affixed by a +glutinous secretion to the surface of a rock or stone (never +to seaweed, as has been erroneously stated), and hangs +pendent by its stalk in a long white cluster, like a magnified +catkin of the filbert, or, to use Aristotle's simile, like +the fruit of the white alder. The length and number of +these bunches varies according to the size and condition of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85_b" id="Page_85_b">[Pg 85]</a></span>the parent. Those produced by a small octopus are +seldom more than about three inches long, and from +twelve to twenty in number; but a full-grown female will +deposit from forty to fifty of such clusters, each about five +inches in length. I have counted the eggs of which these +clusters are composed, and find that there are about a +thousand in each: so that a large octopus produces in one +laying, usually extended over three days, a progeny of from +40,000 to 50,000. I have seen an octopus, when undisturbed, +pass one of her arms beneath the hanging bunches of her +eggs, and, dilating the membrane on each side of it into a +boat-shaped hollow, gather and receive them in it as in a +trough or cradle which exhibited in its general shape and +outline a remarkable similarity to the shell of the argonaut, +with the eggs of which octopod its own are almost identical +in form and appearance. Then she would caress and +gently rub them, occasionally turning towards them the +mouth of her flexible exhalent and locomotor tube, like +the nozzle of a fireman's hose-pipe, so as to direct upon +them a jet of the excurrent water. I believe that the +object of this syringing process is to free the eggs from +parasitic animalcules, and possibly to prevent the growth +of conferva, which, I have found, rapidly overspreads those +removed from her attention."<a name="Anchor_78_78" id="Anchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 78."> [78] </a></p> + +<p>It has been suggested that the syringing may be for the +purpose of keeping the water surrounding the eggs well +aerated; but this is evidently erroneous, for the water +ejected from the tube has been previously deprived of its +oxygen, and consequently of its health-giving properties, +whilst passing over the gills of the parent. Week after +week, for fifty days, a brooding octopus will continue to +attend to her eggs with the most watchful and assiduous +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86_b" id="Page_86_b">[Pg 86]</a></span>care, seldom leaving them for an instant except to take +food, which, without a brief abandonment of her position, +would be beyond her reach. Aristotle asserted that while +the female is incubating she takes no food. This is +incorrect; but in every case of the kind that has come +under my observation the mother octopod, whenever she +has been obliged to leave her nest, has returned to it as +quickly as possible; and so I believe can, and does, the +female argonaut to her shell, and that, too, without any +difficulty. In her case the numerous clusters of eggs are all +united at their origin to one slender and tapering stalk +which is fixed by a spot of glutinous matter to the body-whorl +of the spiral shell.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_029" id="fig02_029"> +<img src="images/fig02_029.jpg" width="470" height="197" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 29.—THE PAPER NAUTILUS (Argonauta argo) CRAWLING.</span> +</div> + +<p>This "paper-sailor," then, whom the poets have regarded +as endowed with so much grace and beauty, and living +in luxurious ease, is but a fine lady octopus after all. +Turn her out of her handsome residence, and, instead +of the fairy skimmer of the seas, you have before you an +object apparently as free from loveliness and romance as +her sprawling, uncanny-looking, relative. Instead of floating +in her pleasure boat over the surface of the sea, the +argonaut ordinarily crawls along the bottom, carrying her +shell above her, keel uppermost; and the broad extremities +of the two arms are not hoisted as sails, nor allowed when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87_b" id="Page_87_b">[Pg 87]</a></span> +at rest to dangle over the side of the "boat;" but are used +as a kind of hood by which the animal retains the shell in +its proper position, as a man bearing a load on his shoulders +holds it with his hands. When she comes to the surface, +or progresses by swimming instead of walking, she does so +in the same manner as the octopus: namely, by the forcible +expulsion of water from her funnel-like tube.</p> + +<p>But if truth compels us to deprive her of the counterfeit +halo conferred on her by poets, we can award her, on behalf +of science, a far nobler crown; namely, that of the Queen +of the whole great Invertebrate Animal Kingdom. For, +the <i>Cephalopoda</i>, of which the argonaut is a highly +organised member, are not only the highest in their own +division, the <i>Mollusca</i>, but they are as far superior to all +other animals which have no backbones, as man stands +lord and king over all created beings that possess them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_030" id="fig02_030"> +<img src="images/fig02_030.jpg" width="470" height="155" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 30.—THE PAPER NAUTILUS (Argonauta argo) SWIMMING.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_031" id="fig02_031"> +<img src="images/fig02_031.jpg" width="470" height="312" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 31.—SHELL OF THE PAPER NAUTILUS (Argonauta argo).</span> +</div> + +<p>Although in outward shape the spiral shell of the Pearly +Nautilus (<i>Nautilus pompilius</i>) somewhat resembles that of +the argonaut, its internal structure is very different. A +section of it shows that it is divided into several chambers, +each of which is partitioned off from the adjoining ones, the +last formed or external one, in which the animal lives, being +much larger than the rest. The object and mode of +construction of these chambers is as follows. As the +animal grows, a constant secretion of new material takes +place on the edge of the shell. By this unceasing process<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88_b" id="Page_88_b">[Pg 88]</a></span> +of the addition of new shell in the form of a circular curve +or coil around the older portion, the whole rapidly increases +in size, both in diameter, and in the length of the chamber. +The Nautilus, requiring to keep the secreting portion of its +mantle applied to the lip of the shell, finds the chamber in +which it dwells gradually becoming inconveniently long for +it, and therefore builds up a wall behind itself, and continues +its work of enlarging its premises in front. Each of these +walls, concave in front, towards the mouth of the shell, and +concave behind, acts as a strong girder and support of the +arch of the shell against the inward pressure of deep water: +and it was formerly supposed that each successive chamber +so constructed and vacated remained filled with air, and +<i>thus</i> became an additional float by which the constantly +increasing weight of the growing shell was counter-balanced. +By this beautiful adjustment of augmented floating power to +increased weight, the buoyancy of the shell would be secured +and its specific gravity maintained as nearly as possible equal +to that of the surrounding water. This adjustment does<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89_b" id="Page_89_b">[Pg 89]</a></span> +probably take place, but in a somewhat different manner. +As the Nautilus inhabits a depth of from twenty to forty +fathoms, it is evident that the air within its shell would +be displaced by the pressure of such a column of water.<a name="Anchor_79_79" id="Anchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 79."> [79] </a> +Accordingly, in every instance of the capture of a Nautilus +the chambers of its shell have been found filled with water. +It is not improbable that the fluid they contain may be less +compressed, and exert less pressure from within outwards +than that of the external superincumbent column of water, +and that by this unbalanced pressure—under the same +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90_b" id="Page_90_b">[Pg 90]</a></span>hydro-dynamic law which governs its mode of self-propulsion +when swimming, and possibly in some degree within the +control of the animal—the latter is relieved of much of the +weight of its shell. When the Nautilus is at the bottom of +the sea its movement is like that of a snail crawling along +upon the ground with its shell above it. The shell, in +proportion to the size of the animal that inhabits it, is a +heavy one, and unless it were rendered semi-buoyant, its +owner's strength would be severely taxed by the effort to +drag it along. By the means indicated this portable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91_b" id="Page_91_b">[Pg 91]</a></span> +domicile is borne lightly above the body of the Nautilus, +without in any way impeding its progress.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_032" id="fig02_032"> +<img src="images/fig02_032.jpg" width="470" height="419" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 32.—SHELL OF THE PEARLY NAUTILUS (Nautilus pompilius).</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_033" id="fig02_033"> +<img src="images/fig02_033.jpg" width="470" height="439" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 33.—THE PEARLY NAUTILUS (Nautilus pompilius), AND SECTION OF +ITS SHELL. After Professor Owen. + +a a, Partitions; b b, chambers; b', the last-formed chamber, in which the +animal lives; c c, the siphuncle; d, attaching muscle; e e, the hollow +arms; f f, retractile tentacles; g, muscular disk, or foot; h, the eye; i, +position of funnel.</span> +</div> + +<p>The chambers are all connected by a membranous tube +slightly coated with nacre, which is connected with a large +sac in the body of the animal, near the heart, and passes +through a circular orifice and a short projecting tube in the +centre of each partition wall, till it ends in the smallest +chamber at the inner extremity of the shell. Dean +Buckland believed this "syphon" to be an hydraulic apparatus +acting as a "fine adjustment" of the specific gravity +of the shell, by admitting water within it when expanded, +and excluding it when contracted. As it contains an +artery and vein near its origin at the mantle, Professor +Owen has regarded it as subservient to the maintenance of +a low vitality in the vacated portion of the shell. Dr. +Henry Woodward is of the opinion that, whilst in the +early life of the Nautilus this siphuncle forms the main +point of attachment between the animal and its shell, it +is in the adult "simply an aborted embryonal organ whose +function is now filled by the shell-muscles, but which in the +more ancient and straight-shelled representatives of the +group (the Orthoceratites) was not merely an embryonal +but an important organ in the adult."</p> + +<p>Every one knows the shell of the Pearly Nautilus. It +may be purchased at any shell-shop in a seaside watering-place, +and is imported by hundreds every year from +Singapore.<a name="Anchor_80_80" id="Anchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 80."> [80] </a> It is abundant in the waters of the Indian +Archipelago, especially about the Molucca and Philippine +Islands, and on the shores of New Caledonia and the Fiji +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92_b" id="Page_92_b">[Pg 92]</a></span>and Solomon Islands. It has also been found alive on +Pemba Island, near Zanzibar. It seems strange, therefore, +that until about half a century ago hardly anything was +known of the animal that secretes and inhabits it. Rumphius, +a Dutch naturalist, in his 'Rarities of Amboyna,' +published, in 1705, a description of one with an engraving, +incorrect in drawing, and deficient in detail; and until 1832 +this was the only information which existed concerning it. +The great Cuvier never saw one, and being acquainted only +with the two-gilled cephalopods, he regarded the head-footed +mollusks as absolutely isolated from all other +animals in the kingdom of nature, even from the other +classes of the mollusca. It seemed, however, to Professor +Owen, then only nineteen years of age, that in the only +living representative of the four-gilled order, <i>Nautilus +pompilius</i>, might be found the "missing link." When, +therefore, in the year 1824, his fellow-student, Mr. George +Bennett, was about to sail from England to the Polynesian +Islands, young Richard Owen earnestly charged his friend +to do his utmost to obtain, and bring home in alcohol, a +specimen of the much-coveted Pearly Nautilus. The +opportunity did not occur till one warm and calm Monday +evening, the 24th of August, 1829, when a living Nautilus +was seen at the surface of the water not far distant from +the ship, in Marekini Bay, on the south-west coast of the +Island of Erromango, New Hebrides, in the South Pacific +Ocean. It looked like a dead tortoise-shell cat, as the +sailors said. As it began to sink as soon as it was +observed, it was struck at with a boat-hook, and was thus +so much injured that it died shortly after being taken on +board the ship. The shell was destroyed, but the soft +body of the animal was preserved in spirits, and great was +the joy of Mr. Owen when, in July, 1831, Mr. Bennett<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93_b" id="Page_93_b">[Pg 93]</a></span> +arrived with it in England, and presented it to the Royal +College of Surgeons. Mr. Owen was then Assistant-Conservator +of the Museum of the College under Mr. Clift, +who was afterwards his father-in-law. He immediately +commenced to anatomise, describe, and figure his rare +acquisition, and in the early part of 1832 published the +result of his work in the form of a masterly treatise, which +proved to be the foundation of his future fame.<a name="Anchor_81_81" id="Anchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 81."> [81] </a></p> + +<p>Mr. Owen's investigations confirmed his previous supposition +that the Pearly Nautilus is inferior in its organisation +to octopus, sepia, or any other known cephalopod; +that it is not isolated, but that it recedes towards the +gasteropods, to which belong the snail, the periwinkle, &c., +and that in some of its characters its structure is analogously +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94_b" id="Page_94_b">[Pg 94]</a></span>related to the still lower <i>annulosa</i>, or worms. Mr. +Owen was just about to start for Paris with the intention +of presenting a copy of his book to his celebrated contemporary +and friend, and of showing him his dissections of the +Nautilus which had been the subject of his research, when +he heard of Baron Cuvier's death. It must have been to +him a great sorrow and a grievous disappointment.</p> + +<p>The Pearly Nautilus, then, is a true cephalopod, in +that it has its foot divided and arranged in segments around +its head, but the form and number of these segments are +very different from those of any other of its class. Instead of +there being eight, as in the argonaut and octopus, or ten, as in +sepia and the calamaries, the Nautilus has about ninety +projecting in every direction from around the mouth. They +are short, round, and tapering, of about the length and thickness +of the fingers of a child. Some of them are retractile +into sheaths, and they are attached to fleshy processes +(which might represent the child's hand), overlying each other, +and covering the mouth on each side. They have none +of the suckers with which the arms and tentacles of all the +other cuttles are furnished, but their annulose structure, +like the rings of an earthworm's body, gives them some +little prehensile power. None of these numerous finger-like +segments of the foot are flattened out like the broad +membranous expansions of the argonaut, and, in fact, the +Nautilus is without any members which can possibly be +regarded as sails to hoist, or as oars with which to row. +It has a strong beak, like the rest of the cuttles; but it has +no ink-sac, for its shell is strong enough to afford it the +protection which its two-gilled relatives have to seek in +concealment.</p> + +<p>The Pearly Nautilus usually creeps, like a snail, along +the bed of the sea. It lives at the bottom, and feeds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95_b" id="Page_95_b">[Pg 95]</a></span> +at the bottom, principally on crabs; and, as Dr. S. P. +Woodward says, in his 'Manual of the Mollusca,' "perhaps +often lies in wait for them, like some gigantic sea-anemone, +with outspread tentacles." The shape of its shell is not +well adapted for swimming, but it can ascend to the surface, +if it so please, in the same manner as can all the cuttles—namely, +by the outflow of water from its locomotor tube. +The statement that it visits the surface of the sea of its own +accord is at present, however, unconfirmed by observation.</p> + +<p>But, if the Pearly Nautilus is the inferior and poor relation +of the argonaut, it lives in a handsome house, and +comes of an ancient lineage. The Ammonites, whose +beautiful whorled and chambered shells, and the casts of +them, are so abundant in every stratum, especially in the +lias, the chalk, and the oolite, had four gills also. These +Ammonites and the Nautili were amongst the earliest +occupants of the ancient deep; and, with the Hamites, +Turrilites, and others, lived upon our earth during a great +portion of the incalculable period which has elapsed since +it became fitted for animal existence, and in their time +witnessed the rise and fall of many an animal dynasty. +But they are gone now; and only the fossil relics of more +than two thousand species (of which 188 were Nautili) +remain to tell how important a race they were amongst the +inhabitants of the old world seas. They and their congeners +of the chambered shells, however, left one representative +which has lived on through all the changes that have +taken place on the surface of this globe since they became +extinct—namely, <i>Nautilus pompilius</i>, the Nautilus of the +pearly shell—the last of the Tetrabranchs.</p> + +<p>I need offer no apology for endeavouring to explain the +difference between the Nautilus of the chambered shell and +the argonaut with the membranous arms which it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96_b" id="Page_96_b">[Pg 96]</a></span> +supposed to use as sails, when Webster, in his great standard +dictionary, describes the one and figures the other as +one and the same animal; and when a writer of the celebrity +of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes also blends the two in +the following poem, containing a sentiment as exquisite as +its science is erroneous. I hope the latter distinguished +and accomplished author, whose delightful writings I enjoy +and highly appreciate, will pardon my criticism. I admit +that the beauty of the thought might well atone for its inaccuracy, +(of which the author is conscious,) were it not that +the latter is made so attractive that truth appears harsh +in disturbing it.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"This is the ship of pearl, which poets feign<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Sails the unshadowed main,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">The venturous bark that flings<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> In gulfs enchanted, where the siren sings,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">And coral reefs lie bare,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Wrecked is the ship of pearl!<br /></span> +<span class="i6">And every chambered cell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Where its dim, dreaming life was wont to dwell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Before thee lies revealed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> Year after year beheld the silent toil<br /></span> +<span class="i6">That spread his lustrous coil;<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Still, as the spiral grew,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> He left the past year's dwelling for the new,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Stole with soft step its shining archway through,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Built up its idle door,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97_b" id="Page_97_b">[Pg 97]</a></span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Child of the wandering sea,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Cast from her lap forlorn!<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> From the dead lips a clearer note is born<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Than ever Triton blew from wreathèd horn!<br /></span> +<span class="i6">While on mine ear it rings,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:—<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> 'Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">As the swift seasons roll!<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Leave thy low vaulted past;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Let each new temple, nobler than the last,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Till thou at length art free,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"> Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea.'"<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98_b" id="Page_98_b">[Pg 98]</a></span></div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="BARNACLE_GEESE_GOOSE_BARNACLES" id="BARNACLE_GEESE_GOOSE_BARNACLES"></a>BARNACLE GEESE—GOOSE BARNACLES.</h2> + + +<p>The belief that some wild geese, instead of being hatched +from eggs, like other birds, grew on trees and rotten +wood has never been surpassed as a specimen of ignorant +credulity and persistent error.</p> + +<p>There are two principal versions of this absurd notion. +One is that certain trees, resembling willows, and growing +always close to the sea, produced at the ends of their +branches fruit in form like apples, and each containing +the embryo of a goose, which, when the fruit was ripe, fell +into the water and flew away. The other is that the geese +were bred from a fungus growing on rotten timber floating +at sea, and were first developed in the form of worms in +the substance of the wood.</p> + +<p>When and whence this improbable theory had its origin +is uncertain. Aristotle does not mention it, and consequently +Pliny and Ælian were deprived of the pleasure +they would have felt in handing down to posterity, without +investigation or correction, a statement so surprising. It is, +comparatively, a modern myth; although we find that +it was firmly established in the middle of the twelfth +century, for Gerald de Barri, known in literature as +Giraldus Cambrensis, mentions it in his 'Topographia +Hiberniæ,' published in 1187. Giraldus, who was Archdeacon +of Brecknock in the reign of Henry II., and tried hard, more +than once, for the bishopric of St. David's, the functions of +which he had temporarily administered without obtaining<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99_b" id="Page_99_b">[Pg 99]</a></span> +the title, was a vigorous and zealous reformer of Church +abuses. Amongst the laxities of discipline against which +he found it necessary to protest was the custom then +prevailing of eating these Barnacle geese during Lent, +under the plea that their flesh was not that of birds, but of +fishes. He writes:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"There are here many birds which are called Bernacæ, which +nature produces in a manner contrary to nature, and very wonderful. +They are like marsh-geese but smaller. They are produced from fir-timber +tossed about at sea, and are at first like geese upon it. Afterwards +they hang down by their beaks, as if from a sea-weed attached +to the wood, and are enclosed in shells that they may grow the more +freely. Having thus, in course of time, been clothed with a strong +covering of feathers, they either fall into the water, or seek their liberty +in the air by flight. The embryo geese derive their growth and nutriment +from the moisture of the wood or of the sea, in a secret and most +marvellous manner. I have seen with my own eyes more than a +thousand minute bodies of these birds hanging from one piece of +timber on the shore, enclosed in shells and already formed. Their +eggs are not impregnated <i>in coitu</i>, like those of other birds, nor does +the bird sit upon its eggs to hatch them, and in no corner of the world +have they been known to build a nest. Hence the bishops and clergy +in some parts of Ireland are in the habit of partaking of these birds on +fast days, without scruple. But in doing so they are led into sin. +For, if any one were to eat of the leg of our first parent, although he +(Adam) was not born of flesh, that person could not be adjudged +innocent of eating flesh."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This fable of the geese appears, however, to have been +current at least a hundred years before Giraldus wrote, for +Professor Max Müller, who treats of it in one of his +"Lectures on the Science of Language," amongst many +interesting references there given, quotes a Cardinal of the +eleventh century, Petrus Damianus, who clearly describes, +that version of it which represents the birds as bursting, +when fully fledged, from fruit resembling apples.</p> + +<p>It is a curious fact that these Barnacle geese have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100_b" id="Page_100_b">[Pg 100]</a></span> +troubled the priesthood of more than one creed as to the +instructions they should give to the laity concerning the use +of them as food. The Jews—all those, at least, who +maintain a strict observance of the Hebrew Law—eat no +meat but that of animals which have been slaughtered in a +certain prescribed manner; and a doubt arose amongst +them at the period we refer to, whether these geese should +be killed as flesh or as fish. Professor Max Müller cites +Mordechai,<a name="Anchor_82_82" id="Anchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 82."> [82] </a> as asking whether these birds are fruits, fish, +or flesh; that is, whether they must be killed in the Jewish +way, as if they were flesh. Mordechai describes them as +birds which grow on trees, and says, "the Rabbi Jehuda, of +Worms (who died 1216) used to say that he had heard from +his father, Rabbi Samuel, of Speyer (about 1150), that +Rabbi Jacob Tham, of Ramerü (who died 1171), the grandson +of the great Rabbi Rashi (about 1140), had decided that +they must be killed as flesh."</p> + +<p>Pope Innocent III. took the same view; for at the +Lateran Council, in 1215, he prohibited the eating of +Barnacle geese during Lent. In 1277, Rabbi Izaak, of +Corbeil, determined to be on the safe side, forbade altogether +the eating of these birds by the Jews, "because they were +neither flesh nor fish."</p> + +<p>Michael Bernhard Valentine,<a name="Anchor_83_83" id="Anchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 83."> [83] </a> quoting Wormius, says +that this question caused much perplexity and disputation +amongst the doctors of the Sorbonne; but that they passed +an ordinance that these geese should be classed as fishes, +and not as birds; and he adds, that in consequence of this +decision large numbers of these birds were annually sent to +Paris from England and Scotland, for consumption in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101_b" id="Page_101_b">[Pg 101]</a></span>Lent. Sir Robert Sibbald<a name="Anchor_84_84" id="Anchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 84."> [84] </a> refers to this, and says that +Normandy was the locality from which the French capital +was reported to be principally supplied; but that in fact +the greater number of these geese came from Holland. +The date of this edict is not given.</p> + +<p>Professor Max Müller says that in Brittany, Barnacle +geese are still allowed to be eaten on Fridays, and that the +Roman Catholic Bishop of Ferns may give permission to +people out of his diocese to eat these birds at his table.</p> + +<p>In Bombay, also, where fish is prohibited as food to some +classes of the population, the priests call this goose a "sea-vegetable," +under which name it is allowed to be eaten.</p> + +<p>Various localities were mentioned as the breeding-places of +these arboreal geese. Gervasius of Tilbury,<a name="Anchor_85_85" id="Anchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 85."> [85] </a> writing about +1211, describes the process of their generation in full detail, +and says that great numbers of them grew in his time +upon the young willow trees which abounded in the +neighbourhood of the Abbey of Faversham, in the county +of Kent, and within the Archiepiscopate of Canterbury. +The bird was there commonly called the <i>Barneta</i>.</p> + +<p>Hector Boethius, or Boece, the old Scottish historian, +combats this version of the story. His work, written in +Latin, in 1527, was translated into quaint Scottish in 1540, +by John Bellenden, Archdeacon of Murray. In his fourteenth +chapter, "Of the nature of claik geis, and of the +syndry maner of thair procreatioun, and of the ile of +Thule," he says:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Restis now to speik of the geis generit of the see namit clakis. +Sum men belevis that thir clakis growis on treis be the nebbis. Bot +thair opinioun is vane. And becaus the nature and procreatioun of +thir clakis is strange we have maid na lytyll laubore and deligence to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102_b" id="Page_102_b">[Pg 102]</a></span> +serche ye treuth and verite yairof, we have salit throw ye seis quhare +thir clakis ar bred, and I fynd be gret experience, that the nature of +the seis is mair relevant caus of thir procreatioun than ony uther +thyng."</p></blockquote> + +<p>From the circumstances attending the finding of "ane +gret tree that was brocht be alluvion and flux of the see to +land, in secht of money pepyll besyde the castell of Petslego, +in the yeir of God ane thousand iiii. hundred lxxxx, and of +a see tangle hyngand full of mussill schellis," brought to +him by "Maister Alexander Galloway, person of Kynkell," +who knowing him to be "richt desirus of sic uncouth +thingis came haistely with the said tangle," he arrives at +the conclusion, by a process of reasoning highly satisfactory +and convincing to himself, that,</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Be thir and mony othir resorcis and examplis we can not beleif +that thir clakis ar producit be ony nature of treis or rutis thairof, but +allanerly be the nature of the Oceane see, quhilk is the caus and production +of mony wonderful thingis. And becaus the rude and ignorant +pepyl saw oftymes the fruitis that fel of the treis (quhilkis stude neir +the see) convertit within schort tyme in geis, thai belevit that thir geis +grew apon the treis hingand be thair nebbis sic lik as appillis and +uthir frutis hingis be thair stalkis, bot thair opinioun is nocht to be +sustenit. For als sone as thir appillis or frutis fallis of the tre in the +see flude thay grow first wormeetin. And be schort process of tyme +are alterat in geis."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In describing the bird thus produced, Boethius declares +that the male has a sharp, pointed beak, like the gallinaceous +birds, but that in the female the beak is obtuse as +in other geese and ducks.</p> + +<p>According to other authors, this wonderful production of +birds from living or dead timber was not confined to +England and Scotland. Vincentius Bellovacensis<a name="Anchor_86_86" id="Anchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 86."> [86] </a> (1190-1264) +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103_b" id="Page_103_b">[Pg 103]</a></span>in his 'Speculum Naturæ,' xvii. 40, states that it +took place in Germany, and Jacob de Vitriaco (who +died 1244) mentions its occurrence in certain parts of +Flanders.</p> + +<p>Jonas Ramus gives a somewhat different version of the +process as it occurs in Norway. He writes:<a name="Anchor_87_87" id="Anchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 87."> [87] </a> "It is said +that a particular sort of geese is found in Nordland, which +leave their seed on old trees, and stumps and blocks lying +in the sea; and that from that seed there grows a shell fast +to the trees, from which shell, as from an egg, by the heat +of the sun, young geese are hatched, and afterwards grow +up; which gave rise to the fable that geese grow upon +trees."</p> + +<p>But, strange to say, if any painstaking enquirer, wishing +to investigate the matter for himself, went to a locality +where it was said the phenomenon regularly occurred, he +was sure to find that he had literally, "started on a wild-goose +chase," and had come to the wrong place. This was +the experience of Æneas Sylvius Piccolomini, afterwards +Pope Pius II., who complained that miracles will always +flee farther and farther away; for when he was on a visit +(about 1430) to King James I., of Scotland,<a name="Anchor_88_88" id="Anchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 88."> [88] </a> and enquired +after the tree which he most eagerly desired to see, he +was told that it grew much farther north, in the Orkney +Islands.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the suspicious fact that the prodigy +receded like Will o' the Wisp, whenever it was persistently +followed up, Sebastian Munster, who relates<a name="Anchor_89_89" id="Anchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 89."> [89] </a> the foregoing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104_b" id="Page_104_b">[Pg 104]</a></span>anecdote of Æneas Sylvius, appears to have entertained no +doubt of the truth of the report, for he writes:—</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_034" id="fig02_034"> +<img src="images/fig02_034.jpg" width="470" height="769" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 34.—THE GOOSE TREE. Copied from Gerard's 'Herball,' 1st edition.</span> +<a name="Anchor_90_90" id="Anchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 90."> [90] </a></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105_b" id="Page_105_b">[Pg 105]</a></span></p><blockquote><p>"In Scotland there are trees which produce fruit, conglomerated of +their leaves; and this fruit, when in due time it falls into the water +beneath it, is endowed with new life, and is converted into a living +bird, which they call the 'tree-goose.' This tree grows in the Island +of Pomonia, which is not far from Scotland, towards the north. +Several old cosmographers, especially Saxo Grammaticus, mention +the tree, and it must not be regarded as fictitious, as some new writers +suppose."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Julius Cæsar Scaliger<a name="Anchor_91_91" id="Anchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 91."> [91] </a> (1540) gives another reading of +the legend, in which it is asserted that the leaves which +fall from the tree into the water are converted into fishes, +and those which fall upon the land become birds.</p> + +<p>Thus this extraordinary belief held sway, and remained +strong and invincible, although from time to time some +man of sense and independent thought attempted to turn +the tide of popular error. Albertus Magnus (who died 1280) +showed its absurdity, and declared that he had seen the +bird referred to lay its eggs and hatch them in the ordinary +way. Roger Bacon (who died in 1294) also contradicted it, +and Belon, in 1551, treated it with ridicule and contempt. +Olaus Wormius<a name="Anchor_92_92" id="Anchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 92."> [92] </a> seems to have believed in it, though he +wrote cautiously about it. Olaus Magnus (1553) mentions +it, and apparently accepts it as a fact, occurring in the +Orkneys, on the authority of "a Scotch historian who +diligently sets down the secrets of things," and then dismisses +it in three lines.</p> + +<p>Passing over many other writers on the subject, we come +to the time of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when (in 1597) +"John Gerarde, Master in Chirurgerie, London," published +his "Herball, or Generall Historie of Plants gathered by +him," and in the last chapter thereof solemnly declared, +that he had actually witnessed the transformation of +"certaine shell fish" into Barnacle Geese, as follows.</p> + +<p><i>Of the Goose tree, Barnacle tree, or the tree +bearing Geese.</i></p> + +<p><i>Britanicæ Conchæ anatiferæ.</i></p> + +<p>THE BREED OF BARNACLES.</p> + + +<p>¶ <i>The Description.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>Hauing trauelled from the Grasses growing in the bottome of the +fenny waters, the Woods, and mountaines, euen vnto Libanus itselfe; +and also the sea, and bowels of the same, wee are arriued at the end +of our History; thinking it not impertinent to the conclusion of the +same, to end with one of the maruels of this land (we may say of the +World). The history whereof to set forth according to the worthinesse +and raritie thereof, would not only require a large and peculiar volume, +but also a deeper search into the bowels of Nature, then my intended +purpose will suffer me to wade into, my sufficiencie also considered; +leauing the History thereof rough hewen, vnto some excellent man, +learned in the secrets of nature, to be both fined and refined; in the +meane space take it as it falleth out, the naked and bare truth, though +vnpolished. There are found in the North parts of Scotland and the +Islands adjacent, called Orchades, certaine trees whereon do grow +certaine shells of a white colour tending to russet, wherein are contained +little liuing creatures: which shells in time of maturity doe open, and +out of them grow those little liuing things, which falling into the water +do become fowles, which we call Barnacles; in the North of England, +brant Geese; and in Lancashire, tree Geese: but the other that do +fall vpon the land perish and come to nothing. Thus much by the +writings of others, and also from the mouthes of people of those parts, +which may very well accord with truth.</p> + +<p>But what our eies haue seene, and hands haue touched we shall +declare. There is a small Island in Lancashire, called the Pile of +Foulders, wherein are found the broken pieces of old and bruised ships +some whereof haue beene cast thither by shipwracke, and also the +trunks and bodies with the branches of old and rotten trees, cast vp +there likewise; whereon is found a certaine spume or froth that in +time breedeth vnto certaine shells, in shape like those of the Muskle,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107_b" id="Page_107_b">[Pg 107]</a></span> +but sharper pointed, and of a whitish colour; wherein is contained a +thing in forme like a lace of silke finely wouen as it were together, of a +whitish colour, one end whereof is fastened vnto the inside of the shell, +euen as the fish of Oisters and Muskles are: the other end is made +fast vnto the belly of a rude masse or lumpe, which in time commeth to +the shape and forme of a Bird: when it is perfectly formed the shell +gapeth open, and the first thing that appeareth is the foresaid lace or +string; next come the legs of the bird hanging out, and as it groweth +greater it openeth the shell by degrees, til at length it is all come +forth, and hangeth onely by the bill: in short space after it commeth +to full maturitie, and falleth into the sea, where it gathereth feathers, +and groweth to a fowle bigger than a Mallard, and lesser than a +Goose, hauing blacke legs and bill or beake, and feathers blacke and +white, spotted in such manner as is our Magpie, called in some places +a Pie-Annet, which the people of Lancashire call by no other name +than a tree Goose: which place aforesaid, and all those parts adjoyning +do so much abound therewith, that one of the best is bought for +three pence. For the truth hereof, if any doubt, may it please them to +repaire vnto me, and I shall satisfie them by the testimonie of good +witnesses.</p> + +<p>Moreover, it should seeme that there is another sort hereof; the +History of which is true, and of mine owne knowledge; for trauelling +vpon the shore of our English coast betweene Douer and Rumney, I +found the trunke of an old rotten tree, which (with some helpe that I +procured by Fishermen's wiues that were there attending their +husbands' returne from the sea) we drew out of the water vpon dry +land; vpon this rotten tree I found growing many thousands of long +crimson bladders, in shape like vnto puddings newly filled, before they +be sodden, which were very cleere and shining; at the nether end +whereof did grow a shell fish, fashioned somewhat like a small Muskle, +but much whiter, resembling a shell fish that groweth vpon the rockes +about Garnsey and Garsey, called a Lympit: many of these shells I +brought with me to London, which after I had opened I found in them +liuing things without forme or shape; in others which were neerer +come to ripenesse I found liuing things that were very naked, in shape +like a Bird: in others, the Birds couered with soft downe, the shell +halfe open, and the Bird ready to fall out, which no doubt were the +Fowles called Barnacles. I dare not absolutely auouch euery circumstance +of the first part of this history, concerning the tree that beareth +those buds aforesaid, but will leaue it to a further consideration; howbeit, +that which I haue seene with mine eies, and handled with mine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108_b" id="Page_108_b">[Pg 108]</a></span> +hands, I dare confidently auouch, and boldly put downe for verity. +Now if any will object that this tree which I saw might be one of those +before mentioned, which either by the waues of the sea or some violent +wind had beene ouerturned as many other trees are; or that any trees +falling into those seas about the Orchades, will of themselves bear +the like Fowles, by reason of those seas and waters, these being so +probable conjectures, and likely to be true, I may not without prejudice +gainsay, or endeauour to confute.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>¶ <i>The Place.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>The bordes and rotten plankes whereon are found these shels breeding +the Barnakle, are taken vp in a small Island adioyning to Lancashire, +halfe a mile from the main land, called the Pile of Foulders.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>¶ <i>The Time.</i></p> + +<blockquote><p>They spawn as it were in March and Aprill; the Geese are formed +in May and June, and come to fulnesse of feathers in the moneth +after.</p> + +<p>And thus hauing through God's assistance discoursed somewhat at +large of Grasses, Herbes, Shrubs, Trees, and Mosses, and certaine +Excrescenses of the Earth, with other things moe, incident to the +historie thereof, we conclude and end our present Volume, with this +wonder of England. For the which God's name be euer honored and +praised.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Gerard was probably a good botanist and herbalist; but +Thomas Johnson, the editor of a subsequent issue of his +book, tells us that</p> + +<blockquote><p>"He, out of a propense good will to the publique advancement of +this knowledge, endeavoured to performe therein more than he could +well accomplish, which was partly through want of sufficient learning; +but," he adds, "let none blame him for these defects, seeing he was +neither wanting in pains nor good will to performe what hee intended: +and there are none so simple but know that heavie burthens are with +most paines vndergone by the weakest men; and although there are +many faults in the worke, yet iudge well of the Author; for, as a late +writer well saith:—'To err and to be deceived is human, and he must +seek solitude who wishes to live only with the perfect.'"</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109_b" id="Page_109_b">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is difficult to comply with the request to think well of +one who, writing as an authority, deliberately promulgated, +with an affectation of piety, that which he must have known +to be untrue, and who was, moreover, a shameless plagiarist; +for Gerard's ponderous book is little more than a translation +of Dodonæus, whole chapters having been taken +verbatim from that comparatively unread author without +acknowledgment.</p> + +<p>After this series of erroneous observations, self-delusion, +and ignorant credulity, it is refreshing to turn to the pages +of the two little thick quarto volumes of Gaspar Schott.<a name="Anchor_93_93" id="Anchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 93."> [93] </a> +This learned Jesuit made himself acquainted with everything +that had been written on the subject, and besides the +authors I have referred to, quotes and compares the statements +of Majolus, Abrahamus Ortelius, Hieronymus Cardanus, +Eusebius, Nierembergius, Deusingius, Odoricus, +Gerhardus de Vera, Ferdinand of Cordova, and many +others. He then gives, firmly and clearly, his own opinion +that the assertion that birds in Britain spring from the +fruit or leaves of trees, or from wood, or from fungus, or +from shells, is without foundation, and that neither reason, +experience, nor authority tend to confirm it. He concedes +that worms may be bred in rotting timber, and even +that they may be of a kind that fly away on arriving at +maturity (referring probably to caterpillars being developed +into moths), but that birds should be thus generated, he +says, is simply the repetition of a vulgar error, for not one +of the authors whom he has examined has seen what they +all affirm; nor are they able to bring forward a single +eye-witness of it. He asks how it can be possible that +animals so large and so highly-organised as these birds +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110_b" id="Page_110_b">[Pg 110]</a></span>can grow from puny animalcules generated in putrid +wood. He further declares that these British geese are +hatched from eggs like other geese, which he considers +proved by the testimony of Albertus Magnus, Gerhardus +de Vera, and of Dutch seamen, who, in 1569, gave their +written declaration that they had personally seen these +birds sitting on their eggs, and hatching them, on the +coasts of Nova Zembla.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_035" id="fig02_035"> +<img src="images/fig02_035.jpg" width="470" height="468" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 35.—THE BARNACLE GOOSE TREE. After Aldrovandus.</span> +</div> + +<p>In marked and disgraceful contrast with this careful +and philosophical investigation and its author's just deductions +from it, is 'A Relation concerning Barnacles by +Sir Robert Moray, lately one of His Majesty's Council for +the Kingdom of Scotland,' read before the Royal Society, +and published in the 'Philosophical Transactions,' No. 137, +January and February, 1677-8.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111_b" id="Page_111_b">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_036" id="fig02_036"> +<img src="images/fig02_036.jpg" width="470" height="502" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 36.—DEVELOPMENT OF BARNACLES INTO GEESE. After Aldrovandus.</span> +</div> + +<p>Describing "a cut of a large Firr-tree of about two and +a half feet diameter, and nine or ten feet long," which he +saw on the shore in the Western Islands of Scotland, and +which had become so dry that many of the Barnacle shells +with which it had been covered had been rubbed off, he +says:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Only on the parts that lay next the ground there still hung +multitudes of little Shells, having within them little Birds, perfectly +shap'd, supposed to be Barnacles. The Shells hung very thick and +close one by another, and were of different sizes. Of the colour and +consistence of Muscle-Shells, and the sides and joynts of them joyned +with such a kind of film as Muscle-Shells are, which serves them for a +Hing to move upon, when they open and shut.... The Shells hang at +the Tree by a Neck longer than the Shell, of a kind of Filmy +substance, round, and hollow, and creased, not unlike the Wind-pipe +of a chicken, spreading out broadest where it is fastened to the Tree, +from which it seems to draw and convey the matter which serves for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112_b" id="Page_112_b">[Pg 112]</a></span> +the growth and vegetation of the Shell and the little Bird within it. +This Bird in every Shell that I opened, as well the least as the biggest, +I found so curiously and compleatly formed, that there appeared +nothing wanting as to internal parts, for making up a perfect Seafowl: +every little part appearing so distinctly that the whole looked +like a large Bird seen through a concave or diminishing glass, colour +and feature being everywhere so clear and neat. The little Bill, like +that of a Goose; the eyes marked; the Head, Neck, Breast, Wings, +Tail, and Feet formed, the Feathers everywhere perfectly shap'd, and +blackish coloured; and the Feet like those of other Water-fowl, to my +best remembrance. All being dead and dry, I did not look after the +internal parts of them. Nor did I ever see any of the little Birds alive, +nor met with anybody that did. Only some credible persons have +assured me they have seen some as big as their fist."</p></blockquote> + +<p>It seems almost incredible that little more than two +hundred years ago this twaddle should not only have been +laid before the highest representatives of science in the +land, but that it should have been printed in their "Transactions" +for the further delusion of posterity.</p> + +<p>Ray, in his edition of Willughby's Ornithology, published +in the same year as the above, contradicted the fallacy as +strongly as Gaspar Schott; and (except that he incidentally +admits the possibility of spontaneous generation in +some of the lower animals, as insects and frogs) in language +so similar that I think he must have had Schott's work +before him when he wrote.</p> + +<p>Aldrovandus<a name="Anchor_94_94" id="Anchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 94."> [94] </a> tells us that an Irish priest, named +Octavianus, assured him with an oath on the Gospels that +he had seen and handled the geese in their embryo condition; +and he adds that he "would rather err with the +majority than seem to pass censure on so many eminent +writers who have believed the story."</p> + +<p>In 1629 Count Maier (Michaelus Meyerus—these old +authors when writing in Latin, latinized their names also) +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113_b" id="Page_113_b">[Pg 113]</a></span>published a monograph 'On the Tree-bird'<a name="Anchor_95_95" id="Anchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 95."> [95] </a> in which he +explains the process of its birth, and states that he opened +a hundred of the goose-bearing shells and found the rudiments +of the bird fully formed.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So slow Bootes underneath him sees,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In th' icy isles, those goslings hatched on trees,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whose fruitful leaves, falling into the water,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are turned, they say, to living fowls soon after;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So rotten sides of broken ships do change,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To barnacles, O, transformation strange!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Twas first a green tree; then a gallant hull;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lately a mushroom; then a flying gull.<a name="Anchor_96_96" id="Anchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 96."> [96] </a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Now, let us turn from fiction to facts.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_037" id="fig02_037"> +<img src="images/fig02_037.jpg" width="470" height="373" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG 37.—SECTION OF A SESSILE BARNACLE. Balanus tintinnabulum.</span> +</div> + +<p>Almost every one is acquainted with at least one kind of +the Barnacle shells which were supposed to enclose the +embryo of a goose, namely the small white conical hillocks +which are found, in tens of thousands, adhering to stones, +rocks, and old timber such as the piles of piers, and may +be seen affixed to the shells of oysters and mussels in any +fishmonger's shop. The little animals which secrete and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114_b" id="Page_114_b">[Pg 114]</a></span>inhabit these shells belong to a sub-class and order of the +Crustacea, called the <i>Cirrhopoda</i>, because their feet (<i>poda</i>), +which in the crab and lobster terminate in claws, are +modified into tufts of curled hairs (<i>cirri</i>), or feathers. When +the animal is alive and active under water, a crater may be +seen to open on the summit of the little shelly mountain, +and, as if from the mouth of a miniature volcano, there issue +from this aperture, from between two inner shells, the +<i>cirri</i> in the form of a feathery hand, which clutches at the +water within its reach, and is then quickly retracted within +the shell. During this movement the hair-fringed fingers +have filtered from the water and conveyed towards the +mouth within the shell, for their owner's nutriment, some +minute solid particles or animalcules, and this action of the +casting-net alternately shot forth and retracted continues +for hours incessantly, as the water flows over its resting-place. +The animal can live for a long time out of water, +and in some situations thus passes half its life. Under such +circumstances, the shells, containing a reserve of moisture, +remain firmly closed until the return of the tide brings a fresh +supply of water and food. These are the "acorn-barnacles," +the <i>balani</i>, commonly known in some localities as "chitters."</p> + +<p>Barnacles of another kind are those furnished with a long +stem, or peduncle, which Sir Robert Moray described as +"round, hollow, and creased, and not unlike the wind-pipe +of a chicken." The stem has, in fact, the ringed formation +of the annelids, or worms. The shelly valves are thin, flat, +and in shape somewhat like a mitre. They are composed +of five pieces, two on each side, and one, a kind of rounded +keel along the back of the valves, by which these are united. +The shells are delicately tinted with lavender or pale blue +varied with white, and the edges are frequently of a bright +chrome yellow or orange colour.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115_b" id="Page_115_b">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is not an uncommon occurrence for a large plank +entirely covered with these "necked barnacles" to be found +floating at sea and brought ashore for exhibition at some +watering-place; and I have more than once sent portions +of such planks to the Aquaria at Brighton, and the Crystal +Palace.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_038" id="fig02_038"> +<img src="images/fig02_038.jpg" width="470" height="495" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 38.—PEDUNCULATED BARNACLES. (Lepas anatifera.)</span> +</div> + +<p>It is most interesting to watch a dense mass of living +cirripedes so closely packed together that not a speck of +the surface of the wood is left uncovered by them; their +fleshy stalks overhanging each other, and often attached +in clusters to those of some larger individuals; their +plumose casting-nets ever gathering in the food that +comes within their reach, and carrying towards the mouth +any solid particles suitable for their sustenance. How +much of insoluble matter barnacles will eliminate from +the water is shown by the rapidity with which they +will render turbid sea water clear and transparent. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116_b" id="Page_116_b">[Pg 116]</a></span> +most common species of these "necked barnacles" bears +the name of "<i>Lepas anatifera</i>," "the duck-bearing <i>Lepas</i>." +It was so entitled by Linnæus, in recognition of its having +been connected with the fable, which, of course, met with +no credit from him.</p> + +<p>Fig. 39 represents the figure-head of a ship, partly +covered with barnacles, which was picked up about thirty +miles off Lowestoft on the 22nd of October, 1857. It was +described in the <i>Illustrated London News</i>, and the proprietors +of that paper have kindly given me a copy of +the block from which its portrait was printed.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_039" id="fig02_039"> +<img src="images/fig02_039.jpg" width="470" height="482" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 39.—A SHIP'S FIGURE-HEAD WITH BARNACLES ATTACHED TO IT.</span> +</div> + +<p>Others of the barnacles affix themselves to the bottoms +of ships, or parasitically upon whales and sharks, and +those of the latter kind often burrow deeply into the skin of +their host. Fig. 40 is a portrait of a <i>Coronula diadema</i> taken +from the nose of a whale stranded at Kintradwell, in the +north of Scotland, in 1866, and sent to the late Mr. Frank +Buckland. Growing on this <i>Coronula</i> are three of the +curious eared barnacles, <i>Conchoderma aurita</i>; the <i>Lepas</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117_b" id="Page_117_b">[Pg 117]</a></span> +<i>aurita</i> of Linnæus. The species of the whale from which +these Barnacles were taken was not mentioned, but it was +probably the "hunch-backed" whale, <i>Megaptera longimana</i>, +which is generally infested with this <i>Coronula</i>. This very +illustrative specimen was, and I hope still is, in Mr. Buckland's +Museum at South Kensington. It was described by +him in <i>Land and Water</i>, of May 19th, 1866, and I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118_b" id="Page_118_b">[Pg 118]</a></span> +indebted to the proprietors of that paper for the accompanying +portrait of it.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="fig02_040" id="fig02_040"> +<img src="images/fig02_040.jpg" width="400" height="839" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 40.—WHALE BARNACLE (Coronula diadema), WITH THREE +Conchoderma aurita ATTACHED TO IT.</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_041" id="fig02_041"> +<img src="images/fig02_041.jpg" width="470" height="504" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 41.—A YOUNG BARNACLE. (Larva of Chthamalus stellatus.)</span> +</div> + +<p>The young Barnacle when just extruded from the shell of +its parent is a very different being from that which it will +be in its mature condition. It begins its life in a form +exactly like that of an entomostracous crustacean, and, +like a Cyclops, has one large eye in the middle of its forehead. +In this state it swims freely, and with great activity. +It undergoes three moults, each time altering its figure, +until at the third exuviation it has become enclosed in a +bivalve shell, and has acquired a second eye. It is now +ready to attach itself to its abiding-place; so, selecting its +future residence, it presses itself against the wood, or whatever +the substance may be, pours out from its two antennæ +a glutinous cement, which hardens in water, and thus fastens +itself by the front of its head, is henceforth a fixture for +life, and assumes the adult form in which most persons +know it best.<a name="Anchor_97_97" id="Anchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 97."> [97] </a></p> + +<p>It is unnecessary for me to describe more minutely the +anatomy of the Cirripedes; I have said enough to show<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120_b" id="Page_120_b">[Pg 120]</a></span> +the nature of the plumose appurtenances which, hanging +from the dead shells, were supposed to be the feathers of a +little bird within; but it is difficult to understand how any +one could have seen in the natural occupant of the shell, +"the little bill, like that of a goose, the eyes, head, neck, +breast, wings, tail, and feet, like those of other water-fowl," +so precisely and categorically detailed by Sir Robert +Moray. As Pontoppidan, who denounced the whole story, +as being "without the least foundation," very truly says, +"One must take the force of imagination to help to make +it look so!"</p> + +<p>As to the origin of the myth, I venture to differ entirely +from philologists who attribute it to "language," and "a +similarity of names," for, although, as Professor Max +Müller observes in one of his lectures, "words without +definite meanings are at the bottom of nearly all our +philosophical and religious controversies," it certainly is not +applicable in this instance. Every quotation here given +shows that the mistake arose from the supposed resemblance +of the plumes of the cirrhopod, and the feathers of +a bird, and the fallacious deductions derived therefrom. +The statements of Maier (p. 112), Gerard (p. 106), Sir Robert +Moray (p. 110), &c., prove that this fanciful misconception +sprang from erroneous observation. The love of the marvellous +inherent in mankind, and especially prevalent in times +of ignorance and superstition, favoured its reception and +adoption, and I believe that it would have been as widely +circulated, and have met with equal credence, if the names +of the cirripede and of the goose that was supposed to be +its offspring had been far more dissimilar than, at first, they +really were.</p> + +<p>Setting aside several ingenious and far-fetched derivations +that have been proposed, I think we may safely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121_b" id="Page_121_b">[Pg 121]</a></span> +regard the word "barnacle," as applied to the cirrhopod, +as a corruption of <i>pernacula</i>, the diminutive of <i>perna</i>, a +bivalve mollusk, so-called from the similarity in shape of +its shell to that of a ham—<i>pernacula</i> being changed to +<i>bernacula</i>. In some old Glossaries <i>perna</i> is actually spelt +<i>berna</i>.</p> + +<p>To arrive at the origin of the word "barnacle," or +"bernicle," as applied to the goose, we must understand +that this bird, <i>Anser leucopsis</i>, was formerly called the +"brent," "brant," or "bran" goose, and was supposed to +be identical with the species, <i>Anser torquatus</i>, which is now +known by that name. The Scottish word for "goose" is +"clake," or "clakis,"<a name="Anchor_98_98" id="Anchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 98."> [98] </a> and I think that the suggestion +made long ago to Gesner<a name="Anchor_99_99" id="Anchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 99."> [99] </a> (1558), by his correspondent, +Joannes Caius, is correct, that the word "barnacle" comes +from "branclakis," or "barnclake," "the dark-coloured +goose."</p> + +<p>Professor Max Müller is of the opinion that its Latin +name may have been derived from <i>Hibernicæ</i>, <i>Hiberniculæ</i>, +<i>Berniculæ</i>, as it was against the Irish bishops that Geraldus +wrote, but I must say that this does not commend itself to +me; for the name <i>Bernicula</i> was not used in the early times +to denote these birds. Giraldus himself described them as +<i>Bernacæ</i>, but they were variously known, also, as <i>Barliates</i>, +<i>Bernestas</i>, <i>Barnetas</i>, <i>Barbates</i>, etc.</p> + +<p>I agree with Dr. John Hill,<a name="Anchor_100_100" id="Anchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor" title="Go to footnote 100."> [100] </a> that "the whole matter that +gave origin to the story is that the 'shell-fish' (cirripedes), +supposed to have this wonderful production usually adhere +to old wood, and that they have a kind of fibres hanging +out of them, which, in some degree, resemble feathers of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122_b" id="Page_122_b">[Pg 122]</a></span>some bird. From this slight origin arose the story that +they contained real birds: what grew on trees people soon +asserted to be the fruit of trees, and, from step to step, the +story gained credit with the hearers," till, at length, Gerard +had the audacity to say that he had witnessed the transformation.</p> + +<p>The Barnacle Goose is only a winter visitor of Great +Britain. It breeds in the far north, in Greenland, Iceland, +Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla, and probably, also, along +the shores of the White Sea. There are generally some +specimens of this prettily-marked goose in the gardens of +the Zoological Society in the Regent's Park, London; and +they thrive there, and become very tame. In the months +of December and January these geese may often be seen +hanging for sale in poulterers' shops; and he who has tasted +one well cooked may be pardoned if the suspicion cross +his mind that the "monks of old," and "the bare-footed +friars," as well as the laity, may not have been unwilling to +sustain the fiction in order that they might conserve the +privilege of having on their tables during the long fast of +Lent so agreeable and succulent a "vegetable" or "fish" +as a Barnacle Goose.</p> + + +<p>THE END.</p> + +<p class="center">LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, +STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. +</p> + + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_1_1"><span class="label"> [1] </span></a> 'Natural History of Norway.' A.D. 1751.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_2_2"><span class="label"> [2] </span></a> Born 1643; died 1712.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_3_3"><span class="label"> [3] </span></a> Olaus Magnus has sometimes been mistaken for his brother and +predecessor in the archiepiscopal see, Johan Magnus, author of a +book entitled 'Gothorum, Suevorumque Historia.' Olaus was the +last Roman Catholic archbishop of the Swedish church, and when the +Reformation, supported by Gustavus Vasa, gained the ascendancy in +Sweden, he remained true to his faith, and retired to Rome, where he +wrote his work, 'Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus,' Romæ, +1555. An English translation of this book was published by +J. Streater, in 1658. It does not contain the illustrations.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_4_4"><span class="label"> [4] </span></a> 'Natural History of Norway,' vol. ii., p. 210.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_5_5"><span class="label"> [5] </span></a> From the Greek words <i>cephale</i>, the head; and <i>poda</i>, feet.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_6_6"><span class="label"> [6] </span></a> From <i>octo</i>, eight; and <i>pous</i> (<i>poda</i>), feet.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_7_7"><span class="label"> [7] </span></a> See an excellent article in the <i>Field</i>, Sept. 2, 1876, on the 'Ten +Footed Cuttle' (<i>Sepia officinalis</i>), by the late Mr. W. A. Lloyd, an +earnest and accomplished aquatic zoologist; eccentric, but in all that +relates to the construction and management of an aquarium a master +of his craft. It was his wish that in any future edition of my little +book on the Octopus, or other writings on the cephalopods, I should +use the woodcuts which illustrated his articles on Sepia and Octopus. +By the kind permission of the proprietors of the <i>Field</i>, I reproduce +them in suitable size for these pages.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_8_8"><span class="label"> [8] </span></a> See 'The Octopus; or, the Devil-fish of Fiction and of Fact.' +1873. Chapman and Hall.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_9_9"><span class="label"> [9] </span></a> This carving was figured in illustration of an interesting paper +by Professor Owen, C.B., F.R.S., &c., "On some new and rare +Cephalopoda," in the Transactions of the Zoological Society, April 20, +1880.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_10_10"><span class="label"> [10] </span></a> 'Histoire Naturelle générale et particulière des Mollusques,' +vol. ii., p. 256.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_11_11"><span class="label"> [11] </span></a> 'Conchyliologie Systématique.'</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_12_12"><span class="label"> [12] </span></a> 'Hist. Nat. des Moll.,' vol. ii., pp. 358 to 368.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_13_13"><span class="label"> [13] </span></a> <i>Leisure Hour</i>, October, 1875, p. 636.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_14_14"><span class="label"> [14] </span></a> 'Voyage aux Iles Malouines.'</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_15_15"><span class="label"> [15] </span></a> 'Voyage de Découvertes aux Terres Australes.'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_16_16"><span class="label"> [16] </span></a> 'Voyage de l'Uranie: Zoologie,' vol. i., part 2, p. 411. 1824.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_17_17"><span class="label"> [17] </span></a> 'Manuel des Mollusques,' p. 86.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_18_18"><span class="label"> [18] </span></a> 'British Conchology,' vol. v., p. 124.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_19_19"><span class="label"> [19] </span></a> In the accompanying illustration, the size of the squid is exaggerated, +but not so much as has been supposed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_20_20"><span class="label"> [20] </span></a> 'Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft naturforschender Freunde zu +Berlin,' pp. 65-67, quoted by Professor Owen, <i>op. cit.</i></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_21_21"><span class="label"> [21] </span></a> 'Comptes Rendus,' t. 80, 1875, p. 998.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_22_22"><span class="label"> [22] </span></a> 'History of Animals,' book 8, chap. 28.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_23_23"><span class="label"> [23] </span></a> 'Naturalis Historiæ,' Lib. vi., cap. 23.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_24_24"><span class="label"> [24] </span></a> 'De Factis, Dictisque Memorabilibus,' Lib. i., cap. 8, 1st century.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_25_25"><span class="label"> [25] </span></a> 'Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus,' Lib. xxi. cap. 43.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_26_26"><span class="label"> [26] </span></a> "Coils itself in spherical convolutions" is a better translation of +the original Latin.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_27_27"><span class="label"> [27] </span></a> Six hundred feet.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_28_28"><span class="label"> [28] </span></a> 'Des alten Grönlands neue Perlustration,' 8vo., Frankfurt, 1730, +and 'Det Gamle Grönlands nye perlustratione eller Naturel Historie.' +4to., Copenhagen, 1741.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_29_29"><span class="label"> [29] </span></a> Jardine's Naturalists' Library: 'Marine Amphibia,' p. 314.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_30_30"><span class="label"> [30] </span></a> Hitherto erroneously printed "Deinboll."</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_31_31"><span class="label"> [31] </span></a> See illustration, p. 67.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_32_32"><span class="label"> [32] </span></a> It must be noted, however, that in almost every case, except that +of the <i>Osborne</i>, the paddles were <i>supposed</i>, not <i>seen</i>, and were invented +to account for an animal of great length progressing at the surface of +the water at the rate of twelve to fifteen miles an hour without its being +possible to perceive, upon the closest and most attentive inspection, +any undulatory movement to which its rapid advance could be +ascribed. As the great calamaries were unknown, their mode of swift +retrograde motion, by means of an outflowing current of water, was +of course unsuspected.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_33_33"><span class="label"> [33] </span></a> Dr. Gray wrote in his 'Synopsis of Genera of Reptiles,' in the +Annals of Philosophy, 1825: "There is every reason to believe from +general structure that there exists an affinity between the tortoises and +the snakes; but the genus that exactly unites them is at present +unknown to European naturalists; which is not astonishing when we +consider the immense number of undescribed animals which are daily +occurring. If I may be allowed to speculate from the peculiarities of +structure which I have observed, I am inclined to think that the union +will most probably take place by some newly discovered genera allied +to the marine or fluviatile soft-skinned turtles and the marine serpent."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_34_34"><span class="label"> [34] </span></a> Berosus, lib. i. p. 48.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_35_35"><span class="label"> [35] </span></a> Nahum iii. 8.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5_b" id="Page_5_b">[Pg 5]</a></span></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_36_36"><span class="label"> [36] </span></a> 1 Samuel v. 4.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_37_37"><span class="label"> [37] </span></a> 'Paradise Lost,' Book i. l. 462.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6_b" id="Page_6_b">[Pg 6]</a></span></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_38_38"><span class="label"> [38] </span></a> Some writers are of the opinion that the legend of Oannes +contains an allusion to the rising and setting of the sun, and that his +semi-piscine form was the expression of the idea that half his time was +spent above ground, and half below the waves. The same commentators +also regard all the "civilizing" gods and goddesses as, respectively, +solar and lunar deities. The attributes symbolized in the +worship of Noah and the sun are so nearly alike that the two interpretations +are not incompatible.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_39_39"><span class="label"> [39] </span></a> 'Opera Omnia,' tom. ii. p. 884, edit. Bened. de Dea. Syr.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_40_40"><span class="label"> [40] </span></a> Lib. i. cap. cv.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_41_41"><span class="label"> [41] </span></a> It is worthy of note that the fish was also adopted as an emblem +by the early Christians, and was frequently sculptured on their tombs +as a private mark or sign of the faith in which the person there +interred had died. It alluded to the letters which composed the +Greek word [Greek: Ichthys] ("a fish") forming an anagram, the initials +of words which conveyed the following sentiment: [Greek: Iêsous], Jesus; +[Greek: Christos], Christ; [Greek: Theou], of God; [Greek: gios], Son; [Greek: Sôtêr], Saviour. But it +doubtless bore, also, the older meaning of "preservation" and "reproduction," +of which the fish was the symbol, and betokened a belief +in a future resurrection, as Noah was preserved to dwell in, and +populate, a new world. In 'Sea Monsters Unmasked,' <a href="#Page_55">page 55</a>, +I gave a figure, copied by permission from the <i>Illustrated London +News</i>, of a rough sculpture in the Roman catacombs, of Jonah being +disgorged by a sea-monster. Near to it was found, on another Christian +tomb, one of these designs of the "fish;" and it is not a little +curious that, whereas the animal depicted as casting forth Jonah is +not a whale, but a sea-serpent, or dragon, the <i>ichtheus</i> in this instance +is apparently not a fish, but a seal. +</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 470px;"> +<a name="fig02_011" id="fig02_011"> +<img src="images/fig02_011.jpg" width="470" height="166" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption">FIG. 11.—CHRISTIAN SYMBOL. From the Catacombs at Rome.</span> +</div> +<p> +The article referred to appeared in the <i>Illustrated London News</i> +of February 3rd, 1872, and the woodcut (fig. 11), an electrotype of +which was most kindly presented to me by the proprietors of that +paper, was one of the sketches that accompanied it.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_42_42"><span class="label"> [42] </span></a> <i>Naturalis Historia</i>, Lib. ix. cap. v.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_43_43"><span class="label"> [43] </span></a> <i>De Naturâ Animalium</i>, Lib. xvi. cap. xviii.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_44_44"><span class="label"> [44] </span></a> "<i>Forfices</i>," literally "shears," or "nippers," like the claws of a +lobster.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_45_45"><span class="label"> [45] </span></a> Lib. xiii. cap. xxi.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_46_46"><span class="label"> [46] </span></a> One of the Dutch spice-islands in the Banda Sea, between Celebes +and Papua.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_47_47"><span class="label"> [47] </span></a> <i>Beschrijving van Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien</i>, etc., 5 vols. folio, +Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1727, vol. iii. p. 330.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_48_48"><span class="label"> [48] </span></a> <i>Itinerarium Indicum</i>, Berne, 1669.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_49_49"><span class="label"> [49] </span></a> With the permission and assistance of Messrs. Longman, the +accompanying wood-cut of this picture, and that of the Dugong, on <a href="#Page_43_b">page +43</a>, are copied from Sir J. Emerson Tennent's book published in 1861.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_50_50"><span class="label"> [50] </span></a> Whitbourne's 'Discourse of Newfoundland.'</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_51_51"><span class="label"> [51] </span></a> Glover's 'Account of Virginia,' ap. Phil. Trans. vol. xi. p. 625.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_52_52"><span class="label"> [52] </span></a> <i>Historia rerum Norvegicarum.</i></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_53_53"><span class="label"> [53] </span></a> <i>Voyage en Islande</i>, tom. iii. p. 223.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_54_54"><span class="label"> [54] </span></a> 'Natural History of Norway,' vol. ii. p. 190.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_55_55"><span class="label"> [55] </span></a> <i>Feroa Reserata</i>, or Description of the Faroe Islands. 8vo. Copenhagen, +1673.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_56_56"><span class="label"> [56] </span></a> John Leyden.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_57_57"><span class="label"> [57] </span></a> Third Series, vol. ii. p. 134, 2nd ed.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_58_58"><span class="label"> [58] </span></a> Naturalist's Library, Marine Amphibiæ, p. 291.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_59_59"><span class="label"> [59] </span></a> John Leyden.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_60_60"><span class="label"> [60] </span></a> The Ettrick Shepherd.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_61_61"><span class="label"> [61] </span></a> Tom Hood. 'The Mermaid at Margate.'</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_62_62"><span class="label"> [62] </span></a> John Leyden.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_63_63"><span class="label"> [63] </span></a> 'Romances and Drolls of the West of England.' London: Hotten, +1871.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_64_64"><span class="label"> [64] </span></a> Vol. xiii. p. 336.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_65_65"><span class="label"> [65] </span></a> The "Cornish Vicar" was, evidently, the Rev. Robert Stephen +Hawker, M.A., Vicar of Morwenstow, and author of 'Echoes from +Old Cornwall,' 'Footprints of Former Men in Cornwall,' etc.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_66_66"><span class="label"> [66] </span></a> 'Geography and Distribution of Animals.'</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_67_67"><span class="label"> [67] </span></a> 'Romance of Natural History,' 2nd Series.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_68_68"><span class="label"> [68] </span></a> Almost all that is known of the living rytina is from an account +published in 1751, in St. Petersburg, by Steller, who was one of an exploring +party wrecked on Behring's Island in 1741. During the ten +months the crew remained on the island they pursued this easily-captured +animal so persistently, for food, that it was all but annihilated at +the time. The last one there was killed in 1768.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_69_69"><span class="label"> [69] </span></a> For a full description of the habits of this animal in captivity, see +an article by the present writer in the 'Leisure Hour' of September +28, 1878; from which the illustration, <a href="#fig02_017">Fig. 17</a>, is borrowed by the kind +consent of the Editor of that publication.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_70_70"><span class="label"> [70] </span></a> Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. August, 1857.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_71_71"><span class="label"> [71] </span></a> The octopus is still called the "preke" in some parts of England, +notably in Sussex. The translation of Oppian's 'Halieutics,' from +which this passage and others are quoted is that by Messrs. Jones and +Diaper, of Baliol College, Oxford, and was published in 1722.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_72_72"><span class="label"> [72] </span></a> Homer's 'Odyssey,' Pope's Translation, Book XII.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_73_73"><span class="label"> [73] </span></a> 'Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus,' lib. xxi. cap. vi. <small>A.D.</small> +1555.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_74_74"><span class="label"> [74] </span></a> 'Natural History of the Sperm Whale.' Van Voorst, 1839.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_75_75"><span class="label"> [75] </span></a> The octopus.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_76_76"><span class="label"> [76] </span></a> Naturalis Historia, lib. ix. cap. 30.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_77_77"><span class="label"> [77] </span></a> Appendix to Sir Edward Belcher's 'Voyage of the "Samarang,"' +by Mr. Arthur Adams, assistant surgeon to the expedition.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_78_78"><span class="label"> [78] </span></a> 'The Octopus,' 1873, p. 57.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_79_79"><span class="label"> [79] </span></a> "At 100 fathoms the pressure exceeds 265 lbs. to the square inch. +Empty bottles, securely corked, and sunk with weights beyond 100 +fathoms, are always crushed. If filled with liquid the cork is driven +in, and the liquid replaced by salt water; and in drawing the bottle up +again the cork is returned to the neck of the bottle, generally in a +reversed position."—Sir F. Beaufort, quoted by Dr. S. P. Woodward +in his 'Manual of the Mollusca.'</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_80_80"><span class="label"> [80] </span></a> I need hardly say that before the nacreous layer of the shell +from which this animal takes its name is made visible, an outer deposit +of dense calcareous matter has to be removed by hydrochloric acid: +the pearly surface thus exposed is then easily polished.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_81_81"><span class="label"> [81] </span></a> It is so interesting to most of us to know something of the early +work of our greatest men, and of the tide in their affairs, which, +taken at the flood, led on to fortune, that I hope I may be excused for +referring to the period when the distinguished chief of the Natural +History Department of the British Museum, the great comparative +anatomist, the unrivalled palæontologist, the illustrious physiologist, +the venerable and venerated friend of all earnest students, was beginning +to attract the attention, and to receive the approbation of his +seniors as a promising young worker. In Messrs. Griffith and Pidgeon's +Supplement to Cuvier's 'Mollusca and Radiata,' published in 1834, the +treatise in question is thus mentioned: "We have much pleasure in referring +to a most excellent memoir on <i>Nautilus pompilius</i>, by Mr. Owen, +with elaborate figures of the animal, its shell, and various parts, published +by direction of the Council of the College of Surgeons. The +reader will find the most satisfactory information on the subject, and +the scientific public will earnestly hope that the present volume will be +the first of a similar series." This hope has been more than fulfilled. +Dean Buckland, in his 'Bridgewater Treatise,' wrote of this work: "I +rejoice in the present opportunity of bearing testimony to the value of +Professor Owen's highly philosophical and most admirable memoir—a +work not less creditable to the author than honourable to the Royal +College of Surgeons, under whose auspices the publication has been so +handsomely conducted."</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_82_82"><span class="label"> [82] </span></a> Riva, 1559, leaf 142.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_83_83"><span class="label"> [83] </span></a> 'Historia Simplicium,' lib. iii. p. 327.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_84_84"><span class="label"> [84] </span></a> Prodrom. Hist. Nat. Scot. parts 2, lib. iii. p. 21, 1684.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_85_85"><span class="label"> [85] </span></a> Otia Imperialia, iii. 123.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_86_86"><span class="label"> [86] </span></a> For this quotation and the following one I am indebted to +Professor Max Müller's Lecture before referred to.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_87_87"><span class="label"> [87] </span></a> 'Chorographical Description of Norway,' p. 244.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_88_88"><span class="label"> [88] </span></a> Æneas Sylvius gives us information concerning the personal +appearance of his royal host, whom he describes as, "<i>hominem quadratum +et multa pinguedine gravem</i>,"—literally, "a square-built man, +heavy with much fat."</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_89_89"><span class="label"> [89] </span></a> 'Cosmographia Universalis,' p. 49, 1572.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_90_90"><span class="label"> [90] </span></a> The original of this picture is a small wood-cut in Matthias de +Lobel's 'Stirpium Historia,' published in 1870. The birds within the +shells were added by Gerard. Aldrovandus, in copying it, gave leaves +to the tree, as shown on <a href="#Page_110_b">page 110</a>.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_91_91"><span class="label"> [91] </span></a> Exercit. 59, sect. 2.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_92_92"><span class="label"> [92] </span></a> 'Museum,' p. 257.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106_b" id="Page_106_b">[Pg 106]</a></span></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_93_93"><span class="label"> [93] </span></a> 'Physica Curiosa, sive Mirabilia Naturæ et Artis,' 1662, lib. ix. +cap. xxii. p. 960.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_94_94"><span class="label"> [94] </span></a> 'Ornithologia,' lib. xix. p. 173, ed. 1603.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_95_95"><span class="label"> [95] </span></a> 'De Volucri Arborea,' 1629.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_96_96"><span class="label"> [96] </span></a> Du Bartas' "Divine Week" p. 228. Joshua Sylvester's translation.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_97_97"><span class="label"> [97] </span></a> If any of my readers wish to observe the development of young +barnacles they may easily do so. The method I have generally +adopted has been as follows: Procure a shallow glass or earthenware +milk-pan that will hold at least a gallon. Fill this to within an inch +of the top with sea-water, and place it in any shaded part of a room—not +in front of a window. Put in the pan six or eight pebbles or clean +shells of equal height, say 1½ or 2 inches, and on them lay a clean +sheet of glass, which, by resting on the pebbles, is brought to within +about 2½ inches of the surface of the water. Select some limpets or +mussels having acorn-barnacles on them; carefully cut out the limpet +or mussel, and clean nicely the interior of the shell; then place a +dozen or more of these shells on the sheet of glass, and the barnacles +upon them will be within convenient reach of any observation with +a magnifying glass. If this be done in the month of March, the experimenter +will not have to wait long before he sees young <i>Balani</i> +ejected from the summits of some of the shells. Up to the moment of +their birth each of them is enclosed in a little cocoon or case, in shape +like a canary-seed, and most of them are tossed into the world whilst +still enclosed in this. In a few seconds this casing is ruptured longitudinally, +apparently by the struggles of its inmate, which escapes at +one end, like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, and swims freely +to the surface of the water, leaving the split cocoon or case at the +bottom of the pan. Some few of the young barnacles seem to be +freed from the cocoon before, or at the moment of, extrusion. From +three to a dozen or more of these escape with each protrusion of the +cirri of the parent, and as the parturient barnacle will put forth its +feathery casting net at least twenty times in a minute for an hour or +more, it follows that as many as ten thousand young ones may be produced +in an hour. These, as they are cast forth at each pulsation of +the parent's cirri, fall upon the clean sheet of glass, and may be taken +up in a pipette, and placed under a microscope, or removed to a +smaller vessel of sea-water, for minute and separate investigation. It +seems strange that animals which, like the oyster and the barnacles, +are condemned in their mature condition to lead so sedentary a life, +should in the earlier stages of their existence swim freely and merrily +through the water—young fellows seeking a home, and when they +have found it, although their connubial life must be a very tame one, +settling down, and not caring to rove about any more for the remainder +of their days. These young <i>Balani</i> dart about like so many water-fleas, +and yet, after a few days of freedom, they become fixed and immovable, +the inhabitants of the pyramidal shells which grow in such +abundance on other shells, stones, and old wood.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119_b" id="Page_119_b">[Pg 119]</a></span></p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_98_98"><span class="label"> [98] </span></a> See the quotation from Hector Boethius, p. 101.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_99_99"><span class="label"> [99] </span></a> 'Historia Animalium,' lib. iii. p. 110.</p></div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor_100_100"><span class="label"> [100] </span></a> 'History of Animals,' p. 422. 1752.</p></div> +<div><br /></div> +<p class="transnote"> +<span class="big">Transcriber's note:</span><br /> +Inconsistent hyphenation has been left as written.<br /> +Missing end quote marks have been inserted.<br /> +On <a href="#Page_95">page 95</a> the word irreconcileable has been left as written: "I need scarcely point out how utterly irreconcileable is the"<br /> +On <a href="#Page_30_b">page 30</a> the word gowden has been left as written: "Braiding her locks of gowden hair"<br /> +On <a href="#Page_20_b">page 20</a> the word fane has been left as written: "exactly resembled the tail of a fish, with a broad fane"<br /> +On <a href="#Page_33">page 33</a> the word engulphed has been left as written: "were all suddenly engulphed in the waves on the night of the battle"<br /> +</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sea Monsters Unmasked and Sea Fables +Explained, by Henry Lee + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED *** + +***** This file should be named 36677-h.htm or 36677-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/6/7/36677/ + +Produced by Jeannie Howse, Anna Hall, Bryan Ness and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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