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diff --git a/36677.txt b/36677.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a396d1a --- /dev/null +++ b/36677.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7065 @@ +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: ASCII + +*** 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) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: THE SEA SERPENT, AS FIRST SEEN FROM H.M.S. 'DAEDALUS.' +_Frontispiece._] + + + + + (_International Fisheries Exhibition_ LONDON, 1883) + + + SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED + + BY + + HENRY LEE, F.L.S., F.G.S., F.Z.S. + + SOMETIME NATURALIST OF THE BRIGHTON AQUARIUM + AND + AUTHOR OF 'THE OCTOPUS, OR THE DEVIL-FISH OF FICTION AND FACT' + + ILLUSTRATED + + LONDON + WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED + INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION + AND 13 CHARING CROSS, S.W. + 1883 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +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 _my_ thoughts, +_my_ sentiments! He forestalled me!" + +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. + +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 late experienced editor of the _Zoologist_, 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. + +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" (_Loligo vulgaris_), +and the "little squid" (_L. media_), 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. + +It is a pleasure to me to acknowledge gratefully the kindness I have +met with in connection with the illustrations of this book. The +proprietors of the _Illustrated London News_ not only gave me permission +to copy, in reduced size, their two pictures of the _Daedalus_ 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 _Pauline_. Equally kind have been the +proprietors of the _Field_. 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 _Graphic_ 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 +_Osborne_ and the _City of Baltimore_, are from that journal. Messrs. +Nisbet most courteously allowed me to have a copy of the block of the +_Enaliosaurus_ 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. + + HENRY LEE. + + SAVAGE CLUB; + _July 21st, 1883_. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +_Frontispiece._--The Sea Serpent as first seen from H.M.S. _Daedalus_. + + FIG. PAGE + + 1. Beak and Arms of a Decapod Cuttle 16 + + 2. The Octopus (_Octopus vulgaris_) 18 + + 3. The Cuttle (_Sepia officinalis_) 21 + + 4. Hooked Tentacles of _Onychoteuthis_ 23 + + 5. Japanese fisherman attacked by a Cuttle 29 + + 6. Arms of a great Cuttle exhibited in a Japanese fish-shop 29 + + 7. Facsimile of De Montfort's "_Poulpe colossal_" 32 + + 8. Gigantic Calamary caught by the French despatch vessel + _Alecton_, near Teneriffe 39 + + 9. Tentacle of a great Calamary (_Architeuthis princeps_) + taken in Conception Bay, Newfoundland 43 + + 10. Head and Tentacles of a great Calamary (_Architeuthis + princeps_) taken in Logie Bay, Newfoundland 44 + + 11. Jonah and the Sea Monster 55 + + 12. Sea Serpent seizing a man on board ship 58 + + 13. Gigantic Lobster dragging a man from a ship 58 + + 14. Pontoppidan's "Sea Serpent" 63 + + 15. The Animal drawn by Mr. Bing as having been seen by Egede 66 + + 16. The Animal which Egede probably saw 67 + + 17. The Sea Serpent of the Wernerian Society (_facsimile_) 69 + + 18. A Calamary swimming at the surface of the sea 77 + + 19. The Sea Serpent passing under the quarter of H.M.S. + _Daedalus_ 81 + + 20. The Sea Serpent and Sperm Whale as seen from the _Pauline_ 91 + + 21. The Sea Serpent as seen from the _City of Baltimore_ 93 + + 22. The Sea Serpent as seen from H.M. yacht _Osborne_. Phase 1 94 + + 23. The Sea Serpent as seen from H.M. yacht _Osborne_. Phase 2 94 + + 24. Skeleton of the _Plesiosaurus_, restored by Mr. Conybeare 98 + + 25. The Sea Serpent on the Enaliosaurian hypothesis 100 + + + + +SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED. + + + + +THE KRAKEN. + + +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 A.D. 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. + +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,[1] and who, one after +another, have copied from their predecessors erroneous statements +concerning him. More than half a century before him, Christian Francis +Paullinus,[2] a physician and naturalist of Eisenach, who evinced in his +writings an admiration of 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 manoeuvre 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. + + [1] 'Natural History of Norway.' A.D. 1751. + + [2] Born 1643; died 1712. + +And a hundred and fifty years before Bartholinus and Paullinus wrote, +Olaus Magnus,[3] 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. + + [3] 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,' Romae, + 1555. An English translation of this book was published by J. + Streater, in 1658. It does not contain the illustrations. + +Pontoppidan was not a fabricator of falsehoods; but, in 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 Linnaeus was led to believe in the Kraken, +and catalogued it in the first edition of his 'Systema Naturae,' as +'_Sepia Microcosmos_.' 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. + +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:[4] + + "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 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. + + "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 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. + + "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. + + "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 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." + + [4] 'Natural History of Norway,' vol. ii., p. 210. + +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: + + "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 antennae, + 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. + + "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 possible; for + these monsters, like the sea-snake, never appear at other times." + +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.' + + "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." + +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." + +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 _Cephalopoda_ and the _Asteridae_, +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, _Gorgonocephalus_, it is still known to zoologists. +"These Medusa's Heads," he says, "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: + + "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." + +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: + + "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." + +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 rendering of the water turbid and +thick by the emission of a substance which the narrator supposed to be +faecal 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 +(_Eledone moschatus_), it is so strong, that the specific name of the +animal is derived from it. + +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 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. + +In the old days of the Caesars, 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. + +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 _Cephalopoda_,[5] 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 +_Octopoda_:[6] others have, in addition to the eight feet, lobes, or +arms, two longer tentacular appendages, making ten in all, and are +consequently called the _Decapoda_. + + [5] From the Greek words _cephale_, the head; and _poda_, feet. + + [6] From _octo_, eight; and _pous_ (_poda_), feet. + +Of the ten-footed section of the cephalopods, there are four "families;" +two only of which exist in Britain--the _Teuthidae_, and the _Sepiidae_. +The _Teuthidae_ are the Calamaries, popularly known as "Squids," and are +represented by the long-bodied _Loligo vulgaris_, 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 "_calamus_," a "pen"), "pen-and-ink fish," and "sea-clerk." The +_Sepiidae_ are generally known as the Cuttles proper. As a type of them +we may take the common "cuttle-fish," _Sepia officinalis_, the owner of +the hard, calcareous shell often thrown up on the shore, and known as +"cuttle-bone," or "sea-biscuit." + +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 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, _Nautilus pompilius_, 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 _external_ 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 _Aplysia_ and +_Bullaea_, and to some land-slugs, as _Parmacella_ and _Limax_, which +have an _internal_ shell. + +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 _Octopus_, _Sepia_, and _Calamary_ 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. + +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 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 _Sepia_, 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 _Sepia_ 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 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-- + + "The endangered cuttle thus evades his fears, + And native hoards of fluids safely wears. + A pitchy ink peculiar glands supply + Whose shades the sharpest beam of light defy. + Pursued, he bids the sable fountains flow, + And, wrapt in clouds, eludes the impending foe. + The fish retreats unseen, while self-born night + With pious shade befriends her parent's flight." + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 _Sepia_ +possesses, or a long, horny pen such as _Loligo_ 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--BEAK AND ARMS OF A DECAPOD CUTTLE. + +_a_, the eight shorter arms; _t_, the tentacles; _f_, the funnel, or +locomotor tube.] + +Unlike the octopus, which is capable only of short flights through the +water, the "cuttles" and "squids," such as _Sepia_ and _Loligo_, 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 _Sepia_, 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 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. + +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 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--THE OCTOPUS (_Octopus vulgaris_).] + +Unlike the skulking, hiding octopus, its ten-armed relative, the +_Sepia_ 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 _Sepia_ moves gently to and fro by graceful undulations of 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.[7] 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. + + [7] See an excellent article in the _Field_, Sept. 2, 1876, on the + 'Ten Footed Cuttle' (_Sepia officinalis_), 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 _Field_, I reproduce them in suitable size for + these pages. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.--THE CUTTLE (_Sepia officinalis_).] + +The calamaries or squids of our British Seas seize their prey in the +same manner as _Sepia_, 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 (_Onychoteuthis_), the hooks are +restricted to the extremities of the pair of tentacles, in the other +(_Enoploteuthis_), both the tentacles and the shorter arms have hooks. +Professor Owen, in his description of these hook-armed calamaries in the +_Cyclopaedia of Anatomy_, notices also another structure which adds +greatly to their prehensile power (Fig. 4.). "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." + +The cephalopods obtain and eat their food very much like the rapacious +birds. They are the falcons of the sea. Some of them, like +_Onychoteuthis_, 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 4.--HOOKED TENTACLES OF _Onychoteuthis_.] + +The _Sepia_, 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, +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +That men are occasionally drowned by these creatures is, unhappily, a +fact too well attested. I have elsewhere[8] 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. + + [8] See 'The Octopus; or, the Devil-fish of Fiction and of Fact.' + 1873. Chapman and Hall. + +Mr. J. K. Lord's account of the formidable strength of these creatures +in Oregon is confirmed by an incident recorded in the _Weekly Oregonian_ +(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. + +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 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." + +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 _Leisure Hour_ 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. + +In _Appleton's American Journal of Science and Art_, 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. + +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. + +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." + +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.[9] + + [9] 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. + +The Japanese are well acquainted with the octopus; for it is commonly +depicted on their ornaments, and forms no unimportant item in their +fisheries. + +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 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 _Field_ of March 14th, 1874. Fig. 5 +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. Fig. 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 5.--JAPANESE FISHERMAN ATTACKED BY A CUTTLE.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 6.--ARMS OF A GREAT CUTTLE EXHIBITED IN A JAPANESE +FISHMONGER'S SHOP.] + +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 _Octopidae_ therefore that +we must look for a solution of the mystery. + +The basking condition is fulfilled by the _Sepia_; and its flattened +back, supported and rendered hard and firm to the touch by the +calcareous _sepiostaire_ beneath the skin, is broader in proportion than +that of the octopus or the squid. Thus _Sepia_ 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 +_Sepia_ 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. + +As we can find no species of the _Octopidae_ or _Sepiidae_ 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 _Teuthidae_. + +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 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. AElian 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. + +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 +_poulpe_, 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,[10] he depicted +this tremendous cuttle as throwing its arms over a three masted vessel, +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,[11] 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[12] +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. + + [10] 'Histoire Naturelle generale et particuliere des Mollusques,' + vol. ii., p. 256. + + [11] 'Conchyliologie Systematique.' + + [12] 'Hist. Nat. des Moll.,' vol. ii., pp. 358 to 368. + +[Illustration: FIG. 7.--FACSIMILE OF DE MONTFORT'S "_Poulpe colossal_."] + +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 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 _poulpe_ +was an invention of his own, and had no part whatever in the disaster +that he attributed to it. + +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. + +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 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. + +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[13] 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. + + [13] _Leisure Hour_, October, 1875, p. 636. + +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 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 +_Octopidae_, were all grouped under the title of _Sepia_. + +Pernetty, describing a voyage made by him in the years 1763-4,[14] +mentions gigantic cuttles met with in the Southern Seas. + + [14] 'Voyage aux Iles Malouines.' + +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. _Endeavour_, found +in the North Pacific, in latitude 38 deg. 44' S. and longitude 110 deg. 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 +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 _Endeavour_. 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 _Enoploteuthis Cookii_. 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. + +Peron,[15] 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, _Le Geographe_, 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. + + [15] 'Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes.' + +Quoy and Gaimard[16] 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. + + [16] 'Voyage de l'Uranie: Zoologie,' vol. i., part 2, p. 411. 1824. + +Captain Sander Rang[17] 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. + + [17] 'Manuel des Mollusques,' p. 86. + +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 _Architeuthis monachus_. Its body measured 21 +feet, and its tentacles 18 feet, making a total of 39 feet. + +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 _Architeuthis dux_. The body +was cut in pieces by the fishermen for bait, and furnished many +wheelbarrow loads. Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys[18] says Dr. Moerch 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. + + [18] 'British Conchology,' vol. v., p. 124. + +[Illustration: FIG. 8.--GIGANTIC CALAMARY CAUGHT BY THE FRENCH DESPATCH +VESSEL 'ALECTON,' NEAR TENERIFFE.] + +We have also the statement of the officers and crew of the French +despatch steamer, _Alecton_, 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 _Alecton_ 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.[19] + + [19] In the accompanying illustration, the size of the squid is + exaggerated, but not so much as has been supposed. + +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. + +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 +_Ommastrephes pteropus_. 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 _Architeuthis dux_, a species which he +regards as identical with _Ommastrephes todarus_ of D'Orbigny. + +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, and a portion of one and the whole of the +other, were brought ashore, and preserved for examination by competent +zoologists. + +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 _debris_ 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." + +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 (Fig. 9), as +measured by Mr. Alexander Murray, provincial geologist of Newfoundland, +and Professor Verrill, of Yale College, Connecticut, is 17 feet long and +3-1/2 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 1-1/2 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 9.--TENTACLE OF A GREAT CALAMARY (_Architeuthis +princeps_) TAKEN IN CONCEPTION BAY, NEWFOUNDLAND, OCT. 26, 1873.] + +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 bringing it ashore, +having been compelled to cut off its head before they could get it into +their boat. + +[Illustration: FIG. 10.--HEAD AND TENTACLES OF A GREAT CALAMARY +(_Architeuthis princeps_) TAKEN IN LOGIE BAY, NEWFOUNDLAND, NOV. 1873.] + +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 Verrill considers that this and the Conception Bay squid are +both referable to one species--Steenstrup's _Architeuthis dux_. + +Excellent woodcuts from photographs of these two specimens were given in +the _Field_ 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. + +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. + +In the _American Journal of Science and Arts_, 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 +_B. D. Hoskins_, 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. + +Another instance given by Professor Verrill is of a great squid found +alive in shallow water in Coomb's Cove, 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. + +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 tentacular sucker 1 +inch; number of suckers on each of the shorter arms 250. + +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, _Ommastrephes sagittatus_, 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. + +Dr. F. Hilgendorf records[20] 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. + + [20] 'Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft naturforschender Freunde zu + Berlin,' pp. 65-67, quoted by Professor Owen, _op. cit._ + +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[21] 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 are too +technical for discussion here. This specimen was photographed as it lay +upon the beach by M. Cazin, the photographer to the expedition. + + [21] 'Comptes Rendus,' t. 80, 1875, p. 998. + +The following account of the still more recent capture of a large squid +off the west coast of Ireland was given in the _Zoologist_ of June 1875, +by Sergeant Thomas O'Connor, of the Royal Irish Constabulary:-- + + "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." + +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 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 _Teuthidae_, 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 +_Plectoteuthis_, with the specific title of _grandis_ 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. + +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 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 +_Plectoteuthis_ 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. + +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 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. + +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." + + + + +THE GREAT SEA SERPENT. + + +The belief in the existence of sea-serpents of formidable dimensions is +of great antiquity. Aristotle, writing about B.C. 340, says[22]:--"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. + + [22] 'History of Animals,' book 8, chap. 28. + +Pliny tells us[23] 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. + + [23] 'Naturalis Historiae,' Lib. vi., cap. 23. + +Valerius Maximus,[24] 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 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. + + [24] 'De Factis, Dictisque Memorabilibus,' Lib. i., cap. 8, 1st + century. + +The "_Serpens marinus_" 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. + +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. The greatest length to which they are +authentically known to attain is about twelve feet. The form and +structure of these _hydrophides_ 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. + +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 _Illustrated London +News_ 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 (Fig. 11) is one of the illustrations of the +article referred to. It will be seen that Jonah 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 A.D. 230, but +it probably represents a tradition of far greater antiquity. + +[Illustration: FIG. 11.--JONAH AND THE SEA MONSTER. + +_From the Catacombs of Rome._] + +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 existence as +implicitly as in the tenets of their religious creed. Olaus Magnus, +Archbishop of Upsala, in Sweden, wrote of it in A.D. 1555 as +follows:[25]-- + + "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.[26] 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." + + [25] 'Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus,' Lib. xxi. cap. 43. + + [26] "Coils itself in spherical convolutions" is a better + translation of the original Latin. + +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, A.D. 1523, 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. + +Amongst his illustrations of the sea monsters he describes are the two +of which I give facsimiles on the next page. In Fig. 12 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 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 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 12.--A SEA SERPENT SEIZING A MAN ON BOARD SHIP. + +_After_ OLAUS MAGNUS.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 13.--A GIGANTIC LOBSTER DRAGGING A MAN FROM A SHIP. + +_After_ OLAUS MAGNUS.] + +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, 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. + +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 _Acalephae_, or sea-nettles, +Pontoppidan says:-- + + "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." + +Of the sea-serpent Pontoppidan writes:-- + + "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 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." + +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. + +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:-- + + "Mr. JOHN REUTZ-- + + "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-Naess, 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 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. + + "I remain, Sir, your obliged servant, + + "L. DE FERRY. + + "Bergen, 21st February, 1751. + + "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. _Actum Bergis die et loco, ut + supra._ + + "A. C. DASS (_Chief Advocate_). + + "H. C. GARTNER (_Recorder_)." + +[Illustration: FIG. 14.--PONTOPPIDAN'S "SEA SERPENT."] + +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:-- + + "'I have been informed,' he says, 'by some of our sea-faring men + that a cable[27] 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.'" + + [27] Six hundred feet. + +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 vertebrae +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. + +The sea-monster seen by Egede was of an entirely different kind; and +his account of it--let sceptics deride it 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,[28] 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 +page 29, but they bear the same unmistakable signs of fidelity which +characterise those of the Japanese. + + [28] 'Des alten Groenlands neue Perlustration,' 8vo., Frankfurt, + 1730, and 'Det Gamle Groenlands nye perlustratione eller Naturel + Historie.' 4to., Copenhagen, 1741. + +In his 'Journal of the Missions to Greenland' this author tell us that-- + + "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." + +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 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 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 15--THE ANIMAL DRAWN BY MR. BING AS HAVING BEEN SEEN +BY HANS EGEDE.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 16.--THE ANIMAL WHICH EGEDE PROBABLY SAW.] + +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:-- + + "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. 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 vertebrae 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,[29] "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 _facsimile_ 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." + + [29] Jardine's Naturalists' Library: 'Marine Amphibia,' p. 314. + +[Illustration: FIG. 17.--THE "SEA SERPENT" OF THE WERNERIAN SOCIETY. +(_Facsimile._)] + +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, + + "'Tis true, 'tis pity; + And pity 'tis 'tis true," + +the whole fabric of circumstances crumbled at the touch of science. +When the two vertebrae 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 _Selache_, 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 vertebrae 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. + +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. + +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 Linnaean 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 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." + +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 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 _Zoologist_, in 1847 (p. 1715), and at that date all +the officers above named were still living. + +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 Johnoen, 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 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. + +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. + +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." + +Sheriffe Goettsche 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." + +We must take one more Norwegian account, for it is a very important +one. The venerable P. W. Deinbolt,[30] Archdeacon of Molde, gives the +following account of an incident that occurred there on the 28th of +July, 1845: + + [30] Hitherto erroneously printed "Deinboll." + + "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, 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. W. DEINBOLT. + + "Molde, 29th Nov., 1845." + +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. + +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 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 +_Alecton_ 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 18.--A CALAMARY SWIMMING AT THE SURFACE OF THE SEA.] + +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 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 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. + +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 Theologiae +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 _probably_ furnished with a mane." Not that they _saw_ any +mane, but as they had been told of it, they thought they _ought to have +seen it_. Less careful and conscientious persons would have persuaded +themselves, and declared on oath, that they _did see it_. + +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 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. + +We now come to an incident which, from the character of those who +witnessed it, immediately commanded attention, and excited popular +curiosity. In the _Times_ of the 9th of October, 1848, appeared a +paragraph stating that a sea-serpent had been met with by the _Daedalus_ +frigate, on her homeward voyage from the East Indies. The Admiralty +immediately inquired of her commander, Captain M'Quhae, 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 _Times_ of the +13th of October, 1848. + + "H.M.S. _Daedalus_, Hamoaze, + October 11th, 1848. + + "Sir,--In reply to your letter of this date, requiring information + as to the truth of the statement published in the _Times_ + newspaper, of a sea-serpent of extraordinary dimensions having been + seen from H.M.S. _Daedalus_, 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 P.M. on the 6th of Aug. last, in lat. 24 deg. 44' S. and long. + 9 deg. 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 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 _a + fleur d'eau_, 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. + + "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. + + "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.--PETER M'QUHAE, Captain." + +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 _Illustrated London News_ on the 28th of October, +1848. I am kindly permitted by the proprietors of that journal to +reproduce 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 (_Frontispiece_), 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 19.--THE "SEA SERPENT" PASSING UNDER THE QUARTER OF +H.M.S. 'DAEDALUS.'] + +Lieutenant Drummond, the officer of the watch mentioned in Captain +M'Quhae'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. + + "I beg to send you the following extract from my journal. H.M.S. + 'Daedalus,' August 6, 1848, lat. 25 deg. S., long. 9 deg. 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 the time, with + some sea running.--EDGAR DRUMMOND, Lieut. H.M.S. 'Daedalus;' + Southampton, Oct. 28, 1848." + +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 _Zoologist_, 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 _Illustrated News_ of October 28th, and +four days afterwards, November 2nd, a letter signed F.G.S. appeared in +the _Times_, in which the same idea was mooted, and the opinion +expressed that it might be the _Plesiosaurus_. 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 _Times_, 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 _in extenso_. 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 +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'Quhae's reply, which was +promptly given in the _Times_ of the 21st of November, 1848, as +follows:-- + + "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 '_Phoca_' 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. + + "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. + + "The creative powers of the human mind may be very limited. 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 'Daedalus' 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. + + "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. M'QUHAE, late Captain of H.M.S. 'Daedalus.'" + +Of course neither Professor Owen, nor any one else, doubted the +veracity or _bona fides_ 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 algae; 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 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'Quhae. +"_The head long, pointed and flat on the top_," accords with the pointed +extremity and caudal fin of the squid. "_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._" A perfect description of the +position and action of a squid swimming. "_No portion of it perceptibly +used in propelling it through the water, either by vertical or +horizontal undulations._" 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 _Daedalus_ +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'Quhae, 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. + +In a letter addressed to the Editor of the _Bombay Times_, 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 _Royal Saxon_, 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. + +Dr. Scott, of Exeter, sent to the Editor of the _Zoologist_ (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 +_Lady Combermere_. 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). + +In the _Sun_ Newspaper of July 9th, 1849, was published the following +statement of Captain Herriman, of the ship _Brazilian_: + + "On the morning of the 24th February, the ship being becalmed in + lat. 26 deg. S., long. 8 deg. E. (about forty miles from the place where + Captain M'Quhae 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, 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." + +Captain Harrington, of the ship _Castilian_, reported in the _Times_ of +February 5th, 1858, that: + + "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,[31] + 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." + + [31] See illustration, p. 67. + +Evidently, again, a large calamary raising its caudal extremity and fin +above the surface, and discolouring the water by discharging its ink. + +This was immediately followed by a letter from Captain Frederick Smith, +of the ship _Pekin_, who stated that: + + "On December 28th, 1848, being then in lat. 26 deg. S., long. 6 deg. 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 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." + +In September, 1872, Mr. Frank Buckland published, in _Land and Water_, +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. + +On the 10th of January, 1877, the following affidavit was made before +Mr. Raffles, magistrate, at Liverpool: + + "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 deg. 13' S., long. 35 deg. 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. + +"GEO. DREVAR, Master; HORATIO THOMPSON, JOHN HENDERSON +LANDELLS, OWEN BAKER, and WILLIAM LEWARN. + + "Again, on July 13, a similar serpent was seen, about two hundred + yards off, shooting itself along the surface, head and neck being + out of the water several feet. This was seen only by the captain + and one ordinary seaman. + +"GEORGE DREVAR, Master. + + "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." + +In the _Illustrated London News_, of November 20th, 1875, there had +previously appeared a letter from the Rev. E. L. Penny, Chaplain to +H.M.S. _London_, 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 _Pauline_. "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. +_London_, then the guard ship on that station. + +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 London. I +have no desire to force this narrative of the master and crew of the +_Pauline_ 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. + +[Illustration: FIG 20.--THE "SEA SERPENT" AND SPERM WHALE AS SEEN FROM +THE 'PAULINE.'] + +On the 28th of January, 1879, a "sea-serpent" was seen from the s.s. +_City of Baltimore_, 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 21.--THE "SEA SERPENT" AS SEEN FROM THE 'CITY OF +BALTIMORE.'] + +In June 1877 Commander Pearson reported to the Admiralty, that on the +2nd of that month, he and other officers of the Royal Yacht _Osborne_, +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. + + "Lieutenant Haynes writes, under date, 'Royal Yacht _Osborne_, + 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 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 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." + +[Illustration: FIG. 22.--THE "SEA SERPENT" AS SEEN FROM H.M. YACHT +'OSBORNE.' + +PHASE I.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 23.--THE "SEA SERPENT" AS SEEN FROM H.M. YACHT +'OSBORNE.' + +PHASE 2.] + +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. + +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 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 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.[32] + + [32] It must be noted, however, that in almost every case, except + that of the _Osborne_, the paddles were _supposed_, not _seen_, 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. + +The similarity of such an animal to the _Plesiosaurus_ 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 _Bridgewater Treatise_, 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 vertebrae (about thirty-three) it +surpasses that of the longest-necked bird, the swan. + +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 _Enaliosauria_, or marine +lizards, whose 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 _Plesiosaurus_ 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 _Enaliosauria_, it would be, I think, quite in conformity with +general analogy to find some salient features of several extinct forms." + +[Illustration: FIG 24. + +_Plesiosaurus Dolichodeirus restored by The Rev. W. D. Canybeare._] + +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, 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?" + +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. + +"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."[33] + + [33] 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." + +[Illustration: FIG. 25.--THE "SEA SERPENT," ON THE ENALIOSAURIAN +HYPOTHESIS. + +_After_ Mr. P. H. GOSSE, F.R.S.] + +Professor Agassiz, too, is adduced by a correspondent of the _Zoologist_ +(p. 2395), as having said concerning the present existence of the +_Enaliosaurian_ 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." + +On this point, Mr. Newman records, in the _Zoologist_ (p. 2356), an +actual testimony which he considers, "in all respects, the most +interesting natural-history fact of the present century." He writes: + + "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 _Ichthyosauri_ and _Plesiosauri_, 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." + +Unfortunately, the estimated dimensions of this creature are not given. + +That negative evidence alone is an unsafe basis for argument against the +existence of unknown animals, the following illustrations will show: + +During the deep-sea dredgings of H.M.S. _Lightning_, _Porcupine_, and +_Challenger_, 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. + +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. + +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 (_R. +lasiotis_), 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." + +I arrive, then, at the following conclusions: 1st. That, without +straining resemblances, or casting a doubt upon 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. + +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. + +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. + + +FINIS. + + + + + LONDON: + PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, + STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. + +[Illustration: A MERMAID. + +_From a Picture by Otto Sinding._] + + + + + _International Fisheries Exhibition_ LONDON, 1883 + + SEA FABLES EXPLAINED + + BY + + HENRY LEE, F.L.S., F.G.S., F.Z.S. + + SOMETIME NATURALIST OF THE BRIGHTON AQUARIUM + AND + AUTHOR OF 'THE OCTOPUS, OR THE DEVIL-FISH OF FICTION AND FACT;' + 'SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED,' ETC. + + ILLUSTRATED + + LONDON + + WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED + INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION + AND 13 CHARING CROSS, S.W. + 1883 + + + + + LONDON: + PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, + STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +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. + +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. + +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 Mycenae, and figured in the very +interesting book in which his excavations there are described. I have +also to thank the proprietors of the _Illustrated London News_, the +_Leisure Hour_, and _Land and Water_, for the use of illustrations +especially mentioned in the text. + + HENRY LEE. + +SAVAGE CLUB; + _Sept. 4th, 1883_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + THE MERMAID 1 + + THE LERNEAN HYDRA 48 + + SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS 59 + + THE "SPOUTING" OF WHALES 62 + + THE "SAILING" OF THE NAUTILUS 76 + + BARNACLE GEESE--GOOSE BARNACLES 98 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + FIG. PAGE + + A MERMAID. _From a picture by Otto Sinding_ _Frontispiece_ + + 1. NOAH, HIS WIFE AND THREE SONS, AS FISH-TAILED DEITIES. 2 + _From a gem in the Florentine Gallery. After Calmet_ + + 2. HEA, OR NOAH, THE GOD OF THE FLOOD. _Khorsabad_ 3 + + 3. DAGON. _From a bas-relief. Nimroud_ 4 + + 4. DAGON: HALF MAN, HALF FISH. _From Lamy's 'Apparatus 5 + Biblicus'_ + + 5. DAGON. _From an agate signet. Nineveh_ " + + 6. FISH AVATAR OF VISHNU. _After Calmet and Maurice_ 6 + + 7. ATERGATIS, THE GODDESS OF THE SYRIANS. _From a 8 + Phoenician Coin_ + + 8. VENUS RISING FROM THE SEA, SUPPORTED BY TRITONS. _After 9 + Calmet_ + + 9. VENUS DRAWN IN HER CHARIOT BY TRITONS. _From two 10 + Corinthian Coins_ + + 10. DITTO. 11 + + 11. SEAL, DRAWN AS A FISH. _From the Catacombs at Rome_ " + + 12. MERMAID AND FISHES OF AMBOYNA. _After Valentyn_ 17 + + 13. A JAPANESE ARTIFICIAL MERMAID 27 + + 14. AN ARTIFICIAL MERMAID. _Probably Japanese_ 28 + + 15. PORTRAIT OF A MERMAID SAID TO HAVE BEEN CAPTURED IN JAPAN 29 + + 16. THE DUGONG. _From Sir J. Emerson Tennent's 'Ceylon'_ 43 + + 17. THE MANATEE 45 + + 18. FIGURE OF A CALAMARY, FROM THE TEMPLE OF BAYR-EL-BAHREE 50 + + 19. FIGURE OF AN OCTOPUS ON A GOLD ORNAMENT FOUND BY DR. 51 + SCHLIEMANN AT MYCENAE + + 20. DITTO. 52 + + 21. DITTO. 53 + + 22. DITTO. " + + 23. HERCULES SLAYING THE LERNEAN HYDRA 57 + + 24. THE PHYSETER INUNDATING A SHIP. _After Olaus Magnus_ 64 + + 25. A WHALE POURING WATER INTO A SHIP FROM ITS BLOW-HOLE. 64 + _After Olaus Magnus_ + + 26. SPERM WHALES "SPOUTING" 65 + + 27. THE PAPER NAUTILUS (_Argonauta argo_) SAILING 76 + + 28. DITTO. RETRACTED WITHIN ITS SHELL 81 + + 29. DITTO. CRAWLING 86 + + 30. DITTO. SWIMMING 87 + + 31. SHELL OF THE PAPER NAUTILUS (_Argonauta argo_) 88 + + 32. SHELL OF THE PEARLY NAUTILUS (_Nautilus pompilius_) 89 + + 33. THE PEARLY NAUTILUS (_Nautilus Pompilius_) AND SECTION OF 90 + ITS SHELL + + 34. THE GOOSE-TREE. _From Gerard's 'Herball'_ 104 + + 35. DITTO. _Fac-simile from Aldrovandus_ 110 + + 36. DEVELOPMENT OF BARNACLES INTO GEESE. _Fac-simile from 111 + Aldrovandus_ + + 37. SECTION OF A SESSILE BARNACLE. _Balanus tintinnabulum_ 113 + + 38. PEDUNCULATED BARNACLE. _Lepas anatifera_ 115 + + 39. A SHIP'S FIGURE-HEAD PARTLY COVERED WITH BARNACLES 116 + + 40. WHALE BARNACLE. _Coronula diadema_ 117 + + 41. A YOUNG BARNACLE. _Larva of Chthamalus stellatus_ 118 + + + + +SEA FABLES EXPLAINED. + + + + +THE MERMAID. + + +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. + +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 +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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--NOAH, HIS WIFE, AND THREE SONS, AS FISH-TAILED +DEITIES. + +_From a Gem in the Florentine Gallery. After Calmet._] + +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. + +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. + +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 B.C. 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.[34] + + [34] Berosus, lib. i. p. 48. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--HEA, OR NOAH, THE GOD OF THE FLOOD. +_Khorsabad._] + +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 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,"[35] or Thebes--so named from "Theba," "the ark." + + [35] Nahum iii. 8. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.--DAGON. _From a bas relief. Nimroud._] + +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. + +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[36] that in its fall, "the +head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the +threshold: only the _stump_ (in the margin, "_the fishy part_") of Dagon +was left to him." This was evidently Milton's conception of him: + + "Dagon his name; sea-monster, upward man + And downward fish."[37] + + [36] 1 Samuel v. 4. + + [37] 'Paradise Lost,' Book i. l. 462. + +[Illustration: FIG. 4.--DAGON. _After Calmet._] + +[Illustration: FIG. 5.--DAGON. _From an Agate Signet. Nineveh._] + +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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 6.--FISH AVATAR OF VISHNU. + +_After Calmet and Maurice._] + +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 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."[38] +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. + + [38] 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. + +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 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 _Carnaim_. But they took the city, and burned the +temple with all that were therein. Thus was _Carnaim_ 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 +_Carnion_, and to the temple of _Atargatis_, and there he slew five and +twenty thousand persons." In Genesis xiv. 5, this city and temple are +referred to as "_Ashteroth Karnaim_." + +Fig. 7 is a representation of Atergatis on a medal coined at Marseilles. +It shows that when the Phoenician colony from Syria, by whom that city +was founded, settled there, they brought with them the worship of the +gods of their country. + +[Illustration: FIG. 7.--ATERGATIS. + +_From a Phoenician coin._] + +Atergatis was worshipped by the Greeks as Derceto and Astarte. Lucian +writes[39]:--"In Phoenicia 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, 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[40] +"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 Phoenicians +who came from that part of Syria. + + [39] 'Opera Omnia,' tom. ii. p. 884, edit. Bened. de Dea. Syr. + + [40] Lib. i. cap. cv. + +[Illustration: FIG. 8.--VENUS RISING FROM THE SEA, SUPPORTED BY TRITONS. + +_After Calmet._] + +Thus the worship of Noah, as the second father of mankind, the +repopulator of the earth, passed through various 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: + + "Blest Venus! Thou the sea and fruitful earth + Peoplest amain; to thee whatever lives + Its being owes, and that it sees the sun:" + +and to whom refers the passage in the Orphic hymn: + + "From thee are all things--all things thou producest + Which are in heaven, or in the fertile earth, + Or in the sea, or in the great abyss." + +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. + +[Illustration: + +FIG. 9. FIG. 10. + +VENUS DRAWN IN HER CHARIOT BY TRITONS. _From two Corinthian coins._] + +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 head of Nero, and on that of Fig. 10, the head +of his grandmother Agrippina.[41] + + [41] 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: Iesous], Jesus; [Greek: Christos], Christ; + [Greek: Theou], of God; [Greek: gios], Son; [Greek: Soter], + 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,' page 55, I gave a figure, copied by permission + from the _Illustrated London News_, 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 _ichtheus_ in this instance is apparently not a + fish, but a seal. + + [Illustration: FIG. 11.--CHRISTIAN SYMBOL. _From the Catacombs at + Rome._] + + The article referred to appeared in the _Illustrated London News_ 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. + +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 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. + +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. AElian 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. + +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. + +Pliny writes[42]: "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." + + [42] _Naturalis Historia_, Lib. ix. cap. v. + +AElian in one of his short, jerky, disconnected chapters,[43] 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 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[44] 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." + + [43] _De Natura Animalium_, Lib. xvi. cap. xviii. + + [44] "_Forfices_," literally "shears," or "nippers," like the claws + of a lobster. + +AElian seems to have derived this information from Megasthenes, already +referred to; but in another chapter,[45] 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 Boeotia, 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 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 AElian, "that +tritons exist, and I reverentially produce as my witness a most +veracious god--namely, Apollo Didymaeus, 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: + + [45] Lib. xiii. cap. xxi. + + '_Dum vocale maris monstrum natat aequore triton, + Neptuni pecus, in funes forte incidit extra + Demissos navim_';" + +which I venture to translate as follows: + + A triton, vocal monster of the deep, + One of a flock of Neptune's scaly sheep, + Was caught, whilst swimming o'er the watery plain, + By lines which fishers from their boat had lain. + +"Therefore," AElian concludes, "if he, the omniscient god, pronounces +that there are tritons, it does not behove us to doubt their existence." + +Sir J. Emerson Tennent, in his 'Natural History of Ceylon,' quoting +from the _Histoire de la Compagnie de Jesus_, 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,[46] embodied in his great work on the Netherlands' possessions +in India, published in 1727,[47] 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 of the +circumstance recorded by Albrecht Herport[48] 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,[49] with a minute description of each for the +satisfaction of men of science. + +[Illustration: FIG. 12.--MERMAID AND FISHES OF AMBOYNA. _After +Valentyn._] + + [46] One of the Dutch spice-islands in the Banda Sea, between + Celebes and Papua. + + [47] _Beschrijving van Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien_, etc., 5 vols. + folio, Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1727, vol. iii. p. 330. + + [48] _Itinerarium Indicum_, Berne, 1669. + + [49] With the permission and assistance of Messrs. Longman, the + accompanying wood-cut of this picture, and that of the Dugong, on + page 43, are copied from Sir J. Emerson Tennent's book published in + 1861. + +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." + +In an early account of Newfoundland,[50] 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 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. + + [50] Whitbourne's 'Discourse of Newfoundland.' + +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 _Philosophical +Transactions_.[51] 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 +water, which exactly resembled the tail of a fish, with a broad fane at +the end of it." + + [51] Glover's 'Account of Virginia,' ap. Phil. Trans. vol. xi. p. + 625. + +Thormodus Torfaeus[52] maintains that mermaids are found on the south +coast of Iceland, and, according to Olafsen,[53] 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. + + [52] _Historia rerum Norvegicarum._ + + [53] _Voyage en Islande_, tom. iii. p. 223. + +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,[54] "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 +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 Bussaeus +(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." + + [54] 'Natural History of Norway,' vol. ii. p. 190. + +"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 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." + +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. 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[55] 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. + + [55] _Feroa Reserata_, or Description of the Faroe Islands. 8vo. + Copenhagen, 1673. + +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, 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 Bussaeus, before the privy-councillor, Fridrich von +Gram, and their testimony to the above effect was given on their +respective oaths. + +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 +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." + +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. + +Somewhat similar accounts have been brought from the Southern +Hemisphere, two, at least, of which are worth transcribing. + +Captain Colnett, in his 'Voyage to the South Atlantic,' says:--"A very +singular circumstance happened off the coast of Chili, in lat. 24 deg. S., +which spread some alarm amongst my people, and awakened their +superstitious apprehensions. About 8 o'clock in the evening an animal +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." + +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. + + "Roused by that voice of silver sound, + From the paved floor he lightly sprung, + And, glaring with his eyes around, + Where the fair nymph her tresses wrung,"[56] + +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." + + "As on the wond'ring youth she smiled, + Again she raised the melting lay,"[56] + + [56] John Leyden. + +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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 13.--A JAPANESE ARTIFICIAL MERMAID.] + +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 _Land and Water_, and which forms the +subject of a chapter in his 'Curiosities of Natural History,'[57] 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 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, (_Anarchicas lupus_). These +Japanese artificial mermaids have brought many a dollar into the pockets +of Mr. Barnum and other showmen. + + [57] Third Series, vol. ii. p. 134, 2nd ed. + +Somewhat different in appearance from this, but of the same kind, was an +artificial mermaid described in the _Saturday Magazine_ 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 14.--AN ARTIFICIAL MERMAID, PROBABLY JAPANESE.] + +Fig. 15 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 those of the Assyrians (Fig. 2, page +3) is remarkable. The inscription, however, does not indicate this. The +Chinese characters in the centre--"_Nin giyo_"--signify "human fish;" +those on the right in Japanese _Hira Kana_, or running-hand, have the +same purport, and those on the left, in _Kata Kana_, the characters of +the Japanese alphabet, mean "_Ichi hiru ike_"--"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." + +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.[58] + + [58] Naturalist's Library, Marine Amphibiae, p. 291. + +[Illustration: FIG. 15.--A MERMAID. _From a Japanese picture._] + +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, and abdomen were as large as those of a +full-grown female," and, altogether, + + "That sea-nymph's form of pearly light + Was whiter than the downy spray, + And round her bosom, heaving bright, + Her glossy yellow ringlets play."[59] + + [59] John Leyden. + +"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 + + "saw the maiden there, + Just as the daylight faded, + Braiding her locks of gowden hair + An' singing as she braided,"[60] + + [60] The Ettrick Shepherd. + +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. + +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 "the animal +was about three feet long, the upper part of the body resembling the +human, with protuberant mammae, 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 +mammae 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 +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 + + "He that complies against his will + Is of his own opinion still." + +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. + +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, 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 + + "Away she went with a sea-gull's scream, + And a splash of her saucy tail,"[61] + + [61] Tom Hood. 'The Mermaid at Margate.' + +for it instantly plunged with a scream into the sea. + +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. + +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 + + "Oft, beneath the silver moon,[62] + Has heard, afar, the mermaid sing," + +and has listened, so they say, to + + "The mermaid's sweet sea-soothing lay + That charmed the dancing waves to sleep."[62] + + [62] John Leyden. + +Mr. Robert Hunt, F.R.S., in his collection of the traditions and +superstitions of old Cornwall,[63] 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. + + [63] 'Romances and Drolls of the West of England.' London: Hotten, + 1871. + +And, in a pleasant article in 'All the Year Round,'[64] 1865, "A Cornish +Vicar"[65] 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:-- + + [64] Vol. xiii. p. 336. + + [65] 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. + +"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 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 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. + +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? + +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 _Quadrumana_ 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.[66] + + [66] 'Geography and Distribution of Animals.' + +Mr. Gosse[67] 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 has an odd way of mocking at our impossibilities, +and" that "it _may be_ 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." + + [67] 'Romance of Natural History,' 2nd Series. + +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. + +We have in the form and habits of the _Phocidae_, 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 _mammae_ 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +Laing, in his account of a voyage to the North, mentions having seen a +seal under similar circumstances. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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 _Otaria_ 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. + +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 _manatee_, 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 _dugong_, or +_halicore_, which ranges along the east coast of Africa, Southern Asia, +the Bornean Archipelago, and Australia; and, third, the _rytina_, 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.[68] Then science, in +the person of Illeger, made the _amende honorable_, and frankly +accepting Jack's introduction to his fish-tailed _innamorata_, classed +these three animals together as a sub-order of the animal kingdom, and +bestowed on them the name of the _Sirenia_. 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. + + [68] 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. + +It has been found difficult to determine to which order these _Manatidae_ +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, _Dinotherium_ and +_Halitherium_. 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. + +The _Halitherium_ 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 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 _Halitherium_ 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 16.--THE DUGONG. _From Sir J. Emerson Tennent's +'Ceylon.'_] + +In all the _Manatidae_ the mammae 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 cetae, 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 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 "_mulier +formosa superne_," at any rate "_desinit in piscem_." 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 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.[69] + + [69] 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, Fig. 17, + is borrowed by the kind consent of the Editor of that publication. + +I believe the dugong to be more especially the animal referred to by +AElian 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 AElian'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. + +In the case of either of these two animals being mistaken 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 17.--THE MANATEE. ITS USUAL POSITION.] + +Unfortunately both the dugong and the manatee are being hunted to +extinction. + +The flesh of the manatee is considered a great delicacy. 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. + +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 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 _Salmonia_ 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." + + + + +THE LERNEAN HYDRA. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Apollodorus of Athens, son of Asclepiades, who wrote in stiff, quaint +Greek about 120 B.C., 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-manoeuvred 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." + +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 AEgean seas, and +whose eight prehensile arms, or tentacles, spring from its central body, +the immortal head, and which, if lost or mutilated by misadventure, are +capable of reproduction. + +[Illustration: FIG. 18.--FIGURE OF A CALAMARY. _From the temple of +Bayr-el-Bahree_.] + +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 B.C.), 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 19.--FIGURE OF AN OCTOPUS ON A GOLD ORNAMENT, FOUND +BY DR. SCHLIEMANN AT MYCENAE.] + +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 [Greek: SURAKOSION]. 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 20.--GOLDEN ORNAMENT IN FORM OF AN OCTOPUS, FOUND BY +DR. SCHLIEMANN AT MYCENAE.] + +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 +Mycenae; 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. + +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. + +[Illustration: + +FIG. 21. FIG. 22. + +FIGURES OF THE OCTOPUS ON GOLD ORNAMENTS FOUND BY DR. SCHLIEMANN AT +MYCENAE.] + +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. + +This mutilation is so common in some localities, that Professor +Steenstrup says[70] 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 _Octopoda_ possess the power of reproducing with +great facility and rapidity their arms, which are exposed to so many +enemies, the _Decapoda_--the _Sepiidae_ and Squids--appear to be +incapable of thus repairing and replacing accidental injuries. This is +entirely in accord with my own observations. + + [70] Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. August, 1857. + +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. + +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 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. + + "When wintry skies o'er the black ocean frown, + And clouds hang low with ripen'd storms o'ergrown, + Close in the shelter of some vaulted cave + The soft-skinn'd prekes[71] their porous bodies save. + But forc'd by want, while rougher seas they dread, + On their own feet, necessitous, are fed. + But when returning spring serenes the skies, + Nature the growing parts anew supplies. + Again on breezy sands the roamers creep, + Twine to the rocks, or paddle in the deep. + Doubtless the God whose will commands the seas, + Whom liquid worlds and wat'ry natives please, + Has taught the fish by tedious wants opprest + Life to preserve and be himself the feast." + + [71] 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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 AElian 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 predatory monster +as the Lernean Hydra, which had the evil reputation of devouring the +Peloponnesian cattle. + +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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 23.--HERCULES SLAYING THE LERNEAN HYDRA. + +_From Smith's 'Classical Dictionary.'_] + +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: + + "The crawling preke a deadly juice contains + Injected poison fires the wounded veins." + +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 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. + +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 Mycenae. 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." + + + + +SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. + + +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. + +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: + + "Full in the centre of this rock displayed + A yawning cavern casts a dreadful shade, + Nor the fleet arrow from the twanging bow + Sent with full force, could reach the depth below. + Wide to the west the horrid gulf extends, + And the dire passage down to hell descends. + O fly the dreadful sight! expand thy sails, + Ply the strong oar, and catch the nimble gales; + Here Scylla bellows from her dire abodes; + Tremendous pest! abhorred by man and gods! + Hideous her voice, and with less terrors roar + The whelps of lions in the midnight hour. + Twelve feet deformed and foul the fiend dispreads; + Six horrid necks she rears, and six terrific heads; + + * * * * * + + When stung with hunger she embroils the flood, + The sea-dog and the dolphin are her food; + She makes the huge leviathan her prey, + And all the monsters of the wat'ry way; + The swiftest racer of the azure plain + Here fills her sails and spreads her oars in vain; + Fell Scylla rises, in her fury roars, + At once six mouths expands, at once six men devours."[72] + + [72] Homer's 'Odyssey,' Pope's Translation, Book XII. + +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 + + "shun the horrid gulf, by Scylla fly; + 'Tis better six to lose than all to die." + +Ulysses continues his voyage; and as his ship enters the ominous strait, + + "Struck with despair, with trembling hearts we viewed + The yawning dungeon, and the tumbling flood; + When, lo! fierce Scylla stooped to seize her prey, + Stretched her dire jaws, and swept six men away. + Chiefs of renown! loud echoing shrieks arise; + I turn, and view them quivering in the skies; + They call, and aid, with outstretched arms, implore, + In vain they call! those arms are stretched no more. + As from some rock that overhangs the flood, + The silent fisher casts th' insidious food; + With fraudful care he waits the finny prize, + And sudden lifts it quivering to the skies; + So the foul monster lifts her prey on high, + So pant the wretches, struggling in the sky; + In the wide dungeon she devours her food, + And the flesh trembles while she churns the blood." + + + + +THE "SPOUTING" OF WHALES. + + +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. + +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': + + "Uncouth the sight when they in dreadful play + Discharge their nostrils and refund a sea," + +and + + "While noisy fin-fish let their fountains fly + And spout the curling torrent to the sky." + +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 +_with their heads above the surface_, 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 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[73] describing, as follows, the _Physeter_, or, as his +translator, Streater, calls it, the _Whirlpool_. "The _Physeter_ or +_Pristis_," 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." + + [73] 'Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus,' lib. xxi. cap. vi. + A.D. 1555. + +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 +_Physeter_ is depicted as uprearing a maned neck and head, like that of +a fabled dragon; whilst in Fig. 25 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. + +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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 24.--THE PHYSETER INUNDATING A SHIP. _After Olaus +Magnus._] + +[Illustration: FIG. 25.--A WHALE POURING WATER INTO A SHIP FROM ITS +BLOW-HOLE. _After Olaus Magnus._] + +[Illustration: FIG. 26--SPERM WHALES SPOUTING.] + +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 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 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. + +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 _Beluga_, 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. + +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 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. + +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." + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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 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. + +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[74] 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 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. + + [74] 'Natural History of the Sperm Whale.' Van Voorst, 1839. + +It is said that the blowing of the _Beluga_, 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. + +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. + +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 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 _Balaena mysticetus_ (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." + +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." + +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 (_Balaena mysticetus_):--"The 'blowing,' so familiar a +feature of the _Cetacea_, but especially of the _Mysticetus_ 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." + +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." + +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. + +Mr. Herman Melville, who is not a naturalist, but has served before the +mast in a sperm-whaler and borne 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." + +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 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. + +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. + +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 oesophagus. If water were to +enter the bronchi of a whale it would instantly produce similar +discomfort. + +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. + + + + +THE "SAILING" OF THE NAUTILUS. + + +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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 27.--THE PAPER NAUTILUS (_Argonauta argo_) SAILING.] + +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, 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. + +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 AElian, and the tribe of compilers who +succeeded them, having been more concerned to make their histories +sensational than to verify their statements. + +Naturally, the Paper Nautilus has been the subject of many a poet's +verses. Oppian wrote of it in his 'Halieutics':-- + + "Sail-fish in secret, silent deeps reside, + In shape and nature to the preke[75] allied; + Close in their concave shells their bodies wrap, + Avoid the waves and every storm escape. + But not to mirksome depths alone confined; + When pleasing calms have stilled the sighing wind, + Curious to know what seas above contain, + They leave the dark recesses of the main; + Now, wanton, to the changing surface haste, + View clearer skies, and the pure welkin taste. + But slow they, cautious, rise, and, prudent, fear + The upper region of the watery sphere; + Backward they mount, and as the stream o'erflows, + Their convex shells to pressing floods oppose. + Conscious, they know that, should they forward move, + O'erwhelming waves would sink them from above, + Fill the void space, and with the rushing weight, + Force down th' inconstants to their former seat. + When, first arrived, they feel the stronger blast, + They lie supine and skim the liquid waste. + The natural barks out-do all human art + When skilful floaters play the sailor's part. + Two feet they upward raise, and steady keep; + These are the masts and rigging of the ship: + A membrane stretch'd between supplies the sail, + Bends from the masts, and swells before the gale. + Two other feet hang paddling on each side, + And serve for oars to row and helm to guide. + 'Tis thus they sail, pleased with the wanton game, + The fish, the sailor, and the ship, the same. + But when the swimmers dread some dangers near + The sportive pleasure yields to stronger fear. + No more they, wanton, drive before the blasts, + But strike the sails, and bring down all the masts; + The rolling waves their sinking shells o'erflow, + And dash them down again to sands below." + + [75] The octopus. + +Montgomery also thus exquisitely paraphrases the same idea in his +'Pelican Island':-- + + "Light as a flake of foam upon the wind, + Keel upwards, from the deep emerged a shell, + Shaped like the moon ere half her orb is filled. + Fraught with young life, it righted as it rose, + And moved at will along the yielding water. + The native pilot of this little bark + Put out a tier of oars on either side, + Spread to the wafting breeze a twofold sail, + And mounted up, and glided down, the billows + In happy freedom, pleased to feel the air, + And wander in the luxury of light." + +Byron mentions the Nautilus in his 'Mutiny of the Bounty' as follows:-- + + "The tender Nautilus, who steers his prow, + The sea-born sailor of his shell canoe, + The ocean Mab--the fairy of the sea, + Seems far less fragile, and alas! more free. + He, when the lightning-winged tornadoes sweep + The surge, is safe: his port is in the deep; + And triumphs o'er the armadas of mankind + Which shake the world, yet crumble in the wind." + +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 _Nautilus_ or _Nauticus_, "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 Linnaeus, who therefore entitled the genus to which +the latter belongs, _Argonauta_, after the ship _Argo_, 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 _Argo_ 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:-- + + "Ye Powers! when man first felled the stately trees, + And passed to distant shores on wafting seas, + Whether some god inspired the wondrous thought, + Or chance found out, or careful study sought; + If humble guess may probably divine, + And trace th' improvement to the first design, + Some wight of prying search, who wond'ring stood + When softer gales had smoothed the dimpled flood, + Observed these careless swimmers floating move, + And how each blast the easy sailor drove; + Hence took the hint, hence formed th' imperfect draught, + And ship-like fish the future seaman taught. + Then mortals tried the shelving hull to slope, + To raise the mast, and twist the stronger rope, + To fix the yards, let fly the crowded sails, + Sweep through the curling waves, and court auspicious gales." + +Pope, too, in his 'Essay on Man' (Ep. 3), adopted the idea in his +exhortation-- + + "Learn of the little Nautilus to sail, + Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale." + +Poetry, like the wizard's spell, can make + + "A nutshell seem a gilded barge, + A sheeling seem a palace large," + +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." + +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. + +The _Pearly_ Nautilus (_Nautilus pompilius_) and the Argonaut, which +from having a fragile shell of somewhat similar external form is called +the _Paper_ Nautilus, both belong to that great primary group of animals +known as the _Mollusca_, and to the class of it called the +_Cephalopoda_, 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 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 _Decapoda_, those which have only +eight of them are called the _Octopoda_. All of these have _two_ +plume-like gills--one on each side--and so are called _Dibranchiata_; +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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 28--THE PAPER NAUTILUS (_Argonauta argo_) RETRACTED +WITHIN ITS SHELL.] + +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 _Ocythoe_, 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 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[76]: "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 _Nauplius_, 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." + + [76] Naturalis Historia, lib. ix. cap. 30. + +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 +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:-- + +1st. That the argonaut constructs the shell which it inhabits. + +2nd. That it quits the egg entirely naked, and forms the shell after its +birth. + +3rd. That it can repair its shell, if necessary, by a fresh deposit of +material having the same chemical composition as its original shell. + +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. + +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. + +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.[77] 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. + + [77] Appendix to Sir Edward Belcher's 'Voyage of the "Samarang,"' + by Mr. Arthur Adams, assistant surgeon to the expedition. + +"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 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."[78] + + [78] 'The Octopus,' 1873, p. 57. + +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 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 29.--THE PAPER NAUTILUS (_Argonauta argo_) +CRAWLING.] + +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 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. + +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 _Cephalopoda_, of which the argonaut is a highly +organised member, are not only the highest in their own division, the +_Mollusca_, 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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 30.--THE PAPER NAUTILUS (_Argonauta argo_) +SWIMMING.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 31.--SHELL OF THE PAPER NAUTILUS (_Argonauta +argo_).] + +Although in outward shape the spiral shell of the Pearly Nautilus +(_Nautilus pompilius_) 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 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 _thus_ 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 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.[79] +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 +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 domicile is borne lightly above the body of the +Nautilus, without in any way impeding its progress. + + [79] "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.' + +[Illustration: FIG. 32.--SHELL OF THE PEARLY NAUTILUS (_Nautilus +pompilius_).] + +[Illustration: 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.] + +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." + +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.[80] 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 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, +_Nautilus pompilius_, 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 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.[81] + + [80] 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. + + [81] 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 palaeontologist, 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 _Nautilus pompilius_, 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." + +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 related +to the still lower _annulosa_, 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. + +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. + +The Pearly Nautilus usually creeps, like a snail, along the bed of the +sea. It lives at the bottom, and feeds 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. + +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, _Nautilus pompilius_, the +Nautilus of the pearly shell--the last of the Tetrabranchs. + +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 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. + + "THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS." + + "This is the ship of pearl, which poets feign + Sails the unshadowed main, + The venturous bark that flings + On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings, + In gulfs enchanted, where the siren sings, + And coral reefs lie bare, + Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair. + + Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl, + Wrecked is the ship of pearl! + And every chambered cell, + Where its dim, dreaming life was wont to dwell, + As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell, + Before thee lies revealed, + Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed! + + Year after year beheld the silent toil + That spread his lustrous coil; + Still, as the spiral grew, + He left the past year's dwelling for the new, + Stole with soft step its shining archway through, + Built up its idle door, + Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more. + + Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee, + Child of the wandering sea, + Cast from her lap forlorn! + From the dead lips a clearer note is born + Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn! + While on mine ear it rings, + Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:-- + + 'Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, + As the swift seasons roll! + Leave thy low vaulted past; + Let each new temple, nobler than the last, + Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, + Till thou at length art free, + Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea.'" + + + + +BARNACLE GEESE--GOOSE BARNACLES. + + +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. + +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. + +When and whence this improbable theory had its origin is uncertain. +Aristotle does not mention it, and consequently Pliny and AElian 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 Hiberniae,' 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 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:-- + + "There are here many birds which are called Bernacae, 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 _in coitu_, 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." + +This fable of the geese appears, however, to have been current at least +a hundred years before Giraldus wrote, for Professor Max Muller, 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. + +It is a curious fact that these Barnacle geese have 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 Muller cites Mordechai,[82] 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 Rameru (who died 1171), +the grandson of the great Rabbi Rashi (about 1140), had decided that +they must be killed as flesh." + + [82] Riva, 1559, leaf 142. + +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." + +Michael Bernhard Valentine,[83] 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 Lent. Sir Robert +Sibbald[84] 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. + + [83] 'Historia Simplicium,' lib. iii. p. 327. + + [84] Prodrom. Hist. Nat. Scot. parts 2, lib. iii. p. 21, 1684. + +Professor Max Muller 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. + +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. + +Various localities were mentioned as the breeding-places of these +arboreal geese. Gervasius of Tilbury,[85] 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 _Barneta_. + + [85] Otia Imperialia, iii. 123. + +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:-- + + "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 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." + +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, + + "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." + +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. + +According to other authors, this wonderful production of birds from +living or dead timber was not confined to England and Scotland. +Vincentius Bellovacensis[86] (1190-1264) in his 'Speculum Naturae,' xvii. +40, states that it took place in Germany, and Jacob de Vitriaco (who +died 1244) mentions its occurrence in certain parts of Flanders. + + [86] For this quotation and the following one I am indebted to + Professor Max Muller's Lecture before referred to. + +Jonas Ramus gives a somewhat different version of the process as it +occurs in Norway. He writes:[87] "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." + + [87] 'Chorographical Description of Norway,' p. 244. + +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 AEneas 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,[88] 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. + + [88] AEneas Sylvius gives us information concerning the personal + appearance of his royal host, whom he describes as, "_hominem + quadratum et multa pinguedine gravem_,"--literally, "a square-built + man, heavy with much fat." + +Notwithstanding the suspicious fact that the prodigy receded like Will +o' the Wisp, whenever it was persistently followed up, Sebastian +Munster, who relates[89] the foregoing anecdote of AEneas Sylvius, +appears to have entertained no doubt of the truth of the report, for he +writes:-- + + [89] 'Cosmographia Universalis,' p. 49, 1572. + +[Illustration: FIG. 34.--THE GOOSE TREE. _Copied from Gerard's +'Herball,' 1st edition._[90]] + + [90] 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 page 110. + + "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." + +Julius Caesar Scaliger[91] (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. + + [91] Exercit. 59, sect. 2. + +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[92] 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. + + [92] 'Museum,' p. 257. + +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. + + + _Of the Goose tree, Barnacle tree, or the tree bearing Geese._ + + _Britanicae Conchae anatiferae._ + + THE BREED OF BARNACLES. + + ¶ _The Description._ + + 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. + + 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, 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. + + 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 + 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. + + ¶ _The Place._ + + 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. + + ¶ _The Time._ + + 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. + + 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. + +Gerard was probably a good botanist and herbalist; but Thomas Johnson, +the editor of a subsequent issue of his book, tells us that + + "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.'" + +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 Dodonaeus, whole chapters having been taken +verbatim from that comparatively unread author without acknowledgment. + +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.[93] 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 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. + + [93] 'Physica Curiosa, sive Mirabilia Naturae et Artis,' 1662, lib. + ix. cap. xxii. p. 960. + +[Illustration: FIG. 35.--THE BARNACLE GOOSE TREE. _After Aldrovandus._] + +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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 36.--DEVELOPMENT OF BARNACLES INTO GEESE. _After +Aldrovandus._] + +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:-- + + "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 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." + +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. + +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. + +Aldrovandus[94] 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." + + [94] 'Ornithologia,' lib. xix. p. 173, ed. 1603. + +In 1629 Count Maier (Michaelus Meyerus--these old authors when writing +in Latin, latinized their names also) published a monograph 'On the +Tree-bird'[95] 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. + + So slow Bootes underneath him sees, + In th' icy isles, those goslings hatched on trees, + Whose fruitful leaves, falling into the water, + Are turned, they say, to living fowls soon after; + So rotten sides of broken ships do change, + To barnacles, O, transformation strange! + 'Twas first a green tree; then a gallant hull; + Lately a mushroom; then a flying gull.[96] + + [95] 'De Volucri Arborea,' 1629. + + [96] Du Bartas' "Divine Week" p. 228. Joshua Sylvester's + translation. + +Now, let us turn from fiction to facts. + +[Illustration: FIG 37.--SECTION OF A SESSILE BARNACLE. _Balanus +tintinnabulum._] + +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 inhabit these +shells belong to a sub-class and order of the Crustacea, called the +_Cirrhopoda_, because their feet (_poda_), which in the crab and lobster +terminate in claws, are modified into tufts of curled hairs (_cirri_), +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 _cirri_ 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 _balani_, +commonly known in some localities as "chitters." + +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. + +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. + +[Illustration: FIG. 38.--PEDUNCULATED BARNACLES. (_Lepas anatifera._)] + +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 most common species of these +"necked barnacles" bears the name of "_Lepas anatifera_," "the +duck-bearing _Lepas_." It was so entitled by Linnaeus, in recognition of +its having been connected with the fable, which, of course, met with no +credit from him. + +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 _Illustrated London +News_, and the proprietors of that paper have kindly given me a copy of +the block from which its portrait was printed. + +[Illustration: FIG. 39.--A SHIP'S FIGURE-HEAD WITH BARNACLES ATTACHED TO +IT.] + +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 +_Coronula diadema_ 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 _Coronula_ are three of the curious +eared barnacles, _Conchoderma aurita_; the _Lepas aurita_ of Linnaeus. +The species of the whale from which these Barnacles were taken was not +mentioned, but it was probably the "hunch-backed" whale, _Megaptera +longimana_, which is generally infested with this _Coronula_. This very +illustrative specimen was, and I hope still is, in Mr. Buckland's Museum +at South Kensington. It was described by him in _Land and Water_, of May +19th, 1866, and I am indebted to the proprietors of that paper for the +accompanying portrait of it. + +[Illustration: FIG. 40.--WHALE BARNACLE (_Coronula diadema_), WITH THREE +_Conchoderma aurita_ ATTACHED TO IT.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 41.--A YOUNG BARNACLE. (_Larva of Chthamalus +stellatus._)] + +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 antennae 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.[97] + + [97] 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 1-1/2 or 2 inches, and + on them lay a clean sheet of glass, which, by resting on the + pebbles, is brought to within about 2-1/2 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 _Balani_ 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 _Balani_ 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. + +It is unnecessary for me to describe more minutely the anatomy of the +Cirripedes; I have said enough to show 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!" + +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 Muller 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. + +Setting aside several ingenious and far-fetched derivations that have +been proposed, I think we may safely regard the word "barnacle," as +applied to the cirrhopod, as a corruption of _pernacula_, the diminutive +of _perna_, a bivalve mollusk, so-called from the similarity in shape of +its shell to that of a ham--_pernacula_ being changed to _bernacula_. In +some old Glossaries _perna_ is actually spelt _berna_. + +To arrive at the origin of the word "barnacle," or "bernicle," as +applied to the goose, we must understand that this bird, _Anser +leucopsis_, was formerly called the "brent," "brant," or "bran" goose, +and was supposed to be identical with the species, _Anser torquatus_, +which is now known by that name. The Scottish word for "goose" is +"clake," or "clakis,"[98] and I think that the suggestion made long ago +to Gesner[99] (1558), by his correspondent, Joannes Caius, is correct, +that the word "barnacle" comes from "branclakis," or "barnclake," "the +dark-coloured goose." + + [98] See the quotation from Hector Boethius, p. 101. + + [99] 'Historia Animalium,' lib. iii. p. 110. + +Professor Max Muller is of the opinion that its Latin name may have been +derived from _Hibernicae_, _Hiberniculae_, _Berniculae_, 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 _Bernicula_ was not used in the early +times to denote these birds. Giraldus himself described them as +_Bernacae_, but they were variously known, also, as _Barliates_, +_Bernestas_, _Barnetas_, _Barbates_, etc. + +I agree with Dr. John Hill,[100] 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 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. + + [100] 'History of Animals,' p. 422. 1752. + +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. + + +THE END. + +LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, +STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. + + + Transcriber's note: + + _Underscores_ have been used to indicate _italic_ fonts. + Inconsistent hyphenation has been left as written. + Missing end quote marks have been inserted. + The word irreconcileable has been left as written: "I + need scarcely point out how utterly irreconcileable is the" + The word gowden has been left as written: "Braiding her + locks of gowden hair" + The word fane has been left as written: "exactly resembled + the tail of a fish, with a broad fane" + The word engulphed has been left as written: "were all + suddenly engulphed in the waves on the night of the battle" + + + + + +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.txt or 36677.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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