SEA MONSTERS UNMASKED Henry Lee Author
- new bookISBN: 2940012757395
PREFACE.As I commence this little history of two sea monsters there comes to mymind a remark made to me by my friend, Mr. Samuel L. Clemens--MarkTwain--which illustrates a feeling that ma… More...
PREFACE.As I commence this little history of two sea monsters there comes to mymind a remark made to me by my friend, Mr. Samuel L. Clemens--MarkTwain--which illustrates a feeling that many a writer must haveexperienced when dealing with a subject that has been previously wellhandled. Expressing to me one day the gratification he felt in havingmade many pleasant acquaintances in England, he added, with dry humour,and a grave countenance, Yes! I owe your countrymen no grudge orill-will. I freely forgive them, though one of them did me a grievouswrong, an irreparable injury! It was Shakspeare: if he had not writtenthose 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 bymany able writers. Mr. Gosse, in his delightful book, 'The Romance ofNatural History,' published in 1862, devoted a chapter to it; andnumerous articles concerning it have appeared in various papers andperiodicals.But, for the information from which those authors have drawn theirinferences, and on which they have founded their opinions, they havebeen greatly indebted, as must be all who have seriously to considerthis subject, to the late experienced editor of the _Zoologist_, Mr.Edward Newman, a man of wonderful power of mind, of great judgment, aprofound thinker, and an able writer. At a time when, as he said, theshafts of ridicule were launched against believers and unbelievers inthe sea-serpent in a very pleasing and impartial manner, he, in thetrue spirit of philosophical inquiry, in 1847, opened the columns of hismagazine to correspondence on this topic, and all the more recentreports of marine monsters having been seen are therein recorded. Tohim, therefore, the fullest acknowledgments are due.The great cuttles, also, have been the subject of articles in variousmagazines, notably one by Mr. W. Saville Kent, F.L.S., in the 'PopularScience Review' of April, 1874, and a chapter in my little book on theOctopus, published in 1873, is also devoted to them. In writing of themas the living representatives of the kraken, and as having beenfrequently mistaken for the sea-serpent, my deductions have been drawnfrom personal knowledge, and an intimate acquaintance with the habits,form, and structure of the animals described. It was only by watchingthe movements of specimens of the common squid (_Loligo vulgaris_),and the little squid (_L. media_), which lived in the tanks of theBrighton Aquarium, that I recognised in their peculiar habit ofoccasionally swimming half-submerged, with uplifted caudal extremity,and trailing arms, the fact that I had before me the sea-serpent ofmany a well-authenticated anecdote. A mere knowledge of their form andanatomy after death had never suggested to me that which became at onceapparent when I saw them in life.It is a pleasure to me to acknowledge gratefully the kindness I havemet with in connection with the illustrations of this book. Theproprietors of the _Illustrated London News_ not only gave me permissionto copy, in reduced size, their two pictures of the _Dædalus_ incident,but presented to me electrotype copies of all others small enough forthese pages--namely, Jonah and the Monster, Egede's Sea-Serpent, andthe Whale as seen from the _Pauline_. Equally kind have been theproprietors of the _Field_. To them I am greatly indebted for theirpermission to copy the beautiful woodcuts of the Octopus at Rest, TheSepia seizing its Prey, and the arms of the Newfoundland squids, andalso for electros of the two curious Japanese engravings, all of whichoriginally appeared in their paper. From the _Graphic_ I have hadsimilar permission to copy any cuts that might be thought suitable, andthe 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, notleast, I have to thank Miss Ellen Woodward, daughter of my friend, Dr.Henry Woodward, F.R.S., for enabling me to better explain the movementsand appearances of the squids when swimming, and when raising theirbodies out of water in an erect position, by carefully drawing them frommy rough sketches. HENRY LEE. SAVAGE CLUB; _July 21st, 1883_. Digital Content>E-books>World History>World Hist>World History, SAP Digital >16<
