Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature by Brian Switek

Author:Brian Switek [Switek, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science, Biology, Evolution
ISBN: 9781934137291
Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press
Published: 2010-10-30T15:00:00+00:00

FIGURE 53 - An illustration of Koch’s Hydrarchos as it appeared on display.

To Koch’s surprise, the fossils were among the salvage and were sent to New York on the Globe free of charge. The fossilist anxiously awaited his shipment, grateful for the kindness of “those noble-minded men” who had saved his treasures.

When the crates arrived Koch was relieved to find that most of his collection was intact, and he quickly set about putting the sea monster bones together. By July 1845, Koch had assembled a 114-foot-long creature he called Hydrarchos sillimani in honor of his scholarly friend. It was an instant sensation. A commentator in the New York Evangelist wrote:Who knows but had he seen the Ark? Who knows but Noah had seen him from the window? Who knows but he may have visited Ararat? Who knows how many dead and wicked giants of old he had swallowed and fed upon? Perhaps when we touch his ribs, we are touching the residuum of some of Cain’s descendants that perished in the deluge.

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