Хребти божевілля
II
Endsofbodyshriveled,givingnocluetointeriorortowhathasbeenbrokenoffthere. Mustdissectwhenwegetbacktocamp. Can’tdecidewhethervegetableoranimal. Manyfeaturesobviouslyofalmostincredibleprimitiveness. Havesetallhandscuttingstalactitesandlookingforfurtherspecimens. Additionalscarredbonesfound,butthesemustwait. Havingtroublewithdogs. Theycan’tendurethenewspecimen,andwouldprobablytearittopiecesifwedidn’tkeepitatadistancefromthem."
***
"11:30P.M. Attention,Dyer,Pabodie,Douglas. Matterofhighest-Imightsaytranscendent-importance. ArkhammustrelaytoKingsportHeadStationatonce. StrangebarrelgrowthistheArchaeanthingthatleftprintsinrocks. Mills,Boudreau,andFowlerdiscoverclusterofthirteenmoreatundergroundpointfortyfeetfromaperture. Mixedwithcuriouslyroundedandconfiguredsoapstonefragmentssmallerthanonepreviouslyfound-star-shaped,butnomarksofbreakageexceptatsomeofthepoints.
"Oforganicspecimens,eightapparentlyperfect,withallappendages. Havebroughtalltosurface,leadingoffdogstodistance. Theycannotstandthethings. GivecloseattentiontodescriptionandrepeatbackforaccuracyPapersmustgetthisright.
"Objectsareeightfeetlongallover. Six-foot,five-ridgedbarreltorsothreeandfive-tenthsfeetcentraldiameter,onefootenddiameters. Darkgray,flexible,andinfinitelytough. Seven-footmembranouswingsofsamecolor,foundfolded,spreadoutoffurrowsbetweenridges. Wingframeworktubularorglandular,oflightergray,withorificesatwingtips. Spreadwingshaveserratededge. Aroundequator,oneatcentralapexofeachofthefivevertical,stave-likeridgesarefivesystemsoflightgrayflexiblearmsortentaclesfoundtightlyfoldedtotorsobutexpansibletomaximumlengthofoverthreefeet. Likearmsofprimitivecrinoid.
