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Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Saturday, October 08, 2011

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: AN ANCIENT CHINESE SUBMARINE

You will not be surprised to know that, being the person who invented the wheel, the umbrella and the anemometer, I was pleased to find in the depths of my ever expanding cuttings collection, the following long lost item relating to China`s early submarine:

SUBMARINES – Wang Kia , a Taoist priest of China (4th century A.D. .) in his `Shi-i-ki`, lib. Iv., when referring to the reign of Shi – Hwang-ti of the Ts`in dynasty (221-210 B.C) , says:-

“The people of Yuen-ku arrived in China after making the voyage in the lo-chau [lit., “ spiral-shell boat”], which was shaped like a spiral shell, and capable of being conducted near the bottom of the deep without incurring the intrusion of any water. Its other name was lun-po-chau [lit ., “ under-wave boat”]. The men of that country had the stature of ten feet, and clad themselves with the knitted hairs of birds and beasts. Questioned by the emperor as to the beginnings of the heavens and earth, they answered as if they had ocularly witnessed it.

Obviously, this idea of the spiral shell boat was the outcome of the observation of the submarine movement of such a shellfish as the nautilus or Argonaut. KUMAGUSU MINAKATA (1)

1. Notes and Queries 12 S. V. May 1919 p. 131

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