# Otto Melick — A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder character guide

> Otto Melick in A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder by James De Mille.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Melick

**First appearance:** 0001-ii-adrift-in-the-antarctic-ocean

## Who they are

The skeptical clubman who insists the papyrus manuscript must be a sensation novelist's hoax, arguing barnacles and ocean currents with more obstinacy than sense.

## In the story

### [The Finding of the Copper Cylinder](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_strange_manuscript_found_in_a_copper_cylinder_se/chapters/i-the-finding-of-the-copper-cylinder)

Organizes the paper boat regatta; retrieves the copper cylinder and opens it with an axe.

### [VII: Scientific Theories and Scepticism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_strange_manuscript_found_in_a_copper_cylinder_se/chapters/vii-scientific-theories-and-scepticism)

Argues that the manuscript is a transparent hoax by a sensation novelist, but is countered by the Doctor's evidence.

### [Belief and Unbelief](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_strange_manuscript_found_in_a_copper_cylinder_se/chapters/xvii-belief-and-unbelief)

Skeptical and mocking, he interrupts Oxenden with sarcastic remarks about the lost Ten Tribes and Sanskrit.

### [XXVI: Grimm’s Law Again](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_strange_manuscript_found_in_a_copper_cylinder_se/chapters/xxvi-grimm-s-law-again)

Criticizes the manuscript as a satirical romance with poor execution, accusing it of being tawdry and plagiaristic.

### [XXVII: Oxenden Preaches a Sermon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_strange_manuscript_found_in_a_copper_cylinder_se/chapters/xxvii-oxenden-preaches-a-sermon)

Skeptically challenges Oxenden's views, sings a song celebrating life, and mocks the manuscript's lack of scholarly detail.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_strange_manuscript_found_in_a_copper_cylinder_se/characters/melick
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_strange_manuscript_found_in_a_copper_cylinder_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_strange_manuscript_found_in_a_copper_cylinder_se/characters