Читать книгу Mermania - Rachel Federman - Страница 16

IN HIS NATURAL HISTORY OF AMBOINA (1727),

Dutch naturalist

FRANÇOIS VALENTIJN MENTIONED

the capture of a ‘monster resembling a siren’.

The combs that

mermaids

HOLD ARE MADE OF FISH BONES.

THE TOP HALF OF A MONKEY SEWN ONTO A FISH TAIL WAS A POPULAR FEATURE IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY SIDESHOWS, DUPING AUDIENCES INTO BELIEVING THEY WERE SEEING THE REMAINS OF A

real mermaid.

IN 1842, P.T. BARNUM DISPLAYED ONE SUCH CREATURE – THE SO-CALLED

Fiji mermaid,

WHICH HE CLAIMED TO HAVE BOUGHT FROM A JAPANESE FISHERMAN – AT HIS AMERICAN MUSEUM IN NEW YORK CITY.