The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1822-08-21
Ihc Wcrnidid,

The Mermaid.
The existence of this exu aordinary marine
animal is in q lair wsy of being satisfactorily
proved, an inteiligen, Bostoniaa having recent
iy purchased one et Datavis, brough: 'hnhcr
by u Japsnese, and supposed to have been TAX
en- in tho Japan sea. Tho purchsses immo.
d,siely proceeded with his curiosity Tor Eog-
land, stopping at the Cape OF Good Hope,
where il was submitted 10 the inspection Of
several English Natursli.,s, who united 10 tho
opinion that !, is an example OF Tho Mermaid
which has been generally thought 10 exist on.
Iy in the Tina sginations OF the wonder loving,
ami the beautiful hc,ions Of poetry The an.
iuiai recently exhibited st Cape. Town, was
seen and closely examined by q gentleman Of
this town, whose intelligence and established
character are an ample pledge for the iidsIi'y
Of the suboned description, which at our re.
quss, he politely furnished for publication:
Mn GoDpARp,
Having read in a late Boston paper short
and rather imperfect account OF an animal or
fish, called the Mermaid, which has recent,
been exhibited at Cape Town (Cape oi Good
Hope am induced TO attempt more par.
ticular description Of this wonderful curiosity,
the existence of which has so long been deem.
ed fabulous. In furnishing you With the re-
suits Of a close examination of the appearance
and conigurstiop Of this wonder Of the deep,
l have to regret that my ignorance Of anato.
my prevents my giving such . technical rels.
uon ss would be more satisfactory 10 your SCI
en,iic resdets. Us. J."
From the improper manner in which this
curiosity has been preserved, it is somewha
difficult TO decide what might have been i,s
size when slye. in Ns present situstion, u u
| sbou, 9 I o feet in leogIh from the tip of It's
tail 10 the crown Of the hesd---and judging
from its wrinkicd, contracted sta,e, ] should
presume IL wss foo, longer when living -
| The fish part is'sbout as large ss common
| sized Cod-iho tall Is vety deeply tOrked
near which are two fms on each side--the
| scales at the extremity are in sizs lkc those
on the FISH ! have mentioned, decreasing
| gradually % they approach the human part
| ,ill, when they ave joined 10 the bare skin
they are only visible through the microscope
Its skin now Is OF a dark brown hue, but orig
inaliy should think It may have been ss light
I coloured n, that Of . Mulsuo. The dimen.
sions Of the head and breast are those Of we'll
sized child Of six months old The upper
part Of the head Is perfectly hunsn, and re.
| ma,kably we'll shaped indeed--so finely form.
| cd, that its forehead and crown would bear
comparison with the fines. Of our own spe-
cies. OF the lower part, OF face Il Is more
dificult to Judge, from the extreme contrsc.
tion which has ,hero taken place. However,
IL hss more the appearance Of the humso or
HNtento, vissge than that Of the monkey
the eyes ate Of 6oe shape, though now deep
sunk IN their sockets--the eyebrows also are
delicate and handsomely cnrved--lhs nose IL
better formed, and not % Rat ss that OF the
common African negroA-the mouth is rather
largo in proportion TO the size Of the head,
and filed With very white handsome teeth,
perfectly resembling the human-the two on
the upper Jaw, which are called iusks in the
Boston paper, consider the eye.teeth"-
they are little longer than the o,hers---but
The projection spoken Of 10 evidently caused
by the contraction Of the lips-,he chin cor.
responds with the human, and the ears siso--
ITS hair, which is cb.ay on the back par, Of
the bead, 10 OF q tight brow color, and not
cosrser than that Of On lndisn--',is thioIy
spread, and about three or four inches in
lengih--'he neck Is short, though no, moro
90 N proportion to the body, than may be
seen among the varieties Of tho human rsce
the bust Is that Of finely formed female,
gracefully tspsring TO iu junction with tho
hsh-,he breasts are promioent, and we'll pro.
port'oned to the fgure--,hs aims are Of q
proper length and shape, snd lightly covered
with short fios heir, Of nearly the ssme hue
IS that on It's head--ibe hand ts delies,eiy
formed, with loss slender fpsers, on which