The herald., 1898-01-06
COLLECTOR OF FREAKS
PHILADELPHrAN WITH A MANIA
FOR DEFoR1EED ANIMALS
His Home Il Full Of Stuffed, Pre-
served and Live oddities-A
Gruesome Place

1t is by no means an unheard Of occur
renee for Dame Nature to make mis-
take in her distribution OF legs to the
lower animals. and to present pig or
q calf with an extra leg or so. but to
| find twenty such deformed creatures
grouped together in one place by con-
noisseur in freaks is indeed rarity.
Such O collection exists In this city to-
day. 1t is the property Of Fred A. Rob-
inson of 2S16 South Tenth street, who has
made a fad Of the collection of curios
OF all kinds, particularly In animal life,
and who has at his home q score OF barn
yard oddities of various kinds. Some OF
them died Immediately after birth and
are preserved In alcohol: others lived for
a longer period and were stuffed and
mounted after death; the remainder,
half a dozen in number. are still alive
and kicking, and occupy comfortable
quarters in the stable in the rear OF Mr..
Robinson's house.
The man who gathered together this
unique collection Of freaks bought them
up from time to time during the past
three years. SELLING upon the opportu-
nifty to add to their number whenever he
heard of the existence Of an animal
in any way extraordinary. The pursuit
of the curious in inanimate as well as
animate form seems to have peculiar
attraction for Mr.. Robinson and his
house. though like any other dwelling
on the outside, is a vertable museum
within.
The freaks that have been alcoholicly
preserved are kept in glass Jars of va
rious sizes in the back parlor Of the
dwelling. In one Of the largest Of these
vessels is a calf with face with fea-
lures so distinctively human as to al
most suggest that 1t is human head
upon a calf's body. 1t Is an ugly face
and at the same time a startling one
The neck, exceedingly narrow. is set
upon the body of an ordinary newborn
calf, somewhat bloated by nineteen
years soaking in alcohol. Seventeen or
eighteen years ago, when "Bilr Long
was the proprietor of q museum at
Fourth and German streets, this was
one of his chief attractions, and 1t is said
that when it came into his possession he
paid $500 for 1t.
Another Jar contains a two-headed
duck and a double-headed pig together;
then there is chicken with four legs
and four wings; a mummified four
legged chicken, which had been pre-
served in alcohol until the spirit evap-
GRATED; a duck with double head, four
legs, three eyes and two sets Of bills; a
double-headed chicken; a Delaware pig,
fifteen inches long, with eight legs, a
single head, ornamented by four ears,
and two tails; an eight-legged, three
eyed pig with two mouths and two
tongues, and puppy from Norfolk. Va,
equipped by indulgent nature with eight
legs and two tails, though 1t has but one
head.
CALVES JOINED TOGETHER
The stuffed animals are only three in
number. but they are a great deal more
interesting than those in the glass jars,
because their peculiar formation can be
seen to much better advantage. The
largest, and undoubtedly the most Gu
rious, is double-ended calf which used
to form part Of the exhibit of an old
Wilmington museum before 1t fell into
Mr.. Robinson's hands. 1t stands twenty
two inches high, and is In reality two
calves Joined together by nature at the
hind quarters, end to end. The heads
and bodies, except at the point Of Joint
ure, are perfectly formed, but the hind
legs of one part Of the animal cross and
interfere with those Of the other. Con-
sidered ga single calf, 1t has one tail,
eight legs and two heads.
Another unique feature of the collec-
ton is a double-headed, four-eyed calf,
with two mouths. The double head gives
the animal a slight resemblance to a
|dog, especially as two Of the eyes are so
far around on the sides that they cannot
at first glance be seen, and the other
two are quite near together in the mid
die of the head. The third stuffed
specimen is little pig with eight legs,
six of which are underneath the body,
while two grow out of the middle Of the
back.
The live freaks naturally attract more
attention from visitors than any of the
others, for they have attained fuller de-
velopment, and are all at present In ex-
cellent condition as to health. They are
kept on the second floor of the Robinson
stable. just in the rear Of the house,
along with two remarkably big horses
which their owner has secured.
In the first stall, to which Mr.. Robin
son conducted a reporter, was q IT.
months-old heifer, "Tootsie." who has
one and half legs in excess of the num-
Der usually allotted to her kind. "Toot-
sic" came from place half way be-
tween Media and Chester. known az
Banks Hill. Her extra leg-and-a-half
grow from her right fore quarter. near
a point where her backbone seems to d.
vide and branch out. The branch ter
inmates in the extra leg, and at the knee
joint an extra half-leg makes its ap-
pearance. OF course, these extra limbs
are useless, and hang down by the
|heifer's flank. She is red In color, with
white spots. Her horns are four inches
long. and she Ia in very healthy condi-
|tion.
SHEEP WITH FIVE LEGS
"Jessie." 21z-year-old white sheep.
who has not had hair cut for eighteen
months, and therefore looks . great deal
bigger than she really ID, revels IN the