San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-16
scented to exhibit his mermaid for
one week only at Concert Hall.
A Collection of "Missing Links"

scented to exhibit his mermaid for
one week only at Concert Hall.
A Collection of "Missing Links"
DR.. Griffin would also show, for
one week only, the other scientific
specimens he had collected for the
London Lyceum of Natural History,
including the Ornithorhinchus, or
the connecting link between the seal
and the duck; two distinct species
of flying fish, one from the Gulf
Stream and one from the West In
dies, which undoubtedly connected
the bird and the fish; the paddle
tail snake of South America the
Siren, or Mud Iguana, a connecting
link between reptiles and fish; the
PrOteus Sanguibus, a subterraneous
animal from Australia; with other
animals forming connecting links in
the great chain Of animated nature. ="
Darwin did not publish The Origin
of Species" until seventeen years
after Barnum's unique natural spec
linens were exhibited in New York.
There was no indication in the
Fejee Mermaid of q junction be-
tween the fish body and the monkey
head. The spine extended unbroken
to the base of the skull. The Shout
ders were covered with animal hair,
and under a microscope fish scales
were visible beneath the hair.
A Hideous Object.
The face was of a monstrous ugli-
ness, and the whole specimen, which
was three feet long, was dried up
and black. The misshapen arms,
with their hideous long fingers on
the ends of distorted hands, were
turned up, and the right hand COW
cred the right side of the face. The
mouth was wide open, revealing
bestial teeth, and the whole ex.
preston of the face gave the vivid
impression that the animal had died
in an extreme agony, which had
been carefully preserved by its EN-
balmers.
1t was Barnum's private opinion,
which he did not express until many
years later, that the Fejee Mermaid,
as he spelled it, was made in Japan
China, or India, and that it was
probably. an object of worship in one
of those countries. Profoundly re.
ligious himself, in a Christian way,
Barnum always enjoyed attributing
hideousness to so called pagan
faiths.
A japanese Fraud.
He found in DR.. Phi. FIR. Won Sic
holds manners and Customs of the
japanese in the Nineteenth Cen
fury" an account of japanese fish
erman who Joined the upper half of
a monkey TO the lower half of fish
so deity that the joint could not be
detected. The japanese then an
nounced to his fellow-countrymen
that he had caught the object in his
net, and that it had died soon after
its capture.
The mermaid was exhibited in
Japan, and its Japanese owner main
tanned that it had spoken a few
words before it died. in which it had
predicted some years of fertility, to
be followed by years of fatal cpl
demic, the only remedy against
which would be the possession of
the prophets likeness. The sale in
Japan Of crude pictures of the ami
NAL was great, and the figure itself
was finally sold to Dutch traders.
who carried it to Batavia. "where. :"
according to DIR. Won Siebold. at fell
into the hands Of a shrewd Ameri-
can, who brought it. TO Europe. and
there, in the years 1929, exhibited
his purchase as real mermaid, at
every capital, TO the admiration of
the ignorant, the perplexity of the
Learned, and the filling of his own
purse"
Barnum was convinced that this
was his mermaid. and this its origin.
and be hailed the japanese fisher
man as one of his brothers under
the skin Who by his scheme for sell
ing pictures and attracting crowds
to the mermaid was entitled TO oc-
cupy a throne along with Barnum
az Prince of HumtCgs.
Concert Hall was crowded as soon
as the Fejee Mermaid moved in.
Levi Lyman. as DIR. Griffith, told the
audiences of his travels and adven.
lures in far-off places in search OF
unnatural curiosities.
! Barnum was afraid that some Of