The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History / / Jan Bondeson.
In his new collection of essays, Jan Bondeson tells ten fascinating stories of myths and hoaxes, beliefs and Ripley-like facts, concerning the animal kingdom. Throughout he recounts-and in some instances solves-mysteries of the natural world which have puzzled scientists for centuries.Heavily illust...
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Superior document: | Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015 |
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Place / Publishing House: | Ithaca, NY : : Cornell University Press, , [2014] ©2014 |
Year of Publication: | 2014 |
Language: | English |
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Physical Description: | 1 online resource (336 p.) :; 63 halftones, 8 drawings |
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Bondeson, Jan, author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History / Jan Bondeson. Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2014] ©2014 1 online resource (336 p.) : 63 halftones, 8 drawings text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier text file PDF rda Frontmatter -- Contents -- A Prelude -- The Dancing Horse -- Lament of the Learned Pig -- The Feejee Mermaid -- Obituary for an Elephant -- Jumbo, King of Elephants -- Animals on Trial -- The Riddle of the Basilisk -- Spontaneous Generation -- Odd Showers -- Toad in the Hole -- Sources restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec online access with authorization star In his new collection of essays, Jan Bondeson tells ten fascinating stories of myths and hoaxes, beliefs and Ripley-like facts, concerning the animal kingdom. Throughout he recounts-and in some instances solves-mysteries of the natural world which have puzzled scientists for centuries.Heavily illustrated with photographs and drawings, the book presents astounding tales from across the rich folklore of animals: a learned pig more admired than Sir Isaac Newton by the English public, an elephant that Lord Byron wanted to employ as his butler, a dancing horse whose skills in mathematics were praised by William Shakespeare, and, of course, the extraordinary creature known as the Feejee Mermaid. This object became the foremost curiosity of London in the 1820s and later in the century toured the United States under the management of P. T. Barnum. Bearing a striking resemblance to a wizened and misshapen monkey with a fishtail, the mermaid was nonetheless proclaimed a genuine specimen by 'experts.'Bondeson explores other zoological wonders: toads living for centuries encased in solid stone, little fishes raining down from the sky, and barnacle geese growing from trees until ready to fly. In two of his most fascinating chapters, he uncovers the origins of the basilisk, considered one of the most inexplicable mythical monsters, and of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary. With the head and body of a rooster and the tail of a snake, the basilisk was said to be able to kill a person with its gaze. Bondeson demonstrates that belief in this fabulous creature resulted from misinterpretations of rare events in natural history. The vegetable lamb, a mainstay of museums in the seventeenth century, was allegedly half plant, half animal: it had the shape of a little lamb, but grew from a stem. After examining two vegetable lambs still in London today, Bondeson offers a new theory to explain this old fallacy. Issued also in print. Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web. In English. Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 02. Mrz 2022) Zoology Anecdotes. Zoology Miscellanea. History. Political Science & Political History. SCIENCE / Natural History. bisacsh Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015 9783110606744 print 9780801479472 https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501722271 https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781501722271 Cover https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9781501722271/original |
language |
English |
format |
eBook |
author |
Bondeson, Jan, Bondeson, Jan, |
spellingShingle |
Bondeson, Jan, Bondeson, Jan, The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History / Frontmatter -- Contents -- A Prelude -- The Dancing Horse -- Lament of the Learned Pig -- The Feejee Mermaid -- Obituary for an Elephant -- Jumbo, King of Elephants -- Animals on Trial -- The Riddle of the Basilisk -- Spontaneous Generation -- Odd Showers -- Toad in the Hole -- Sources |
author_facet |
Bondeson, Jan, Bondeson, Jan, |
author_variant |
j b jb j b jb |
author_role |
VerfasserIn VerfasserIn |
author_sort |
Bondeson, Jan, |
title |
The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History / |
title_full |
The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History / Jan Bondeson. |
title_fullStr |
The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History / Jan Bondeson. |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History / Jan Bondeson. |
title_auth |
The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History / |
title_alt |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- A Prelude -- The Dancing Horse -- Lament of the Learned Pig -- The Feejee Mermaid -- Obituary for an Elephant -- Jumbo, King of Elephants -- Animals on Trial -- The Riddle of the Basilisk -- Spontaneous Generation -- Odd Showers -- Toad in the Hole -- Sources |
title_new |
The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History / |
title_sort |
the feejee mermaid and other essays in natural and unnatural history / |
publisher |
Cornell University Press, |
publishDate |
2014 |
physical |
1 online resource (336 p.) : 63 halftones, 8 drawings Issued also in print. |
contents |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- A Prelude -- The Dancing Horse -- Lament of the Learned Pig -- The Feejee Mermaid -- Obituary for an Elephant -- Jumbo, King of Elephants -- Animals on Trial -- The Riddle of the Basilisk -- Spontaneous Generation -- Odd Showers -- Toad in the Hole -- Sources |
isbn |
9781501722271 9783110606744 9780801479472 |
callnumber-first |
Q - Science |
callnumber-subject |
QL - Zoology |
callnumber-label |
QL58 |
callnumber-sort |
QL 258 B57 41999 |
genre_facet |
Anecdotes. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501722271 https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781501722271 https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9781501722271/original |
illustrated |
Not Illustrated |
dewey-hundreds |
500 - Science |
dewey-tens |
590 - Animals (Zoology) |
dewey-ones |
590 - Animals (Zoology) |
dewey-full |
590 |
dewey-sort |
3590 |
dewey-raw |
590 |
dewey-search |
590 |
doi_str_mv |
10.7591/9781501722271 |
oclc_num |
1048922156 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT bondesonjan thefeejeemermaidandotheressaysinnaturalandunnaturalhistory AT bondesonjan feejeemermaidandotheressaysinnaturalandunnaturalhistory |
status_str |
n |
ids_txt_mv |
(DE-B1597)503450 (OCoLC)1048922156 |
carrierType_str_mv |
cr |
hierarchy_parent_title |
Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015 |
is_hierarchy_title |
The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History / |
container_title |
Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015 |
_version_ |
1770177083440365568 |
fullrecord |
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