|
-- M e r m a i d s , M o n s t e r s --
click on the question number for the answer |
||
| Q 1. | ||
| What is the origin of the "dried mermaids" sometimes seen in sideshows and curio shops? |
||
| Q 2. | ||
| What is the basis of “sea monster” stories? |
||
| Q 3. | ||
| What is the sea animal which has given rise to the legends and myths about mermaids? |
||
| Q 4. | ||
| Do sea serpents really exist? |
||
| Q 5. | ||
| While I was in Bermuda in February, there was great local excitement because a “sea monster” had washed up on a beach. The Royal Gazette of February 22nd said that they believed it to be a giant octopus as its head was extremely large; however, many persons thought it was a squid. Can you provide more detailed information on this creature? |
||
| Q 6. | ||
| On a recent trip, I saw an exhibit called a "merman" in a small museum. The merman was supposedly an extinct creature that used to swim in the South China Sea. Can this be true? |
||
| Q 7. | ||
| I purchased a 22-inch-long dried fish skeleton called a devilfish, which when displayed upright resembles a grotesque human figure. It has a humanlike “face,” two armlike appendages pulled to the side to resemble the cape of the devil, two leglike appendages, and a spiked tail. What is this strange creature? |
||
| Q&A 1. | What is the origin of the "dried mermaids" sometimes seen in sideshows and curio shops? |
||
| There is, of course, no such thing as a true "mermaid". However, sideshow exhibitors often display small, mummified, but rather creditable-looking "mermaids", which, it is often claimed, were captured with great difficulty in some far-off place. These "mermaids" have been manufactured for years in China and Egypt by cleverly uniting the head and torso of a dehaired monkey to the hinder portion of a fish, often the Nile perch. Such skillful works of fakery have often been sold at a handsome profit to gullible tourists as genuine mermaids. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 2. | What is the basis of “sea monster” stories? Brooklyn, New York |
||
| Probably most sea monsters reported were giant squids. These grotesque looking animals grow to enormous sizes, with reports of 50 foot two ton individuals occurring. The biggest squid are of the genus Orchiteuthis and occur off Newfoundland and elsewhere. They form the food of sperm wha1es and reports are common of huge scars of squid suckers on whale skins. While normally occurring deep, big squid are occasionally seen on the surface, and there is an interesting account of an encounter of a 19th century whaler with a 50 foot squid. The rubbery body of the squid resisted cannon shot, and a harpoon was put into the posterior part of the animal only with considerable difficulty. The rope which was put around the squid cut it in two as it was lifted from the water, and the "front end" swam off. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 3. | What is the sea animal which has given rise to the legends and myths about mermaids? |
||
| Probably the best of the several theories which have been proposed as explanations of the mermaid myths involves the manatees of the tropical western Atlantic and the west coast of Africa and the dugong from Oriental and Australian shores. The manatee is a large seal-like animal which lives in shallow bays in some areas along tropical American coasts. From a distance, a manatee might be confused with a swimming human, although all similarity disappears at close range. The body of the manatee is covered with fine wrinkles and is hairless except for the strong bristles which cover the two cleft lobes of the upper lip. The body ends in a broad, shovel-like, horizontal tail with rounded edges. The dugong is very like the manatee except that the tail is forked. The mermaid stories became prevalent in Europe about the time of the early Portuguese explorations along the West African Coast and it is supposed that they were based on sightings of these animals in the shallow bays which the ships visited. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 4. | Do sea serpents really exist? Coconut Grove, Florida |
||
| No, sea serpents do not exist. But there are small sea snakes up to about four feet long which are poisonous. They do not occur in the Atlantic Ocean. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 5. | While I was in Bermuda in February, there was great local excitement because a “sea monster” had washed up on a beach. The Royal Gazette of February 22nd said that they believed it to be a giant octopus as its head was extremely large; however, many persons thought it was a squid. Can you provide more detailed information on this creature? Cambridge, Massachusetts |
||
| Examination of the various photographs, descriptions and a sample of tissue by an expert indicated that the object was not an octopus or squid. The sample did not resemble the delicate skin of an octopus or squid, which breaks down very quickly after death. The blood discolorations also precluded this group, since cephalopods have haemocyanin in their blood which gives it a bluish color instead of red. Samples of tissue were examined by a histologist; however, since there were considerable amounts of sand grains imbedded in it which would have ruined a microtome blade in the sectioning operation, he could not determine the nature of the tissue. From information received, it is believed that this "sea monster" is part of either a whale shark, basking shark, or more likely, part of the remains of a whale. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 6. | On a recent trip, I saw an exhibit called a "merman" in a small museum. The merman was supposedly an extinct creature that used to swim in the South China Sea. Can this be true? San Marcus, California |
||
| No. What you saw was a composite of various skeletons and other materials similar to the artificial mermaids built by the Japanese and described in Sea Fables Explained by Henry Lee (William Clowes & Sons, London, 1883). According to Lee, the Japanese constructed the lower half of their models from the skin and scales of a fish of the carp family. Onto it they carefully fastened an upper body of wood. The fingernails were made of ivory or bone, and the teeth were obtained from a fish. A little wool was placed on top of the head, which was shaped like that of a small monkey. Prominent ribs, thin and scraggly arms, and long skeletonlike fingers, which gave the model a miserable and half-starved appearance, completed the illusion. One of these models is illustrated in the above drawing. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 7. | I purchased a 22-inch-long dried fish skeleton called a devilfish, which when displayed upright resembles a grotesque human figure. It has a humanlike “face,” two armlike appendages pulled to the side to resemble the cape of the devil, two leglike appendages, and a spiked tail. What is this strange creature? Ingleside, Illinois |
||
| You undoubtedly possess a "Jenny Haniver"- an imitation monster fashioned from certain species of skates, rays, and other cartilaginous fishes. Your particular specimen was most likely fashioned from a chimaera or ratfish, which has a more elongate body and a thicker tail than a similarly sized skate or ray. Manufacture of Jenny Hanivers was common in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe, although specimens of recent origin are found occasionally. It is not difficult to imagine how these fakes originated, since the underside of the head of a skate, ray, and chimaera crudely resembles a human face. With a little embellishment, these fishes can be transformed into a monster. First, the mouth and the tissue on the sides of the mouth are manipulated to give it a more human appearance, and artificial eyes are inserted into the nostrils. The pectoral fins are clipped and pulled to the side to give the impression of two arms and a devil's cape. For skates and rays, the legs are fashioned from the appendages on the pelvic fins of male fishes, whereas in chimaeras, they may be produced by splitting the tail into two "legs" and a spiked tail. Finally, after careful drying, a Jenny Haniver results. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science Library
University of Miami, FL USA 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, Florida 33149 Phone: 305 421 4060 Fax: 305 421 9306 E-mail: libcirc@rsmas.miami.edu |
 |
go to the top |
|