Sixteen Rabbits and Three Tabby Cat Legs
December 9, 2011 12:48 PM Subscribe
Possibly NSFW.
The case of the Rabbet Woman (also known as Mary Toft) is a particularly interesting one. Toft, on the advice of an unnamed accomplice, decided to engage in a scam which would enter her into the annals of history: she pretended to give birth to a series of seventeen baby rabbits and three tabby-cat legs, apparently by pushing their dead corpses up her vagina when no one was looking. Over the course of her fraud, she managed to convince many of the leading scientific and medical lights of the day that she was, in fact, giving birth to these rabbits (and three tabby-cat legs), including John Howard (pdf) (and more, also pdf), Cyriacus Ahlers (one of the King's surgeons), Nathaniel St. Andre (Anatomist to the King), Samuel Molyneux, and Sir Richard Manningham, male midwife to the Queen.
Sir Richard Manninghan (Man Midwife!), although originally taken in by the fraud, eventually discovers the truth when a porter admits that he had been going to the market to buy baby rabbits for Toft. His Diary provides a pretty good summary of the case. When the fraud was discovered, Toft was charged, although the charges were eventually dropped; more lasting were the effects on some of the medical professionals, whose reputations were permanently ruined. You can read a nice summary in A Cabinet of Curiosities (google books).
The case of the Rabbet Woman took the English world by storm. Scores of pamphlets--in this case the 18th century equivalent to tabloids--circulated, as the public devoured case depositions, scientific publications, satirical doggerel, and semi-erotic prints of rabbits bursting forth from Toft's nether regions (sanitized prints here)*. (previously (pay special attention to the comments), previously)
The first record of Mary Toft's strange delivery comes in the Mists Weekly journal, and there are plenty more periodical accounts from the era available.
The line between sincerity and satire can seem blurred for a modern reader, with a preface to St. Andre's account of his experiences with the rabbit woman commenting on contemporary childbirth procedures:
After the con was revealed, medical professionals involved in the scandal rushed to insist that really, they knew it was fake all along. J. Douglas (MD) inadvertently reveals his lack of experience with female anatomy along with his attempts to clear his professional name
Even those normally noted for their dedication to critical thinking and even mockery of the silliness of contemporary medical practice, such as John Arbuthnot, were briefly taken in. He wrote "every creature in town, both men and women have been to see and feel her: the perpetual motions, noises, and rumblings in her Belly are something prodigious; all the eminent physicians, surgeons and man-midwives in London are there Day and Night to watch her next productions."
He must have been even more embarrassed when his friends weren't above taking a poke at the phenomenon, possibly not least because their old enemy Edmund Curll was making a good deal of money selling said erotic prints, etc. (See, for example, Pope's "A full and true Account of a horrid and barbarous Revenge By Poison, on the body of Mr. Edmund Curll bookseller. WITH A FAITHFUL COPY OF HIS LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT" (google books) for an example of the hi-jinx the Scriblerians got up to with Curll).
Alexander Pope, " " and author of such exciting page turners as The Dunciad and The Rape of the Lock, was also the (anonymous) author of, shall we say, some less elevated lines satirizing the Rabbet Woman phenomenon in "The Discovery, or, The Squire Turn'd Ferret, an Excellent New Ballad, To the Tune of High Boys! Up go we; Chevy Chase; Or what you please ". You can hear a recording of the tune High Boys! (to different lyrics) here and Chevy Chase here Representative excerpt:
Of course, the gold standard of Rabbet Woman parody is "Much Ado About Nothing: or, a plain refutation of all that has been written or said concerning the rabbit-woman of Godalming" (pdf).
And if you haven't had enough Rabbet Woman, maybe you'd enjoy watching "A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits" by C Denby Swanson, a live play retelling Mary Toft's story, with puppets. Semi-terrifying pictures here. In the words of one reviewer, "Let you not pass judgment over a women birthing rabbits until you've seen this show! Let you not dismiss rats' balls till you've seen this show! Let you not see another show till you see three puppet doctors sprouting out of a gargantuan pair of legs! Ladies and gentlemen, Salvage Vanguard Theater presents A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits!"**
* I had a professor with framed copies of some of the dirtier prints, but I couldn't find any on the internet.
**The author of this post has never seen the play. The author has no idea if it's any good or not.
The first record of Mary Toft's strange delivery comes in the Mists Weekly journal, and there are plenty more periodical accounts from the era available.
The line between sincerity and satire can seem blurred for a modern reader, with a preface to St. Andre's account of his experiences with the rabbit woman commenting on contemporary childbirth procedures:
It may indeed be objected, that the poor woman was never delivered of a perfect complete rabbit; but nevertheless, if the legs were produced at one time, the head at a second, the body at a third, and the skin at a fourth; and the several parts together, would make up complete rabbits, it is all one; for how often are we obliged to bore the cranium of a child, and to squeeze out the brains, in order to reduce the head, or take off an arm or leg, to affect a delivery: all the difference here is, that nature did the violence here in this case (it being only a parcel of rabbits) which we are forced to do, when we handle our fellow creatures.More from St. Andre here: The Deposition of Nathaniel St. Andre of the Parish of St. Martins, Chirurgeon. (pdf). Various other depositions can be read here (pdf).
After the con was revealed, medical professionals involved in the scandal rushed to insist that really, they knew it was fake all along. J. Douglas (MD) inadvertently reveals his lack of experience with female anatomy along with his attempts to clear his professional name
I began by declaring it to have always been my firm opinion, that this report was false; in the first place, because I never could conceive the generation of a perfect rabbit in the uterus of a woman to be possible, it being contradictory to all that is hitherto known, from reason and experience, concerning the ordinary, as well as extraordinary, procedure of nature, in the formation of a fetus: and in the next place, because I never could conceive it practicable, that any such substances, as were talked of, should be thrust up, through the narrow neck, into the cavity of that organ, that being repugnant to the structure of the part so well known from anatomy.As well as such wonderful tautologies as "I added further, that the noise of snapping and breaking of bones, which he talked of, must certainly be a romance, nonwithstanding the number of the witnesses he appealed to; and that for the plain reason, among many others, because it is impossible for any such noise to be heard."
Even those normally noted for their dedication to critical thinking and even mockery of the silliness of contemporary medical practice, such as John Arbuthnot, were briefly taken in. He wrote "every creature in town, both men and women have been to see and feel her: the perpetual motions, noises, and rumblings in her Belly are something prodigious; all the eminent physicians, surgeons and man-midwives in London are there Day and Night to watch her next productions."
He must have been even more embarrassed when his friends weren't above taking a poke at the phenomenon, possibly not least because their old enemy Edmund Curll was making a good deal of money selling said erotic prints, etc. (See, for example, Pope's "A full and true Account of a horrid and barbarous Revenge By Poison, on the body of Mr. Edmund Curll bookseller. WITH A FAITHFUL COPY OF HIS LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT" (google books) for an example of the hi-jinx the Scriblerians got up to with Curll).
Alexander Pope, " " and author of such exciting page turners as The Dunciad and The Rape of the Lock, was also the (anonymous) author of, shall we say, some less elevated lines satirizing the Rabbet Woman phenomenon in "The Discovery, or, The Squire Turn'd Ferret, an Excellent New Ballad, To the Tune of High Boys! Up go we; Chevy Chase; Or what you please ". You can hear a recording of the tune High Boys! (to different lyrics) here and Chevy Chase here Representative excerpt:
The Surgeon with a Rabbit came,Swift, possibly, got in on the action as well (pdf) under the pseudonym Lemuel Gulliver (surgeon and anatomist to the kings of Lilliput and Blefuscu, and fellow of the academy of sciences in Balnibari) though the few scholars who care think it was probably someone else who just liked Gulliver's Travels.
But first in Pieces cut it ;
Then slyly thrust it up that same,
As far as Man could put it
Of course, the gold standard of Rabbet Woman parody is "Much Ado About Nothing: or, a plain refutation of all that has been written or said concerning the rabbit-woman of Godalming" (pdf).
And if you haven't had enough Rabbet Woman, maybe you'd enjoy watching "A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits" by C Denby Swanson, a live play retelling Mary Toft's story, with puppets. Semi-terrifying pictures here. In the words of one reviewer, "Let you not pass judgment over a women birthing rabbits until you've seen this show! Let you not dismiss rats' balls till you've seen this show! Let you not see another show till you see three puppet doctors sprouting out of a gargantuan pair of legs! Ladies and gentlemen, Salvage Vanguard Theater presents A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits!"**
* I had a professor with framed copies of some of the dirtier prints, but I couldn't find any on the internet.
**The author of this post has never seen the play. The author has no idea if it's any good or not.
ew.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:51 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by leotrotsky at 12:51 PM on December 9, 2011
deep.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 12:53 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 12:53 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Now that, my friends, is a hare-y vagina.
posted by nathancaswell at 12:53 PM on December 9, 2011 [19 favorites]
posted by nathancaswell at 12:53 PM on December 9, 2011 [19 favorites]
I, uh, I, er...
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 12:55 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 12:55 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
This is one of the strangest stories I've seen in some time. I have no idea how this person got their cats wedged into their vagina, or why.
posted by matthewhaughy at 4:52 PM on twentieth of December in the year of our lord seventeen hundred and forty two.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:56 PM on December 9, 2011 [71 favorites]
posted by matthewhaughy at 4:52 PM on twentieth of December in the year of our lord seventeen hundred and forty two.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:56 PM on December 9, 2011 [71 favorites]
This Rabbet...it doesn't vibrate.
posted by mosk at 12:58 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by mosk at 12:58 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
for how often are we obliged to bore the cranium of a child, and to squeeze out the brains, in order to reduce the head
Jesus fuck goddam.
posted by Sternmeyer at 12:59 PM on December 9, 2011 [7 favorites]
Jesus fuck goddam.
posted by Sternmeyer at 12:59 PM on December 9, 2011 [7 favorites]
leotrotsky, mayhaps ye have ay hypfer linke to Ye Ode Webbe Log?
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:01 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:01 PM on December 9, 2011
kittenmarlowe: ""Let you not dismiss rats' balls till you've seen this show!"
"Rat's balls?"
Fascinating post, thanks!
posted by zarq at 1:02 PM on December 9, 2011
"Rat's balls?"
Fascinating post, thanks!
posted by zarq at 1:02 PM on December 9, 2011
Forgive me:
The curious case of Ms Toft,
Who, once her knickers were doffed,
Produced tabby cat limbs,
And hares from within,
While the doctors insisted they scoffed.
posted by WinnipegDragon at 1:02 PM on December 9, 2011 [9 favorites]
The curious case of Ms Toft,
Who, once her knickers were doffed,
Produced tabby cat limbs,
And hares from within,
While the doctors insisted they scoffed.
posted by WinnipegDragon at 1:02 PM on December 9, 2011 [9 favorites]
OMG finally a Mary Tofts post finally! (I think the first "previously" should point to these wonderful horrible limericks, HERE.)
posted by steef at 1:03 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by steef at 1:03 PM on December 9, 2011
How is rabbet formed? (Rabbet has stopped looking like a word.)
posted by strixus at 1:07 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by strixus at 1:07 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
So, I guess kind of funny story: I first ran across this story reading Eighteenth-Century British Erotica, Volume 5: Sex Doctors and Sex Crimes for a paper I was writing for grad school (I actually was looking for an anonymous story sometimes attributed to Swift, which I never did find...). I was visiting my cousin at the time, and was watching her two year old daughter while skimming some of the accounts. Said daughter came over, sat on my lap, and insisted on my reading her "the big story!" I was looking at. I told her a sanitized version of the story, which immediately became her favorite bedtime story ever. For about a year after I would get calls from the amused cousin, telling me I needed to get on the phone and tell the kid "the rabbit story!" again.
This is probably why people tell me I should never try writing children's books.
posted by kittenmarlowe at 1:09 PM on December 9, 2011 [26 favorites]
This is probably why people tell me I should never try writing children's books.
posted by kittenmarlowe at 1:09 PM on December 9, 2011 [26 favorites]
Why isn't there a Decemberists song about this yet?
posted by backseatpilot at 1:12 PM on December 9, 2011 [37 favorites]
posted by backseatpilot at 1:12 PM on December 9, 2011 [37 favorites]
First, what a great FPP with loads of links and story and everything.
Second, EW.
posted by cromagnon at 1:12 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Second, EW.
posted by cromagnon at 1:12 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
What would a sanitized version of this story be?
posted by brundlefly at 1:12 PM on December 9, 2011 [11 favorites]
posted by brundlefly at 1:12 PM on December 9, 2011 [11 favorites]
what is this I don't even
posted by jquinby at 1:12 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by jquinby at 1:12 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Some Englishwomen still enjoy rabbits, especially say, rampant ones.
posted by kmz at 1:13 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by kmz at 1:13 PM on December 9, 2011
(I think the first "previously" should point to these wonderful horrible limericks, HERE.)
Holy crap, I didn't realize that we had already done limericks about this. Is there something about this story that just makes you want to produce bad internet poetry?
posted by WinnipegDragon at 1:14 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Holy crap, I didn't realize that we had already done limericks about this. Is there something about this story that just makes you want to produce bad internet poetry?
posted by WinnipegDragon at 1:14 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
oh wow yuck... cool post... but yeah... fucking yuck to that.
posted by Divine_Wino at 1:15 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by Divine_Wino at 1:15 PM on December 9, 2011
This right here? This is why the internet is amazing. Gross, but amazing.
posted by ashirys at 1:16 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by ashirys at 1:16 PM on December 9, 2011
Well, at least now I know what to say when my as-yet-unborn children ask me where baby rabbits come from.
posted by koeselitz at 1:18 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by koeselitz at 1:18 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yeah. Great post, icky post topic.
WHAT ARE THOSE CATS AND RABBITS DOING THERE? THAT IS NOT A PLACE FOR CATS. NOT FOR RABBITS, EITHER. STOP THAT RIGHT NOW.
posted by rmd1023 at 1:20 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
WHAT ARE THOSE CATS AND RABBITS DOING THERE? THAT IS NOT A PLACE FOR CATS. NOT FOR RABBITS, EITHER. STOP THAT RIGHT NOW.
posted by rmd1023 at 1:20 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
And in the strangest sort of serendipity, I was reading a book of Christopher Durang plays last night.
posted by phong3d at 1:23 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by phong3d at 1:23 PM on December 9, 2011
Apart from how many people were taken in by this hoax, what really perplexes me is: how and why was this hoax thought up in the first place? I imagine Toft and her friends, sitting at home passing around a joint the size of a Roman candle, talking about the Ping-Pong Game, naturally, when someone chimes in, "Yo, you know what would be freakin' hilarious? If you could do that shit with baby rabbits or, barring that, the legs of tabby cats. That would so own." And then next thing you know, they're waking up the porter, "Dude! Dude, here, take this money. We need you to go to the market, right now, and get like, I dunno, a dozen baby rabbits. Oh and some cat legs. Preferably tabby." And the porter's like, "WTF?" but he's getting paid, so off he goes. Then Toft and her friends prank-passenger-pigeon a bunch of doctors with a note that's like, "You TOTALLY have to check this out! I'm giving birth to RABBETS over here!" and they all come running, because it's a welcome reprieve from blood-letting and phrenology. Of course by now Toft and her friends have forgotten all about this, but when these important medical people show up, they know they have to go through with it and all, and so they do, and to their astonishment the doctors actually buy it. From there Toft really doesn't have any choice but to keep squeezing out bunnies and cat legs, because who's going to believe, "Hey, um, I sorta made this whole thing up for a laugh. Haha! Boy is my face red"? By the time she gets found out, she's damn near relieved she doesn't have to keep doing this anymore because cmon, how long can you keep running with the same act? She probably knew as well as we do that she'd have to kick it up a notch sooner or later, with maybe puppies, or monkfish or trained seals or something. It's an object lesson, really.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:24 PM on December 9, 2011 [31 favorites]
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:24 PM on December 9, 2011 [31 favorites]
Why yes, I did record a series of limericks about this four years ago when the subject came up on mefi.
posted by cortex at 1:25 PM on December 9, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by cortex at 1:25 PM on December 9, 2011 [5 favorites]
Cool story. That the rabbits were cut into pieces adds the perfect extra weirdness, too.
posted by Forktine at 1:28 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by Forktine at 1:28 PM on December 9, 2011
I would like to unread this now.
Thanks.
posted by clvrmnky at 1:29 PM on December 9, 2011 [5 favorites]
Thanks.
posted by clvrmnky at 1:29 PM on December 9, 2011 [5 favorites]
Why yes, I did record a series of limericks about this four years ago when the subject came up on mefi.
Whoa. He do the limericks in different voices.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 1:34 PM on December 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
Whoa. He do the limericks in different voices.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 1:34 PM on December 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
But that trick never works.
posted by pracowity at 1:37 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by pracowity at 1:37 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Gives new meaning to the term fuck like rabbits, doesn't it.
posted by Melismata at 1:39 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by Melismata at 1:39 PM on December 9, 2011
All I could think while I was reading this was "Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my twat. Nothing up my sleeves. Presto. (meow) Oops, wrong twat."
posted by Toekneesan at 1:42 PM on December 9, 2011 [9 favorites]
posted by Toekneesan at 1:42 PM on December 9, 2011 [9 favorites]
What would a sanitized version of this story be?
Once upon a time, a long time ago in England, there was a lady who told everybody that the stork had dropped off seventeen baby rabbits and ... a cat, let's round up to a cat, at her house! Instead of a human baby, or seventeen human babies, or what have you. But it turned out that it wasn't a stork at all. She had trained an owl to put on a stork costume, pick up rabbits out of the field, and drop them down her chimney. Even a bunch of stork experts were fooled! It was a very good costume, and their eyesight wasn't very good. Glasses hadn't been invented yet.
But eventually somebody found the owl and he told the whole story. Everybody in town got very mad at the lady, and people drew pictures and wrote little rhyming poetry about her for years and years. And the moral of the story is: basically the same as the boy who cried wolf, except remind me to tell you about Munchausen Syndrome some time. Good night!
posted by penduluum at 1:43 PM on December 9, 2011 [22 favorites]
Once upon a time, a long time ago in England, there was a lady who told everybody that the stork had dropped off seventeen baby rabbits and ... a cat, let's round up to a cat, at her house! Instead of a human baby, or seventeen human babies, or what have you. But it turned out that it wasn't a stork at all. She had trained an owl to put on a stork costume, pick up rabbits out of the field, and drop them down her chimney. Even a bunch of stork experts were fooled! It was a very good costume, and their eyesight wasn't very good. Glasses hadn't been invented yet.
But eventually somebody found the owl and he told the whole story. Everybody in town got very mad at the lady, and people drew pictures and wrote little rhyming poetry about her for years and years. And the moral of the story is: basically the same as the boy who cried wolf, except remind me to tell you about Munchausen Syndrome some time. Good night!
posted by penduluum at 1:43 PM on December 9, 2011 [22 favorites]
I'm calling it. December Awesome Post contest is over.
posted by runningwithscissors at 1:48 PM on December 9, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by runningwithscissors at 1:48 PM on December 9, 2011 [4 favorites]
Hehehe People back then were so stupid. People today would never fall for something so obvious. Good thing we're so advanced and modern with our reflexology and UFOs and ghosts. THOSE are real.
posted by CarlRossi at 1:50 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by CarlRossi at 1:50 PM on December 9, 2011
This is a brilliant post, but I can hardly wait for a more fleshed-out version from bunnyjonson.
posted by maudlin at 1:53 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by maudlin at 1:53 PM on December 9, 2011
This wins some sort of "subject least likely to have a 'previously'" award.
Also:
RICK
RICK
RICK
ITS DARK IN HERE RICK
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:58 PM on December 9, 2011 [45 favorites]
Also:
RICK
RICK
RICK
ITS DARK IN HERE RICK
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:58 PM on December 9, 2011 [45 favorites]
This is a brilliant post, but I can hardly wait for a more fleshed-out version from bunnyjonson.
Rabbits up the Jonson = even worse. Fleshed out indeed.
posted by nathancaswell at 1:59 PM on December 9, 2011
Rabbits up the Jonson = even worse. Fleshed out indeed.
posted by nathancaswell at 1:59 PM on December 9, 2011
at least she wasn't castrating them with her teeth.
Well, you never know...
posted by selenized at 2:08 PM on December 9, 2011
Well, you never know...
posted by selenized at 2:08 PM on December 9, 2011
Also, this post deserves more than just a silly comment from me - its really a well researched and fascinating collection of links - well done, kittenmarlowe (who, as we all know, was the real author of all of weaselshakespeare's plays).
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:10 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:10 PM on December 9, 2011
If ever there was a case for declawing, this is it.
posted by benzenedream at 2:20 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by benzenedream at 2:20 PM on December 9, 2011
for how often are we obliged to bore the cranium of a child, and to squeeze out the brains, in order to reduce the head
Jesus fuck goddam.
One of the most fascinating pieces of the class I took on the history of women's sexuality was the discussion of childbirth. Judith Walzer Leavitt, who I've found to be a very engaging author, wrote Brought to Bed: Childbearing in America 1750-1950 which is a great medical history for people who like having nightmares.
posted by winna at 2:27 PM on December 9, 2011 [7 favorites]
Jesus fuck goddam.
One of the most fascinating pieces of the class I took on the history of women's sexuality was the discussion of childbirth. Judith Walzer Leavitt, who I've found to be a very engaging author, wrote Brought to Bed: Childbearing in America 1750-1950 which is a great medical history for people who like having nightmares.
posted by winna at 2:27 PM on December 9, 2011 [7 favorites]
There was a young woman of Godalming,
Who did something rather alarming,
Seventeen coney,
Stowed in her cunny,
Yet the doctors found it quite charming.
posted by Jehan at 2:30 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Who did something rather alarming,
Seventeen coney,
Stowed in her cunny,
Yet the doctors found it quite charming.
posted by Jehan at 2:30 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!
posted by pracowity at 2:35 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by pracowity at 2:35 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
This is a fantastic post, but now I really want to hear the bedtime story version. Read us the big story, kittenmarlowe!
posted by darksasami at 2:39 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by darksasami at 2:39 PM on December 9, 2011
More inside indeed.
posted by Westringia F. at 2:45 PM on December 9, 2011 [12 favorites]
posted by Westringia F. at 2:45 PM on December 9, 2011 [12 favorites]
Metafilter: squeeze out the brains, in order to reduce the head
Also, talk about coincidences, we just started feeding rabbits to our cats.
No, really.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 2:48 PM on December 9, 2011
Also, talk about coincidences, we just started feeding rabbits to our cats.
No, really.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 2:48 PM on December 9, 2011
In the annals of medicine There
is a girl with a vanishing Hare.
Dropping bunnies and cats
For the surgical Prats
From just north of her wide derriere.
posted by jquinby at 3:08 PM on December 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
is a girl with a vanishing Hare.
Dropping bunnies and cats
For the surgical Prats
From just north of her wide derriere.
posted by jquinby at 3:08 PM on December 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
Baby rabbits? In my vagina?
It's more likely than you think.
posted by xedrik at 3:09 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
It's more likely than you think.
posted by xedrik at 3:09 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
...and the Cabinet of Curiosities link should go HERE. Sorry. I'm like a tiny, passive-aggressive proofreader this evening. Sorry sorry. I do find this so fascinating and YUCK and I'm reading EVERYTHING.
posted by steef at 3:10 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by steef at 3:10 PM on December 9, 2011
Eep, I totally checked that link too--I don't know what happened there.
posted by kittenmarlowe at 3:14 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by kittenmarlowe at 3:14 PM on December 9, 2011
(btw, the rest of that book is excellent too, except that there's this one picture of a baby with a tail that makes you believe Satan Is Real.)
(also this is the best post ever and totally makes up in horrifying rabbit parts what it carved out of my soul by making me read Pope.)
posted by mittens at 3:18 PM on December 9, 2011
(also this is the best post ever and totally makes up in horrifying rabbit parts what it carved out of my soul by making me read Pope.)
posted by mittens at 3:18 PM on December 9, 2011
There is absolutely no convincing me to click on any one of those links to find out more.
posted by pencroft at 3:49 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by pencroft at 3:49 PM on December 9, 2011
What was her intent? A deliberate con? to what end? or was she just crazy?
1. Acquire dead baby animals
2. Stick 'em up vagina
3. ????
4. PROFIT!!!
posted by mazola at 3:49 PM on December 9, 2011
1. Acquire dead baby animals
2. Stick 'em up vagina
3. ????
4. PROFIT!!!
posted by mazola at 3:49 PM on December 9, 2011
Dead Ringers is one of my favorite movies, and I never feel like watching it.
posted by brundlefly at 4:02 PM on December 9, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by brundlefly at 4:02 PM on December 9, 2011 [5 favorites]
Mazola, there was pretty decent money in being a medical curiosity at the time, especially a moderately attractive female one with interesting genitals (a similar phenomenon at the time was the "Bohemian Twins", who are probably worth an FPP of their own.) . Plenty of doctors willing to pay to examine you, and plenty of other people willing to pay to read blow by blows of the examinations (though I don't know that Toft was necessarily thinking of that angle). It was sort of a way to get around the obscenity laws of the time; you saw the same thing with publishing of court proceedings (Curll was known for this), where they lingered in a graphic detail on the descriptions of the witnesses/defendants of sexual crimes (usually sodomy and homosexual acts).
posted by kittenmarlowe at 4:02 PM on December 9, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by kittenmarlowe at 4:02 PM on December 9, 2011 [4 favorites]
darksasami: I really want to hear the bedtime story version. Read us the big story, kittenmarlowe!
It's just wouldn't be the same without the silly voices.
posted by kittenmarlowe at 4:06 PM on December 9, 2011 [4 favorites]
It's just wouldn't be the same without the silly voices.
posted by kittenmarlowe at 4:06 PM on December 9, 2011 [4 favorites]
*It just. I am the world's worst english major.
posted by kittenmarlowe at 4:14 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by kittenmarlowe at 4:14 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
This is an absolutely fantastic post! Wow. And, as a bonus, after following Cortex's link above I found this comment on the matter by brain_drain, which made me laugh very hard.
posted by Frobenius Twist at 5:13 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by Frobenius Twist at 5:13 PM on December 9, 2011
There once was a woman in Britain
Who gave birth to a bunny and kitten
And experts said, "How
Can we let this cash cow
Of a story not to be written?"
posted by hexatron at 5:16 PM on December 9, 2011
Who gave birth to a bunny and kitten
And experts said, "How
Can we let this cash cow
Of a story not to be written?"
posted by hexatron at 5:16 PM on December 9, 2011
What do you call a man with no arms, no legs, and a hundred rabbits up his bum?
Warren!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:28 PM on December 9, 2011 [7 favorites]
Warren!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:28 PM on December 9, 2011 [7 favorites]
There is an Emma Donoghue short story based on this, no?
(Laziest possible comment on this awesome post.)
posted by clavicle at 6:00 PM on December 9, 2011
(Laziest possible comment on this awesome post.)
posted by clavicle at 6:00 PM on December 9, 2011
There is an Emma Donoghue short story based on this, no?
Yes, and I was just coming here to post about that. It's the title story of this collection. She takes pieces of folklore-y tales like this that have been nearly lost to history and spins a full-on story out of them.
posted by shrieking violet at 6:38 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yes, and I was just coming here to post about that. It's the title story of this collection. She takes pieces of folklore-y tales like this that have been nearly lost to history and spins a full-on story out of them.
posted by shrieking violet at 6:38 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Worst. Watership Down mashup. Ever.
posted by Dr. Zira at 6:55 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Dr. Zira at 6:55 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Most unfortunate. Use of "mashup". Ever.
posted by brundlefly at 7:00 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by brundlefly at 7:00 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
Not the first time I have heard/read about this story, but definitely the first time I have heard that the rabbits were dead :S Ugh!
posted by Calzephyr at 7:06 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by Calzephyr at 7:06 PM on December 9, 2011
It's amazing that there was a time in which ladybits were so mysterious that the Royal Anatomist thought it plausible for rabbits to just hop down the Fallopian tubes to make their way toward freedom.
BTW: The look on St. Andre's face (Fig. 2, pg. 125) pretty much sums it up for all of us.
posted by Dr. Zira at 7:18 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
BTW: The look on St. Andre's face (Fig. 2, pg. 125) pretty much sums it up for all of us.
posted by Dr. Zira at 7:18 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Fantastic post, kittenmarlowe. The Mary Toft case is endlessly fascinating. (For a look at the case within the broader context of 18th-century medical/sexual politics in Britain, may I shamelessly recommend my sister's book, Birthing the Nation: Sex, Science, and the Conception of Eighteenth-Century Britons, in which the Rabbit Woman plays a starring role.)
posted by scody at 7:33 PM on December 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by scody at 7:33 PM on December 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
Heh. Elastical.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:43 PM on December 9, 2011
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:43 PM on December 9, 2011
Hehehe People back then were so stupid. People today would never fall for something so obvious
I'm not saying a word. I mean, I voted for Obama.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:40 PM on December 9, 2011
I'm not saying a word. I mean, I voted for Obama.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:40 PM on December 9, 2011
Not the first time I have heard/read about this story, but definitely the first time I have heard that the rabbits were dead :S Ugh!
As gross as the idea of dead ones are, I can't even imagine putting live rabbits up in thar.
posted by book 'em dano at 10:51 PM on December 9, 2011
As gross as the idea of dead ones are, I can't even imagine putting live rabbits up in thar.
posted by book 'em dano at 10:51 PM on December 9, 2011
cortex:Why yes, I did record a series of limericks about this four years ago when the subject came up on mefi.
I stumbled on that without warning as I was listening to all of Mefi Music. "WTF?!" doesn't seem strong enough, somehow.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:03 AM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
I stumbled on that without warning as I was listening to all of Mefi Music. "WTF?!" doesn't seem strong enough, somehow.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:03 AM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
that sounds really really painful
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 2:15 AM on December 10, 2011
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 2:15 AM on December 10, 2011
The part of the story in that comment up there where the rabbits hop off to freedom into the sunset is how I am going to edit the end of this story for the sake of my sanity.
posted by empatterson at 4:07 AM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by empatterson at 4:07 AM on December 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think this is the Alexander Poe link you wanted
Most true it is I dare to say,
Eer since the days of Eve,
The weakest Women sometimes may
The wisest Man deceive
Great post and let us not forget mr_crash_davis
posted by adamvasco at 4:07 AM on December 10, 2011
Most true it is I dare to say,
Eer since the days of Eve,
The weakest Women sometimes may
The wisest Man deceive
Great post and let us not forget mr_crash_davis
posted by adamvasco at 4:07 AM on December 10, 2011
Dano...I guess there was a mental leap that I wasn't making or the previous articles were too squeamish to note it. I always assumed she simply hid the bunnies in the bed and voila!
posted by Calzephyr at 5:41 AM on December 10, 2011
posted by Calzephyr at 5:41 AM on December 10, 2011
Aw that puts a super cute spin on the story.
posted by book 'em dano at 10:51 AM on December 10, 2011
posted by book 'em dano at 10:51 AM on December 10, 2011
for how often are we obliged to bore the cranium of a child, and to squeeze out the brains, in order to reduce the head
Childbirth: a magical process.
posted by rodgerd at 11:51 PM on December 10, 2011
Childbirth: a magical process.
posted by rodgerd at 11:51 PM on December 10, 2011
This woman has *seriously* misunderstood the major plot points of the film "Fatal Attraction."
posted by ShutterBun at 2:42 AM on December 12, 2011
posted by ShutterBun at 2:42 AM on December 12, 2011
.
posted by cjorgensen at 5:23 PM on December 31, 2011
posted by cjorgensen at 5:23 PM on December 31, 2011
I am surprised she didn't re-absorb them. That woulda been my guess.
posted by not_on_display at 8:15 PM on January 5, 2012
posted by not_on_display at 8:15 PM on January 5, 2012
...one of the strangest sites I've seen in some time. I have no idea how these people got their cats wedged into their scanners, or why.
posted by not_on_display at 8:19 PM on January 5, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by not_on_display at 8:19 PM on January 5, 2012 [2 favorites]
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posted by kittenmarlowe at 12:48 PM on December 9, 2011 [2 favorites]