The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History

A research physician whose specialties are rheumatology and internal medicine, Bondeson indulges his (and our) fascination with natural anomalies by presenting his findings concerning such historical scientific curiosities as the dragon-like basilisk, Jumbo the king of elephants, the raining down of fish and frogs, the vegetable lamb, and the title creature, the Feejee Mermaid. His approach is assuredly more scientific than anecdotal, but it still reads as a bit of a morbid history of natural science fraud and human gullibility. Quite a few bandw photos and drawings illustrate the text. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR