File:Sea fables explained (15401957460).jpg

SEA FABLES EXPLALXED.
ivor.' or bone. The head is like that of a small monkey, and
a little wool covers the crown, so thinly and untidily that if
the mermaid possessed a crystal mirror she would see the
necessity for the vigorous use of her comb of pearl. The
teeth are those of some fish — apparently of the cat-fish,
.Anarchicas luptcs). These Japanese artificial mermaids have
brought many a dollar into the pockets of Mr. Barnum and
other showmen.
Somewhat different in appearance from this, but of the
same kind, was an artificial mermaid described in the
Saturday Magazine of June 4th, 1836.
Fig. 14 is a facsimile of the woodcut
which accompanied it. This grotesque
composition was exhibited in a glass
case, some years previously, " in a
leading street at the west end " of
London. It was constructed " of the
skin of the head and shoulders of a
monkey, which was attached to the
dried skin of a fish of the salmon kind
with the head cut off, and the whole
was stuffed and highly varnished, the
better to deceive the eye." It was
said to have been " taken by the crew
of a Dutch vessel from on board a
native Malacca boat, and from the
reverence shown to it, it was supposed
to be a representative of one of their idol gods." I am
inclined to think that it was of Japanese origin.
Fig. 15 is described in the article above referred to as
having been copied from a Japanese drawing, and as being
a portrait of one of their deities. Its similarity to one of
FIG. 14. — AN ARTIFICIAL
MERMAID, PROBABLY