on of Demonstratus, being tired of women, had carnal knowledge with an
ass, which in the process of time brought forth a very beautiful child,
who became the maid Onoscelin. He also speaks of the origin of the
maiden Hippona, or as he calls her, Hippo, as being from the connection
of a man with a mare. Aristotle mentions this in his paradoxes, and we
know that the patron of horses was Hippona. In Helvetia was reported
the existence of a colt (whose mother had been covered by a bull) that
was half horse and half bull. One of the kings of France was supposed
to have been presented with a colt with the hinder part of a hart, and
which could outrun any horse in the kingdom. Its mother had been
covered by a hart.

Writing in 1557, Lycosthenes reports the mythical birth of a serpent by
a woman. It is quite possible that some known and classified type of
monstrosity was indicated here in vague terms. In 1726 Mary Toft, of
Godalming, in Surrey, England, achieved considerable notoriety
throughout Surrey, and even over all England, by her extensively
circulated statements that she bore rabbits. Even at so late a day as
this the credulity of the people was so great that many persons
believed in her. The woman was closely watched, and being detected in
her maneuvers confessed her fraud. To show the extent of discussion
this case called forth, there are no less than nine pamphlets and books
in the Surgeon-General's library at Washington devoted exclusively to
this case of pretended rabbit-breeding. Hamilton in 1848, and Hard in
1884, both report the births in this country of fetal monstrosities
with heads which showed marked resemblance to those of dogs. Doubtless
many of the older cases of the supposed results of bestiality, if seen
to-day, could be readily classified among some of our known forms of
monsters. Modern investigation has shown us the sterile results of the
connections between man and beast or between beasts of different
species, and we can only wonder at the simple credulity and the
imaginative minds of our ancestors. At one period certain phenomena of
nature, such as an eclipse or comet, were thought to exercise their
influence on monstrous births. Rueff mentions that in Sicily there
happened a great eclipse of the sun, and that women immediately began
to bring forth deformed and double-headed children.

Before ending these preliminary remarks, there might be mentioned the
marine monsters, such as mermaids, sea-se