FAIR PLAY — NOVEMBER 27, 1880
That Mermaid.
Mr. Charles A. Doyle, who has brought a real mermaid all the way from Japan, has been induced to give public exhibitions of the same, and the strange and beautiful creature will be introduced to St. Louisans at one of our prominent public halls in a few days. The mermaid is one of the most extraordinary objects it has ever been the good fortune for people to look upon. As all who know anything at all about the creature must be aware of it is half woman and half fish, the human formation ceasing when the abdominal region is reached, and the fish appearing here and continuing down to the finny extremity. The head is perfect and beautiful as that of a well-developed child; the eyes are soft brown and swimming; the nose, mouth and ears are unquestionably human; the hair is long, wavy and black as living jet; the arms are beautifully round and end in a beautiful pair of tiny hands; the breasts are fully shaped and have the female mammalian development readily discernible, and the only evidence of fish in the upper half is had in the scaly covering of the arms. The fish half is entirely covered with scales and exactly resembling the extremity of a finny dweller in the water. The phenomenal creature has astonished all scientists who looked upon it. The mermaid was caught at Unshawa, in the great inland sea of Japan, and was in the museum at Tokio for two years. It is the only mermaid in this country, except one in New York aquarium, and may soon leave here, as Mr. Doyle is now negotiating with the Kensington museum of London for the sale of the curiosity.
Fair Play. (Ste. Genevieve [Mo.]), 27 Nov. 1880 Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
