THE EATON WEEKLY DEMOCRAT — MARCH 06, 1873
A Mermaid.
The Los Angeles Express says that a genuine mermaid is now on exhibition in this place, having been caught in the Pacific waters a few weeks since, and embalmed by a physician of San Diego. It is thus described : “The eyes, in large sockets, were pricked to let out the water in the embalming process. The month is very broad, with twenty-eight curved and singularly shaped teeth. The nose is an abomination of the Roman and the snub. The brow is heavily indented with heavy brain lopes ; long and broad ears adorn the queer-looking head, and short, wooly hair covers the head and sides of the face. The cerebellum and Adam’s apple are very prominent. The arms are long and terminate in long claws, consisting of four fingers and a thumb, with the sharpest of nails. There are eleven ribs extending around the body and meeting at the breast. Here the fishy portion of the thing begins. It is covered with scales, the spine having the dorsal fin, and the fish continuing in the usual development to the tip of the tail.
Eaton Weekly Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio), 06 March 1873. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
