Jenny Hanivers, Mermaids, Devil Fish, and Sea Monks

Three centuries before P.T. Barnum attracted flocks of crowds with his mummified Fiji Mermaid (which turned out to be a papier-mâché creation featuring a monkey's head and a fish's body), sailors around the world had already began manufacturing "mermaids". Known as Jenny Hanivers, these creations were often sold to tourists and provided sailors with an additional source of income. These mummified creatures were produced by drying, carving, and then varnishing the carcasses of fish belonging to the order rajiformes- a group of flattened cartilaginous fish related to the shark which includes stingrays and skates. These preserved carcasses can be made to resemble mermaids, dragons, angels, demons, and other mythical creatures.

Jenny Hanivers became popular in the mid-16th century, when sailors around the Antwerp docks began selling the novelties to tourists. This practice was so common in the Belgian city that it may have influenced the name; it is widely believed that "Jenny Haniver" is a corruption of the French phrase jeune d'Anvers (or "young person of Antwerp"). British seamen began calling the mermaid creatures Jenny Hanivers, and the name stuck.

It's easy to see why sailors preferred this fish for Jenny Hanivers

Although Jenny Hanivers can look quite realistic, it wasn't long until these creations were debunked. The first published explanation of Jenny Hanivers was written by Swiss naturalist Konrad Gesner in 1558. Gesner cautioned that these mermaids and demons were nothing more than dead, disfigured rays. Nonetheless, Jenny Hanivers remained popular up until the 19th century, and some scholars were so convinced of the creature's authenticity that they believed it was a unique species of fish, which they called satanicus aquus, or "devil fish". Even today, some species of manta rays and eagle rays are known coloquially as "devilfish" (not to be confused with Inimicus didactylus, a venomous stonefish also known as the devilfish).

Salvador Dali with a Jenny Haniver

19th century depiction of a sea monk

As early as 1546, seafarers told tales of a mythical monster known as the sea monk, so called because of its alleged resemblance to a monk. Although some people believe the sea monk to be nothing more than a giant squid, one cannot overlook the resemblance between the sea monk and a Jenny Hanniver.

In some parts of the world, Jenny Hanivers are still sold to tourists as souvenirs, but they are becoming an increasingly rare form of "folk art" due to conservation efforts. Rays and skates have very slow growth rates and, because they sexually mature later in life than most fish species, they also have low reproductive rates. The barndoor skate (Dipturus laevis), long popular with Jenny Haniver creators because of its large size, is now listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union. Other species such as the bottlenose skate, the spotback skate, and Maltese ray, are on Greenpeace International's seafood red list.

The Hunt for the Osage River Monster

It's spring of 1844 in St. Clair County, Missouri. A mile or so from the banks of the muddy Osage River a pioneer settler named Matthew Arbuckle is plowing his field when he hears a banshee-like wail in the distance, coming from the direction of the river. Shrill and unearthly, the demonic howl fills the farmer with terror. Wasting no time, he unhitches his plow, jumps on the back of his horse and heads for the hills.

One hour later Arbuckle arrives in Papinville, a town fifteen miles from his farm. The exhausted horse is white with foam; its rider white with terror. In a gasping voice he tells of making an escape from an awful monster. Although he had not seen the beast, he had heard its voice, from which he could tell that it was a monster of immense proportions.

Those who heard Arbuckle's story were bewildered, and those who did not know the pioneer personally could tell, just by the bloodless pallor of his trembling skin, that the man was not telling a lie. Whatever terrify…

The Ticking Tombstone of Landenberg

If you look closely at a map of Pennsylvania, you'll see an anomalous semi-circular border at the extreme southeastern part of the state. This circle, known officially as the "Twelve Mile Circle", serves as the border between the Keystone State and Delaware. Much of the strange circle is surrounded by Chester County, one of the three original Pennsylvania counties created by William Penn in 1682. While there are many historical points of interest in Chester County, few are strange or as steeped in legend as the Ticking Tombstone.

Near the London Tract Meeting House in Landenberg is an old graveyard which contains a tombstone which is said to make eerie ticking noises, much like the ticking of a pocketwatch. Landenberg locals claim that the ticking is the result of two very famous surveyors who arrived in town during the 1760s- Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. A young child supposedly swallowed a valuable pocketwatch owned by Mason and later died, and the boy's head…

The Incest Capital of the World?

At the far eastern edge of Kentucky, nestled in Appalachia, resides Letcher County. In spite of its isolation and poverty (approximately 30% of the county's population lives below the poverty line), Letcher County has managed to grow at an impressive rate, from a population of just 9,172 in 1900 to a present-day population of nearly 25,000. However, even if Letcher County tripled or quadrupled its present population, there's still a pretty good chance that virtually all of the county's inhabitants would be related to each other-- thanks to one particularly fertile family whose astounding rate of reproduction can put even the friskiest rabbit to shame.

Around the year 1900, Letcher County was the home of a man by the name of Jason L. Webb, who made national headlines for having the one of the largest families in the world. According to newspaper reports of the era, Jason had 19 children, 175 grandchildren, and 100 great-grandchildren. Perhaps even more impressive was his b…

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