06 



Tests of a real Mermaid. 



some of them we scarcely perceive any traces of circulation ; 

 their organs of respiration are almost always on the surface 

 of the body ; in the greater number the whole intestine con- 

 sists of a bag without a vent ; and in the lowest families the 

 bodies are a kind of homogeneous pulp, possessing a certain 

 degree of mobility and sensation. The next essay will contain 

 the principal parts of Cuvier's chapter on the intellectual func- 

 tions of animals, and some farther observations on organisation, 

 before we give his more complete description of the characters 

 of vertebrated animals, and their subdivision into four classes. 

 {To be continued.) 



Art. II. The Tests by ivhich a real Mermaid may be discovered* 



By CONCHILLA. 



Sir, 

 I VENTURE to address you upon a subject which has 

 at various times interested the ingenious, and not a little 

 puzzled philosophers themselves ; I mean the tests by which 

 a real mermaid may be discovered; if, indeed, there is 

 such an animal at all. I am led into these reflections by 

 having lately visited one of the principal cities in Holland, in 

 the museum of which I was shown one of these wonderful crea- 

 tures ; of this, from memory, I have made a slight sketch. 

 {fig* 47.) It was in a glass case, and about 3 ft. in length. 

 The face, head, and 

 breast were like those of a 

 monkey of the orang-ou- 

 tang kind ; but it had no 

 arms, and, from the mid- 

 dle downwards, it resem- 

 bled a fish. I asked some 

 questions concerning it, 

 and was informed that 

 its inward conformation 

 down to the middle re- 

 sembled that of a human 

 being; that, like an honest 

 creature, it had its heart 

 in the right place; that 

 its lungs were excellent ; and that it was not deficient in brains ! 

 I asked from whence it came, and was told from Japan ; and 

 I could not help replying, after I had spent some time in its 

 examination, that, if it] had been presented as an artificial 

 instead of a natural curiosity, it would have been worthy of 



