258 OUT OF DOORS. 



author would have dared to describe him as using 

 it in the light of a boat. Yet this is actually done 

 by many river snails, whole fleets of which may be seen 

 floating leisurely down the stream, the large foot being 

 hollowed along the centre, and acting as a boat. There 

 is no need to multiply instances, but we may receive it 

 as an axiom that there exist in nature monsters far 

 more wonderful than any exaggeration or combination 

 that has been invented by man. 



I cannot leave the subject of monsters without a 

 short reference to the Japanese ' mermaids,' which are 

 now and then brought before the public. These are 

 nearly all made to represent the conventional idea of 

 mermaids, except that the upper half is formed in 

 semblance of a monkey, and not of a human being. 

 They are quite common, and are manufactured by 

 dozens, most of the makers adhering to the same type, 

 only one or two striking out original ideas of their 

 own. I have seen one specimen in which the maker 

 had the audacity to add a pair of large wings formed 

 like those of the bat. 



They are well made, but not so well as is generally 

 thought. The late Mr. Waterton, whose skill in taxi- 

 dermy was supreme, had an entire contempt for Japa- 

 nese mermaids, which he stigmatised as clumsy fabri- 

 cations, saying that he could make better work with 

 his left hand. Certainly the amusing monstrosities 

 which he made, and with which he delighted to delude 

 visitors to his collection, were much superior to the 



