Tag Archives: mystery
Polypus (hydra) and the boundary between plant and animal
The polypus, or hydra, generated much comment among natural historians because of its apparent existence on the boundary between plant and animal species, because of its unique reproductive behavior, and because of the forms of “sensation” it seemed to manifest. … Continue reading
The Frog-Fish from Surinam (1776)
This page indicates the way Londoners (and American colonists) acquired knowledge of natural history in 1776. The article in The Universal Magazine headlines “Description of the Frog-Fish of Surinam. Illustrated with an accurate Engraving of that extraordinary Animal.” The text reveals confused … Continue reading