MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: SOME MYSTERY HOMINIDS,INCLUDING ONE FROM "MOUNT TIBET".

Hello again! This article appeared in the Summer 1989 (vol 10 no.36) issue of the Zoological Society of Greater Manchester Journal pp 8-9 MISSING LINKS by Cyril Bloor Abominable Snowman,Yeti,Bigfoot or plain Missing Link;call it what whatever you like,this elusive `beast` has intrigued mankind throughout the ages,and,always quick to exploit the curiosity and gullibility of his fellow men throughout those same ages,man has put some decidedly odd offerings before the public.Some of the seventeenth and eighteenth recorded exhibits make interesting reading. The “little black Hairy Pygmy, bred in the Deserts of Arabia” and shown at the White Horse Inn, Fleet Street in London in the early 18th century, with its “Natural Ruff of Hair about his Face”, its height of two feet and ability to walk upright,could have been one of many species of monkey or baboon, and was not the first in line for the elusive title of `missing link`. During the second half of the preceding century there are records of “Wild Men of the Woods”,”Man-Apes” which were all identifiable with baboons or orang-utans. Such a one is described in a hand bill as “The Man Teger, lately brought from the East Indies, a Most Strange and Wonderful Creature,the like never before seen in England,it being of seven several colours; from the head downwards resembling a Man, its foreparts clear and its hinder parts all Hairy; having a long Head of Hair and Teeth two or three Inches long; taking a Glass of Ale in his hand like a Christian,drinks it,also plays at Quarter Staff.” The ability to drink ale like a Christian is a reminder that the Puritans,although no longer in power at this time,were still about in considerable force and that there was a fear of being accused of witchcraft.Later in the 1700s there appeared on the London scene an exhibit which is rather more difficult to identify. It was shown in Fleet Street though exactly whereabouts in that thoroughfare still redolent with the language of the showman,is not clear,referring only to its being “where the Great Elephant was seen.” It was advertised as coming from “Mount Tibet”-and to “approach the Human Species nearer than any hitherto exhibited, and is supposed to be the Long Lost Link between the Human and the Beast Creation.” [so did this idea pre-date Darwin then?-R] This animal was a quadruped “standing five feet high” and was said to be “unknown to the naturalist Buffon”, but its “great beauty and sagacity,affability,friendship and good nature” had led to “the natives of those parts” to call it “The Child of the Sky” or “Wonder of the East” – the Abominable Snowman? (1) I hope my magazine Flying Snake issue 1 will be out within 3 weeks,financial and production problems are causing the delay, but I hope it will be well worth the wait!! 1. C.Bloor Missing Links Zoological Society of Greater Manchester Journal Summer 1989 vol 10 no.36 pp8-9 DEAD KENNEDYS HOLIDAY IN CAMBODIA So you`ve been to school for a year or two And you know you`ve seen it all In Daddy`s car thinking you`ll go far Out East your type don`t crawl Play ethnicky jazz to parade your snazz On your five grand stereo Braggin` that you know how the n…..s feel cold And the slums got so much soul It`s time to taste what you most fear Right Guard will not help you here It`s a Holiday in Cambodia It`s tough kid but it`s life It`s a Holiday in Cambodia Don`t forget to pack a wife….