"The Girl Who Gave Birth to Rabbits" by Clifford A. Pickover reminds one of a tabloid newspaper headline and the story, in fact, has a lot of similarities to today's sensationalism. In late 1726 it was still common for people to believe that what a pregnant woman saw or did during her pregnancy would affect the appearance and/or health of the expected child. We still, with some reason, believe that in relationship to drugs and alcohol. But most of us don't think that spiderlike birthmarks are the result of a pregnant woman being frightened by a spider. I don't even attribute my lightning-like wit to the fact that my mother received a very serious shock while I was in the womb.
In the case described in this book, Pickover explains how a poor farm woman, (at 25 I wouldn't call her a girl anymore) had a miscarriage and how that attracted some slight attention. Giving "birth" to monstrosities such as a cat with an eel's backbone or various cut-up and skinned rabbits drew even more attention. Aided by her husband and mother-in-law she pulled the wool over the eyes of neighbors and doctors in the area who were convinced by seeing what came out without any thought of how it got there. As the magician quoted by Pickover said when asked how he pulled a rabbit out of a hat, "That's the easy part. The trick is getting the rabbit in there in the first place."
Pickover keeps us on edge thorugh several chapters before revealing the plot but he does so by giving lots of good background information on the life and times of 18th century English medical beliefs and comparing them to our superstitions of today. We may not have advanced as much as we think.
File under: Book Review
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