Order at Amazon.com

"I'm a big fan of serious books on medical oddities. And right next to my copies of certified classics will go Cliff Pickover's The Girl Who Gave Birth to Rabbits. Written in Pickover's unique style, an eclectic mix of serious scholarship and puckish fun, the bizarre tale of Mary Toft will simultaneously fascinate and horrify. That's an unbeatable combination, and it gets my three thumbs up!"   -- Professor Paul J. Nahin, author of Time Machines, An Imaginary Tale, and Oliver Heaviside "Here's another far-out book from polymath Pickover. Providing many a lewd and lurid list, he touches upon the bizarre beliefs and practices of the 18th century. Pickover leaves you pondering. What's harder to believe: The story of a woman birthing bunnies or the time's seemingly boundless gullibility?"   -- Michael Abrams, Discover Magazine

Click photo to go to Amazon.com and order the book!

Mary Toft was a young woman with a peculiar passion -- and an ordinary life that was forever changed when she gave birth to something inhuman. From that moment onward, she was propelled into a world she never dreamed existed -- a dark, alien, medical subculture flourishing in the courts of the King. Mary careened out of control, a pawn in the hands of the powerful while she forced her contemporaries to question their most basic beliefs. The Girl Who Gave Birth to Rabbits is history's most fascinating medical mystery, a dark, true-life Alice in Wonderland with a streak of horror. Why should we care today about a poor, eighteenth-century girl who gave birth to monstrosities? Mary Toft's story contain timeless themes: justice and morality, crime and punishment, and science and superstition separated by the filmiest of curtains. Her tale also involves sex, money, ambition, jealousy, and scandal involving the leaders of nations. It touches on humankinds' greeds and basic fears.

See Pickover books at Amazon.Com in separate window.

Mary Toft (painted in 1726 by the artist John Laguerre).

Mary Toft was the Monica Lewinsky of the 1700s. Both women elicited an avalanche of media coverage, jokes, and national shame. Monica's story cast a bad light on American politics; Mary's affair placed the eighteenth-century London physicians in a bad light. Prepare yourself for a shattering odyssey as The Girl Who Gave Birth to Rabbits unlocks the doors of your imagination. Acclaimed author Dr. Clifford Pickover takes you to the ultimate frontier of medical speculation. With numerous illustrations, this is an original, fun-filled, and thoroughly unique introduction to eighteenth-century science and its metaphor for today's scientific superstitions and politics. For Mary, conspiracies are everywhere, the line between good and evil lost, and the consequences exceed her most unthinkable, private desires.

"She gave birth to rabbits, small ones or bits of rabbits anyway. Many people were fooled, but Cliff Pickover, as intelligent as always, sorts out the different accounts, and highlights that particular clue which begins to show how it was worked. Immerse yourselves in this strange story, and experience many more oddities that surround the pseudo-science of sex and sorcery. Cliff has given us many anecdotes and illustrations too, which make this book a little museum of this odd corner of human perversion."

  -- Professor Jack Cohen, author of The Collapse of Chaos and Figments of Reality

"Pickover surpises us once again with his eclectic and fascinating topics. At first you may think he's gone to the extreme with The Girl Who Gave Birth to Rabbits -- but the history, mystery and gullibility of the times make this another type of puzzler."

  -- Theoni Pappas, author of Mathematical Scandals
 

Terms indexed in The Girl Who Gave Birth to Rabbits

Agpaoa, Tony, 139
Ahlers, Cyriacus, 30, 74-78, 142
Ahmed, Tasleem, 215
Aldridge, Henry, 201
Aldrovandus, Ulysses, 161-162
Alexander II, Pope, 99
Alfred, King, 45
Alien Autopsy, 194-195
aliens, 25, 195
Allen, Woody, 209
alligators in sewers, 16
Altamaha-Ha, 25-26
Amityville horror, 202
Amyand, Claudius, 122
amylophagia, 104
Anatomist Dissected, 143
animal coloration, 129
Antoinette, Marie, 158
apes, 84, 99
Arbuthnot, John, 147, 160
Arigo, Jose, 140
Aristotle, 6, 219
Armstrong, Karen, 11
Asimov, Isaac, 62, 117
Atholl, Earl of, 175-176
Augustus, Geroge, 55
 
Bach, Johann, 64
Baltimore, Lord, 134
Barnam, P.T., 20, 181
Bartholin, Thomas, 98, 101
Bat Boy, 25
bathouse, 122
bears, 218
Beaumont, William, 151-152
Beringer, John, 180-181
bestiality, 80, 81-97,
Bible, animals and, 14, 23, 62, 82, 90, 155, 218
       sex and, 6
Bigfoot, 25
Bills, Greg, 11
births, strange, 83
bladder, hog, 120
Blake, William, 34
Boerhaave, Hermann, 63
Bondeson, Jan, 11
Boswell, James, 97
Boy of Biston, 149
Brand (Mr.), 74
Brathwait, Thomas, 30
Bridewell prison, 136, 159, 185
Brown, John, 65
bulls, 84
Burton, Richard, 93
Butler, Samuel, 220
 
cadaver art, 178, 190
Caliban, 172-174
camels, 84
Cardiff giant, 20
Cassianus, Julius, 214
cavemen, 95
Chaos in Wonderland, 112
cheetahs,84
Chesterfield (Lord), 62
child abuse, 200
chorion, 77
chupacabras, 15, 25
Churchill, Winston, 23
CIA, 18
Clarges, Sir Thomas, 31, 132-134
clay eating, 105
collections, weird animal, 178-180
Conan Doyle, Arthur, 182, 203
coniophagia, 104
Cooke, Nicholas, 211
coprophagia, 104-106
Costen, Mary, 30, 77
Cottingley Fairies, 20, 203-204
cryptozoology, 25-27
Cullen, William, 65
 
D'Anteney (Mr.), 77
Dalai Lama, 214-215
Damian, St. Peter, 99
Dawson, Charles, 182
De Sade, Marquis, 84
Del Rio, Martin, 85
Deuteronomy, 218
devil fish, 18-20, 170
devil, 85
dinosaur fossils, 172, 181
Doctors in Labour, 39-40, 45
Doderlein, Theodorus, 102 - 103
dogs, 84, 96
Donaldson, Stephen, 47
donkeys,84
Dorothea, Sophia, 53-55, 58
Douglas, James, 30, 122-124, 129, 135, 161, 187
Drake, Warren, 95
Dubois-Desauule, Gaton, 84
dugong, 93
dung, rabbit, 71
Dunn, Charles, 213
 
earthworm, 196
eel, 71, 144, 218
egg, Christ message, 182
Eiffel Tower, 20
elephant, 97
Elizabeth I, 124
Esdras, 160, 188
Eskimos, 93, 106
Exact Diary, 142
Exodus, 6, 90
 
Fairies, Cottingley, 20, 203-204
fairy tales, 83
family tree, Toft, 37
Farmer, Philip, 106
feces eating, 105-106
Feejee mermaid, 181
feral children, 175-177, 190
fetal development, affect of women's emotions, 127
fish, guitar, 20
Ford, Henry
fossils, 172, 180-181
Fowler, Oswald, 211
Fowles, John, 194
Fox sisters, 203
Fox TV, 194
Fox, Henry, 79
Fragonard, Jean-Honore, 16, 178
fringe science, 15
frog face, 167-168
frogs, vomiting, 100-103, 112
 
Gaiman, Neil, 48, 190
Galileo, 63
garadiavolo, 18, 170
Gardner, Edward, 203
Gardner, Martin, 61
geese, 84
Geisslerin, Catharina, 100-101
Genesis, 128
genetics, 129
geophagia, 104
George I, 29, 43, 45, 50-58, 76, 78, 146, 175
gerbils, 16
Gesner, Conradus, 170
giant, Cardiff, 20
Gill, Mary, 29, 40
giraffes, 84
Godalming, 31, 34-36
Gort, Wolf, 81,
Gowdie, Isabel, 88
Guildford, 31, 48, 59
guitar fish, 20
Gulliver, Lemuel, 143
 
Hahnemann, Samuel, 65
Haley, Leah, 195
Hanivers, Jenny, 170
Harvey, William, 112
Heinlein, Robert, 217
Helena and Judith, 177
Helmes, Elizabeth, 77
Hervey, Lord John, 30, 79, 123-124
Hesse, Herman, 209
Heuvelmans, Bernard, 27
Hippocrates, 167
history, medicine, 63-66
Hitler, Adolf, 81
hoaxes, 15-20, 181-182, 195-196, 202-205
Hocker, Mike, 113
hog's bladder, 120
Hogan, James, 13
Hogarth, William, 160
homeopathy, 65
Hopkins, Matthew, 89-91
horses, 95-96
Howard, John, 29, 41-44, 70, 120, 144, 159, 187
Howard, Thomas, 30, 77, 132, 152
Hunter, John 66, 179, 191
Hunter, William, 66
hypnosis, 200
 
ice eating, 105
imp, 89, 91
Incas, 95
inoculation, 67
Inquisition, 85, 198
International Jew, 202
Isidore (St.), 218
 
Jacob, 128
James Randi, 137-138
Jeannine Parvati, 125
Jews, 192
Job (bible book), 82
Jones, William, 189
 
Keith, Arthur, 182
Kelmanns, Charolotte, 56
Kircher, Anathasius 172
Kishi, Greg, 113
Koch, Albert, 181
 
Laban, 128
Laguerre, John, 38, 147
Larousse, Pierre, 6
Law, John, 158
Lec, Stanislaw, 81
Leicester Fields, 122
Leicester Fields, 31
leopards,84
Leviticus, 14, 23, 62, 90, 155
Licetus, Fortunius, 162
Limborsch (Dr.), 30, 118, 132
Lind, James, 67
Linnaeus, 190
lioins, 219
llamas, 95
Loch Ness Monster, 25
London, 31
LSD, 16
lungs, rabbit, 69-70
Luther, Martin, 215
 
Maimo, 99
Manningham Richard, 118-122, 132, 141, 187
Mason (Mrs.), 30, 48, 131
masturbation, 212-213
Maubray, John, 30, 96, 126-127, 158
medicine, 63-66
Melusina, Ehrengard, 56
mermaid, Feejee, 181
Mesmer, Franz,  63
Meyfarth, Johann, 88
midwifery, 66, 127
Miller, Henry, 155
Minos, 99
minotaur, 99
Molyneux Samuel, 30, 45, 68, 187
Monboddo, James, 189-190
monkeys, 17, 84
Montagu, Duke of, 134
Morgagni, Giovanni, 66
multiple personality disorder, 200
museums, 97-98
 
nail vomitting, 149
Nichols, John, 57
Noah, 181
 
obsessive compulsive disorder, 102
obstetrics, 64, 66
okapi, 26
Onslow, Lord Thomas, 31, 131
Ortelius, Abraham, 169
 
pagophagia, 104-105
paranormal, belief in, 22
parasites, 106
Pare, Ambroise, 162-169
Pascal, Blaise, 47
Pasiphae, 99
Pasteur, Louis, 107-109
Pepys, Samuel, 97
Peter the Great, 16, 179
Peter the Wild Boy, 175-176, 189
Peterborough, Lord, 147
phagias (eating disorders), 104
pica, 105
pigs, 96, 99, 215
Piltdown man, 182
Pinel, Philippe, 63
Pinel, Philippe, 67
pit bulls, 96
placenta eating, 124-126
Plato, 6
Pliny the Elder, 97
Pope, Alexander, 147
Powers, Richard, 29
Pringle, John, 67
Prophecy, 160
Protocols of the Elders of Zion, 202
psychic surgery, 15, 137-140
 
rabbit, prices of, 124
raccoons, 96
Radford, Benjamin, 24
rape, 201
Rasmussen, Knud, 93
Raymo, Chet, 33
rectal objects, 104
Redi, Francesco, 107
repressed memories, 201
Rheinesius, Thomas, 100
Richardson, W. Mark, 13
Ricketts, Edward, 22
 
scientific method, 62
sea eagles, 169-172
Seutermann, Sigrun, 139
sex, among animals, 217-219
sex, with animals, 80, 81-97
Shakespeare, William, 172-174
shark heads, 172
Shaw, George, 82
Shepherd, Odell, 172
Simons, G., 84, 94-95
Sluperius, J., 169
smallpox, 66
snakes, 83,99
snouters, 20-21
Solomon, Howard, 157
Some Observations Concerning the Woman of Godlyman, 142
sooterkins, 16, 30, 96-97, 158
South Sea Company scandal, 145
Southcott, Joanna, 182-184
spiritualism, 203
Spock (Mr.), 48
spontaneous generation, 107
spoon bending, 15
St. Andre, Nathanael, 30, 37
                      "A Short Narrative," 78, 131, 140
                      decline of, 186-186
                      early life, 48-50, 57-58
                      first contact with Mary, 68
St. Martin, Alexis, 151-152
Stahl, Ernst, 63
stallions,84
Steinbeck, John, 22
Stensen, Niels, 172
stingray, 20, 170
stomach observations, 151
Stratford, WIlliam, 146
superstitions, animal, 217-219
               modern, 200-201
               sexual, 209-212
surgery, psychic, 15, 137-140
swallowing, obsessive, 102
Swift, Jonathan, 64, 175
Swinburne, Algernon, 95
syphilis, 191
 
The Thousand One Arabian Nights, 93
theriomorphism, 87
timeline, 31
Todd, Dennis, 11, 34, 134
Toft family tree, 37
Toft, Ann, 29, 135, 144
Toft, Joshua, 29, 36-37, 131
Toft, Margaret, 30, 132
Toft, Mary, 29
            cat births, 41,144
            college courses on, 157-158
            confession, 135-136
            death of, 186
            in prison, 136, 159, 185-186
            infection, 118
            miscarriage, 40, 144
            moved to London, 118, 122
            physical appearance, 37-38
            threats against, 135
Torquemada, 85
Tortula, 210
torture, 89, 198
Trinculo, 172-174
Truman, Harry, 118
Trungpa, Chogyam, 193
turkeys, 84
 
UFOs, 18, 25
unicorn, 172-173
 
vaginal capacity, 94
virgin birth, 183
Voltaire, 219
vomiting, frogs, 100-103, 112
          nails, 149
von Guericke, Otto, 170
Vu Quang ox, 26
 
Walpole, Robert, 56
War of the Worlds, 196
Watters, Edward
Weekly World News, 82
Wharton, Edith, 193
Whiston, William, 160
White Hart Inn, 77, 121
William, Frederick, 179
witchcraft, 79, 85-89, 92, 197-198
World Wide Web, 22
Worm, Ole, 97-98
worm, 196
 
xylophagia, 104
 
Yahoo, 22, 24
Yapp, Nick, 24
 
zebras, 84
Zebrowski, George, 193
Zuiyo-maru, 25

See Pickover books at Amazon.Com in separate window.