Human-murid Hybrids

    A singular freak of nature is on exhibition at the rooms of the Natural History Club, in Houston, Texas. It was brought in yesterday by a German family named Schweinfeldt, living in the suburbs of this city, who tell the following remarkable story in connection with the strange creature:
    A few months ago they were aroused one night by a shrill scream of pain from their year-old baby. Rushing to the cradle nothing was seen or heard, but the next morning, while bathing the child, the mother observed two red spots on the arm near the brachial artery, looking as if they had been punctured by a needle. The arm swelled a good deal and was still very sore. In about a week the baby was found dead in its cradle bathed in blood. The jugular vein had been bitten through.
    The physician who was called in, on seeing the small but fatal wound, which consisted of a hole the size of a darning needle might have made, and hearing the history of the swelled arm, immediately said that both bites had been inflicted by a rat.
    After the baby’s burial the Schweinfeldts naturally determined to rid their house of the dangerous rodents, and consequently traps of every fashion were placed about. Many were caught and drowned. One night, several months after the death of the baby, a rat was heard running about its narrow prison, and simultaneously the crying of a child was heard near by. The head of the family procuring a light, rushed to the place whence the cries seemed to come. To his astonishment it proceeded from the rat-trap, in which could be seen one of those animals.
    Taking up the trap he examined the rat closely and was further amazed to find that the creature’s face strongly resembled that of a human being, while yet it retained the characteristics of a rat. It cried piteously and so much like a hurt child as to be easily mistaken for one when out of sight.
    It is this rat which is now on exhibition at the Natural History Club’s rooms. Its eyes are somewhat larger and more human-looking and have more distinctive lids that are usual. The nose, however, is the most remarkable feature, being decidedly marked and prominent, with swelling nostrils. The mouth is small and has unmistakable lips, but the teeth are long, keen and rat-like. The feet show a slight resemblance to the human hand, although the nails are curved like claws.
    Dr. Pinning, President of the Natural History Club, and a noted naturalist, agrees with the Schweinfeldts in thinking this must be the offspring of the rat that killed the baby, and the phenomenon is due to her milk being formed from the child’s blood which she sucked.—Philadelphia Times.

In Arkansas, I found a mother with a baby that bore upon its little shoulders the furry head of a mouse. The teeth were long sharp and pointed, the ears were tiny and the sense of hearing very acute. The fur was perfectly white and very short, although heavy enough to conceal the skin. The joining of the neck to the body was really wonderful.From the delicate neck there was a graceful and gradual enlargement until it extended to the beginning of the shoulders. The body was perfectly formed and was without a blemish or contortion. The mother was a young country girl of some little learning, and would not consent to any proposition I made to allow me to exhibit the then four-months-old mouse-babe.