Mermaids and Mermen
Some of the most intelligent people in early modern Europe were convinced of the existence of merpeople.
Cotton Mather penned a letter to the Royal Society in London dated 5 July 1716. Such an action was hardly out of the ordinary. The 53-year-old Boston naturalist often sent letters abroad detailing his scientific and philosophical findings. Yet the letter’s subject was somewhat curious. Titled ‘A Triton’, the seemingly simple note revealed a complicated admission: Cotton Mather’s sincere belief in the existence of merpeople.
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