Extraordinary hoaxes of the 18th century
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The Hoax of the Eighteenth Century
Mary toft claimed that she was giving birth to rabbits, which outwardly just seems absolutely absurd. But there were two aspects to that hoax which i think drew people in. There was this idea of a sort of maternal imagination - and merytoft fitted this theory very well. She used to be a hot picke in a field. She had a great longing for rabbits. Apparently, she dreamt of rabbits. So the theory would go, and this somehow e transformed itself to the embryos, and she started producing rabbits. And backed up with that, you've got this, this woman who was just a brilliant actor.
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