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Mary Toft of Godalming appeared to deliver rabbit after rabbit in the autumn of 1726, and eminent surgeons — including an anatomist to the king — vouched for the miracle. In London, under scrutiny, the hoax collapsed within weeks.

Mary Toft, 1726

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Why it matters

The idea in context

She confessed on 7 December 1726, after a porter was caught smuggling a rabbit into her lodgings; the 'births' had been staged with animal parts. Careers were wrecked, Hogarth drew a merciless satire, and the press feasted for months. The affair's lasting gift was embarrassment of a productive kind: it sharpened the emerging habit of demanding evidence over eminence — a lesson medicine had to keep relearning.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Godalming'li Mary Toft, 1726 sonbaharında art arda tavşan doğuruyor göründü ve aralarında kralın anatomistinin de olduğu saygın cerrahlar bu mucizeye kefil oldu. Londra'da, gözetim altında, aldatmaca birkaç haftada çöktü.
Mary Toft, 1726

Bir hamal, kaldığı yere tavşan sokarken yakalanınca Toft 7 Aralık 1726'da itiraf etti; 'doğumlar' hayvan parçalarıyla sahnelenmişti. Kariyerler yıkıldı, Hogarth acımasız bir hiciv çizdi, basın aylarca ziyafet çekti. Olayın kalıcı armağanı, verimli türden bir mahcubiyetti: Kanıtı üne yeğleme alışkanlığını biledi — tıbbın tekrar tekrar öğrenmek zorunda kaldığı bir ders.

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Background reading: Mary ToftAttribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.
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