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The following
photographic-rich article features the Jackalope which is
one of the most popular monsters seen at Dime Museums (a
pay-per-view exhibitions of curiosities and oddities
produced by sideshows in America.) This manuscript was
produced by Dr. Eriko N. Bond, an active art critic and
author in New York City, as told by Yamada and edited by
Diane M. Taros.
Rabbits
by Joris Hoefnagel in
Animalia
Qvadrvpedia et Reptilia (Terra): Plate XLVII, c. 1575/1580
(right)
detail of the horned rabbit
Medical facts on Horned Rabbits
Most
of people “believe” that a horned rabbit is a fragment of
people’s imaginations just like the Fiji mermaid. They are
completely wrong on this. In fact, there are many real
horned rabbits created by the Mother Nature, which formed
local Jackalope mythologies and legions. Unfortunately,
those natural horned rabbits were not created by the love
and blessing of Mother Earth. They are actually poor victims
of vicious virus infection (disease) caused by
Shope
papillomavirus
which is spread by mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti, Anopheles,
quadrimaculatus, Aedes triseriatus, and Culex pipiens.
The presence, however, of the
virus is generally only in rabbits east of the
Mississippi. Humans are not susceptible to this specific
virus. As the rabbit ages, the warts (if they are not
serious ones) disappear and its immunity develops.
Their horns/antlers-like
things are actually tumors grown in various places on the
rabbit’s head (mostly) and body. In some cases, sadly, the
host was even starved to death due to them.
Strange to say, this deadly
monstor-creating virus (also known as CRPV or cottontail
rabbit papillomavirus) was identified in 1933 by a scientist
named Shope. It is within a few short years of the Herrick
brothers making the very first Jackalope. Shope and
Jackalope rhyme, but Dr. Shope's first name is Richard not
Jack, unfortunately.
Below is a truly shocking
and amazing scientific photograph of a mounted cottontail
rabbit severely infested by the Shope papillomavirus.
This 100% natural real taxidermy is a collection of the
Museum of Natural History at the
University of Kansas. It was caught near Topeka. Needless to say, those
“real” Jackalopes are almost always collected at local
universities, nature centers, and museums rather than circus
sideshows. The virus-infected poor rabbits have been found
in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma,
Arkansas and Minnesota. This subject matter can be found in
numerous websites.
(http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~hollidac/jackalope.html)
(http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~hollidac/jacknews.html)
(http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~hollidac/jacksforreal.html)
(http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/health/29hpv.html)
A taxidermy
of 100% real nature-made Jackalope. Collection of the Museum
of Natural
History at the University of Kansas. (Photo by
Heather York)
A drawing
of a horned hare by Robert Benard featured in Encyclopedie
Methodique (volume
of plates
published in 1789). The illustration is a copy of an
engraving which first appeared
in Jacob
Klein's Summa Dubiorum Circa Classes Quadrupedum et
Amphibiorum in 1743.
Jackalope Syndrome
By seeing the picture above,
you might have thought that we are lucky that we do not have
to suffer the illness of growing horns from our head like
rabbits infested by the virus. Unfortunately, in reality, we
are not quite so lucky. As it turns out, horns caused by the
virus may be found in unusual places on a wide variety of
normally-horned and hornless mammals, including humans.
There are more than 100 human strains. Many are harmless.
Some cause warts on hands, noses or genitals, and some cause
cancer. And some cause growing horns. Takeshi Yamada
personally calls the medical condition of this virus
infecting human body “Jackalope syndrome”.
Horn of
Mary Davis of Saughall, 1688.
“The horn
was blackish in color, not very thick or hard, but well
proportioned."
Kakuhi
(Horned Skin in Japanese) A photograph and a wax figure made
by directly making a
mold from
the patient. Collection of Medical department,
Tokyo
University
in Tokyo, Japan.
This famous
Chinese man was also featured in the Ripley’s illustrations
of curiosities.
(photograph
collection by Takeshi Yamada’s
Museum of
World Wonders)
Personally, Takeshi Yamada
has been under the treatments by dermatologists for the last
6 years for the unique human papillomavirus infection
on his right pointing finger. The lesion was zapped by
surgical knife,
burned
with electricity, and even frozen by liquid
nitrogen, but the tumor kept coming back. Fortunately, it
is NOT contagious. Growing a horn may sounds fancy and cool
for some people but it is not quite convenient in reality.
(Yamada said “I do not need any additional fingers or horns
at this point in my life. I feel like a Jackalope.”)
He used an expensive ointment ($140.00, 30g) instructed by
the doctor (Clobetasol Propinate, USP, 0.05%) to be applied
twice a day for two months. Unfortunately it was not
effective.
The first
expensive ointment used by Yamada for his finger treatment.
The new ointment, which
Yamada is using now (3 days after the treatment with liquid
Nitrogen by the doctor) is $190.00 for 12 applications of
0.25g each. It is Aldara (imiquimod) cream, 5%, to be
applied 3 times a week. He sincerely hopes this treatment to
be effective. Incidentally, 0.25 gram is 0.009 ounce. 12
applications is 0.108 ounce. Therefore, it is about
$1,900/ounce. For the comparison, the price of gold traded
in the market is $621.80/ounce, as of August 26, 2006. What
this means is that his current medication is more than three
time as expensive as gold. Pharmaceutical industry is one of
the major fields where today’s alchemists are enrolled for
their wages. The great alchemist and doctor, Paracelsus once
said that the purpose of the alchemy is not making gold but
making better medications. He was also a man who saw
the future.
(left)
Right hand of Takeshi Yamada, 2006 (middle)
current ointment in use.
(right)
Artist’s rendering of Yamada’s infected finger if it is left
alone without medical treatment.
The artist’s rendering of
the head of Jackalope growing from Yamada’s finger as shown
above is not quite farfetched. Any advanced diseases of skin
are so horrific and terrifying because they are so visible
and obvious to himself/herself and others. They are not only
illnesses of the body but can also affect the mind because
of the extreme self-consciousness of the sufferers.
The unique illness of
Yamada’s finger was also featured in the recent full-page
interview by Silke Tudor for the weekly Village Voice
newspaper in New York City. The article was entitled “The
Stuffing Dreams Are Made Of” (November 15 – 21, 2006 issue).
The dramatic photograph of Takeshi Yamada with his 7-feet
Giant Klingon Killer Worm and 3-feet Prehistoric Giant
Horseshoe Crab at the Coney Island Canal is by
Leslie Van Stelten.
Here is what it wrote about Yamada’s finger illness:
"In the East,
abnormalities are not seen as shocking," explains Yamada
as he slogs through a deep, soggy thicket behind a
baseball field. "The freakish is not a bad thing. It can
represent the mystery of the universe. An expression of
divinity. A blessing."
He felt a bit
differently when a tiny, horn-like tumor began to grow
out of his finger after he moved to Coney Island.
"Shazam!" exclaims
Yamada, as he often does. "I was like jackalope!"
Yamada was treated for
the growth, but the cosmic joke was not lost on him.
Jinmensou (人面瘡)
In Japan, one of such truly
monstrous skin diseases is known as “Jinmensou”.
Jin means human, men means face, and “sou” means
carbuncle. Therefore, Jinmensou means a carbuncle
with human face. According to ancient medical books and
local folktales in Japan, this monster grows out from the
shoulders, arms, legs, abdomen, back and head of a person.
When fully developed, this carbuncle starts talking to its
host with a devilishly opened mouth.
Jinmensou
is one of the most feared fictional medical conditions of
humans and has been featured in many literature, novels,
cartoons, Manga, and movies for possibly many centuries in
Japan. In recent years, Jinmensou was featured in
Gensou Midnight (“Midnight Fantasy” TV series, 1997),
Hiruko: Youkai Hunter (“Hiruko, the goblin”, movie,
1991), and Oiran (“Prostitute”, movie, 1983) based on
a novel, “Jinmen-sou” by Tanizaki Jun’ichorou in
1918. Tanizaki Jun’ichorou (1886-1965) is one of the most
prolific and important authors in modern Japanese literature
and his writings are required readings in Japanese high
schools. Jinmensou was also featured in weekly TV
Manga show in 1967 entitled “Dororo to Hyakkimaru”
(Dororo and Hyakkimaru) by one of the most famous Japanese
cartoonist, Osamu Tezuka. The faces of Jinmensou do
not resemble any particular deities of devils associated
with Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism or any religions in
Japan.
Takeshi Yamada personally experienced the skin illness of
Jinmensou when he was 3rd grade of an elementary school
student in Osaka, Japan. It started growing after he damaged
skin of the middle finger of his right hand. Due to the
location of the wound (bottom of the finger joint), it was
not easy to heal, and the area became swelled up and
produced a shape resembled a baby’s face. It even produced
eyes, nose and mouth. To make it worse, in the winter time,
it bled from its “eyes” of the dried up face. It was also
very painful. Fortunately this demonic skin illness was
disappeared by the summer from Yamada’s hand completely
without any hospital visits or surgeries. Nevertheless, it’s
horrific memory was etched in his mind forever.
END
All rights reserved by Takeshi Yamada, November 2006.
Museum of World
Wonders in Coney Island, 1405 Neptune Avenue, Brooklyn, New
York 11224, USA.
E-mail: yamada108@aol.com
Special thanks to Eriko N. Bond, Lauren D. Travis, and Diane M.
Taros.
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