1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: If there's one thing that I love, it's stories about cryptids. Bigfoot, Mothman, 7 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: the Lochness Monster. These creatures are more than just legends. 8 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 1: There are archetypes that have persisted throughout time, the culmination 9 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: of centuries of folklore. Even if you don't believe there's 10 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: actually a Bigfoot scampering around the Pacific Northwest, he can't 11 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: deny that his image, the half ape, half man creeping 12 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: through the forest is culturally significant. But if Bigfoot is 13 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: an aless celebrity in the cryptid world, there are tons 14 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: of other weird creatures playing supporting roles. The Yetti, the chupacabra, 15 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 1: the Jersey Devil, and one you've probably never heard of, 16 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: the squonk. According to legend, the squonk is native to 17 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: the hemlock forests of Pennsylvania. Unlike many fearsome folkloric creatures. 18 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 1: The squonk poses no threat to humanity. It's small, slow, 19 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:32,320 Speaker 1: and remarkably dumb. It's also pretty easy to hunt. An 20 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: account published in nineteen twenty six tells the story of 21 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: a famous American finding his very own squonk. As the 22 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: story goes, Paul Bunyan and his men were in a 23 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,559 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania forest chopping down timber when they heard and I quote, 24 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: queer wailing some distance away. Curious, they followed the sound. 25 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: Eventually they noticed a trail on the ground, a wet, 26 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: salty residue left behind by something. The noise and the 27 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: trail led those loggers to a little den in the woods, 28 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: built out of dirt and leaves. They peered inside and found, 29 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: I'm sorry to say, a creature that can only be 30 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: described as utterly repulsive. Its wrinkled skin was marked with 31 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: moles and warts. Its feet were webbed, but only on 32 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: the left side, giving it a distinctly asymmetrical appearance. Essentially, 33 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: it was like a weird, saggy, slightly amphibious pig. But 34 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: the worst part of all, the squonk was self aware. 35 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: It seems that that noise that Paul Bunyan and his 36 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 1: buddies heard was the sound of the squonk crying, mourning 37 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: its own ugliness, and the wet, salty trail was the 38 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: Squonk's tears soaking into the forest floor. The lumberjacks reportedly 39 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: grabbed the sobbing animal and shoved it into a bag 40 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: to carry it home. I don't know if they plan 41 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: to eat it or keep it as a pets or what, 42 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,640 Speaker 1: but whatever their plan was, it didn't work out. The 43 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: next time they opened up the bag, the squonk was gone, 44 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: reduced to a puddle of salt water. It had cried 45 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: so hard that a dissolved into nothing. Now, if you're 46 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: anything like me, you have two thoughts right now. First, 47 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: poor squonk, poor ugly little squonk. And second, this whole 48 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: thing is kind of relatable, like when life is a 49 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: little too much to handle, who doesn't want to just 50 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: burrow into the dirt and sob themselves out of existence? Ultimately, though, 51 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: the squonk is like any other cryptid. It's a story 52 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: with zero proof, but it feels different to me than 53 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 1: the bigfoots, mothmen, and nesses of the world. So many 54 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,079 Speaker 1: creatures in folklore arise out of fear, the fear of 55 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: an ape like monster stalking you through the woods, or 56 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: a sea serpent and dragging you beneath the water's surface. 57 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: But the Squank is sympathetic. It's gentle. It's so ugly 58 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: that it's almost cute. As strange as it sounds, I 59 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: honestly find the Squank sort of charming. And I'm not 60 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: the only one. Although the Cryptid was first recorded in 61 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: nineteen ten, it's recently been the subject of some pop 62 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: culture coverage. At least two different bands, the American rock 63 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: groups Deally Dan and the British band Genesis, have songs 64 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: that reference the Squonk. There's even a Squonk inspired character 65 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: in the video game Final Fantasy, So listen. If the 66 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: story of the Squonk teaches us anything it's that you 67 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: can be fascinating and legendary no matter what you look like. 68 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: And also, if you ever need to escape a tough situation, 69 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 1: try crying really really hard. Look, no one is good 70 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: at everything. While there are people who are skilled in 71 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: multiple disciplines and possess knowledge across many fields, the truth 72 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: is that most of us are only adapt at one 73 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: or two things. Someone might be a talented artist or 74 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: a skilled engineer. But that doesn't stop us from learning 75 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: new skills or developing new passions. We may pick up 76 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: the guitar or try our hand at painting. As for 77 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 1: a J. J. Silvester, well, he probably should have stuck 78 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 1: to math. James Joseph Sylvester was born on September third 79 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: of eighteen fourteen in London, England. He had a bit 80 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: of a rough childhood growing up, having been taken out 81 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: of school when he was fourteen for allegedly stabbing another 82 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: student with a knife. He ended up transferring from the 83 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: University of London to the Liverpool Royal Institution, but didn't 84 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,600 Speaker 1: really get into math until he reached Saint John's College, 85 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: Cambridge in eighteen thirty one. Now, Sylvester did very well 86 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: in college, even when he was forced to take a 87 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: two year hiatus after falling seriously ill. In eighteen thirty seven, 88 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,600 Speaker 1: he took Cambridge's Tripos examination and ranked second among the 89 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: other students. Unfortunately, he was unable to graduate with his 90 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 1: degree as he could not complete one prerequisite. All graduates 91 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: had to accept the thirty nine Articles of the Church 92 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: of England upon completing their studies and Sylvester was the 93 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: son of a Jewish merchant father. His religious background put 94 00:05:57,760 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: him at a significant disadvantage when it came to war 95 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: after college, as well, as he was ineligible for any 96 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:07,719 Speaker 1: fellowships or math prizes. Still, he persevered and found work 97 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: at University College London as a professor of natural philosophy. 98 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: He even went on to earn both a bachelor's degree 99 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:17,479 Speaker 1: and a master's from Trinity College, Dublin in eighteen forty one. 100 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: But he didn't exactly have a temperament for teaching. It 101 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: seemed that Sylvester had trouble controlling his anger among his students. 102 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: After moving to America and becoming a math professor at 103 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: the University of Virginia, he resigned after less than four months. 104 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 1: It seems one of his students had been rudely reading 105 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: a newspaper in one of his classes and insulted him. 106 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: When called out for his behavior, Sylvester in turn whacked 107 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,560 Speaker 1: him with a sword cane, causing him to fall to 108 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: the ground. The professor thought that he had killed the boy, 109 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: but had only mildly wounded him. Except he didn't resign 110 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: in disgrace, and nor did this school force him to 111 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 1: leave Sylvester quit because he didn't feel the university's administration 112 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: had disciplined the student harshly enough, and so JJ sailed 113 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: home to England, where he became an actuary at the 114 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: Equity and Law Life Assurance Society. Around the same time, 115 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: he met another mathematician named Arthur Cayley, and the pair 116 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: developed several important mathematical theories over the course of their partnership. 117 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: By the time Sylvester died in eighteen ninety seven at 118 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: the age of eighty two, he had accomplished much. He'd 119 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: returned to teaching, he'd become a noted math scholar and intellectual, 120 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: and he knew how to swing a stick well enough 121 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: to make it hurt. But one thing that he was 122 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: not remembered for was his poetry. You see, JJ loved poetry. 123 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: It was a passion of his and had been all 124 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 1: his life. He often read books of poetry in other languages, 125 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: such as French and Greek, and then translated them into English. 126 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: He also incorporated poetic quotes into his mathematical essays for 127 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: a bit of artistic flair. But he didn't just read 128 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: the stuff. Sylvester also wrote it. He once printed a 129 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: book of his own composition called Springs Debut a town It'll, 130 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: in which every line rhymed with the word in. And 131 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: there was also his poem Rosalind, a four hundred piece 132 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: magnum opus, in which every line rhymed with that name Rosalind. 133 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: In fact, here's just a sample. Fairest oh of lily kind, 134 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: perfect pearl and priceless find pure as poet's milk, white 135 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: hind spirit from all dross, refined parts to ravish Heaven's designed. 136 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:28,119 Speaker 1: And it goes on like that for another three hundred 137 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: and ninety five lines. Sylvester once read Rosalind for the 138 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: members of Baltimore's Peaboty Institute, but not before he gave 139 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: everyone in attendance a thorough education on the work. He 140 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 1: read them every footnote to avoid having to stop to 141 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: read and explain the context, and then began reciting the poem. 142 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: There was just one problem. Almost nobody had stuck around 143 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: to hear it. He'd actually taken an hour and a 144 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: half to get through all the footnotes, and by the 145 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: time he got to the actual piece, most of the 146 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: attendees had already walked out. I guess that's the idea 147 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: of a mathematician writing poetry just didn't add up. I 148 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,359 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 149 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 150 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 151 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 152 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 153 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 154 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the Worldoflore 155 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.