1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Despite their intelligence and friendly nature, 5 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:33,519 Speaker 1: rats are often hated by the public. Their role in 6 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,879 Speaker 1: spreading the plague has been greatly exaggerated. It was the 7 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: fleas on the rats that actually carried the disease, and 8 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: they've been considered a nuisance for probably a lot longer 9 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: vermin to be exterminated with prejudice. But did you know 10 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: that rats can detect gunpowder residue. That's how they're used 11 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: in the Netherlands because they're cheaper and easier to train 12 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: than dogs. Even more amazing, the Gambian pouched rat of 13 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: Africa has been trained to detect landines and tuberculosis, all 14 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:06,320 Speaker 1: thanks to their incredible sense of smell. Regardless of their 15 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: occupations or contributions to society, rats are still animals. They 16 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: have basic needs like all of us, like food and shelter. 17 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: In the wild, they scavenge for food wherever they can 18 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: find it, often going to places where they aren't welcome 19 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: in search of their next meal. But in fifteen hundreds 20 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: of France. Their disregard for farmers crops gave the people 21 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: of Auton so much trouble the town went to unbelievable 22 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: lengths to remove them. All manner of exterminations were exacted 23 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: on the rat population at the time, but no matter 24 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: what they did, they always kept coming back. They destroyed 25 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: plants and infested homes and businesses. It was an epidemic. 26 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: Even the Catholic Church got involved and decried them as 27 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: creatures of the devil. The Pope attempted to exercise them, 28 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: while a bishop officially excommunicated them out of the country, 29 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: but it didn't stick. The rats kept coming and the 30 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: crops continued to get eaten, so the town turned to 31 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: more medieval methods. Rats were subjected to all kinds of 32 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: torture and abuse simply for existing within the borders of 33 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: the city. But there was one method that people hadn't tried. 34 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: It didn't require burning or stretching them out on a rack, 35 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: or even drowning them. Instead, the town served the rats 36 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: with a summons to appear before the court their crime 37 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 1: destroying the local barley crops. Of course, the trial was 38 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: to be conducted within the cathedral, but for a proper 39 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: trial there needed to be two sides. The town would 40 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,839 Speaker 1: be the plaintiffs, tired of fighting an unwinnable problem, while 41 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: the rats were the defendants, and any defendant, no matter 42 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 1: their crime, deserved proper representation. The town turned to a 43 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: local pro bono lawyer named Bartolomy the Cassineus to argue 44 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: on behalf of the rats. Yes, the rats were given 45 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:57,919 Speaker 1: their own lawyer, and a particularly clever one too. Cassin 46 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,359 Speaker 1: News had studied under the finest legal ds of the 47 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: day and perform work from major figures. At the time. 48 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: He had already served the Duchy of Milan and Pope 49 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 1: Julius the Second, and now he had been tasked with 50 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: representing the unrepresentable, a group of feral, disliked rodents, causing 51 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,799 Speaker 1: havoc for farmers all over the town. Unsurprisingly, on the 52 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: day they were supposed to appear, the rats didn't show up. 53 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: Cassa News argued that the original summons couldn't be honored 54 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: because rats were not pack animals, they were solitary creatures, 55 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: and each rodent would need to be served individually. The 56 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: court actually complied and reissued one new summons per rat. 57 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: It didn't help, though, and they failed to appear on 58 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: the second scheduled day. Cassin News pointed out that the 59 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: roads leading to the courthouse were hazardous for rats, given 60 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: the presence of larger creatures like cats and dogs along 61 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: the route. Once again, the lawyer had made a valid 62 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: argument before the court. According to the law, if a 63 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: defendant could not travel to court with a guarantee of safety, 64 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: they were not obligated to attend the hearing and the 65 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: summons could be ignored. No one knows what the final 66 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: outcome of the trial was, but it's probably safe to 67 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: say that all charges against the rats were dropped. Bartolemey 68 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: Ducassa News had won his case and inadvertently became the 69 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: first ever legal defender of animals. Twins are special, identical 70 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: or fraternal. Their biology is unique, and they can be 71 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,359 Speaker 1: emotionally closer to each other than any other kind of sibling. 72 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,359 Speaker 1: Twins have been known to invent their own languages, a 73 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: phenomenon known as cryptophagia. They sometimes develop ways of walking 74 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,719 Speaker 1: and sync with each other too. They're different people, but 75 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: often seem like they're living the same life. Twins Lazarus 76 00:04:56,520 --> 00:05:00,719 Speaker 1: and Johannes Baptista Colorado were like that lived in Italy 77 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: in the early sixteen hundreds and toward Europe, demonstrating their 78 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: unique talents. However, they weren't identical twins or even fraternal. No, 79 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 1: they were something entirely different. The pair were described by 80 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: Thomas Bartolinus, a Danish anatomist, as being vastly different in size. 81 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: Lazarus was twenty eight years old and a full grown man. 82 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 1: His younger brother, Johannes, however, was much smaller. His features 83 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,600 Speaker 1: were underdeveloped, with many of them having not developed at all. 84 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 1: Both of his hands only had three fingers, and his 85 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: left foot hung down. His right foot seemed to have 86 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: disappeared entirely. On top of that, the younger man's underdeveloped 87 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: lungs made breathing difficult. He almost never opened his eyes, 88 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: which was hard to do given the abnormally large size 89 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: and shape of his head. But despite all of that, 90 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: he was pretty attached to his brother. I'm not saying 91 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: that they were close. I mean that Johannes was physically 92 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: attached to Lazarus. To spectators, it appeared as though he 93 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: was growing from his brother's chest. Though he lived and breathed, 94 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: he couldn't eat, he gained nourishment from the food inside 95 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: his older brother's stomach. The Colorado twins were parasitic twins, 96 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: also known as asymmetrical or unequal conjoined twins. It happens 97 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: when a fertilized egg doesn't fully split and one embryo 98 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: completely develops while the other does not. They may have 99 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: been among the first known cases of parasitic twins, but 100 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,840 Speaker 1: they certainly weren't the last. During the eighteen hundreds, a 101 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,039 Speaker 1: sideshow performer by the name of Laalu made his living 102 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,719 Speaker 1: exhibiting his twin. His sibling had developed with both hands 103 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 1: and feet, even though he was sticking out of La 104 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: Lou's chest. Decades later, a woman named Betty Lou Williams 105 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 1: also made a career out of showing off her parasitic twin, 106 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,039 Speaker 1: which had been born with both legs but only one 107 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: full arm. Betty Lou was the youngest of twelve children 108 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,719 Speaker 1: and became a sideshow performer when she was still a toddler. 109 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: Her years of success allowed her to buy an enormous 110 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,920 Speaker 1: ranch for her family and then send her eleven other 111 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: brothers and sisters to college. Doctors told her that her 112 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: siblings head had developed inside her own abdomen, which could 113 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: have pushed all her other organs out of place or 114 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 1: severely impeded her own growth. But they weren't concerned. They 115 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,520 Speaker 1: told Betty lu she had a long, healthy life ahead 116 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: of her, with just a few extra appendages along for 117 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 1: the journey. Eventually, the child star grew into a young woman, 118 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: and she gained the admiration of several local suitors. One 119 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: man in particular captured her attention, and it wasn't long 120 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: before the two got engaged. However, when they should have 121 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: been planning for a wedding, he was planning for something else. 122 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: Soon enough, it became clear that her fiance had stolen 123 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: more than her heart. He'd taken most of her money too. 124 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: Betty lu couldn't believe that her true love would do 125 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: something like that. She was hurt and she was furious. 126 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: But worse than that, the anger and panic he caused 127 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: her had developed into an asthma attack so strong that 128 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: Betty Lou couldn't handle it. She died of asphyxiation in 129 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: her New Jersey home a short while later. She was 130 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: only twenty three years old. I hope you've enjoyed today's 131 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 132 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 133 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by 134 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 1: me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I 135 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 136 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 137 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Lore dot com. 138 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.