Leach
fell on hard times after the fire at the Bowery Theatre as other than Thomas
Hamblin no one in the US seemed willing to engage him. It was almost certainly during
this time that he approached P.T. Barnum in New York, proposing to the famous showman
that he exhibit him in London, the stipulation on location presumably being a
way of paying his passage back to England. According to the Encyclopaedia
Britannica Leach and Barnum already knew each other, Leach supposedly being
one of the exhibits at Scudders American Museum in New York when Barnum took it
over in 1841. I cannot trace a primary source to confirm this but Leach was in
America for at least part of 1841, appearing as the Gnome-fly, so it is a
possibility that he also appeared at Scudder’s. Barnum recounts his 1845 meeting with Leach in
The Life of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself:
On
the same visit to New-York, I was called upon by "Hervio Nano," who
was known to the public as the "gnome fly," and was also celebrated
for his representations of the monkey. His malformation caused him to appear
much like that animal when properly dressed. He wished me to exhibit him in
London, but having my hands already full, I declined. He, however, made
immediate arrangements with two Americans, who took him to London. They stained
his face and hands, and covered him with a dress made of hair, and resembling
the skin of an animal. They then advertised him as a curious
"nondescript," called "WHAT IS IT?" and claimed that
"the strange animal" was captured in the mountains of Mexico; that it
appeared like a "wild man," but could not speak, although it
manifested much intelligence. I was let into the secret, on condition of
"keeping dark." The exhibition opened in Egyptian Hall, and as a
matter of curiosity I attended at the opening. Before half an hour had elapsed,
one of the visitors, who knew "Hervio Nano," recognized him through
his disguise and exposed the imposition. The money was refunded to visitors,
and that was the first and last appearance of "What is it?" in that
character. He soon afterwards died in London.
Despite
Barnum’s disavowal of playing any direct part in the ‘What is it?’ fiasco he
admits to being ‘let into the secret’ and being present at the opening of the
exhibit at the Egyptian Hall. Rumours persist that he was behind ‘What is it?’ and
that his denials of any connection were simply a face-saving measure because the
carefully prepared hoax failed so dismally. In the run up to the opening advertising
posters were pasted on walls all over London and hundreds of copies of a four-page
flyer showing a woodcut of ‘The Wild Man of the Prairies’ and explaining where
and how he had been captured were printed and distributed;
Is
it Human? Is it an Animal? Is it an extraordinary freak of nature? Or is it a
legitimate member of Nature’s works? Is it not the long sought for LINK between
Man and the OURANG-OUTANG, which Naturalists have for years decided does exist but
which has as yet been undiscovered?... The Exhibitors of this Indescribable
Person or Animal, do not pretend to assert what it is; they have named it 'THE
WILD MAN OF THE PRAIRIES' or "WHAT IS IT," because this is the
universal exclamation of all who have seen it. Its Features, Hands, and the
upper portion of the 'Body', are to all appearances Human: the lower part of
its Body, the hind Legs, and Haunches, are decidedly Animal! It is entirely
covered, except the Face and Hands, with long flowing Hair of various shades.
IT IS LARGER THAN AN ORDINARY SIZED MAN, but not quite as tall. "WHAT IS
IT" is decidedly the most extraordinary Being that ever astonished the
World. It has the intelligence appertaining to humanity, and can do anything It
sees done, or anything which Man or Animal can do, except speak, Read or Write.
It Leaps, Climbs, Runs &c... with the Agility of a Monkey. It lays the
Cloth and sets a Table with the au fait of a London Waiter, lifts its Hat
&c., with the grace of a Master of Ceremonies: distinguishes Colours:
remembers what is said to it: goes through the Military Exercises: and Plays
various Games with an Instinct and Skill that would reflect on HOYLE himself.
"WHAT IS IT" was caught in the WILDS of CALIFORNIA: its Food is
chiefly Nuts and Fruit, though it occasionally indulges in a Meal of RAW MEAT:
It drinks Milk, Water, and Tea, and is partial to Wine, Ale, and Porter.
The
flyer claims that ‘What is it’ was bartered for with ‘guns, beads and other
Trinkets’ in the Guadalupe mountains of Mexico by a party of Missouri traders
and hunters from a tribe of Comanche Indians who had originally captured the
creature in Upper California. Quite why the Missourians and Comanches, who would
both have been a couple of thousand kilometres away from their usual
territories, were doing in Mexico is not explained. If Barnum thought that this huckster’s
bullshit would bamboozle the public rather than arouse their suspicions, he was
sorely mistaken. At 11.30am on the 31st August 1846 the Wild Man of the Prairie
was finally exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, the price of entry to the public
being one shilling for adults and sixpence for children under 10. On the 1st
September the following letter, describing what happened on opening day, appeared
in The Times from a pseudonymous correspondent who identified himself only
as Open-Eye:
TO
THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. Sir, - Being naturally a bit of a naturalist, and
consequently anxious to see the “what is it” at the Egyptian-hall in its first
wildness, I arose two hours earlier than usual and proceeded thither in a kind
of feverish excitement, paid my shilling magnanimously, and was shown into the
sanctum of “the wild man of the prairies.” Yes, there “what is it” was with its
keeper, playing “toss” with an India rubber ball. Oh, ghost of Buffon! What was
my surprise when, at the first glance, I found “what is it” to be an old
acquaintance- ‘Hervio Nano, alias Hervey Leech, himself! I will not take up
your valuable space by relating how Mister Leech sucked raw flesh and cracked
nuts, nor how I volunteered (although “what is it” is very savage with
strangers) to go alone into his den, which was refused; but I will tell you how
the “wild man,” finding his hair dress and the fervent expressions of his visitors
too warm, shrank into himself and horse-cloth, and went to his kennel to argue
with the proprietor on the propriety of returning my shilling. The coin was
handed back; and as I suppose Mr. Leech will take an early departure for the “wilds
of California” again, I hope he will take the comfortable assurance back with
him, that The Times won’t let Mr. Bull encourage impostors. Yours, &c.,
OPEN-EYE.
The
letter was re-published in countless newspapers across the country and story of
the hoax widely reported. No one it seems, had been fooled. The Illustrated
London News on Saturday 05 September 1846 reported that they were already suspected
the identity ‘What is it?’ before they tried to visit the Egyptian Hall on the
opening afternoon and were surprised to find the exhibit already closed:
“THE
WILD MAN OF THE PRAIRIES.” The attempt made to hoax the gentle public the
exhibition of this pseudomonster has turned out a failure; and there is a
forlorn look in its portrait, still posted on the walls of the metropolis, that
is absolutely sad to behold. The question of “What is it?” has been simply
solved in the Times, by a cunning visitor, who finds it is Mr. Hervey Leech,
the Signor Hervio Nano who played in the “Gnome Fly,” during one of poor
Yates’s splendid gags at the Adelphi. We suspected as much when we first saw
the picture of the Wild Man; and should have recognised our old friend the
instant we saw him. But, going to the Egyptian Hall, on Monday afternoon, found
he was invisible. The question of “What is it?” immediately induced another of
“Where is it?” and this led to our asking Why is it?” and “Who is it?” to all
of which we in time found solution. The man told us that What’s-his-name had
been taken ill, and was expected to die ; and at the same time person with whom
an arrangement had been entered into for some advertising vans was informed
that one of the visitors had given Thing-uma-bob an apple stuck with pins, and
that the doctors had been called in, but had Aid that poor What-d’ye-call-him
could not live throughout the day. This was all very painful—to those who
believed it; but we were not of them. We still clung to our notion of Hervey
Leech, and the letter the next day in the Times put our mind at rest upon the
subject. So that suppose The Wild Man of the Prairies,” so savage to strangers,
as the bill said, went quietly home to dinner in a cab, and slept that night in
his usual second-floor wigwam.
James Carter, the 'American Lion King', and his big cats
The
Cork Examiner suggested that Open-Eye was a Mr Waterton “who was enabled
to detect Hervio… through all his coatings of bear-skin, owing to his own long
possession of an astounding animal of the ourang outang genus…” Were they
referring to Charles Waterton, the Yorkshire naturalist who famously captured a
caiman by sitting on its back and tying its jaws with his braces? Waterton
never owned an Orangutan as far as I can see. In 1884 a Mr R. Hohnyard of 1 Sydney Villas,
Sydney Road, Wood Green won a £1 prize from Rare Bits magazine in their
edition of 9th August with an intriguing, and superficially convincing account
of ‘What is it?’ Hohnyard does not say explicitly that Barnum was responsible
for ‘What is it?’ but says that he was in London exhibiting General Tom Thumb
at the time. Also in London was James Carter, generally known as the American
Lion King, who had been performing with big cats in the capital at Astley’s and
other places since 1839. Carter was then exhibiting General Washington,
advertised as the ‘mammoth horse’, who stood 20 hands high at the withers (6
feet 8 inches), weighed 2500 pounds, and was a “noble steed… found galloping
among a herd of mustangs on the Great Plains,” which required “the combined
might of twelve British-made steam engines… to break his ironclad American will.”
According to Hohnyard Carter thought that “if he could get Barnum to allow
General Tom Thumb to ride his big horse, it would be a great card.” But Barnum
refused the proposal “much to Carter’s chagrin.” Carter was “determined to let his revengeful
cat out of the bag” and the unmasking of ‘What is it?’ was to be the instrument
of his revenge. This would only make sense of course if Barnum were behind Leach’s
final professional appearance. Hohnyard’s account of Carter’s unmasking of
Hervio Nano as the Wild Man of the Prairies is broadly similar to Open-Eye’s version
in The Times, but claims that Carter demanded to be let into the Wild
Man’s cage with a whip in his hand. Leach at once became extremely docile and
after shaking the Wild Man’s hand, Carter “with one strong tug tore the shaggy
skin all down its back and sides – and out stepped – Hervio Nano, the ex-Gnome
Fly!” Carter greeted Leach “Ah Harvey, my boy! How d’ye do? I knew you were an
old acquaintance. And now, as you’ve been living on raw meat so long, come down
to Craven-street and have a broiled steak with me.” None of the contemporary newspaper accounts of
the affair mention either Barnum or Carter’s involvement even though both of
them were well known figures at the time. That seems a little strange as Barnum
claims to have been present at the unmasking. We will never probably know the
truth.
James Carter with 'General Washington, his 'mammoth horse'
‘What
is it?’ was the final, humiliating, professional appearance of Harvey Leach. Within
six months of his outing at the Egyptian Hall, on Tuesday the 16th March 1847, at
the age of just 46, he was dead. According to the Illustrated London News of
Saturday 20 March, he had been about to set out to Lisbon (Portugal would have
been a completely new audience for him) when he was taken suddenly ill and died
at his home in George Street, Shoreditch. The death was officially registered but
there are no burial records because instead of going to Lisbon, Leach went, at
his own request, to Liston, Robert Liston the eminent surgeon:
Death
of Harvey Leach—The mortal career of this remarkable individual, who earned for
himself considerable reputation both in this country and abroad, for his clever
personifications of the habits and eccentricities of the monkey race under the
assumed name of Signor Hervio Nano, terminated, after a short illness, on
Tuesday evening, at his residence, George-street, Shoreditch. A short time ago
deceased exhibited himself at the Egyptian Hall, disguised as an extraordinary
animal captured at the Cape of Good Hope, supposed to be the link between the
human race and the ourang-outang, and called “What is it?” The last place
deceased performed at was the Standard Theatre, in December last, where,
notwithstanding the deception having been discovered and made public, he
continued to represent “What is it?” He was about to start for Lisbon when he
was taken ill. He was a native of America, and in his forty sixth year. The
last request of the deceased was, that his body should be presented to Dr.
Liston, the eminent surgeon, not to be buried, but embalmed and kept in a glass
case, as the doctor had been a particular friend to him.
Liston
did his best to respect Leach’s last request; there was to be no embalmment, an
uncertain procedure at that time in any case, instead a plaster cast was taken
of his body and, following his dissection, the flesh was cleaned from his bones
and the skeleton was articulated. Plaster cast and skeleton were presented to
the anatomy museum of University College. Liston did not carry out the
dissection himself, he presented Leach’s corpse to his protégée, the 29-year-old
Demonstrator of Anatomy at University College, John Phillips Potter. Phillips Potter was apparently in something of
a hurry when he carried out the dissection on the 22nd April, perhaps because
Leach had already been dead for more than a month and the corpse would have not
been in its first flush of freshness. The anatomist carelessly managed to
puncture the skin on his knuckle with one of his instruments during the post
mortem. Thinking nothing of it he finished up the dissection and then went
about his business as normal. The next day the wound was red and inflamed but
still nothing much to worry about, he thought. Bell's New Weekly Messenger of
Sunday 06 June 1847 gives the following account of what happened next, drawn
from a much longer article in the previous weeks Lancet;
The
Dangers of Dissection. —ln the death of Mr. John Phillips Potter, F.K.C.S.,
Demonstrator of Anatomy in University College, and Assistant Surgeon of
University College Hospital, have record melancholy and disheartening instance
of brilliant talent and promise blighted in the bud. For some weeks before his
illness, he had been assisting Mr. Liston in dissections, which were always
done early in the morning, and on the 22d of April, was engaged in taking a
pelvis, with diseased hip-joint and abscess, from a subject, and being pressed
for time, received some very small puncture on the knuckle of the forefinger,
which was disregarded at the moment, but on the following day it became
painful, and after the early morning dissection, he came home, complaining of
feeling chilly and very unwell. The little wound was inflamed, and the swelling
and redness soon extended up the arm to the axilla and side of the chest,
accompanied with severe pain, and great constitutional disturbance. After two
days symptoms of great depression came on, accompanied with complete jaundice,
and other dangerous symptoms, which led his medical attendants, Mr. Liston, Mr.
Travers, Dr. Watson, and Dr. Brodie Sewell, almost to despair of his rallying.
It was thought advisable make two deep incisions in the seat of pain, in hopes
of finding matter, but none issued from the wound. Stimulants were
administered, and he rallied considerably, but on the 17th, exhaustion again
came on, and death relieved him from a state of great suffering.
Leach's skeleton, originally preserved in the anatomy museum of University College London, now lost
The initial reports of Phillips Potter’s death made no mention of Leach but a couple of weeks later stories started to appear linking the two. This is from the Birmingham Journal of 29th May 1847:
There
is no saying what is impossible in these days, which are the true age of
miracles, notwithstanding all that is being talked about everything being
commonplace. There, for instance, has Mr. Harvey Leech, Hervio Nano, the Gnome
Fly, the Brazilian Ape, the What Is It? being performing with killing effect,
three weeks after his death! He had bequeathed his astonishing and most
enigmatical carcass to Liston, the surgeon, who made it over to another
surgeon, named Potter, who pricked himself with the knife, charged with a virus
as deadly as the bite of all the Leeches that ever drank venom from the
poisoned pools of Sumatra. The Gnome Fly's post-humous sting was mortal, and
Potter was as incapable as Jock: of answering “What Is It?” on Tuesday.
Phillips
Potter was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery on Saturday 22nd May 1847. According
to the Lancet, “besides his immediate relatives, upwards of 200 professors,
students, and friends, assembled to pay his remains the last tribute of
respect—a speaking testimony of the regard felt for him. Death has in this case
inflicted an irreparable loss upon the friends, and indeed upon the profession
and society in general.”
In
February 2019 (I have been interested in Harvey Leach for some time!) I emailed
the Anatomy Museum at University College London and asked them about Leach’s
remains:
Dear
Sir
I
am trying to trace a specimen which I believe may be in the UCL pathology
collection.
The
specimen is of an American called Harvey Leach who left his body to either Sir
Robert Liston or assistant surgeon at University College Hospital John Phillips
Potter in 1847. Potter cut himself on the knuckle during the dissection of
Leach's body and subsequently died of septicaemia. Sir William Fergusson in his
1867 'Lectures on the Progress of Anatomy and Surgery During the Present
Century' gives a detailed description of Leach's skeleton and mentions that it
is in the museum of University College. I wondered if the Pathology Museum
still has the specimen and if it does if it would be possible to see it?
Yours
David
Bingham
I
received a reply in April:
Dear
David,
With
thanks for your patience with this reply, I’m afraid I’m writing with
disappointing news – no full skeletons from the original Anatomy Museum at
University College Hospital survive in UCL Pathology Collections. Most of the
existing UCH collection are wet-preserved tissue specimens from the museum’s
second incarnation in the 20th Century. The only mentions of Liston in the
collection catalogue is in relation to a few kidney and bladder caculi, along
with a view jaw and one intestine specimen. It seems to be mostly chance what
has lasted and what hasn’t.
Sorry
to not be writing with more positive news, but I hope this is useful
nonetheless.
Subhadra
Das
Curator,
UCL Science Collections
UCL
Culture
So much for Leach’s desire to be embalmed and kept in a glass case. I had a little more luck Phillips Potters grave at Kensal Green. I had been told, by someone I trusted implicitly, that the grave was unmarked but late last year my friend Meriel told me that there was a request for a photo of it on Find a Grave. When I told her that the grave was unmarked she was surprised as she had already been to look for it, managed to locate it and had found a sunken ledger stone. There was also a stone cross on the grave but Meriel didn’t think it really belonged there, somehow it had been moved there from another grave. What she really needed was my help to dig out the ledger stone which was almost completely buried beneath the turf. And so, on a wet November morning, I found myself, with Meriel, kneeling on the sodden ground in square 168 of the cemetery, removing the earth and turf above grave 6846. The ledger was sitting at an angle so that the bottom end was still visible but the top end, where any inscription was likely to be, was a good 9 inches below the surface. It took us the best part of an hour to remove the grass and dirt. Disappointingly there was no sign of an inscription, not a trace of even weathered and illegible lettering. The surface of the stone was as pristine as when it came out of the quarry.
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