



Theodorus Döderlein vomits frogs and newts.

(From Georg Abraham Mercklin's De Incantamentis, 1715.)

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, there were many stories of people vomiting amphibians, and most German pathological museums contained vomited amphibians that allegedly lived for years in a person's digestive tract. For example, in 1694, Theodorus Döderlein of southern Germany vomited 21 newts and 4 frogs (see Figure). In 1834, Mrs. Henriette Pfenning vomited frogs in front of applauding crowds of spectators. (She later admitted her hoax -- she stashed the frogs inside her skirt pockets and pretended to vomit the frogs.)