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Birds of a Feather · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
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  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
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  Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
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  Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting
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  Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
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  Speaker 1: Ernst Johanna Schmidt was obsessed. Now. The subject of his
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  Speaker 1: obsession was not particularly well understood by his friends and family,
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  Speaker 1: and Ernest thought that they could afford to be more understanding.
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  Speaker 1: After all, he was hardly the first person in history
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  Speaker 1: to form this particular interest. The topic on his mind
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  Speaker 1: had fascinated the likes of Aristotle and Pliny the Elder,
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  Speaker 1: it stumped Freud, and captured the imagination of the ancient Egyptians.
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  Speaker 1: And yet most people he encountered outside of work, they
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  Speaker 1: just viewed it as well a little strange. You see,
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  Speaker 1: Ernst was interested in eels. Specifically, he wanted to know how, where,
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  Speaker 1: and when they reproduced. This seemed innocuous as a question,
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  Speaker 1: but it had troubled scientists for centuries. That's because for
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  Speaker 1: most of history, no one had ever caught a young
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  Speaker 1: eel or witnessed eels mating. The slippery creatures seemed to
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  Speaker 1: lack genitalia altogether, making sexual reproduction impossible. So then where
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  Speaker 1: did all the eels come from? Did they spring fully
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  Speaker 1: formed from the entrails of the earth as Aristotle suggested,
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  Speaker 1: or was there something else going on? Part of the
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  Speaker 1: mystery was solved in the eighteen seventies, when Ernst was
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  Speaker 1: just a teenager. Scientists discovered that eels undergo several major
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  Speaker 1: metamorphosies throughout their life. Think of a caterpillar and a butterfly,
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  Speaker 1: or the face huggers and xenomorphs of the alien franchise
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  Speaker 1: that different stages looked like completely different creatures, but they
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  Speaker 1: were the same animal from different points in life. In
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  Speaker 1: the case of the European eels, they hatch as larvae,
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  Speaker 1: later transformed into small, translucent glass eels, and eventually become
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  Speaker 1: the much larger yellow eels. It isn't until their final
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  Speaker 1: silver stage that the eels develop sex organs and become
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  Speaker 1: capable of mating. But here's the really strange parts and
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  Speaker 1: the thing that interested Earnst the most. Just before European
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  Speaker 1: eels mature into their final stage, they leave their homes
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  Speaker 1: in rivers, lakes, and lagoons and disappear into the ocean.
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  Speaker 1: Some will even travel thousands of miles across land or
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  Speaker 1: straight up the walls of dams to reach saltwater. And
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  Speaker 1: this explains my early scientists struggled with the eel question
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  Speaker 1: for so long. All the eels capable of mating were
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  Speaker 1: somewhere deep in the ocean where no humans would encounter them.
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  Speaker 1: Where exactly they went to procreate was anyone's guests. But
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  Speaker 1: Ernst was determined to put the mystery to bed once
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  Speaker 1: and for all. Starting in nineteen oh four, he embarked
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  Speaker 1: on several marine expeditions in the Mediterranean Sea and the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Atlantic Ocean. He trawled the ocean floor in search
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  Speaker 1: of larval eels and found that the older, larger specimens
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  Speaker 1: were always closest to the coast. They got smaller the
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  Speaker 1: deeper into the ocean he went, and he soon realized
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  Speaker 1: that the eels were leading him to a single origin point.
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  Speaker 1: It took him over twenty years of searching, but through
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  Speaker 1: trial and error, Ernst finally found what he was looking for.
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  Speaker 1: A small section of the Atlantic Ocean known as the
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  Speaker 1: Sargasso Sea turned out to be the origin point for
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  Speaker 1: all European and American eels in the world. Along the
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  Speaker 1: way his understanding of the eel life cycle deepened, Ernst
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  Speaker 1: learned that eels can live for over one hundred years,
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  Speaker 1: and that's as they mature in gross sexual organs, their
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  Speaker 1: stomachs dissolve. Their final swim can cover a distance of
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  Speaker 1: six thousand miles, and during that time the eels survive
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  Speaker 1: off their existing fat reserves, slowly starving to death. Scientists
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  Speaker 1: today believe that they die soon after mating, which makes
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  Speaker 1: sense with the lack of an opera's stomach. Strangely, the
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  Speaker 1: new larval eels that hatch from their eggs swim back
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  Speaker 1: to the same parts of the world their parents came from.
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  Speaker 1: How they know where to go is still a mystery.
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  Speaker 1: So Ernest's discovery didn't answer every question, and it actually
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  Speaker 1: created plenty of new ones. But the weirdest thing about
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  Speaker 1: what he found might be this one unusual fact. That
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  Speaker 1: section of the ocean all the eels are coming from
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  Speaker 1: it just so happens to be the center of the
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  Speaker 1: Bermuda triangle. Some friendships withstand the test of time through
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  Speaker 1: life's ups and downs, and despite major differences, there are
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  Speaker 1: pairs whose bonds go down in history. Often these friendships
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  Speaker 1: are born out of unexpected circumstances, and that's how our
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  Speaker 1: story today begins. In eighteen fifty, a young woman named
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  Speaker 1: Florence visited the city of Athens. As she roamed the Parthenon,
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  Speaker 1: she noticed some boys bullying a young girl. They made
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  Speaker 1: fun of her unusual appearance, but they didn't just call
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  Speaker 1: her names. It seems that they were going to hurt her.
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  Speaker 1: Florence hurried over to the scene and chewed the boys away.
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  Speaker 1: As she dusted the girl off, she tried to figure
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  Speaker 1: out who she was there with, and that's when she
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  Speaker 1: realized that this girl had no family and nowhere to live.
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  Speaker 1: Florence wasn't the type to abandon someone in need. She
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  Speaker 1: was from a wealthy family and so she had plenty
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  Speaker 1: to give. She decided to take the girl back to
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  Speaker 1: her home country of Britain. The girl seemed happy to
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  Speaker 1: go with her, but there was more trouble on the horizon.
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  Speaker 1: They arrived back in Britain by ship, and the motion
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  Speaker 1: terrified the little girl. To add to that, the ship
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  Speaker 1: didn't carry any food that the girl could stomach. As
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  Speaker 1: the journey went on, she began to starve. Meanwhile, Florence
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  Speaker 1: suffered from sea sickness, so she struggled to take care
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  Speaker 1: of the girl herself, and because others on the ship
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  Speaker 1: were uncomfortable with how different this girl was from them,
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  Speaker 1: Florence had no one to help her fortune. Florence worked
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  Speaker 1: as a nurse, and she was highly skilled at her job,
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  Speaker 1: so she managed to make herself well and then found
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  Speaker 1: a way to feed the girl, and finally they arrived
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  Speaker 1: in Britain and Florence took the girl under her wing.
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  Speaker 1: Soon enough, Florence noticed that the girl didn't exactly know
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  Speaker 1: how to behave in polite British society. For one, the
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  Speaker 1: girl had grown pretty attached after Florence rescued her from
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  Speaker 1: that attack in Athens, so in return, she became overly protective.
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  Speaker 1: If anyone ever got too close to Florence while the
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  Speaker 1: girl was around, she would try to scare them off,
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  Speaker 1: and this only added to the fact that people were
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  Speaker 1: put off by the girl's appearance alone. Florence struggled to
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  Speaker 1: fix this behavior. Along the way, she was able to
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  Speaker 1: teach the girl to Curtsey, something that all young girls
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  Speaker 1: were expected to do. At the time, and this at
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  Speaker 1: least endeared her to people who would otherwise be offended
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  Speaker 1: by her more let's just say aggressive tendencies, and this
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  Speaker 1: girl's captivating stare also didn't hurt. She had wide, discerning eyes,
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  Speaker 1: which soon became known all around town, and this was
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  Speaker 1: one reason for the name that Florence gave her, Athena,
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  Speaker 1: the Greek god us associated with wisdom. The name was
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  Speaker 1: also a nod to the city where they first met.
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  Speaker 1: Over time, Athena learned to behave herself. Florence started taking
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  Speaker 1: her everywhere she went, and people found this a little odd.
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  Speaker 1: Florence was renowned as a healthcare worker and Athena was
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  Speaker 1: just different, but Florence didn't care what they thought about it.
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  Speaker 1: She would even bring Athena to work with her, and
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  Speaker 1: this is how Athena learned to take after Florence's caretaking abilities.
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  Speaker 1: As the story goes, one day, Florence had to change
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  Speaker 1: a burn victim's bandages. She brought Athena with her, and
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  Speaker 1: at first the patient was confused to see Athena there.
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  Speaker 1: They had never seen someone like her in a hospital before,
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  Speaker 1: but they had more important things to think about, because
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  Speaker 1: having their bandages changed was extremely painful. As Florence worked,
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  Speaker 1: the patient winced and writhed. Florence did everything she could
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  Speaker 1: to comfort them, but it felt impossible, and then Athena
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  Speaker 1: started showing the patient her curtsies. For a moment, both
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  Speaker 1: the patient and Florence were surprised, but then the patient
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  Speaker 1: seemed to calm down. Performance was the perfect distraction from
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  Speaker 1: their pain. Realizing what she was doing, Athena went on
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  Speaker 1: to perform some dance moves and this really cheered the
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  Speaker 1: patient up. Soon Florence was finished with the bandages, and
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  Speaker 1: Athena's behavior that day was a reminder of the impact
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  Speaker 1: that true care and compassion can have. Florence started bringing
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  Speaker 1: Athena to work with her every day after that. Like
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  Speaker 1: the burn victim, many of her patients were initially confused
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  Speaker 1: and maybe even a little annoyed that Athena was there,
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  Speaker 1: but she quickly won them over with her quirks and charm.
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  Speaker 1: The way she made patients feel calm and comfortable was
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  Speaker 1: a huge help to Florence. Their life together went on
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  Speaker 1: like this for four years, and then in eighteen fifty four,
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  Speaker 1: the War in Crimea broke out because of Florence's superb
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  Speaker 1: nursing skills she was called to serve. She was ready
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  Speaker 1: and willing, but there was one major downside. She would
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  Speaker 1: have to leave Athena behind. War, of course, was no
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  Speaker 1: place for a girl so small and unaware of the world,
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  Speaker 1: but Florence reminded herself that it was only temporary. Before leaving,
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  Speaker 1: Florence racked her brain for the best place to keep Athena,
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  Speaker 1: and finally she landed on a solution, the attic at
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  Speaker 1: her family's house. Florence didn't love the idea, but it
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  Speaker 1: was the best one she had, and her family agreed
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  Speaker 1: an attic was a good place for someone like Athena.
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  Speaker 1: After all, Athena was an owl. Now it broke Florence's
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  Speaker 1: heart to leave Athena behind. Caring for Patience was much
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  Speaker 1: different without her, but Florence's work during the war earned
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  Speaker 1: her unparalleled recognition. Even back home in Britain, people heard
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  Speaker 1: everything that she had accomplished there, and no one was surprised.
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  Speaker 1: After all, she was the famed nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 1: owls don't have the same lifespan as humans. After Athena
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  Speaker 1: passed away, Florence couldn't part with her beloved pet, and
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  Speaker 1: so she had her taxidermied. Athena may not have gone
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  Speaker 1: down in history like Florence, but her legacy still lives
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  Speaker 1: on today because Athena's nine inch tall body can still
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  Speaker 1: be seen in the Florence Nightingale Museum. An enduring testament
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  Speaker 1: to a cure friendship. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided
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  Speaker 1: tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on
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  Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting
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  Speaker 1: Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me
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  Speaker 1: Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make
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  Speaker 1: another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
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  Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all
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  Speaker 1: about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until
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  Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.