In late 1726 much of Britain was caught up in the curious case of Mary Toft, a woman from Godalming, Surrey who claimed that she had given birth to a litter of rabbits. This prompted the arrival of John Howard, a local surgeon, who investigated the matter. He delivered several pieces of animal flesh, which brought the case to the attention of Nathaniel St. André, surgeon to the Royal Household of King George I.
St. André concluded that Toft's case was genuine but the king also sent surgeon Cyriacus Ahlers, who remained sceptical. By then quite famous, Mary Toft was brought to London and studied at length, where under intense scrutiny and producing no more rabbits she confessed to the hoax, and was subsequently imprisoned as a fraud.
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