Mermaid
Seventeenth-century Visayas

A type of mermaid referred to as " anthropomorphus " or "woman-fish" (Spanish: peche mujer) allegedly inhabited the Spanish-ruled Philippines, particularly in the waters around the Visayan Islands, according to contemporary writings from the seventeenth century.

The accounts are found in several books, on various topics from magnetism, to natural history, to ecclesiastical history.

These books refer to the mermaid/merman as " piscis anthropomorphos " (Dutch: Anthropomorphus), and emphasize how human-like they appear in their upper bodies, as well as providing woodcut or etchings illustrating the male and female of the part-human part-fish creature.

The "woman-fish" (or peche mujer in modern Spanish)) was the name given to the creature among the Spaniards, but the sources also state it was called "duyon" by the indigenous people. and it is assumed the actual creature was a dugong (according to modern translators' notes).

Several of these sources mention the medical use of the woman-fish to control the flow of blood (or the four humours). It was effective for staunching the bleeding, i.e., effective against hemorrhages, according to Jonston. Other sources mention the ability to stop bleeding, e.g. Colín, who also thought that the Philippine woman-fish tasted like fatty pork. The bones were made into beads (i.e., strung together), as it was believed effective against defluxions (of the humours).
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