There were several notable events in England in 1726 - George Frideric Handel became a British subject, Jonathan Swift published Gulliver's Travels, and Mary Toft gave birth to at least 17 'preternatural' rabbits1.
The less-than-blessed events, during which a 25-year-old married maidservant led society on a merry chase, led to controversy and amusement in London circles, to satirical engravings by artists such as William Hogarth, to Mary Toft's imprisonment for gross deception, and to embarrassment for certain members of the medical profession.
The incident also sheds light on some of the ideas about reproduction held in 18th-Century society, as well as the growing struggle between midwives and the male-dominated medical profession.
