Ryook Phyoo

Introduction

      Sometimes, despite the best efforts, mistakes will happen. Perhaps, to err is human; but, to repeat a mistake over-and-over again is testing the limits of humanity.
      One of the reasons that I found the iconoclastic books of Charles Hoy Fort such a pleasure was his provision of source references. When I began compiling some new indexes for his books, I also began to gather copies of his source references to help identify errors in the texts.
      Some errors are obvious. For example, (in chapter 6 of The Book of the Damned): "Resinous substance said to have fallen at Kaba, Hungary, April 15, 1887 (Rept. Brit. Assoc., 1860-94)." Fort noted this error, wherein the Kaba meteorite fell in 1857, (not in 1887, after the date of the published report).
      Other errors are very subtle and difficult to discern. I was once asked where "Ryook Phyoo" was located. Fort merely copied the bizarre spelling in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, (in chapter 24 of The Book of the Damned), however, it seems doubtful more than a few of the thousands of readers encountering this report have ever taken the trouble to determine where "Ryook Phyoo" was located.
      Forteans and others can often be led astray by erroneous references, especially when they are ceaselessly repeated or given considerable attention, (such as the "Greenberry Hill" sequence in Paul Thomas Anderson's film Magnolia). The aim of this section of this site, "Ryook Phyoo," is to provide a collection of Fortean notes, questions, and requests, which may have a very limited audience and which might require a greater effort than is otherwise available. Some odds and ends may not require an article, and some topics might not lend themselves to an easy answer; so, "Ryook Phyoo" might provide a place where they can be found.

Mr. X

      A Fortean Bibliography

      Donald A. Wollheim's Preface to The Book of the Damned

      Mark Henson's "The Talking Mongoose"

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