BEAST FOLK

The real Dr. Moreau, popularized in film and literature, was born Alphonse Moreau in Birmingham, England in 1859, the same year Charles Darwin published his seminal work On the Origin of Species.

An enthusiastic student of science and the natural world, Moreau attended Oxford University Medical School, graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine degree in 1879.

Dr. Moreau taught Anatomy and Biochemistry at the University College London Medical School (UCL Medical School) during the 1880s.

During this time he also studied photography under Henry Peach Robinson, one of the most prominent photographers in England, eventually becoming a member of the Royal Photographic Society.

In 1885 Dr. Moreau began experimenting with the physiology of animals using vivisection and a variety of bio-serums designed to alter cellular structure and growth.

His initial goal was to elevate an animal species to a higher level of intelligence, but his ambition soon grew more radical as he strove to make a complete transformation of an animal into a human being.

In 1888, following a public scandal over his controversial experiments, Dr. Moreau fled England and retreated to a secluded island in the Pacific Ocean where he continued his work on the anthropomorphized creatures he called his "Beast Folk".

Immune responses to foreign tissues make transplantation between species very complicated. Likewise, non-human animals lack the necessary brain structure to emulate human faculties like speech. Dr. Moreau's lab techniques, including his perfected bio-serums, enabled him to overcome these limitations.

An avid photographer, Dr. Moreau shot numerous portraits of his Beast Folk menagerie, even dressing them in fine clothes imported from Europe.

The Beast Folk referred to Dr. Moreau's laboratory as the "House of Pain" due to the agonizing process of body alterations they endured.

They were required to live by a strict set of rules that forbade any type of animalistic behavior under threat of corporal punishment, adding to their dissent.

The Beast Folk revolted in 1895. Dr. Moreau was killed during the riot. His laboratory was destroyed in a fire, along with his research notes. He was 36 years old.

The photographs of Dr. Moreau were saved from destruction by his assistant Dr. Montgomery. They were given to Edward Prendick, an English visitor to the island, who brought them back to England and presented them to The Royal Society in London in 1896.

The photography collection was exhibited to the public in various venues, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Photographic Society, and King's College London, serving as a poignant reminder of what can happen when science is separated from ethics.

Famed author H.G. Wells, spurred by the intrigue surrounding Dr. Moreau, penned his expose The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1896 after conducting several interviews with surviving witness Edward Prendick. The book details the grim realities behind the photographs, and the events that led to the Beast Folk uprising and Dr. Moreau's untimely demise.

The book explores themes of pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, human interference with nature, and the effects of trauma. The book also reflects the ethical, philosophical, and scientific controversies raised by the ideas of Darwinian evolution which were so disrupting to social norms in the late 1800s.

Inspired in part by the case of Dr. Moreau, increasing opposition to animal vivisection led to the formation of groups like the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection in 1898.

Dr. Montgomery died from liver failure in 1901, and Edward Prendick was killed in a boating accident in 1904. Neither man ever revealed the location of the island.

The Beast Folk were never discovered.

The enigmatic techniques of Dr. Moreau are still unknown.

Only his photographs remain.