Hairball.

Politically Connected Giant Hairball

The most famous artifact in Transylvania University's Moosnick Museum is an immense hairball, 14 inches across. It was given to the school in 1848 by alumnus George Rogers Clark Todd, who was the brother-in-law of Abraham Lincoln. Museum curator Dr. Jamie Day calls it the "world's most politically connected hairball," and told us that Lincoln himself once used a hairball to treat his son Robert, who had been bitten by a possibly rabid dog. At the time it was thought that hairballs had the power to suck poison out of wounds.

The orb at the Moosnick Museum is so big that some have mistakenly believed that it came from a buffalo, but it didn't; it was pulled from the stomach of a Kentucky cow. Dr. Day believes that it may be the world's largest hairball, although there are other contenders for that coveted title.

Transylvania's Moosnick Museum

Directions:: On the campus of Transylvania University. North side of the city, on the north side of W. 3rd St. between N. Broadway Rd and N. Upper St. Parking on N. Upper St.
Hours:: Closed for renovations.
Status:: In Transition

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