 Here Kekulé spoke of the creation of the theory.He said that he had discovered the ring shape of the benzene molecule after having a reverie or day-dream of a snake seizing its own tail (this is an ancient symbol known as the ouroboros).A similar humorous depiction of benzene had appeared in 1886 in the "Berichte der Durstigen Chemischen Gesellschaft" (Journal of the Thirsty Chemical Society), a parody of the "Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft", only the parody had monkeys seizing each other in a circle, rather than snakes as in Kekulé's anecdote.