ANOMALIES OF STATURE, SIZE, AND DEVELOPMENT. 2 page

called the Obongos, inhabiting the country of the Ashangos, a little to

the south of the equator, who were about 1.4 meters in height. There

have been people found in the Esquimaux region of very diminutive

stature. Battel discovered another pygmy people near the Obongo who are

called the Dongos. Kolle describes the Kenkobs, who are but 3 to 4

feet high, and another tribe called the Reebas, who vary from 3 to 5

feet in height. The Portuguese speak of a race of dwarfs whom they call

the Bakka-bakka, and of the Yogas, who inhabit territory as far as the

Loango. Nubia has a tribe of dwarfs called the Sukus, but little is

known of them. Throughout India there are stories of dwarf tribes

descended from the monkey-God, or Hoonuman of the mythologic poems.

In the works of Humboldt and Burgoa there is allusion to the tradition

of a race of pygmies in the unexplored region of Chiapas near the

Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Central America. There is an expedition of

anthropologists now on the way to discover this people. Professor Starr

of Chicago on his return from this region reported many colonies of

undersized people, but did not discover any pygmy tribes answering to

the older legendary descriptions. Figure 160 represents two dwarf

Cottas measuring 3 feet 6 inches in height.

The African pygmies who were sent to the King of Italy and shown in

Rome resembled the pygmy travelers of Akka that Schweinfurth saw at the

court of King Munza at Monbuttu. These two pygmies at Rome were found

in Central Africa and were respectively about ten and fifteen years

old. They spoke a dialect of their own and different from any known

African tongue; they were partly understood by an Egyptian sergeant, a

native of Soudan, who accompanied them as the sole survivor of the

escort with which their donor, Miani, penetrated Monbuttu. Miani, like

Livingstone, lost his life in African travel. These dwarfs had grown

rapidly in recent years and at the time of report, measured 1.15 and

1.02 meters. In 1874 they were under the care of the Royal Geographical

Society of Italy. They were intelligent in their manner, but resented

being lionized too much, and were prone to scratch ladies who attempted

to kiss them.

The "Aztec Children" in 1851, at the ages of seven and six years,

another pair of alleged indigenous pygmies, measured 33 3/4 and 29 1/2

inches in height and weighed 20 3/4 and 17 pounds respectively. The

circumference of their heads did not equal that of an ordinary infant

at birth.

It is known that at one time the ancients artificially produced dwarfs

by giving them an insufficient alimentation when very young. They soon

became rachitic from their deprivation of lime-salts and a great number

perished, but those who survived were very highly prized by the Roman

Emperors for their grotesque appearance. There were various recipes for

dwarfing children. One of the most efficient in the olden times was

said to have been anointing the backbone with the grease of bats,

moles, dormice, and such animals; it was also said that puppies were

dwarfed by frequently washing the feet and backbone, as the consequent

drying and hardening of the parts were alleged to hinder their

extension. To-day the growth of boys intended to be jockeys is kept

down by excessive sweating.

Ancient Popularity of Dwarfs.--At one time a dwarf was a necessary

appendage of every noble family. The Roman Emperors all had their

dwarfs. Julia, the niece of Augustus, had a couple of dwarfs, Conopas

and Andromeda, each of whom was 2 feet 4 inches in height. It was the

fashion at one time to have dwarfs noted for their wit and wisdom.

Philos of Cos, tutor of Ptolemy Philadelphus, was a dwarf, as were

Carachus, the friend of Saladin; Alypius of Alexandria, who was only 2

feet high; Lucinus Calvus, who was only 3 feet high, and aesop, the

famous Greek fabulist. Later in the Middle Ages and even to the last

century dwarfs were seen at every Court. Lady Montagu describes the

dwarfs at the Viennese Court as "devils bedaubed with diamonds." They

had succeeded the Court Jester and exercised some parts of this ancient

office. At this time the English ladies kept monkeys for their

amusement. The Court dwarfs were allowed unlimited freedom of speech,

and in order to get at truths other men were afraid to utter one of the

Kings of Denmark made one of his dwarfs Prime Minister.

Charles IX in 1572 had nine dwarfs, of which four had been given to him

by King Sigismund-Augustus of Poland and three by Maximilian II of

Germany. Catherine de Medicis had three couples of dwarfs at one time,

and in 1579 she had still five pygmies, named Merlin, Mandricart,

Pelavine, Rodomont, and Majoski. Probably the last dwarf in the Court

of France was Balthazar Simon, who died in 1662.

Sometimes many dwarfs were present at great and noble gatherings. In

Rome in 1566 the Cardinal Vitelli gave a sumptuous banquet at which the

table-attendants were 34 dwarfs. Peter the Great of Russia had a

passion for dwarfs, and in 1710 gave a great celebration in honor of

the marriage of his favorite, Valakoff, with the dwarf of the Princess

Prescovie Theodorovna. There were 72 dwarfs of both sexes present to

form the bridal party. Subsequently, on account of dangerous and

difficult labor, such marriages were forbidden in Russia.

In England and in Spain the nobles had the portraits of their dwarfs

painted by the celebrated artists of the day. Velasquez has represented

Don Antonio el Ingles, a dwarf of fine appearance, with a large dog,

probably to bring out the dwarf's inferior height. This artist also

painted a great number of other dwarfs at the Court of Spain, and in

one of his paintings he portrays the Infanta Marguerite accompanied by

her male and female dwarfs. Reproductions of these portraits have been

given by Garnier. In the pictures of Raphael, Paul Veronese, and

Dominiquin, and in the "Triumph of Caesar" by Mantegna, representations

of dwarfs are found, as well as in other earlier pictures representing

Court events. At the present time only Russia and Turkey seem to have

popular sympathy for dwarfs, and this in a limited degree.

Intellectual Dwarfs.--It must be remarked, however, that many of the

dwarfs before the public have been men of extraordinary-intelligence,

possibly augmented by comparison. In a postmortem discussed at a

meeting of the Natural History Society at Bonn in 1868 it was

demonstrated by Schaufhausen that in a dwarf subject the brain weighed

1/19 of the body, in contradistinction to the average proportion of

adults, from 1 to 30 to 1 to 44. The subject was a dwarf of sixty-one

who died in Coblentz, and was said to have grown after his thirtieth

year. His height was 2 feet 10 inches and his weight 45 pounds. The

circumference of the head was 520 mm. and the brain weighed 1183.33 gm.

and was well convoluted. This case was one of simple arrest of

development, affecting all the organs of the body; he was not virile.

He was a child of large parents; had two brothers and a sister of

ordinary size and two brothers dwarfs, one 6 inches higher and the

other his size.

Several personages famous in history have been dwarfs. Attila, the

historian Procopius, Gregory of Tours, Pepin le Bref, Charles III, King

of Naples, and Albert the Grand were dwarfs. About the middle of the

seventeenth century the French episcopacy possessed among its members a

dwarf renowned for his intelligence. This diminutive man, called

Godeau, made such a success in literature that by the grace of

Richelieu he was named the Archbishop of Grasse. He died in 1672. The

Dutch painter Doos, the English painter Gibson (who was about 3 feet in

height and the father of nine infants by a wife of about the same

height), Prince Eugene, and the Spanish Admiral Gravina were dwarfs.

Fleury and Garry, the actors.

Hay, a member of Parliament from Sussex in the last century;

Hussein-Pasha, celebrated for his reforms under Selim III; the Danish

antiquarian and voyager, Arendt, and Baron Denon were men far below the

average size Varro says that there were two gentlemen of Rome who from

their decorations must have belonged to an Equestrian Order, and who

were but 2 Roman cubits (about 3 feet) high. Pliny also speaks of them

as preserved in their coffins.

It may be remarked that perhaps certain women are predisposed to give

birth to dwarfs. Borwilaski had a brother and a sister who were dwarfs.

In the middle of the seventeenth century a woman brought forth four

dwarfs, and in the eighteenth century a dwarf named Hopkins had a

sister as small as he was. Therese Souvray, the dwarf fiancee of Bebe,

had a dwarf sister 41 inches high. Virey has examined a German dwarf

of eight who was only 18 inches tall, i.e., about the length of a

newly-born infant. The parents were of ordinary size, but had another

child who was also a dwarf.

There are two species of dwarfs, the first coming into the world under

normal conditions, but who in their infancy become afflicted with a

sudden arrest of development provoked by some malady; the second are

born very small, develop little, and are really dwarfs from their

birth; as a rule they are well conformed, robust, and intelligent.

These two species can be distinguished by an important characteristic.

The rachitic dwarfs of the first class are incapable of perpetuating

their species, while those of the second category have proved more than

once their virility. A certain number of dwarfs have married with women

of normal height and have had several children, though this is not, it

is true, an indisputable proof of their generative faculties; but we

have instances in which dwarfs have married dwarfs and had a family

sometimes quite numerous. Robert Skinner (25 inches) and Judith (26

inches), his wife, had 14 infants, well formed, robust, and of normal

height.

Celebrated Dwarfs.--Instances of some of the most celebrated dwarfs

will be cited with a short descriptive mention of points of interest in

their lives:--

Vladislas Cubitas, who was King of Poland in 1305, was a dwarf, and was

noted for his intelligence, courage, and as a good soldier. Geoffrey

Hudson, the most celebrated English dwarf, was born at Oakham in

England in 1619. At the age of eight, when not much over a foot high,

he was presented to Henriette Marie, wife of Charles I, in a pie; he

afterward became her favorite. Until he was thirty he was said to be

not more than 18 inches high, when he suddenly increased to about 45

inches. In his youth he fought several duels, one with a turkey cock,

which is celebrated in the verse of Davenant. He became a popular and

graceful courtier, and proved his bravery and allegiance to his

sovereign by assuming command of a royalist company and doing good

service therein. Both in moral and physical capacities he showed his

superiority. At one time he was sent to France to secure a midwife for

the Queen, who was a Frenchwoman. He afterward challenged a gentleman

by the name of Croft to fight a duel, and would accept only deadly

weapons; he shot his adversary in the chest; the quarrel grew out of

his resentment of ridicule of his diminutive size. He was accused of

participation in the Papist Plot and imprisoned by his political

enemies in the Gate House at Westminster, where he died in 1682 at the

advanced age of sixty-three. In Scott's "Peveril of the Peak" Hudson

figures prominently. This author seemed fond of dwarfs.

About the same epoch Charles I had a page in his court named Richard

Gibson, who was remarkable for his diminutive size and his ability as a

miniature painter. This little artist espoused another of his class,

Anne Shepherd, a dwarf of Queen Henriette Marie, about his size (45

inches). Mistress Gibson bore nine children, five of whom arrived at

adult age and were of ordinary proportions. She died at the age of

eighty; her husband afterward became the drawing master of Princesses

Mary and Anne, daughters of James II; he died July 23, 1690, aged

seventy-five years.

In 1730 there was born of poor fisher parents at Jelst a child named

Wybrand Lokes. He became a very skilful jeweler, and though he was of

diminutive stature he married a woman of medium height, by whom he had

several children. He was one of the smallest men ever exhibited,

measuring but 25 1/2 inches in height. To support his family better, he

abandoned his trade and with great success exhibited himself throughout

Holland and England. After having amassed a great fortune he returned

to his country, where he died in 1800, aged seventy. He was very

intelligent, and proved his power of paternity, especially by one son,

who at twenty-three was 5 feet 3 inches tall, and robust.

Another celebrated dwarf was Nicolas Ferry, otherwise known as Bebe. He

was born at Plaine in the Vosges in 1741; he was but 22 cm. (8 1/2

inches) long, weighed 14 ounces at birth, and was carried on a plate to

the church for baptism. At five Bebe was presented to King Stanislas of

Poland. At fifteen he measured 29 inches. He was of good constitution,

but was almost an idiot; for example, he did not recognize his mother

after fifteen days' separation. He was quite lax in his morals, and

exhibited no evidences of good nature except his lively attachment for

his royal master, who was himself a detestable character. He died at

twenty-two in a very decrepit condition, and his skeleton is preserved

in the Museum of Natural History in Paris. Shortly before his death

Bebe became engaged to a female dwarf named Therese Souvray, who at one

time was exhibited in Paris at the Theatre Conti, together with an

older sister. Therese lived to be seventy-three, and both she and her

sister measured only 30 inches in height. She died in 1819.

Aldrovandus gives a picture of a famous dwarf of the Duc de Crequi who

was only 30 inches tall, though perfectly formed; he also speaks of

some dwarfs who were not over 2 feet high.

There was a Polish gentleman named Joseph Borwilaski, born in 1739 who

was famed all over Europe. He became quite a scholar, speaking French

and German fairly well. In 1860, at the age of twenty-two, and 28

inches in height, he married a woman of ordinary stature, who bore him

two infants well conformed. He was exhibited in many countries, and

finally settled at Durham, England, where he died in 1837 at the almost

incredible age of ninety-eight, and is buried by the side of the

Falstaffian Stephen Kemble. Mary Jones of Shropshire, a dwarf 32 inches

tall and much deformed, died in 1773 at the age of one hundred. These

two instances are striking examples of great age in dwarfs and are

therefore of much interest. Borwilaski's parents were tall in stature

and three of his brothers were small; three of the other children

measured 5 feet 6 inches. Diderot has written a history of this family.

Richeborg, a dwarf only 23 inches in height, died in Paris in 1858 aged

ninety years. In childhood he had been a servant in the House of

Orleans and afterward became their pensioner. During the Revolution he

passed in and out of Paris as an infant in a nurse's arms, thus

carrying dispatches memorized which might have proved dangerous to

carry in any other manner.

At St. Philip's, Birmingham, there is the following inscription on a

tomb: "In memory of Mannetta Stocker, who quitted this life on the 4th

day of May, 1819, at the age of thirty-nine years, the smallest woman

in the kingdom, and one of the most accomplished." She was born in

Krauma, in the north of Austria, under normal conditions. Her growth

stopped at the age of four, when she was 33 inches tall. She was shown

in many villages and cities over Europe and Great Britain; she was very

gay, played well on the piano, and had divers other accomplishments.

In 1742 there was shown in London a dwarf by the name of Robert

Skinner, .63 meters in height, and his wife, Judith, who was a little

larger. Their exhibition was a great success and they amassed a small

fortune; during twenty-three years they had 14 robust and well-formed

children. Judith died in 1763, and Robert grieved so much after her

that he himself expired two years later.

Figure 161 shows a female dwarf with her husband and child, all of whom

were exhibited some years since in the Eastern United States. The

likeness of the child to the mother is already noticeable.

Buffon speaks of dwarfs 24, 21, and 18 inches high, and mentions one

individual, aged thirty-seven, only 16 inches tall, whom he considers

the smallest person on record. Virey in 1818 speaks of an English child

of eight or nine who was but 18 inches tall. It had the intelligence of

a child of three or four; its dentition was delayed until it was two

years old and it did not walk until four. The parents of this child

were of ordinary stature.

At the "Cosmorama" in Regent Street in 1848 there was a Dutch boy of

ten exhibited. He was said to be the son of an apothecary and at the

time of his birth weighed nine pounds. He continued to grow for six

months and at the expiration of that time weighed 12 pounds; since

then, however, he had only increased four pounds. The arrest of

development seemed to be connected with hydrocephalus; although the

head was no larger than that of a child of two, the anterior fontanelle

was widely open, indicating that there was pressure within. He was

strong and muscular; grave and sedate in his manner; cheerful and

affectionate; his manners were polite and engaging; he was expert in

many kinds of handicraft; he possessed an ardent desire for knowledge

and aptitude for education.

Rawdon described a boy of five and a half, at the Liverpool Infirmary

for Children, who weighed 10 1/2 pounds and whose height was 28 or 29

inches. He uttered no articulate sound, but evidently possessed the

sense of hearing. His eyes were large and well formed, but he was

apparently blind. He suckled, cut his teeth normally, but had tonic

contractions of the spine and was an apparent idiot.

Hardie mentions a girl of sixteen and a half whose height was 40 inches

and weight 35 1/2 pounds, including her clothes. During intrauterine

life her mother had good health and both her parents had always been

healthy. She seemed to stop growing at her fourth year. Her intellect

was on a par with the rest of her body. Sometimes she would talk and

again she would preserve rigid silence for a long time. She had a

shuffling walk with a tendency to move on her toes. Her temporary teeth

were shed in the usual manner and had been replaced by canines and

right first molar and incisors on the right side. There was no

indication of puberty except a slight development of the hips. She was

almost totally imbecile, but could tell her letters and spell short

words. The circumference of the head was 19 inches, and Ross pointed

out that the tendon-reflexes were well marked, as well as the

ankle-clonus; he diagnosed the case as one of parencephalus. Figure

162 represents a most curious case of a dwarf named Carrie Akers, who,

though only 34 inches tall, weighed 309 pounds.

In recent years several dwarfs have commanded the popular attention,

but none so much as "General Tom Thumb," the celebrated dwarf of

Barnum's Circus. Charles Stratton, surnamed "Tom Thumb," was born at

Bridgeport, Conn., on January 11, 1832; he was above the normal weight

of the new-born. He ceased growing at about five months, when his

height was less than 21 inches. Barnum, hearing of this phenomenon in

his city, engaged him, and he was shown all over the world under his

assumed name. He was presented to Queen Victoria in 1844, and in the

following year he was received by the Royal Family in France. His

success was wonderful, and even the most conservative journals

described and commented on him. He gave concerts, in which he sang in a

nasal voice; but his "drawing feat" was embracing the women who visited

him. It is said that in England alone he kissed a million females; he

prided himself on his success in this function, although his features

were anything but inviting. After he had received numerous presents and

had amassed a large fortune he returned to America in 1864, bringing

with him three other dwarfs, the "Sisters Warren" and "Commodore Nutt."

He married one of the Warrens, and by her had one child, Minnie, who

died some months after birth of cerebral congestion. In 1883 Tom Thumb

and his wife, Lavinia, were still living, but after that they dropped

from public view and have since died.

In 1895 the wife of a dwarf named Morris gave birth to twins at

Blaenavon, North Wales. Morris is only 35 inches in height and his wife

is even smaller. They were married at Bartholmey Church and have since

been traveling through England under the name of "General and Mrs.

Small," being the smallest married couple in the world. At the latest

reports the mother and her twins were doing well.

The Rossow Brothers have been recently exhibited to the public. These

brothers, Franz and Carl, are twenty and eighteen years respectively.

Franz is the eldest of 16 children and is said to weigh 24 pounds and

measure 21 inches in height; Carl is said to weigh less than his

brother but is 29 inches tall. They give a clever gymnastic exhibition

and are apparently intelligent. They advertise that they were examined

and still remain under the surveillance of the Faculty of Gottingen.

Next to the success of "Tom Thumb" probably no like attraction has been

so celebrated as the "Lilliputians," whose antics and wit so many

Americans have in late years enjoyed. They were a troupe of singers and

comedians composed entirely of dwarfs; they exhibited much talent in

all their performances, which were given for several years and quite

recently in all the large cities of the United States. They showed

themselves to be worthy rivals for honors in the class of

entertainments known as burlesques. As near as could be ascertained,

partly from the fact that they all spoke German fluently and originally

gave their performance entirely in German, they were collected from the

German and Austrian Empires.

The "Princess Topaze" was born near Paris in 1879. According to a

recent report she is perfectly formed and is intelligent and vivacious.

She is 23 1/2 inches tall and weighs 14 pounds. Her parents were of

normal stature.

Not long since the papers recorded the death of Lucia Zarete, a Mexican

girl, whose exact proportions were never definitely known; but there is

no doubt that she was the smallest midget ever exhibited In this

country. Her exhibitor made a fortune with her and her salary was among

the highest paid to modern "freaks."

Miss H. Moritz, an American dwarf, at the age of twenty weighed 36

pounds and was only 22 inches tall.

Precocious development is characterized by a hasty growth of the

subject, who at an early period of life attains the dimensions of an

adult. In some of these instances the anomaly is associated with

precocious puberty, and after acquiring the adult growth at an early

age there is an apparent cessation of the development. In adult life

the individual shows no distinguishing characters.

The first to be considered will be those cases, sometimes called

"man-boys," characterized by early puberty and extraordinary

development in infancy. Histories of remarkable children have been

transmitted from the time of Vespasian. We read in the "Natural

History" of Pliny that in Salamis, Euthimedes had a son who grew to 3

Roman cubits (4 1/2 feet) in three years; he was said to have little

wit, a dull mind, and a slow and heavy gait; his voice was manly, and

he died at three of general debility. Phlegon says that Craterus, the

brother of King Antigonus, was an infant, a young man, a mature man, an

old man, and married and begot children all in the space of seven

years. It is said that King Louis II of Hungary was born so long before

his time that he had no skin; in his second year he was crowned, in his

tenth year he succeeded, in his fourteenth year he had a complete

beard, in his fifteenth he was married, in his eighteenth he had gray

hair, and in his twentieth he died. Rhodiginus speaks of a boy who when

he was ten years impregnated a female. In 1741 there was a boy born at

Willingham, near Cambridge, who had the external marks of puberty at

twelve months, and at the time of his death at five years he had the

appearance of an old man. He was called "prodigium Willinghamense." The

Ephemerides and some of the older journals record instances of penile

erection immediately after birth.

It was said that Philip Howarth, who was born at Quebec Mews, Portman

Square, London, February 21, 1806, lost his infantile rotundity of form

and feature after the completion of his first year and became pale and

extremely ugly, appearing like a growing boy. His penis and testes

increased in size, his voice altered, and hair grew on the pubes. At

the age of three he was 3 feet 4 1/2 inches tall and weighed 51 1/4

pounds. The length of his penis when erect was 4 1/2 inches and the

circumference 4 inches; his thigh-measure was 13 1/2 inches, his

waist-measure 24 inches, and his biceps 7 inches. He was reported to be

clever, very strong, and muscular. An old chronicle says that in

Wisnang Parish, village of Tellurge, near Tygure, in Lordship Kiburge,

there was born on the 26th of May, 1548, a boy called Henry Walker, who

at five years was of the height of a boy of fourteen and possessed the

genitals of a man. He carried burdens, did men's work, and in every way

assisted his parents, who were of usual size.

There is a case cited by the older authors of a child born in the Jura

region who at the age of four gave proof of his virility, at seven had

a beard and the height of a man. The same journal also speaks of a boy

of six, 1.62 meters tall, who was perfectly proportioned and had

extraordinary strength. His beard and general appearance, together with

the marks of puberty, gave him the appearance of a man of thirty.

In 1806 Dupuytren presented to the Medical Society in Paris a child 3

1/2 feet high, weighing 57 pounds, who had attained puberty.

There are on record six modern cases of early puberty in boys, one of

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