Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine [14]
time all through her married life she was either pregnant or suckling. Her husband died when thirty-six years old, and ever since the catamenial flow had shown itself with great regularity. She had borne twins in her second, fourth, and eighth confinement, and altogether had 16 children. Holdefrund in 1836 mentions a case in which menstruation did not commence until the seventieth year, and Hoyer mentions one delayed to the seventy-sixth year. Marx of Krakau speaks of a woman, aged forty-eight, who had never menstruated; until forty-two years old she had felt no symptoms, but at this time pain began, and at forty-eight regular menstruation ensued. At the time of report, four years after, she was free from pain and amenorrhea, and her flow was regular, though scant. She had been married since she was twenty-eight years of age. A somewhat similar case is mentioned by Gregory of a mother of 7 children who had never had her menstrual flow. There are two instances of delayed menstruation quoted: the first, a woman of thirty, well formed, healthy, of good social position, and with all the signs of puberty except menstruation, which had never appeared; the second, a married woman of forty-two, who throughout a healthy connubial life had never menstruated. An instance is known to the authors of a woman of forty who has never menstruated, though she is of exceptional vigor and development. She has been married many years without pregnancy.
The medical literature relative to precocious impregnation is full of marvelous instances. Individually, many of the cases would be beyond credibility, but when instance after instance is reported by reliable authorities we must accept the possibility of their occurrence, even if we doubt the statements of some of the authorities. No less a medical celebrity than the illustrious Sir Astley Cooper remarks that on one occasion he saw a girl in Scotland, seven years old, whose pelvis was so fully developed that he was sure she could easily give birth to a child; and Warner's case of the Jewish girl three and a half years old, with a pelvis of normal width, more than substantiates this supposition. Similar examples of precocious pelvic and sexual development are on record in abundance, and nearly every medical man of experience has seen cases of infantile masturbation.
The ordinary period of female maturity is astonishingly late when compared with the lower animals of the same size, particularly when viewed with cases of animal precocity on record. Berthold speaks of a kid fourteen days old which was impregnated by an adult goat, and at the usual period of gestation bore a kid, which was mature but weak, to which it gave milk in abundance, and both the mother and kid grew up strong. Compared with the above, child-bearing by women of eight is not extraordinary.
The earliest case of conception that has come to the authors' notice is a quotation in one of the last century books from von Mandelslo of impregnation at six; but a careful search in the British Museum failed to confirm this statement, and, for the present, we must accept the statement as hearsay and without authority available for reference-purposes.
Molitor gives an instance of precocious pregnancy in a child of eight. It was probably the same case spoken of by Lefebvre and reported to the Belgium Academy: A girl, born in Luxemborg, well developed sexually, having hair on the pubis at birth, who menstruated at four, and at the age of eight was impregnated by a cousin of thirty-seven, who was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for seduction. The pregnancy terminated by the expulsion of a mole containing a well-characterized human embryo. Schmidt's case in 1779 was in a child who had menstruated at two, and bore a dead fetus when she was but eight years and ten months old. She had all the appearance and development of a girl of seventeen. Kussmaul gives an example of conception at eight. Dodd speaks of a child who menstruated early and continued up to the time of impregnation. She was a hard worker and did all her mother's washing.
The medical literature relative to precocious impregnation is full of marvelous instances. Individually, many of the cases would be beyond credibility, but when instance after instance is reported by reliable authorities we must accept the possibility of their occurrence, even if we doubt the statements of some of the authorities. No less a medical celebrity than the illustrious Sir Astley Cooper remarks that on one occasion he saw a girl in Scotland, seven years old, whose pelvis was so fully developed that he was sure she could easily give birth to a child; and Warner's case of the Jewish girl three and a half years old, with a pelvis of normal width, more than substantiates this supposition. Similar examples of precocious pelvic and sexual development are on record in abundance, and nearly every medical man of experience has seen cases of infantile masturbation.
The ordinary period of female maturity is astonishingly late when compared with the lower animals of the same size, particularly when viewed with cases of animal precocity on record. Berthold speaks of a kid fourteen days old which was impregnated by an adult goat, and at the usual period of gestation bore a kid, which was mature but weak, to which it gave milk in abundance, and both the mother and kid grew up strong. Compared with the above, child-bearing by women of eight is not extraordinary.
The earliest case of conception that has come to the authors' notice is a quotation in one of the last century books from von Mandelslo of impregnation at six; but a careful search in the British Museum failed to confirm this statement, and, for the present, we must accept the statement as hearsay and without authority available for reference-purposes.
Molitor gives an instance of precocious pregnancy in a child of eight. It was probably the same case spoken of by Lefebvre and reported to the Belgium Academy: A girl, born in Luxemborg, well developed sexually, having hair on the pubis at birth, who menstruated at four, and at the age of eight was impregnated by a cousin of thirty-seven, who was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for seduction. The pregnancy terminated by the expulsion of a mole containing a well-characterized human embryo. Schmidt's case in 1779 was in a child who had menstruated at two, and bore a dead fetus when she was but eight years and ten months old. She had all the appearance and development of a girl of seventeen. Kussmaul gives an example of conception at eight. Dodd speaks of a child who menstruated early and continued up to the time of impregnation. She was a hard worker and did all her mother's washing.