Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine [143]
out and ankylosed, ended in nails of great length and nearly of equal thickness. A woman by the name of Melin, living in the last century in Paris, was surnamed "the woman with nails;" according to the description given by Saillant in 1776 she presented another and not less curious instance of the excessive growth of the nails.
Musaeus gives an account of the nails of a girl of twenty, which grew to such a size that some of those of the fingers were five inches in length. They were composed of several layers, whitish interiorly, reddish-gray on the exterior, and full of black points. These nails fell off at the end of four months and were succeeded by others. There were also horny laminae on the knees and shoulders and elbows which bore a resemblance to nails, or rather talons. They were sensitive only at the point of insertion into the skin. Various other parts of the body, particularly the backs of the hands, presented these horny productions. One of them was four inches in length. This horny growth appeared after small-pox. Ash, in the Philosophical Transactions, records a somewhat similar case in a girl of twelve.
Anomalies of the Teeth.--Pliny, Colombus, van Swieten, Haller, Marcellus Donatus, Baudelocque, Soemmering, and Gardien all cite instances in which children have come into the world with several teeth already erupted. Haller has collected 19 cases of children born with teeth. Polydorus Virgilus describes an infant who was born with six teeth. Some celebrated men are supposed to have been born with teeth; Louis XIV was accredited with having two teeth at birth. Bigot, a physician and philosopher of the sixteenth century; Boyd, the poet; Valerian, Richard III, as well as some of the ancient Greeks and Romans, were reputed to have had this anomaly. The significance of the natal eruption of teeth is not always that of vigor, as many of the subjects succumb early in life. There were two cases typical of fetal dentition shown before the Academie de Medecine de Paris. One of the subjects had two middle incisors in the lower jaw and the other had one tooth well through. Levison saw a female born with two central incisors in the lower jaw.
Thomas mentions a case of antenatal development of nine teeth. Puech, Mattei, Dumas, Belluzi, and others report the eruption of teeth in the newborn. In Dumas' case the teeth had to be extracted on account of ulceration of the tongue. Instances of triple dentition late in life are quite numerous, many occurring after a hundred years. Mentzelius speaks of a man of one hundred and ten who had nine new teeth. Lord Bacon cites the case of a Countess Desmond, who when over a century old had two new teeth; Hufeland saw an instance of dentition at one hundred and sixteen; Nitzsch speaks of one at one hundred, and the Ephemerides contain an account of a triple dentition at one hundred and twenty. There is an account of a country laborer who lost all his teeth by the time he arrived at his sixtieth year of age, but about a half year afterward a new set made their appearance. Bisset mentions an account of an old woman who acquired twelve molar teeth at the age of ninety-eight. Carre notes a case of dental eruption in an individual of eighty-five. Mazzoti speaks of a third dentition, and Ysabeau writes of dentition of a molar at the age of ninety-two. There is a record of a physician of the name of Slave who retained all his second teeth until the age of eighty, when they fell out; after five years another set appeared, which he retained until his death at one hundred. In the same report there is mentioned an old Scotchman who died at one hundred and ten, whose teeth were renewed at an advanced age after he had lost his second teeth. One of the older journals speaks of dentition at seventy, eighty-four, ninety, and one hundred and fourteen. The Philosophical Transactions of London contain accounts of dentition at seventy-five and eighty-one. Bassett tells of an old woman who had twelve molar teeth at the age of eighty-eight. In France there is recorded dentition at eighty-five and an
Musaeus gives an account of the nails of a girl of twenty, which grew to such a size that some of those of the fingers were five inches in length. They were composed of several layers, whitish interiorly, reddish-gray on the exterior, and full of black points. These nails fell off at the end of four months and were succeeded by others. There were also horny laminae on the knees and shoulders and elbows which bore a resemblance to nails, or rather talons. They were sensitive only at the point of insertion into the skin. Various other parts of the body, particularly the backs of the hands, presented these horny productions. One of them was four inches in length. This horny growth appeared after small-pox. Ash, in the Philosophical Transactions, records a somewhat similar case in a girl of twelve.
Anomalies of the Teeth.--Pliny, Colombus, van Swieten, Haller, Marcellus Donatus, Baudelocque, Soemmering, and Gardien all cite instances in which children have come into the world with several teeth already erupted. Haller has collected 19 cases of children born with teeth. Polydorus Virgilus describes an infant who was born with six teeth. Some celebrated men are supposed to have been born with teeth; Louis XIV was accredited with having two teeth at birth. Bigot, a physician and philosopher of the sixteenth century; Boyd, the poet; Valerian, Richard III, as well as some of the ancient Greeks and Romans, were reputed to have had this anomaly. The significance of the natal eruption of teeth is not always that of vigor, as many of the subjects succumb early in life. There were two cases typical of fetal dentition shown before the Academie de Medecine de Paris. One of the subjects had two middle incisors in the lower jaw and the other had one tooth well through. Levison saw a female born with two central incisors in the lower jaw.
Thomas mentions a case of antenatal development of nine teeth. Puech, Mattei, Dumas, Belluzi, and others report the eruption of teeth in the newborn. In Dumas' case the teeth had to be extracted on account of ulceration of the tongue. Instances of triple dentition late in life are quite numerous, many occurring after a hundred years. Mentzelius speaks of a man of one hundred and ten who had nine new teeth. Lord Bacon cites the case of a Countess Desmond, who when over a century old had two new teeth; Hufeland saw an instance of dentition at one hundred and sixteen; Nitzsch speaks of one at one hundred, and the Ephemerides contain an account of a triple dentition at one hundred and twenty. There is an account of a country laborer who lost all his teeth by the time he arrived at his sixtieth year of age, but about a half year afterward a new set made their appearance. Bisset mentions an account of an old woman who acquired twelve molar teeth at the age of ninety-eight. Carre notes a case of dental eruption in an individual of eighty-five. Mazzoti speaks of a third dentition, and Ysabeau writes of dentition of a molar at the age of ninety-two. There is a record of a physician of the name of Slave who retained all his second teeth until the age of eighty, when they fell out; after five years another set appeared, which he retained until his death at one hundred. In the same report there is mentioned an old Scotchman who died at one hundred and ten, whose teeth were renewed at an advanced age after he had lost his second teeth. One of the older journals speaks of dentition at seventy, eighty-four, ninety, and one hundred and fourteen. The Philosophical Transactions of London contain accounts of dentition at seventy-five and eighty-one. Bassett tells of an old woman who had twelve molar teeth at the age of eighty-eight. In France there is recorded dentition at eighty-five and an