Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine [198]
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
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