登陆注册
4281000000119

第119章

Continuous with the outer edge of the anterior part and curving beneath it was a posterior part, looking not unlike a second foot, containing six well-formed toes situated directly beneath the other five. The eleven toes were all perfect and none of them were webbed.

There is a class of monsters called "Sirens" on account of their resemblance to the fabulous creatures of mythology of that name.

Under the influence of compression exercised in the uterus during the early period of gestation fusion of the inferior extremities is effected. The accompanying illustration shows the appearance of these monsters, which are thought to resemble the enchantresses celebrated by Homer.

Anomalies of the Hand.--Blumenbach speaks of an officer who, having lost his right hand, was subsequently presented by his wife with infants of both sexes showing the same deformity.

Murray cites the instance of a woman of thirty-eight, well developed, healthy, and the mother of normal children, who had a double hand. The left arm was abnormal, the flexion of the elbow imperfect, and the forearm terminated in a double hand with only rudimentary thumbs. In working as a charwoman she leaned on the back of the flexed carpus. The double hand could grasp firmly, though the maximum power was not so great as that of the right hand. Sensation was equally acute in all three of the hands. The middle and ring fingers of the supernumerary hand were webbed as far as the proximal joints, and the movements of this hand were stiff and imperfect. No single finger of the two hands could be extended while the other seven were flexed. Giraldes saw an infant in 1864 with somewhat the same deformity, but in which the disposition of the muscles and tendons permitted the ordinary movements.

Absence of Digits.--Maygrier describes a woman of twenty-four who instead of having a hand on each arm had only one finger, and each foot had but two toes. She was delivered of two female children in 1827 and one in 1829, each having exactly the same deformities. Her mother was perfectly formed, but the father had but one toe on his foot and one finger on his left hand.

Kohler gives photographs of quite a remarkable case of suppression and deformity of the digits of both the fingers and toes.

Figure 123 shows a man who was recently exhibited in Philadelphia. He had but two fingers on each hand and two toes on each foot, and resembles Kohler's case in the anomalous digital conformation.

Figure 124 represents an exhibitionist with congenital suppression of four digits on each hand.

Tubby has seen a boy of three in whom the first, second, and third toes of each foot were suppressed, the great toe and the little toe being so overgrown that they could be opposed. In this family for four generations 15 individuals out of 22 presented this defect of the lower extremity. The patient's brothers and a sister had exactly the same deformity, which has been called "lobster-claw foot."Falla of Jedburgh speaks of an infant who was born without forearms or hands; at the elbow there was a single finger attached by a thin string of tissue. This was the sixth child, and it presented no other deformity. Falla also says that instances of intrauterine digital amputation are occasionally seen.

According to Annandale, supernumerary digits may be classified as follows:--(1) A deficient organ, loosely attached by a narrow pedicle to the hand or foot (or to another digit).

(2) A more or less developed organ, free at its extremity, and articulating with the head or sides of a metacarpal, metatarsal, or phalangeal bone.

(3) A fully developed separate digit.

(4) A digit intimately united along its whole length with another digit, and having either an additional metacarpal or metatarsal bone of its own, or articulating with the head of one which is common to it and another digit.

Superstitions relative to supernumerary fingers have long been prevalent. In the days of the ancient Chaldeans it was for those of royal birth especially that divinations relative to extra digits were cast. Among the ancients we also occasionally see illustrations emblematic of wisdom in an individual with many fingers, or rather double hands, on each arm.

Hutchinson, in his comments on a short-limbed, polydactylous dwarf which was dissected by Ruysch, the celebrated Amsterdam anatomist, writes as follows.--"This quaint figure is copied from Theodore Kerckring's 'Spicilegium Anatomicum,' published in Amsterdam in 1670. The description states that the body was that of an infant found drowned in the river on October 16, 1668. It was dissected by the renowned Ruysch. A detailed description of the skeleton is given.

My reason for now reproducing the plate is that it offers an important item of evidence in reference to the development of short-limbed dwarfs. Although we must not place too much reliance on the accuracy of the draughtsman, since he has figured some superfluous lumbar vertebrae, yet there can be no doubt that the limbs are much too short for the trunk and head. This remark especially applies to the lower limbs and pelvis. These are exactly like those of the Norwich dwarf and of the skeleton in the Heidelberg Museum which I described in a recent number of the 'Archives.' The point of extreme interest in the present case is that this dwarfing of the limbs is associated with polydactylism.

Both the hands have seven digits. The right foot has eight and the left nine. The conditions are not exactly symmetrical, since in some instances a metacarpal or metatarsal bone is wanting; or, to put it otherwise, two are welded together. It will be seen that the upper extremities are so short that the tips of the digits will only just touch the iliac crests.

同类推荐
  • 御猎

    御猎

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 伤寒标本心法类萃

    伤寒标本心法类萃

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 无趣老人语录

    无趣老人语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 内丹秘诀

    内丹秘诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Yvette

    Yvette

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 三生三世,心有灵兮

    三生三世,心有灵兮

    灵兮这辈子最“怕”两个人,一个是灵矶,一个是安言。“我要去做话本子里那种拆散有情人的恶毒女配了。”“嗯?”“而且狗血的是男主是我喜欢的人,男二还是我最不想有牵扯的人,天!”“啊?”“月老让我下界去拆散煜华跟他心上人,然后强行撮合安言跟三公主在一起。”“哦。”灵兮叉腰:“你就不想说些什么?”“……注意安全,然后给我带些好吃的回来,嘻嘻。”
  • 我真的不膨胀

    我真的不膨胀

    天上吧唧吧唧连着往下掉馅饼,许东东一边全部收入囊中,一边警告自己:千万别膨胀,千万别膨胀……
  • 末世运转重生八零

    末世运转重生八零

    女主末世重生,冷漠绝情,却又有情,暴脾气,不爱废话,懒得解释就一巴掌拍飞。她是个自私,冷血,弑杀的末世女,重生到处处受制约,处处受憋屈的八零年代,生活到处都是不如意。可是,不如意,不等于她就必须要接受和忍让!文案一:下半夜被枕头底下硬疙瘩膈醒,摸出来,一颗黑漆的馒头疙瘩,默默扔一边,继续睡,谁知道,第二天、第三天……好吧,她的良心原来还在,看不得几个小的省下的口粮都进了床缝。于是,准备独自闯江湖的她,带着一大家子,撇开渣爹,连夜跑了。文案二:你干嘛跟着我?某人:无辜脸,回应,我不知道。女主挂羊头卖狗,以拳头打天下,终成一代女枭。
  • 神医小魔妃

    神医小魔妃

    “小寻儿,惹了本王还想跑?”某邪王愤怒的逼上门来。某女心慌慌:“那你想怎样?”绝色妖异的男子唇一勾:“拜堂成亲!”重生前她是心狠手辣、无恶不作的大魔头,重生后她是墨家人人欺压的废物六少爷。少爷?她明明是女儿身好吧!如此也好,她更能光明正大的调戏美男。说她是废物?那她可不干!她定要那些人知道,什么才是绝世天才。虐渣男渣女,修神力,炼灵丹,锋芒毕露威震六界,上辈子害她之人,她定要他们十倍、百倍、千倍还来!不曾想,当初意外用来解毒的男人却对她死缠烂打,宠她上天,怎么甩都甩不掉!
  • 炎煌苍溪

    炎煌苍溪

    煌羽大陆上一位少年正听着自己的娘亲诉说关于边关的一些趣事,心中想着自己的少侠梦。
  • 失去双眼,重组世界

    失去双眼,重组世界

    蒙达朗拜尔是法国才华横溢的年轻艺术家(电影制作、记者、画家),1943年生于法国西北部诺曼底一个五代军宦的贵族家庭。后来英年失明,他在绝望中挣扎、苦思、追索。在爱情的激励下,通过再教育的训练,他的生命重新焕发出活力。他以不屈不饶的精神开始写作生涯,至今,他已经出版四部小说以及一些文章。他热爱中国,曾几次在西安外国语学院工作。于格以极为真挚的口吻,不屈不饶的精神,富有哲理的思想和他的幽默风格写下他失明前后的生活轶事,特别是对他重新获得的这个世界,对不可见的世界的思索与追求。
  • 弗洛伊德文集11:图腾与禁忌

    弗洛伊德文集11:图腾与禁忌

    本卷是弗洛伊德有关人类学、社会学、文化学、宗教学、历史学和哲学等方面的代表性著作,共包含两部作品。《图腾与禁忌》1913年出版,通过蒙昧人与强迫神经症患者的比较,推断了图腾崇拜的本原意义。《摩西与一神教》1939年出版,是弗洛伊德生前完成的最后一部著作,它深入浅出地剖析了一神教的本质和起源。这些论著基本上属于弗洛伊德心理哲学的范畴。
  • 马云,以颠覆完成超越

    马云,以颠覆完成超越

    他自称完全不懂网络,却一手打造了阿里巴巴帝国,颠覆了中国互联网生态:他演讲激情澎湃,不走寻常路,成为一名孜孜不倦的布道者;他宣称在阿里巴巴,股东的地位在顾客、员工之后,股东却纷纷向他伸出橄榄枝!他如何以颠覆完成超越?《马云,以颠覆完成超越》正是从分析马云异于常人的企业运营智慧和理念出发,用清晰的案例和深刻的分析,展现其以颠覆完成超越的独到智慧。
  • 埃及与中东

    埃及与中东

    本书主要论述了埃及自1952年7月成立共和国以业国内局势及其国际关系发展的历史过程,特别是通过对纳赛尔、萨达特和穆巴拉克三位总统执政时期埃及对外政策的特点和变化的分析研究,介绍了埃及在当代中东的政治发展和社会变革中所具有的影响力,以及它与该地区一些主要国家的关系演变。本书的目的是为了帮助读者了解埃及中东政策的演变过程和客观依据。
  • 佛说戒消灾经

    佛说戒消灾经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。