Since the time when man's mind first busied itself with subjects beyond his own self-preservation and the satisfaction of his bodily appetites, the anomalous and curious have been of exceptional and persistent fascination to him; and especially is this true of the construction and functions of the human body. Possibly, indeed, it was the anomalous that was largely instrumental in arousing in the savage the attention, thought, and investigation that were finally to develop into the body of organi

Menstruation has always been of interest, not only to the student of medicine, but to the lay-observer as well. In olden times there were many opinions concerning its causation, all of which, until the era of physiologic investigation, were of superstitious derivation. Believing menstruation to be the natural means of exit of the feminine bodily impurities, the ancients always thought a menstruating woman was to be shunned; her very presence was deleterious to the whole animal economy, as, for i

Extrauterine Pregnancy.—In the consideration of prenatal anomalies, the first to be discussed will be those of extrauterine pregnancy. This abnormalism has been known almost as long as there has been any real knowledge of obstetrics. In the writings of Albucasis, during the eleventh century, extrauterine pregnancy is discussed, and later the works of N. Polinus and Cordseus, about the sixteenth century, speak of it; in the case of Cordseus the fetus was converted into a lithopedion and carried i

General Considerations.—In discussing obstetric anomalies we shall first consider those strange instances in which stages of parturition are unconscious and for some curious reason the pains of labor absent. Some women are anatomically constituted in a manner favorable to child-birth, and pass through the experience in a comparatively easy manner; but to the great majority the throes of labor are anticipated with extreme dread, particularly by the victims of the present fashion of tight lacing.

General Historic Observations.—Prolificity is a much discussed subject, for besides its medical and general interest it is of importance in social as well as in political economy. Superfluous population was a question that came to consciousness early; Aristotle spoke of legislation to prevent the increase of population and the physical and mental deterioration of the race,—he believed in a population fixed as regards numbers,—and later Lycurgus transformed these precepts into a terrible law. Str

Monstrosities have attracted notice from the earliest time, and many of the ancient philosophers made references to them. In mythology we read of Centaurs, impossible beings who had the body and extremities of a beast; the Cyclops, possessed of one enormous eye; or their parallels in Egyptian myths, the men with pectoral eyes,—the creatures "whose heads do beneath their shoulders grow;" and the Fauns, those sylvan deities whose lower extremities bore resemblance to those of a goat. Monsters poss

Ancient Ideas Relative to Minor Terata.—The ancients viewed with great interest the minor structural anomalies of man, and held them to be divine signs or warnings in much the same manner as they considered more pronounced monstrosities. In a most interesting and instructive article, Ballantyne quotes Ragozin in saying that the Chaldeo-Babylonians, in addition to their other numerous subdivisions of divination, drew presages and omens for good or evil from the appearance of the liver, bowels, an

Giants.—The fables of mythology contain accounts of horrible monsters, terrible in ferocity, whose mission was the destruction of the life of the individuals unfortunate enough to come into their domains. The ogres known as the Cyclops, and the fierce anthropophages, called Lestrygons, of Sicily, who were neighbors of the Cyclops, are pictured in detail in the "Odyssey" of Homer. Nearly all the nations of the earth have their fairy tales or superstitions of monstrous beings inhabiting some fores

Scope of the Present Article.—The limits of space in this work render impossible a scientific discussion upon the most interesting subject of longevity, and the reader is referred to some of the modern works devoted exclusively to this subject. In reviewing the examples of extreme age found in the human race it will be our object to lay before the reader the most remarkable instances of longevity that have been authentically recorded, to cite the source of the information, when possible to give

In considering the anomalies of the secretions, it must be remembered that the ingestion of certain kinds of food and the administration of peculiar drugs in medicine have a marked influence in coloring secretions. Probably the most interesting of all these anomalies is the class in which, by a compensatory process, metastasis of the secretions is noticed. Colored Saliva.—Among the older writers the Ephemerides contains an account of blue saliva; Huxham speaks of green saliva; Marcellus Donatus

Injuries of such a delicate organ as the eye, in which the slightest accident can produce such disastrous consequences, naturally elicit the interest of all. Examples of exophthalmos, or protrusion of the eye from the orbit from bizarre causes, are of particular interest. Among the older writers we find Ficker and the Ephemerides giving instances of exophthalmos from vomiting. Fabricius Hildanus mentions a similar instance. Salmuth, Verduc, and others mention extrusion of the eyeball from the so

Reunion of Digits.—An interesting phenomenon noticed in relation to severed digits is their wonderful capacity for reunion. Restitution of a severed part, particularly if one of considerable function, naturally excited the interest of the older writers. Locher has cited an instance of avulsion of the finger with restitution of the avulsed portion; and Brulet, Van Esh, Farmer, Ponteau, Regnault, and Rosenberg cite instances of reunion of a digit after amputation or severance. Eve's "Remarkable Ca

Injuries of the lung or bronchus are always serious, but contrary to the general idea, recovery after extensive wound of the lung is quite a common occurrence. Even the older writers report many instances of remarkable recoveries from lung-injuries, despite the primitive and dirty methods of treatment. A review of the literature previous to this century shows the names of Arcaeus, Brunner, Collomb, Fabricius Hildanus, Vogel, Rhodius, Petit, Guerin, Koler, Peters, Flebbe, and Stalpart, as authori

Wounds of the kidney may be very severe without causing death, and even one entire kidney may be lost without interfering with the functions of life. Marvand, the Surgeon-Major of an Algerian regiment, reports the case of a young Arab woman who had been severely injured in the right lumbar region by a weapon called a "yataghan," an instrument which has only one cutting edge. On withdrawing this instrument the right kidney was extruded, became strangulated between the lips of the wound, and cause

Marvelous Recoveries from Multiple Injuries.—There are injuries so numerous or so great in extent, and so marvelous in their recovery, that they are worthy of record in a section by themselves. They are found particularly in military surgery. In the Medical and Philosophical Commentaries for 1779 is the report of the case of a lieutenant who was wounded through the lungs, liver, and stomach, and in whose armpit lodged a ball. It was said that when the wound in his back was injected, the fluid wo

Tumors.—In discussing tumors and similar growths no attempt will be made to describe in detail the various types. Only the anomalous instances or examples, curious for their size and extent of involvement, will be mentioned. It would be a difficult matter to decide which was the largest tumor ever reported. In reviewing literature so many enormous growths are recorded that but few can be given here. Some of the large cystic formations have already been mentioned; these are among the largest tumo

Ichthyosis is a disease of the skin characterized by a morbid development of the papillae and thickening of the epidermic lamellae; according as the skin is affected over a larger or smaller area, or only the epithelial lining of the follicles, it is known as ichthyosis diffusa, or ichthyosis follicularis. The hardened masses of epithelium develop in excess, the epidermal layer loses in integrity, and the surface becomes scaled like that of a fish. Ichthyosis may be congenital, and over sixty ye

Epilepsy has been professionally recognized as a distinct type of disease since the time of Hippocrates, but in earlier times, and popularly throughout later times, it was illy defined. The knowledge of the clinical symptoms has become definite only since the era of cerebral local anatomy and localization. Examination of the older records of epilepsy shows curious forms recorded. The Ephemerides speaks of epilepsy manifested only on the birthday. Testa mentions epilepsy recurring at the festival

A short history of the principal epidemics, including as it does the description of anomalous diseases, many of which are now extinct, and the valuable knowledge which finally led to their extinction, the extraordinary mortalities which these epidemics caused, and many other associate points of interest would seem fitting to close the observations gathered in this volume. As the illustrious Hecker says, in the history of every epidemic, from the earliest times, the spirit of inquiry was always a