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ON DWARFS AND GIANT$. By M, GeOFFROY ST HiLAIRE *. 



Let us examine the first class, of the vast group of hemiteries, 

 or simple anomalies in the animal kingdom, viz. that which re- 

 lates to the anomalies of size. They may he general or partial, 

 consist either in a diminution or augmentation. Those by ge- 

 neral diminution of size peculiarly constitute dwarfishness, which 

 ought to be accurately distinguished from deviations in the spinal 

 column, or deformations in the members. In the latter case it is 

 disease, and not anomaly in the sense which is here attached to 

 it. In truth, a pigmy is, in teratology, a being all of whose parts 

 have undergone a general diminution, and whose height is also 

 much inferior to the average height of its species or race. 



M. GeofFroy finds dwarfs mentioned in the most ancient au- 

 thors ; he sees them every where exciting the curiosity of the 

 learned, and serving as an amusement to the powerful. The 

 practice was so general in the early ages of the Roman Empire, 

 that merchants are said to have conceived the horrid idea of pro- 

 ducing artificial dwarfs by means of boxes and bandages. The 

 story of Jeffrey Hudson, who, at eight years of age, was served 

 up in a pie to the Queen of England, Henrietta-Maria of France, 

 wife of Charles I. ; that of Nicolas Ferry, known by the name of 

 Bebe, dwarf to. Stanislaus, Duke of Lorraine; and of Polonais 

 Borvilasky ; and also many others, afford exceedingly curious 

 details. What is important to be noticed here, is the great va- 

 riety, in a moral as well as physical point of view, which exists 

 among dwarfs. Some are almost idiots, pass from infancy to 

 old age, and die prematurely — like Bebe, who died when twen- 

 ty-two years and a half old ; others, like Borvilasky and Hud- 

 son, have exhibited much intelligence, and reached a good old 

 age. A young Austrian female, who died in England, was 

 worthy of the following epitaph, in consequence of her abilities : 

 *' To the memory of Nannette Stocker, who quitted this life the 

 4th of May 1819, at the age of thirty-nine years, the smallest 

 woman in this kingdom, and one of the most accomplished." 

 She was an excellent musician, and not more than thirty-three 

 inches high. There, however, exist traits common to dwarfs, 



• Vide Histoire Generale et Particuliere des Anomalies de rOrganisation 

 che? THomme et les Animaux, par M. J. G. St Hilaire. 



