498 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1814. 



tViis unfortunate country would be 

 less often desolate, if the subterra- 

 neous tire would break the por- 

 phyritic dome of Chimborazo; and 

 if this colossal mountain should be- 

 come a l)urning volcano. At all 

 limes analoi^ous facts haxe led to 

 tiie same hypothesis. The Greeks, 

 wjp^, like ourselves, attributed the 

 oscillations of the ground to the 

 tension of ela>tic fluids, cited in 

 iavour of their opinion the total 

 cessation of the shocks at the 

 island of Euboea, by the opening of 

 a cievite in the Lelantiue plain. 



An Account of a Famihj having 

 Hands and Feet icith siipeniume- 

 rury Fingers and Toes. By An- 

 thony Carlisle, Esq. F.R. S. 

 In a Letter addressed to the Right 

 Hon. Sir JobU'H Banks, Burt. 

 K.B. P. U.S.— (From the Philo- 

 sophical Transactions for 1814, 

 part i.) 



Dear Sir, — The following ac- 

 count of a family having hands 

 and fett with supernumerary fing- 

 ers and toes, and the hereditary 

 transmission of the same peculia- 

 rity to the fourth generation, ap- 

 pears to be worth preseiving, since 

 it displays the influence of eacii of 

 the propagaiing sexes; the male 

 and the female branches of the ori- 

 ginal stem having alike reproduced 

 this reiluiidancy of part^. I have 

 carefully inspected two persons of 

 this family at the time of their he- 

 inii in London, namely, Abiah 

 Colburn, and his son Zerah Col- 

 burn, and have taken the particu- 

 lars of the rest from Abiah Col- 

 burn himself, whose narrative was 

 several times repeated to me, with- 

 out any deviation. 



Zerah Colburn, a native of the 



township of Cabot in the province 

 of Vermont, in North America, 

 lias been lately brought to London, 

 and publicly exhibited for his ex- 

 traordinary powers in arithmetical 

 computations from memory. This 

 boy has a supernumerary little 

 finger growing from the outside of 

 the metacarpus on each Jiand, and 

 a supernumerary little toe, upon 

 t\-.e outside of the metatarsus of 

 eacii foot. These extra fingers 

 and extra toes are all completely 

 formed, having each of them three 

 perfect |)halanges with the ordi- 

 nary joints, and well shaped nails. 



Abiah Colburn, the father of 

 Zerah, has five fingers and a thumb 

 upon each hand, and six toes on 

 each foot ; he has also five meta- 

 carpal bones in each hand, and six 

 metatarsal bones in each foot. The 

 extia lirnbs have distinct flexor and 

 extensor tendons. 



The wile of Abiah Colburn has 

 no peculiarity in her limbs. Dur- 

 ing the existing marriage, she has 

 borne eight children, six sons, and 

 two daughters. Four of those sons 

 inherit tne peculiarity of their fa- 

 ther more or less com(dete, while 

 the two daughters are free from the 

 fauiilj" mark, as weli us two of the 

 sons, uaineiy, the fourth in succes- 

 sion who was a twin, and the 

 eighth. 



The eldest son of these parents, 

 named Green Colburn, hi.'s only 

 live toes on one of his feet, but the 

 other foot and both his hands pos- i 

 sess the extra limb. ' 



The second child, Betsy Col- 

 burn, is naturally formed. 



The third, Zebina Colburn, has 

 five fingers and a thumb upon each 

 hand, and six toes upon each foot. 



The fourth and tilth are twin 

 brothers, and named David and 



