Uemarks on Men of gigantic Stature. 357 



not well formed. As he would not suffer a minute exami- 

 nation to be made of his person, it is impossible to give 

 any other than a very slight description of him. He de- 

 clined the proposal of walking across the room, and I be- 

 lieve was afraid of discovering his extreme imbecility. He 

 had the aoncral aspect of a Vv^cak and unreflecting person, 

 with an uncommonly low forehead; for, as near as I could 

 ascertain, the space above his eye-brows, in a perpendicular, 

 line to the top of his head, die! not exceed tuo inches. He 

 told me his age was thirty-eight years, and that most of his 

 ancestors, by his mother's side, were very large persons. 

 The disproportionate size of his hands struck me with sur- 

 prise, and in this he seemed to make his principal boast. 

 ile refused to allow a cast to be made of his hand, and said it 

 had been done many years ago : but as I have seen that cast at 

 Mr. Bacon's, I am convinced the size is much too small to 

 represent his present state of growth. Alibis joints were 

 large, and perhaps riclicty ; his legs appeared swollen, mis- 

 shapen, and, 1 thought, dropsical : however, he did not 

 like my touching them. The feet were clumsy, and con- 

 cealed as nmch as po.-sible by liigh shoes. His limbs were 

 not very stout, cspcciaily his arms, and I judged that he 

 had scarcely got the use of them ; for, in order to lift up 

 his hand, he seemed obliged to sv. ing the whole arm, as if 

 he had no power of raising it by the action of the deltoid 

 nmsele. He certainly had a greater redundance of bone 

 than of muscle, and gave me the impression of a huge, 

 overgrown, sickly boy ; his voice being rather feeble as well 

 as his bodily energies, and his age appearing under that 

 Avhichhe affirmed. Indeed I find he gave a different account 

 of himself to different visitors. The state of his pulse 

 agreed with the general appearance of his person, viz. 

 feeble, languid, and slow in its motions. With regard to 

 his actual height, I felt anxious to detect the fallacy he held 

 out of its being almost nine feet ! Upon extending- my 

 arm to the utmost, Ireached his eye-brow with my liltle 

 finger; allowing his height to have been two inches and a 

 quarter above this, it conld not be more in the whole than 

 seven feet ten inches; so that I um persuaded the connnou 

 opinion, founded on the slant's own tale, is greatly cx- 

 ijorgcrated. 



Z3 LXIir. Copy 



