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V. An A'-crunt of a Fannhi having Hands and Feet with su- 

 •penntmerary Fins,er$ and Toes. By Anthony Carlisle, 

 Esq. F.R.S. In a Letter addressed to the Right Hon. Sir 

 Joseph Banks, Bart. K.B. P.R.S* 



Dear Sir, — J. he follov/ing account of a family having- hands 

 and feet with su]}ernuinerarv finders and toes, and t!ie hereditary 

 transmission of tlie same peculiarity to the fourth generation, 

 appears to be worth preserving, since it displays tlie influence 

 of each of the propagating sexes ; the male and the female 

 branches of the original stem having alike reproduced this re- 

 dundancy of parts. 1 have carefully inspected two persons of 

 this family at the time of their being in London, namely, Abiah 

 Colbum, and his son Zerali Colhurn, and have taken the parti- 

 culars of the rest from Abiah Colburn himself, whose narrative 

 was several times repeated to me, vv-ithout any deviation. 



Zerah Colburn, a native of the township of Cabot in the 

 province of Vermont, in North America, has been lately brought 

 to London, and pul)lic!y exhibited for his extraordinary powers in 

 arithmetical computations from memory. This boy has a super- 

 numerary little finger growing from the outside of the metacarpus 

 of each hand, and a supernumerary little toe upon the outside 

 of the metatarsus of each foot. These extra fingers and extra 

 toes are all completely formed, having each of them three per- 

 fect phalanges with the ordinary 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 metacarpal bones in each h^wd, and six metatarsal bones 

 in each foot. The extra limbs have distinct flexor and extensor 

 tendons. 



The wife of Abiah Colburn has no peculiarity in her limbs. 

 During the existing marriage, she has borne eight children, six 

 sons, and two daughters. Four of those sons inherit the pecu- 

 liarity of their father more or less complete, while the two 

 daughters are free from the family mark, as well as two of the 

 sons, namely, the fourth in succession who was a twin, and the 

 eighth. 



The eldest son of these parents, napied Green Colbum, has 

 only five toes on one of his feet, but the other foot and both 

 his hands possess the extra limb. 



The second child, Betsy Colburn, 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 fifth were twin brothers, and named David 



* From the Philosophical Transactions for Ibll-, part i. 



Vol.44. No. 195. J«/2/ 1814. B and 



