MONSTER. 



MONSTER. 



888 



leaves less frequent than in any other part ; so that there is more 

 difficulty iu determining the number of leaves which go to form this 

 portion. As two ternate leaves form the calyx and corolla, it might 

 be supposed that the stamens were constructed out of the same number. 

 The figures represent cases of a stamen reverting to a leaf with a true 

 stamen attached to its stalk on either side ; the single anterior stamen, 

 where it reverts, seems always disposed to form more than a simple 

 leaf; and it is therefore probable that the ten stamens (9+1) may be 

 formed out of four seta of ternate leaves. 



" 4. Pod. From the well-known character of the pod and pistil in 

 Leguminoxe, it might be expected that instances of reversion to leaf 

 would be most frequent in this part of the flower ; and a series might 

 easily have been produced which would have represented it in every 

 stage of passage ; some of these were given. From these it would 

 appear that the pod is not formed of a whole compound leaf, as either 

 two scales, or two abortive leaves, are constantly to be seen at the base 

 of the imperfect pod on either side; the pod is therefore usually formed 

 out of the middle leaflet. In one flower-head however each division 

 of the pistil-leaf had become a pod, with a distinct stem and the ovules 

 inwards. 



" Ovules seem to be produced only when junction of the edgea of 

 the pistil-leaf takes place ; in other cases leaflets are produced in the 

 place of ovules. 



" In cases where every other part of the floral series has been regu- 

 larly developed, the Pistil occasionally will take the form of a perfect 

 ternate leaf, and then the axis of the plant is continued through the 

 ilower." 'Austen, ' British Association Report,' 19th meeting.) 



Mr. Austen has likewise recorded in the game place an instance in 

 which the staminiferous flowers of the Common Maize (Zea Mai) 

 were converted into pistils. In this case we have an instance of the 

 tendency of an organ not to relapse to a lower type, but to assume a 

 higher type of development. 



It ia very frequently the case that stamens relapse to the condition 

 of petals. This is the case with most of the double flowers of our 

 gardens: and in the case of the rose, the pseony, the bachelor's-buttons, 

 and others, the anthers may often be found tipping the petaloid bodies 

 in the centre of the flower. This ia aeen as a normal condition in the 

 water-lily. 



The recurrence of the pistil to the form of the stamen and corolla 

 is not ao frequent, as its assuming the form of the leaf. In the double 

 cherry of our gardens this condition of the pistil is frequently pre- 

 sented. It is this aame tendency which is seen in monstroua oranges, 

 in which this fruit is split up into the aame number of parta as it 

 possesses carpeUary leavea. [FLOWER.] 



The most central organ of the plant ia the Seed, and its develop- 

 ment ia the great object of the production of the flower. In the seed 

 is the young plant. The eecd is however but a changed bud, and 

 during the process of its development it sometimes recurs to the 

 condition of the leaf-bud, and produces instead of an embryo a 

 branch. 



These instances will be sufficient to show how instructive the study 

 of vegetable monstrosities really is. Many such have been recorded, 

 and one of the best resume's of the whole subject will be found in 

 Moquin Tandon's ' Teratologie Vegetale." [METAMORPHOSIS.] 



We now turn to the monstrosities observed in the Animal Kingdom. 

 These have not been studied ao accurately amongst the lower animals 

 as to afford any important result. The investigation however of 

 monsters amongst the invertebrate animala lead to the same general 

 conclusions as that derived from the study of the same forms in 

 plants. It is upon the monstrous forms of the human beinjj that we 

 find the greatest attention has been bestowed, and we now proceed to 

 give some account of these. 



In consequence of the immense number and variety of forms of 

 monstrosity amongst animals (there being scarcely any part in any 

 species of animal which has not been observed to depart from its 

 uxual form and structure), it becomes absolutely necessary to arrange 

 them according to gome system. Though the necessity of a classifi- 

 cation is generally admitted, authors greatly differ in the methods 

 which they have adopted ; some basing their arrangements upon the 

 forms or peculiarities of the monsters themselves, and others upon 

 the theoretical ideas which they may hold concerning the causes which 

 produce them. The system most generally followed ia that which 

 was proposed by Buflbn, and which has been adopted with some 

 modifications by Bhtmenbach and MeckeL Buffon formed three 

 classes : in the first he included all those cases in which the parts of 

 the body are increased in number, constituting monsters by excess ; 

 the second contained those beings in whom fewer than the usual 

 number of organs are met with, or monsters by default ; and in the 

 third he placed the various irregularities in size, relative situation, and 

 structure of parts, which so often occur. The classification proposed 

 by Meckel (' De Duplic. Monst. Comment.,' p. 2) differs from that of 

 liuffon in the addition of a fourth class, including the different forms 

 of hermapbrodism only. The simplest classification, being that which 

 exclude* all theory as to their causes, is to distribute them according 

 to some simple and obvious characters, either depending on the degree 

 of unnatural change, or the region or system of organs affected ; and 

 Much is the kind of classification which we shall adopt in the present 

 article. 



Animal monsters may be first divided into Simple and Compound, 

 the first of which only coutaiu the elements of % a single individual, 

 while in compound monsters the constituent parts of two or more 

 beings are united. Simple monsters may be again distributed into 

 three classes, which, though not all distinguished from each other by 

 any precise characters, are yet sufficiently distinct for purposes of 

 arrangement. 



In the first of these classes may be included those congenital 

 varieties of conformation which are simple and uncomplicated, ouly 

 affecting one organ or system of organs, and iu most cases not inter- 

 fering greatly with the performance of any vital function. 



The second class, on the contrary, contains all those cases in which 

 the degree of malformation is so extensive as to produce great altera- 

 tion in the anatomical and physiological relations of organs, aa well 

 as, in most cases, serious external deformity and disturbance of the 

 vital processes. M. Isidore Geoffrey St. Hilaire (' Hist, des Anomalies,' 

 torn, i., p. 79) is of opinion that the term Monster should be confined 

 to these more complex cases, and thinks that all the other kinds of 

 malformation, with the exception of the compound monsters, should 

 be simply denominated anomalies; but this distinction is arbitrary 

 and inconvenient; indeed, iu dividing thia class from the previous oue 

 it ia exceedingly difficult to say where one begins and the other leavea 

 off; and, consequently, to know iu which of them to arrange many 

 cases. 



The third class may be very clearly defined, for all the malfor- 

 mations which it includes affect one system of organs, namely, those 

 of generation. The monsters iu thia group are denominated herma- 

 phrodites, the sex being imperfectly developed, and both sexes, or 

 some of then- characters, being present in one individual. 



An immense number and variety of anomalies are included in the 

 first class, which may be again subdivided into orders, according to 

 whether the malformation affects the size, form, or structure of organs, 

 or produces an alteration in the mode of arrangement and connection, 

 or even in the number of parts. It is often found however that two or 

 more of these varieties of malformation exist together in the same 

 monster ; thus in cretins and idiots, both the size and form of the 

 skull and brain are frequently altered ; and in club-foot we find a 

 great change both in the form, structure, and position (or arrange- 

 ment) of the affected limb. Simple alterations ia the size or form 

 of parts are so common that uo other examples of them need be 

 adduced, but come very interesting changes iu the intimate structure 

 of the tissues of the body have been met with ; and particularly that 

 peculiar absence of the colouring matter of the skin which charac- 

 terises the state called albinism. A description of this curious 

 anomaly has been given in the article ALBINO, and we shall only here 

 state that ita origin must be accounted for by simple arrest of the 

 process of development. M. I. Geoffroy St. Hilaire saya (' Hist, des 

 Anom.,' torn. i. p. 319), " The pigment," or colouring matter of the skin, 

 " is wanting in the foetus up to a very advanced period of intra-uteriue 

 life, and even in black or dark people the integument remains, for some 

 time after birth, of the same colour as in the children of fair men. 

 \Ve can easily conceive therefore that the skin may stop in the series 

 of its stages of development, before the period when, in the natural 

 order of formation, the pigment is deposited in the mucous layer, and 

 consequently it will remain uncoloured. The colouring matter of the 

 skin and hairs, the iris and the choroid, may thus be deficient iu an 

 individual (independently of any pathological alteration), in the same 

 manner as any organ or part of an organ may be wanting from arrest 

 of development. If any doubts remain regarding this explanation 

 they are removed by the circumstance that the absence of pigmeut is 

 not the only condition of foetal life which is preaerved in albiniam. 

 We know that the fetus, during the latter part of pregnancy, has the 

 skin covered with down ; and this down ia frequently preserved in 

 albinos, particularly in those which are met with on the isthmus of 

 Panama. Lastly, the persistence of the membrana pupillaris in some 

 of these cases beyond the ordinary term of its existence, is another 

 equally evident proof of arrest of development." 



Many curious anomalies in the position and connection of parta have 

 been met with, and it has been observed that organs are subject to 

 changes of position in proportion as they are loosely connected with 

 the surrounding parts at an early period of development. The walls 

 of the thoracic and abdomiual cavities are thus much lesa subject to 

 alterations in the position of their component parts than the organa 

 which are loosely contained within them. The viscera have been 

 found removed from one part of their natural cavity to another, or 

 transported into a neighbouring cavity, as from the abdomen to the 

 chest ; and some of the organs may protrude externally, when the 

 malformation receives the name of a congenital hernia. But of all 

 these anomalies the most curious ia that in which the viscera are 

 generally inverted, all the thoracic and abdominal organs presenting 

 exactly an opposite arrangement to that which constitutes their 

 natural state ; the liver, caecum, three-lobed lung, and all those parts 

 usually found on the riglit side being transposed to the left ; while 

 the heart, spleen, sigmoid flexure of the colon, &c., are found on the 

 right. It is the peculiar characteristic of this monstrosity, that though 

 the actual situatiou of the viscera ia changed, their relative situation 

 and connections are preaerved as in the natural atate ; and consequently 

 their different functions are not in any way disturbed. In most, if not 



