MONSTROSITIES. 41 5 



And, as Zundel remarks, an accident during gestation — a blow, a fall, a 

 displacement of the uterus — will produce the same results in animals. 

 And Lafosse observes that it is perhaps because of the pressure to which 

 the foetus of ruminants is exposed, owing to the accumulation and fer- 

 mentation of food in the rumen, that must be attributed the greater fre- 

 quency of anomalies in the species of this order than in the other domes- 

 ticated animals. The quantity and quality of the food, and the work to 

 which the mother is subjected, have an undoubted influence on the nutri- 

 tion of the embryo. 



A circumstance which appears to have some influence in the produc- 

 tion of anomalies in animals, is the great disparity in size between the 

 male and female. Lafosse endeavors to prove this by showing that the 

 frequency of certain vices of conformation — such as hypospadias, umbili- 

 cal hernia, want of proportion between the jaws, etc. — is most notable in 

 the mule. 



We are also convinced that excessive consanguinity (breeding " in and 

 in ") likewise leads to the frequent production of monstrosities ; we have 

 witnessed some startling instances in the Cow and Pig. Weakness of the 

 procreative powers may also tend to the development of monsters. 



A too small uterus may likewise act mechanically in distorting the 

 fcetus j while the health or disease of the organ, or of the foetal mem- 

 branes, must exert a powerful influence on its development and conforma- 

 tion. It is not improbable that the Celosomian monstrosity {Schistosomus 

 reflexus), observed only in the bovine species, is due to the form of, or 

 pressure in, the uterus ; and to the same cause may also be ascribed the 

 greater frequency of double and triple monstrosities in this species than 

 in any other. 



The amputation of limbs, or portions of them, may be due to the action 

 of the umbilical cord, which, in the Mare at least, is perhaps sufficiently 

 long for this purpose. 



Hereditary influence is here undeniable. In the human species it has 

 often been remarked, and scarcely less frequently in animals. Hornless 

 cattle, double-headed puppies, tailless cats, and other anomalies, are 

 commonly reproduced. Franck* mentions the case of a Mare which con- 

 stantly had foals whose lower jaw was so short that they could not suck ; 

 consequently they died. Gurlt alludes to a Bitch \Wiich brought forth 

 four litters of puppies ; the first litter consisted of six, two of which were 

 minus their fore feet and were hare-lipped ; there were five in the second 

 litter, four of which were monstrosities ; in the third litter there was the 

 same number, and the fifth puppy, which was otherwise normal, had a 

 hump in the middle of its back ; four puppies were produced in the fourth 

 litter, three of which were anomalous. 



A psychical or mental influence has often been invoked to account for 

 certain monstrosities, and the vulgar opinion since Old Testament times 

 is certainly entirely in favor of its existence j but, on the other hand, it 

 has often been denied. While there can be no doubt that the popular 

 mind has greatly exaggerated this influence, yet it would appear from the 

 interesting observations collected by Trehonnais, as well as the curious 

 instances recorded by Buhler, Weber, Herbst, Bagge, Rueff, and others — 

 and which we regret we have not space to quote — that it does operate to 

 some extent in animals ; fear especially, as has been already said, will 

 react on the embryo or foetus. 



* Handbuch der thierarztlichen Geburtshiilfe, p. 434. 



1 



