100 
Philippine Journal of Science 
1920 
foetus, but everything else in our findings points to an almost 
full-term foetus, probably of eight months. 
The anomalies of the monster are confined to the head and 
neck region. The cranium is microcephalic without apparent 
sagittal suture on palpation ; the face has the shape of the breast 
of a nursing woman. There is only one orbital cavity, apparently 
fused, but with the median walls totally absent. It measures 
25.6 millimeters in transverse diameter, and 20.5 in height; it 
is situated in the center of the forehead and contains two fused 
protruding eyeballs. The palpebrs are widely gaping and 
everted, presenting both superior and inferior ectropion. There 
are no puncta lachrymalia. 
The nose is also absent. The mouth is represented by a small 
triangular opening about 1.5 millimeters in diameter, and com- 
municates with what may be termed the buccal cavity. Im- 
mediately above this opening is a snoutlike structure, grayish 
black in color, and rigid to the touch. 
The external ears or pinnae are situated almost horizontally 
at the anterior part of the neck with the square lobules directed 
medially and slightly downward. The crura, antihelix, and the 
tragus of both ears are absent. The conchse are almost flat. 
X-ray pictures of the head have been taken, and the absence 
of the medial walls of the fused orbital cavity, as well as of 
the nasal bones, is confirmed. The edges of the parietal bones 
are so closely approximated that the skull becomes scaphoidal. 
The lower jaw is rudimentary. 
So far as we are able to ascertain, our present case has no 
duplicate in literature with respect to the following peculiarities : 
The apparent absence of the external nares (there being no 
proboscis to substitute them) ; the peculiar shape, size, and po- 
sition of the mouth; the location of the ears; and the shape of 
the face. 
Medico-legal aspect . — It is a well-known fact that monstrous 
births not infrequently become the subject of court investiga- 
tion, particularly in connection with infanticide and the definition 
of civil rights of newborn babies. As to the first point, a large 
proportion, if born alive, is killed on account of the hideous or 
repugnant features, in spite of the legal rule prohibiting the 
destruction of monsters. 
The present case may be included in the class whose existence 
is undesirable to parents, so the hideous looks of this creature 
may be invoked as one of the real motives for the commission 
of infanticide. On the other hand, in the absence of marks of 
violence which may indicate criminal intention, the suspicion 
