The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1825-09-21
Men(cal.
From the Medical Adviser.l
LYING SKELETON.

he name OF the living SkeIelOn Is
Claude AMBROSE Seurat; he is native
Of Troyes, in Champagne; was born on
the 10Th of April, 1898, and is cpnse-
quently 81 years OF age.
1.-The child on coming into the world,
presented the customary baby form, its
features being handsome but 10 proper
ton as the infant grew, the frame sradd
ally wasted away, and SO continued 10
decrease until the attainment of its full
stature, which occurred at the usual
term OF life, at which period Claude Am
bro:se Seurat had attained his present
height offs feet 7 inches and half,
when his frame had dwiudled to the liv-
ing skeleton form il now personi1es.
The pupils of his eyes are large, full.
and penetrating; the whites very clear,
and his sight strong but the upper lids
appear rather to weigh downwards,
from laxity of the muscles, added to
which glaziness in a sight that conveys
something of ghastliness to the gener-
al appearance. His teeth are perfect !;
his power of mastication very good, as
there is no defect in the strength Of the
jaws. His right shoulder incines very
much downwards, while the left rises in
proportion. The upper joint of the
arms present nothing but bouescovered
with the skin, their circumference meas
urlng just four inches while tie fore
arms, on The contrary, are FIVE inches
and a half. The hands are particularly
long, and the nails beautifully formed !;
but the fingers are contracted upwards.
The muscles of the arms are, however,
wasted away, or contracted, so that our
subject does not possess the power of
elevatiDg the hands higher than in a
semi-horizontal position, and when in
that attitude nothing can possibly exceed
the sePulchral appearance of his living
anatomy.
"Perhaps one Of the most wonderful
circumstances attending the living skele.
ton is, that if measured externally from
the chest TO the back bone, the distance
is under three inches.
Taken round the waist at the bottom
OF the ribs, the body measures barely
one foot eleven inches, and, when the
object throws its arms backwards, the
shoulder-blade bones are scarcely one
inch asunder. From the verte6re OF
the back, taken between the shoulders
to the centre of the loins, the falling in
is not less than FIVE inches.
1.-The thighs are much smaller than
the legs, and, like the upper joints Of
the arms, merely covered with skin; the
knees, of a reddish colour, protrude in
the front and sides, forming, as it were,
bowl at the bottom of the thigh bones.
The legs, of which the right is the Iarg,
est, merely show signs of calves, par.
ticularly the latter.
" When in France, he ate very little,
II any animal food penny French roll
was enough for days sustenauce blt
as be now partakes of animal diet n
very small quantities, his portion IF
bread is reduced accordingly.
s His voice is by no means strong, bit
tar from disagreeable; he has partE-
uiar passion for music, and even can siIg
in faint tone, but conversation mist
not be kept up for any length Of time, as
complete exhaustion would be the con-
sequence. When speaking, the rotatoy
motion through the skin of the neck is
percePtible, and the pulsation of tie
heart conspicuous to the eye.
In raising either of his feet from tie
floor, the limb appears to be distended
uselessly from the knee; and we canrot
better illustrate this idea than by that
sensation we commonly experience Up
on allowing limb to remain too longil
one position, thereby causing atempora-
ry strangulation of the vessels, known
by the common term of the foot being
asleep.
" Sir Ashley Cooper, BY whom he las
been visited, finds that his heart is plsc-
ed so much out of the common region
allotted TO it, that it is precisely lis own
length lower than if properly placed.
4" Ia regard to the texture Of the skin
of this living wonder, it is Of a dry nloi,t-
less, parchment-like appearance, which,
! covering any other human form, would
/ not answer the purposes of its functions,
but seems calculated alone 10 cover the
slender jniceless body of the being
whom nature intended to array.-On
the shins nodes appear in the form Of
buttons, though not obstrusivey to the
eye, and the toes of the feet are bent
over one another.
The ribs are not only capable Of
being distinguished, but may be clearly
separated, aud counted one by one, and
handled like so many pieces of cane, and
together with the skin which covers
them, resemble more the hoops and
outer covering Of balloon Of a small
size than any thing in the ordinary
course of nature.
"We come now TO the action pro.