The daily republic. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1853-1853, 1853-07-20
Growth Of the Human Body, Giants, &C


| From the Nsp Orleans Delta.
1t is commonly thought that the stature of man
has been about the same in all ages; and some
have even pretended to demonstrate, mathsmati-
cally, the imp0ssibty of the existence Of grants.
DR.. DORIAN observes that, though we read of
giants before the flood" Gen. vi. 4th, ind more
plainly afterit, Numb. xiii. 33d',-yet it IL highly
probable the size of man has been the same from
the creation; for, to the Nephilim, Gen. 9Th,
the ancients differ about them, some taking them
tor monsters of impety, atheism, tyranny, &c.
AS to those in Numb. xiii, who were evidently
spoken OF as men of gigantic stature, it Is prob
able the fears of the spies might have added to
their bulk.
Be this as it may, it is manifest that, in both
these places, giants spoken of as rarities and
wonders Of the age, not of the common stature,
and such instances we have had in all ages. But
it is not at oil improbable that the first men wers
of strength and stature superior to those of man
kind at present, since they lived q much longer
time-long life being commonly the effect Of q
strong constitution. There many fabulous rela-
tons, such as we take that to be of Thentobocchu,
who is said to have been dug up in the year 1913,
and was twenty-six feet in length. And no more
real do we suppose the giants to have been, of
whom old Magnus gives an account in his NTH
book; such Hartman and Starchater among the
men, and among the women were some measuring
fifty cubits in length.
But, as for the more creditable relation Of Co
lah, whose height was six cubits and span,
Sam. xvii, 3d. which, according to Bishop
Cumberland, is about eleven English feet; of Or,
King of Basau, (Deut. ill.,, llth,) whose bed was
nine cubits long and four wide; of Maxmus, the
Emperor, who was nine feet high; and others, in
the reign of Augustus and other Roman Emperors,
of about the same height; to which may be add
ed the dimensions Of skeleton dug up at the
place of a Roman camp, near st. Adams, by an
urn inscribed Marcus Antonius, of which an nc
count is given by Mr.. Cheselden, who judged, by
the measurement Of the bones, that the subject
was nine feet high. These antique examples and
relations, we say, may be matched. nay outdone,
by modern ones. Hakewel speaks from names
Of porters and archers belonging to the Emperor
of China fifteen feet high, and of others from Fur
chas, ten and twelve feet high
The existence of a race of men above the COM
mon stature ON the coast Of Patagonia, in South
America, has been matter of dispute for the past
two centuries. In our century almost all naviga-
tors, of every country, affirmed that there were
such persons, and in the next the story is eluci-
dated by the greater number. GarrilassO de Ia
Vega, in his history of Peru, relates that, accord
ing to tradition universally believed, a number
of vessels or junks came to St. Helena with
company ofgiants on board of dimensions 80 enor-
nous that the natives of the country were not
higher than their knees; that their eyes were as
broad the bottom of plate, and their limbs
|proportionaby large.
Turner the naturalist, reports that he had seen
near the river Plata, on the coast of Brazil
of giants who went stark naked, and one Of whom
was twelve feet high, but he acknowledges that
he saw no other as tall Knivet affirms that he
measured several dead bodies, which he found bu-
ried at Port Desire, which were from fourteen to
sixteen spans high, and that he had frequently
seen at Brazil one of the Patagonians, who, though
"a youth, measured no less than thirteen spans;
and that the English prisoners at Brazil assured
him that they had seen many of the same gigantic
stature on the coast of the Strait. This account
is also confirmed by ISebal de Vert and Oliver
de Noorte Arts Clasz, commissary on board LIE
Macre 8 feet, declares that ne found in the sepul-
chre, on the coast of Patagonia, the bones of men
ten and twelve feet high. Modal, and Sir Rich
ard Hawkins Beverly, relate that these savages
were nearly head taller than the inhabitants OF
Europe and of such stature that the people on
board their vessels called them giants
Those who bear testimony to the contrary are
Winter, the Dutch Admiral, Hermite, Froger, in
De Genne 8 narrative, and Sir John Marlborough.
Sir Francis Drake is silent with regard to the STA
ture of the Patagonians; but Winter positively
affirms the falsehood of these gigantic creations
invented by the Spaniards.
| Profane historians have given seven feet of
height to Hercules, their first hero; and in our
day we have seen men eight feet high. A giant
shown in Rouen, in 1885, measured eight feet
some inches
| The Emperor Macmillan was of that size. Co
ropius, physician of the last century, girl
who was ten feet high. Eugene, Scotchman, in
the time of James H., of Scotland, measured
eleven feet and a half. Chevalier Scory saw at
the Peak of Teneriffe, in sepulchre, the remains
of man who had eighty teeth, and was fifteen
feet high.
Roland, celebrated anatomst of l6l4, saw in
the suburbs of St. German the tomb of the giant
Isoret, who was twenty feet in height.
1t is evident we could go any length in the
wav of giants were it desirable to multiply in
&c tho eyfr ordnnr stoture M turn will
sometimes permit rare specimen OF humanity
to reach bishop of Paris of the last century
claimed to have discovered system of dietetics
by which he could increase the height and pro-
portion of the human body al Hbitum, and it is
said that the youth upon whom he experimental,
and who was not over the ordinary size of other
children at the same age, commenced under the
bishops system at seven, and when he arrived
at the age Of thirteen had reached the height of
eight feet. But at that point tho bishop died, and
the secret of his system died with him. There
is nothing to lament in this loss, for nature
has wisely arranged matters, and the ordinary
stature Of man bears, doubtless, Just proper
ton to the rest Of creation. The armor ex-
hibited in the tower of London, from its great
weight, is often cited as a proof of the supe-
rior strength of our ancestors. This we take
to be very defective evidence, if meant to
establish the fact of superior natural endow-
ments. 1t only proves that the luxurious
habits of the present generation are not favor
able to the development of the physical powers.
If a more uniform system of physical education
were established, we are convinced we should
meet with fewer devations from the ordinary
style of human manufacture than we do now. In
dependently, however, of systems OF bodily train-
ing, climate, soil, and other extraneous causes.
will always exert great influence upon the ply
steal condition of man. The giants, as we term
them. of our dav are eccentrcities Of nature, not
the result of culture or system; and we strongly
expect the giants of other days were the ofsprngs
of the same cratic disposition on the part Of
ancient dame. The measurement we get Of the
tombs and sepulchres Of very large men is no
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