The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1872-12-11

A HUMAN PHENOMENON The moat
remarkable specimen of physical orea.
| nlzation We have ever seen is Mr.. Geo.
Thomas, Brazilian, who has been in
Fort Jervis since Thursday Of last week
De has been exhibiting himself in vari.
GUS places in the village. and has puz-
zied not only the people, but the physi-
clans and surgeons; they are unable to
understand his s'anatomy. He can move
his heart to any part of the body at
pleasure. and even stop it's beating for
nearly sixty seconds. He has two sets
OF ribs, one OF which he can move from
Its position to the front of the BODY. co.
vering the abdomen. He causes re-
volvlng motion Of the bowels. both i'm.
ward and downward, the abdomen I'M
dnlating and resembling the oorrneatip1
motions Of O flag or q piece of cloth
when disturbed by the wind. he can
80 arrest his pulse that for a short time
one cannot discern that he has any.
Another wonderful thing that he does is
to bend an iron bar fve-eighths of an
inch IN thickness by striking it across
his left arm. The muscles Of his arms
he 80 contracts that the hesh feels as
hard as wood.
MIR. Thomas is certainly wonderful
specimen of physical construction, and
he has puzzled the scientific men of the
world. At our request, he called in our
Office yesterday, and gave US his history.
from which we CLEAN the following:
he was born in Brazil, South America,
GU the 4th of March, 1920. His father
was an Ethiopian and his mother q
spanish woman. When four years old,
ne was taken to London, England, by
m
Surgeon Kent. The latter took him to
Edinburgh, Scotland, where he made an
lnolslon near tho heart, and discovered
that he had no diaphragm, and that the
heart was not enclosed in q pericardinm.
but is suspended by.two cords, instead
OF ono. Some years afterward, he was
given an examination in Paris by Sur
geon Lois, with the same result. None
OF the scientific men of Europe under.
stood his structure, and they advised
him to come to America, to see if our
learned meh could comprehend the
formation. But no one here had before
seen such creature, and could not an
derstand his organization.
1t was IN 1868 when he came here, and
IN 1855 he went back to Europe. In
1867 he was at the Paris exposition, and
was examined by several eminent sur
geons. among them Professor Smith, of
Baltimore. Since that year he has been
in this country. His home is in Eng.
land, and he says he likes that country
better than this-there he is treated as a
gentleman, here as worthless vasrant.
He is not married, and his parents are
now dead. He has brother who il six
feet three inches in height, but who can
contract himself so that he is but three
feet three inches tall. This is the only
peouliarity. There was nothing re-
lmarkable about their mother, but the
father was apparently Destitute of ribs.
The latter at one time-a great many
years ago-worked upon the Erie Canal
and lived in Lockport. George has u
cousin who can throw his left hip to his
right side and Dice rersa. The former is
in good health, weighs 165 pounds, ia
about five feet eight inches in height,
and appears TO be not over thirty years
old.
MIR. Thomas goes 10 Middleton to-day
He will visit Albany and return to this
village in three or four weeks, soon after
which be intends to bid farewell to Ame-
rica.-Porl Jeruis Iri-State Union.