Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-03-04
A WONDERFUL HEAD.
charles Erling. 2S Years Old. Whose
Head, TWO.fifths the Weight Of
Rts Body. Has Com PEELED Him to Lie
Abed ali His Life.
(Fron the Philadelphia Times.

(From the Philadelphia TimesI
most remarkable specimen of man,
after existing for many years in the wilds
OF jersey, unknown to the outside world,
has been brought to this city and may be
been Mt saloon on Walnut street. Ever
since his birth he has been unable to
stand upon his feet, on account of the
weight Of his head, which is of abnormal
size. For twelty-eight years, the length
OF his lie. he has been compelled to lie
abed continually. His name is Charles
Erllng, and he was born in Burlington
county, N. j. He lacks one inch Of be-
ing five feet in length, but would proba-
bly, have grown longer had he been in
the habit of taking physical exercise.
His head appears to be six times the or
binary size, and, his mother says, has
always been as disproportionate In weight
to the rest of his body as it is Row.
The measurement around the head at
the middle of the forehead is tllirty-three
inches, while the line passing over the
crown and under the chin is forty-four
inches. OF course the head could never
be weighed accurately, but its estimated
weight at present is thirty pounds, which
Is two-fifths Of his entire weight. The
inner corner of the eyes are four inches
apart, the distance from temple TO temple
is thirteen inches, and the bridge of the
nose is six inches below the upper line
of the forehead
If 1t were case of hydrocephalus it
would doubtless be less remarkable, but
there is every physical evidence in sup
port of statements made by several ply
sicians that it is neither more nor less
than an abnormal growth of skull and
brain. The head is solid, and it's parts
nearly proportionate except the forehead,
which in both height and breadth meas
ures about one and half times as much
as it would if symmetrical with the other
parts OF even SO abnormally large head.
The trunk or the body is about the same
in size as that of many big fat boy who
walks the streets, but the muscles are
soft and weak for want of activity. The
measurement around the chest is forty
four inches and around the waist thirty
five inches. His legs, however, are no
thicker than those of an S-year-oId boy
of ordinary size.
He extends his hand to visitors and
bids them good-day and chats with them
III childish manner. He seems to have
an evenly balanced mind, but it is that
OF prattling infant He cannot read,
and never would try to learn even the
as his neck, though no weaker
than might be expected in person who
has always been confined to bed, was not
strong enough to move his head without
giving him pain. 1t is thought that he
would not have been so childish had he
been accustomed to sights and sounds
beyond the limits of bedroom which
few except his parents and their small
number of Jersey neighbors ever enter
ed. His parents have had no child but
Charles. The father is dead, but the
mother is with him here. Both parents
We're healthy, of ordinary stature, and
possessed the average physical develop
ment. They were engaged in agricultur-
al pursuits about Two miles from the
village of Bridgeborough, Which is
league from Riverside, N. j. A notice
of the case got into rural newspaper
not long ago, and this catching the eye
of the saloon keeper, he sought ont the
humble homestead and arranged to have
Charles kept Mt his place for exhibition.