The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1882-10-14
A Remarkable Freak Of Nature.

A remarkable freak of nature arrived
in this city yesterday in the way of a
child which has managed to live for
seventeen months without that bony
''dome of thought which is regarded as
essential to continued existence More
over. the child seems to have no need
for. brain, if the eyes may be believed,
for, in the absence of a skull, the head
is translucent and almost transparent,
while, by the aid of a lamp properly
held, it may be perceived that the brain
cavity is filed with colorless fluid.
Nothing exists in this serum that can be
perceived. The head is larger than the
body, the increase of size being almost
entirely above the temples, and meas
ures twenty-seven inches around. The
lower face is perfect, anG the child
would be pretty but for the monstrous
development. The rapid growth of the
upper head has drawn the skin until the
eyelids will not close, and the eyebrows
are pulled up an inch at least above the
normal position. When an Enquirer
reporter visited the child it was asleep,
and the mother would not allow it to be
awakened for experiments. A rather
dim coal-oil lamp was placed behind the
monstrous head, and cleaned through
it as though the skin formed the only
obstacle to the light. The veins upon
the forehead and the locks of hair upon
the back of the head made the only
shadows, as was proved by moving the
lamp. The light behind the head illu-
mined the whole of the interior, being
as perceptible upon the side as the front
of the occiput. It is claimed that when
the child is awake the light of lamp or
sunlight falling upon the back of the
head is even more plainly seen through
the eye-balls or the nostrils, or through
the ears when placed at one side. This
remarkable head is covered with an
abundant growth of auburn hair.
The child has every appearance, ex-
cept in the color of the skin, of good
health. 1t is fully developed, very
plump, and is said to be strong, while it
has good appetite. In all its habits it
is regular and like any other child. That
it should have progressed so far as to be
weaned, maintaining good health, and
should have reached the teetbing period,
is one of the wonders of physiology. Its
senses are said to be perfect and acute,
and it possesses enough of intelligence
to smile family when tickled, and to
recognize food when it sees it. When
the child was born it was known as 1.-THE
headless baby" as it seemed cut of
above the ears on a line sloping toward
the nape of the neck, while wrinkled
skin covered the top. 1t suffered greatly
and its life was preserved with difficulty
At three or four weeks Of age the skin
began to fill out, when the child's suf-
ferings ceased, and it enjoyed good
health. The growth has been constant
since. The child suffers no pain and
only the Inconvenience of being unable
to sit up, in consequence of its deformity.
The tension OF the skin is such that it
does not yield as readily to the touch as
might be expected from its appearance,
yet the child does not seem to expert
ence any trouble from this, and was
sleeping as sweetly as anybody's cherub
This child was born February 20, of
last year, on Beech Fork of Twelve Pole
Creek, Wayne County, w. V. 1t is of
the male sex, and is known as Frankly
Canady.-Cincinnati Enquirer.