Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-08-23
ABOUT HORNED PEOPLE.
MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN FAMILY
WITH HORNS LIKE BEASTS.

One Man Who Was N!cisnaused "Pict. the
Dev;p'-Horns All Over the Head
Strange Cases and Superstitions Regard
ing Them-one Thirteen Feet Long.
Human freaks in all imaginable shapes are
well known to frequenters of the dime mu-
seums However, not one person In l,O00,
perhaps in 10000, knows that human beings
with horns like an OK or unicorn have fire.
uuently been exhibited in the cities of Eng
land and continental Europe during the past
500 years
THE FIRST HORNED MAN.
The first of these rare specimens OF the
genus homo of whom an authentic written
account has been preserved, one Pet Darnelo,
was up before the town tribunal OF Lisbon In
1906 on a charge of being an offspring OF the
devil When born Pet had two horns grow
ing from his head, one over bis left ear about
one and one-half inches in length, the other
almost exactly in the center of his forehead
nearly three inches long.
At first, both were covered with a soft,
dowuy fur like that on the new horns OF ami
mails of the deer species, but this soon cracked
and peeled off, leaving horny excrescences
which in the quaint language of the account
"did much resemble the spurs of ye male
barne yarde fowle."
The horn near the ear was immovable
from the first, being firmly attached to the
skull. The larger one on the forehead seemed
only in the skin and could be pressed down
until the point touched the nose without
causing the owner the least apparent pain.
At the age of years the larger horn was
removed. During that short time it had
grown from less than three inches to nearly
seven inches in length, and had given evil
dence of becoming permanently attached to
the frontal bone Within the year following
a soft tumor appeared over the right ear of
little Pet, conforming in position almost ex-
actly to that of the smaller permanent horn
over the other ear, which had at this time
attained length of near five inches. From
the tumor there sprang a horn which grew
with alarming rapidity for three or four
months, or until it had grown to be about the
length of the one over the left ear. Unlike
its mate, the horn which sprang from the tu-
NOR was not fixed, seemingly only attached
to a fatty substance which had formed be-
tween the root of the horn and the skull after
the bursting of the tumor.
Taking encouragement from this fact, the
surgeons again applied the knife and left
Pet for the second time possessed of only
the smaller of the original excrescences-th
one over the left ear which had ceased to
grow.
From the time of the removal of the sec
ond horn until he was l6 years of age, Piet's
parents resided in a remote fishing village,
which caused the Lisbon surgeons to lose all
trace of him. At the age of IL, in the year
1906, he returned to Lisbon and was tried, as
above mentioned, for being an offspring Of
or near relative of his satanic majesty.
At this time Pet had three perfectly de-
veloped horns, one over each ear and one in
the center of the forehead. During his ten
or twelve years on the sea coast new horns
had put out from the places from which the
others had been removed and all had become
firmly attached to the skull, and were at the
time of his trial as immovable as those of a
ram. which the two on the sides of the head
much resembled.
The one on the forehead pointed nearly
straight out, and was nine and three quarters
| inches in length. The two on the sides OF
| the head curved downward and backwards,
forming almost circle around the ears,
measuring from the point around the curve
| to the head about eleven inches. One could
| hardly imagine the ludicrous appearance he
presented. In the fsherman's town where
he grew up be was called "Piet, the Devil, "
and "Piet, the Ram" At his trial it was
proven to the satisfaction of all that Pet was
a very pious young man, Notwithstanding his
diabolical look He was acquitted with the
understanding that he would leave Lisbon
| forever Years afterwards, in the Fifteenth
century, q skull with three horns, believed to
| be that of Pet, was on exhibition in Rome.
HORNED WOMEN.
The British museum authorities are the
proud possessors of two or three specimens of
| human horns The largest of these, one near
ly foot in length, has been on exhibition in
that institution for over century and half
1t originally grew on the head of lady by
tie name of Elizabeth French, who resided
near Tenterden. Like the third horn on the
head of the boy Pet, the horn which grew
from the head of Mrs. French was at first
nothing but ID soft fatty tumor. The horn
first made its appearance when the lady wa:
4S years Of age In four years it attained its
maximum length and was removed and placed
in the museum
i In 1868, according to the history of Cheshire
England, an old lady, whose name is moi
| given, became the possessor OF two horns, boil
of which grew from single wen which hac
troubled her for forty years prior to the ap
pearance of the horns.
The two grew side by side, with only about
half inch of space between them. Each
seemed to repel the other, consequently they
curved in opposite directions When first
noticed they were about the diameter of E
goose quill, but soon increased to one-half
inch in thickness, which, Of course, lesseneo
the space between the two. AS the lady was
Y years of age at the commencement of hel
curious affection, and owing to the fact thai
the horns never attained extraordinary size
like those of the boy Piet or the woman
French, no attempts were ever made to re
move them People of that time were moi
given to euphuisn, therefore the old lady
was often indelicately referred to as the
"Hell Cat" and the mother of Devils"
In the year 1916 Bartholine visited a wo
man who had horn nearly thirteen inche
long growing from the left temporal muscle
Like the other cases mentioned this horn
first existed in the shape of common WEI
or tunor. When the horn first penetrated
the skin the tumor suppurated and dis
charged gritty pus much resembling pow
dered isinglass and water. The horn wa
several years growing the first four or fv
inches Afterwards the growth became NOR
rapid, at one time it made four inches in a
many months At the length of ten niche
the attending surgeons believed that it would
grow no longer However, if Bartholine
to be believed, it did grow nearly thre
inches more before it finally fixed at r.
inches. For a full account of this wonderSu
case, this being the longest human horn Oh
record, the reader is referred to "Bartho
lines Epistles John W. Wright in st
Louis Republic.
| A Printers Courtship.
"My darling" said the printer, fondly, {
he encircled her fairy form, "does your p
object to my setting up with yous'
''No, jeff" said she swcetly, mot If yor
intentions justify it."
''Well, En- in this case think they d.
DO you love me, darlingp
HIInvept Won Ind nroof of II JaF ~