Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1891-09-25
GIANT AND DWARF.
MYSTERY OF THE GROWTH OF
THE HUMAN BODY.
Why Men Grow or Do Not-Thc
Mechanism OF Increase in DimeD-
sion - Remarkable Examples
of Abnormal Growth.


Why is one person limited in stature to
II few inches while another stretches NJ
several feetl Why il it that one at ma
turity weighs not above fifty pounds and
another attains weight ten times a
grcatl These arc all questions Of growth,
and some marvellous examples are re-
corded.
Nearly every nation has prodnced its
celebrated giant, and most nations more
than Ole. James Toller, born at st.
Neots, Huntington, England, sat the age
of ten years had attained the surprising
height Of five feet and upward; at the
age of eighteen years he had reached the
height of upward of eight feet and one
and one-half inches, and was still in pro-
gress of growth"
Two separate men, each Of whom was
eight feet in height, claimed the cogno-
men of "The Irish Giant O'Brien" at
the same time. The skeleton of one Of
these is to be found in the Museum Of
the College of Surgeons, London. 1t
was bought by the celebrated surgeon,
John Hunter, who paid $500 for the
body for the purpose Of dissection. This
O'Brien died from a debauch at the age
of twenty-five. The other O'Brieu,
whose real name was Patrick Cotter,
earned fortune by exhibiting himself,
and attained the extreme limits OF a
giants lfe-forty-six years. He took
the precautiOn to have his grave ch'seled
out OF the solid rock twelve feet deep
and provided that it shonld be kept
locked and constantly watched. This
O'Brien used to amusc himself by light
ing his pipe at the street lamps, and be
quite terrified a highwayman who on one
occasion had stopped O'Brien's carriage
by simply putting his head out Of the
window and stretching himself up to his
full height.
The skeleton OF another Irish giant to
be found in the anatomical room OF
Trinity College, Dublin, is seven feet
six inches in height, and constitute | the
frame work of McGrath, born in Upper
ary, who made the tour 0; Europe as
the "Proligious Irish Giant. His
growth was said to have been
the result of an experiment made by the
Bishop Berkeley, who put the
boy-an unfortunate orphan - through
a fattening process with this result.
Bernardo Gigli, an Italian, attained
the height Of eight feet when only
eighteen years Of age. Big Sam, the
Prince of Wales porter, vino was nearly
eight feet in height, is the tallest Scotch
man, unless We credit the account given
by NJ. Lc Cat, who tells OF the Scotch
giant "Funnum, who lived in the time
Of Eugene H., King Of Scotland" aud
who measured eleven and onc.half feet
in height. The giant of Utrecht, Hol-
land, described by DR.. Diemcrbrocl, the
stood eight and one-halt feet
in height. The king Of giants, however,
was Christoif Munster, born at ErloseD,
near MuudeD, in June, 1880, who, ac
cording to authentic records, attained a
height Of nine and onc-half feet, three
inches taller than Goliath of Gath. He
served in the body guards of the Elector
and lived forty-four years.
Rapid decay seems to naturally follow
rapid and excessive development. A re-
markable illustration of this is shown in
IN account given by DR.. Dawkes, a sur
geon of St. Ives, who published, in 1744,
iAn Account of the Gigantic Boy of
This boy was Thomas
Hall, who, when two years eleven
months old, was three feet and nine
inches in height, and at the age of four
years, one month, was four feet five
inches in height, so, had he grown to
manhood at this rate, he would have at
tained nine or ten feet. When he died
in his fifth year he had a thick pair of
xhiskers and weighed about eighty-five
pounds.
That the period of growth is not limited
10 the legal age of maturity Is true. A
gentleman thirty years Of age connected
With literary Journal of this city two
7cars ago was six feet two inches in
height, and is now six feet four. He is
n perfect health and presents remark
IDLY youthful appearance.
The immediate factor in the stoppagc
IF growth seems to be the hardening of
he bones, particularly the long bones,
through the secretion Of lime. But this
S probably mere incident resulting from
he influence of food, excessive physical
exercise, cold or some other force affect
ng the general systep. Among the re-
,ipcs given for checking the growth OF
children is that of amounting the back
bone with the fat OF bats and moles.
This is said to havo thc effect Of harden
ing the cartilage and thus preventing
growth. "Sweating," the process used
Tor reducing the weight OF jockeys, is
mother means employed for checking
development. II is said that dwarfs
nave been artifcially produced by the
horrible practice of feeding infants on
sour cider instead of milk.
As in the case Of giants, the stature OF
Ihese little people has, in most cases
probably, been the result of accident.
fsoofr.rv IL, fhoir huoa rivale in ,nferoef