Washington sentinel., 1898-07-16
Men ana Women Win Horns
Reppe 4es Revnes. IN.

This phenomenon rs more ire
quently met with than is generally
believed. Such is the force OF
prejudice that nearly all OF us
would rather have two noses or
four feet than the emblem which IN
bveone ages was considered the
supreme ornament OF man. 1t is
in this view that horns are attrib-
uted to gods and heroes. Alex
ander the Great, when he pIo-
claimed himself the son OF Jupiter,
gave orders that on the coins which
should be struck thereafter he
should be represented bearing
horns. Michelangelo, when he
made d statue of Moses, depicted
the legislator with horns, as a sign
of manly strength. The kings OF
India were wont to have horns at
tached to their helmets, as a mark
of their supreme rank. The great
gods like Jupiter, Pan, and even
Astarte, the goddess of the Syri-
ans, were represented with horns,
as an indication of their mighty
power. In the course Of time the
horn lost It's significance, and
ceased to be regarded as mark
OF splendor force and dignity.
M. Villeneuve has written book
in which he describes seventy-one
cases OF horned human beings.
Fifty p9r cent, of these occurred
in the cases of men who had the
horns, like animals on the fore
head. The statistics show that
more women are horned than men,
and the horns of women are usu-
ally longer than those Of men. In
the British Museum is the largest
specimen OF a human horn. 1t IS
eight inches in length, and orna-
mented the head of a noble Eng
lishman, In the seventeenth CEN
tury a Mrs Allen, OF Leicester
shire, England had pair OF horns.
SO far from being ashamed she was
proud of them, and wore them as
an ornament all her life. They
attracted 10 her, it is told, numer-
Gus admirers. Another English
woman of the same town, known
as the beautiful Mary Davis, had
pair oil horns, which were regarded
as an addition to her charms. She
had them cut off four times; but
they grew again. One growth was
presented to Ding Aenry ~. OF
France.
M. Lamprey and other travellers
have told OF people who number
among them numerous specimens
of horned men and women. These
people are found in certain regions
of western Africa. In 1887, M.
LampreY relates, he found in the
African territory OF Ganim several
imposing types OF horned men and
women. One OF these was ma j.
estic looking negro with two
horns, which in his case sprang
one from each side Of the nose. A
Mexican named Rodriguez is deS-
cribed as having a horn on the side
of his head, about seven inches
long, with three branches like the
horn of stag,
Are horns hereditarV7 1t would
appear from the obserVatiogs OF the
physicians who have carefully
studied these excrescences that
thev are sometimes hereditary,
though not as a general rule. M.
Dublanc relates in the f0lIyRaI de
.PkayNlacie for 1890 that the Medi-
cal Society sent him for analysis
three human horns, OF which one
was cut from the grandfather of
the person who bore the other two.
Animals that are not usually
horned sometimes, like the human
race, put forth unexpectedly a dec
oration of this kind. There are
well authenticated cases Of horns
being found on dogs, horses and
hares; and there is even one case
related by a trustworthy physician
OF their being seen on a cat. What
is the natura of this horn lorma-
tion2 According to Malpighi,
whose opinion is entitled to great
weight, horns are the nervous pro-
loDgation of the skin. Bieschu,
another Judge not to be despised.
SAYS they are due to a morbid Sc
erection. Without entereing into
details on this subject, it may be
said that it is agreed that in their
essence human horns are analo-
gous, in their substance, to that OF
the horns OF animals, to human
nails, and the claws Of beasts.
Whatever it may be, these excres-
.cences do not threaten either the
health or the lIie Of those who have
them.