- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Cornell University Press; New edition edition (30 Nov 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0801434319
- ISBN-13: 978-0801434310
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.5 x 2.5 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,065,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Synopsis
In times past, curiosities were often arranged in cabinets for display: a dried mermaid next to a giant's shinbone, the skeletons of conjoined twins beside an Egyptian mummy. In ten essays, the author brings a physician's diagnostic skills to various unexpected and unusual aspects of the history of medicine: spontaneous human combustion, colonies of snakes and frogs living in a person's stomach, kings and emperors devoured by lice, vicious tribes of tailed men and the Two-headed Boy of Bengal. Bondeson tells the story of Mary Toft who gained notoriety in 1726 when she allegedly gave birth to 17 rabbits. King George I, the Prince of Wales and the court physicians attributed these monstrous births to a "maternal impression" because Mary had longed for a meal of rabbit while pregnant. Bondeson explaines that the fallacy of maternal impressions, conspicuous in the novels of Goethe, Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens, has ancient roots in Chinese and Babylonian manuscripts. The author also presents the case of Julia Pastrana, a Mexican-Indian woman with thick hair growing over her body and a massive overgrowth of the gums which gave her a simian or ape-like appearance.Called the Ape Woman, she was exhibited all over the world. Following her death in 1860, Julia's husband, who had also been her impresario, had her body mummified and continued to exhibit it throughout Europe. Bondeson tracked the mummy down and managed to diagnose Julia Pastrana's condition as the result of a rare genetic syndrome.
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8 reviews
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
A fascinating book of amazing medical oddities
16 April 1999
Format:Paperback
This book is the one to read if you want to know more about spontaneous combustion, snakes living as parasites in the human stomach, two-headed people, tailed men, giants and dwarfs, and Julia Pastrana the Nondescript. The chapter on premature burial is particularly ghoulish and gruesome, and seems to have inspired a very good TV documentary on this subject, recently sent on the Discovery Channel. The author is obviously a medical scientist, but he has the rare talent of writing in a way that appeals to the general reader. Stylish, well written and with lots of amazing illustrations, this book is well worth its price.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
A well written interesting read!
8 Oct 2003
Format:Hardcover
I do not think this is the type of book you want to buy if you are looking for a book with alot of photos of "freaks". This is a book that describes amazing things that people once believed and then it gives some evidence as to whether or not it really happened. I bought a whole bunch of books related to medical curiousities and "freaks" and I find this one to be the most interesting out of all of them. It is so well written that it teaches you alot about folklore and history without boring you. In fact it is quite a page turner and I often have a hard time putting it down! I've read it over and over again.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Curious Indeed
17 April 2007
Format:Paperback
A compilation of some very interesting people and unexplained syndromes / phenomenon. Spontaneous human combustion, premature burial, bosom serpents (live animals taking up residence in the human body), the lousy disease which strikingly resembles today's Morgellon's scare, tailed people, giants, dwarfs, the two-headed boy of Bengal (whom today would have easily been rendered single by a simple operation), and two women of note, one who duped the most respected physicians of the day by apparently breeding "rabbits," and the tragic, touching story of bearded lady Julia Pastrana who suffered from two separate genetic disorders. Julia was a lovely woman outside of her appearance, and the way in which her life, and that of her newborn son, and especially their deaths were mishandled is criminal. The author writes in a kind, evenhanded tone that shows a respect for his subject matter and the intelligence of his readers. This book contains plenty of first-hand accounts and historical data which adds great interest and welcome factual background. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in medicine and the strange ways nature and genes can combine. Note: The author mentions Gould and Pyle's ANOMALIES AND CURIOSITIES OF MEDICINE, published in 1897, as his inspiration for this book. This is available in its entirety on-line and is a riveting read.
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