History of Monsters 430

...must be understood as those causes brought forward in the first place; and when other monstrous differences are subsequently observed in a two-headed creature, then one must turn to other specific and physical causes. This occurred, for instance, in a two-headed calf that had two eyes on its sides. In such a case, one must say that the matter intended for forming the eyes was sent elsewhere but, always retaining the power of the member for which it was intended, it took on the form of that member even in an unsuitable location.

THE PROCREATION OF A FOREIGN HEAD

#### in a Human Fetus.

Ambroise Paré recorded that the wife of a certain Michael, who worked for a copperplate engraver, gave birth to a monster whose face resembled the head of a featherless bird; however, the fetus was stillborn, having been brought into the light before its time. Truly, this should not cause us wonder, since the most eminent Cardinal Peter Damian, Archbishop of Ravenna, left a written account that Robert, King of the Franks, contracted a marriage with a kinswoman from which he later fathered a monstrous son—specifically, one with the neck and head of a goose. When this was noticed, nearly all the bishops of France unanimously interdicted the King and his wife from the holy rites. Oppressed by these straits, the King returned to sounder counsel, abandoned the incest, and embraced a lawful marriage.

Thus far, we have observed foreign heads from widely different genera in human fetuses. If we now move to more closely related genera, examples and cases will not be lacking. First, Aristotle mentions a girl born with the head of a ram, and Ambroise Paré reports a girl born with a lion’s head. Lycosthenes wrote in his *Chronicles* that in the year 206 BC, at Sinuessa, a boy was born with an elephant’s head. This is also recounted by Polydore Vergil in his history, but more recently, according to reports from trustworthy men, such a case occurred in Hungary. There, in the year 1565, a woman gave birth to a boy with the head of an elephant, though the rest of his body was well-formed, as can be seen in figure I.

But moving further and wandering through the group of clawed quadrupeds, we encounter a dog’s head joined by Nature to a human fetus. Indeed, in the year 914, as one reads in the *Fasciculus Temporum*, a woman gave birth to an offspring with a human body but a dog's head.

Likewise, Vincent of Beauvais relates in his *Speculum Naturale* that in his time, a monstrous man—specifically with a dog's head—was brought to King Louis of France. We also remember reading that the wife of Cornelius Gallicanus gave birth in Rome to an infant with the head of Anubis, which is to say, a dog’s head. Now, Anubis was a god of the Egyptians who was depicted with a dog’s head, and by this image they meant Mercury, because nothing more sagacious than a dog can be found; Virgil mentions him:

"Monstrous gods of every form, and the barking Anubis."

Since the poet calls Anubis "the barker," we understand that he was undoubtedly depicted with a dog's head. It is no wonder, then, that figure II is presented here for inspection, showing an infant with a dog's head who, according to the historian Lycosthenes, was born in the year 1556 at Basel. The body was quite well-proportioned, but the head was that of a beast, and the monster lived for about half an hour. Those who saw the monster reported that this monstrous head represented that of a dog, a cat, or a monkey. To us, however, this likeness seems to represent a cynocephalus.