History of Monsters. 475

which, whether they are located within the womb itself or arise in the surrounding parts, can always constrict a woman’s uterus.

# ON THE MALFORMATION of the Arms and Hands.

Chapter IV.

Since Nature, entangled by many obstacles, sometimes commits errors in the formation of the arms and hands, I have decided to describe them here. First, we shall present various fetuses born without arms; then, we will consider those born with mutilated or transposed arms; thirdly, those with multiple arms; so that we may finally review monstrous hands as well.

Regarding the first category, Schenckius, in his observations, recorded many histories of those who came into the light without arms. Dio, in his *Life of Augustus*, as cited by Caelius Rhodiginus, noted that among the gifts sent to Augustus by the Indians were tigers (never before seen in Rome) and a youth without arms who performed the functions of hands using only his feet; he could even draw a bow and shoot arrows. Furthermore, Georgius Pictorius admits to having known a Spaniard born without arms who was remarkably swift with his feet; indeed, he spun yarn and embroidered with a needle more skillfully than the quickest woman could with both hands. In fact, he handled weapons of war so expertly that no soldier could use them with greater agility.

Gyraldus also knew a man born without arms who, as an adult, used his feet with marvelous dexterity for catching, throwing, cutting, and playing in place of hands. Moreover, Weinrich reported that in the year 1012, during the time of Henry II, twins were born in Saxony who were equipped with goose wings instead of arms. The famous monster of Ravenna was also born without arms in the year 1512; authors record that it had wings in their place.

Similarly, Jakob Ruff mentions a girl born without arms in Priverno in the year 3803 of the world; except for her arms, the rest of her body was perfectly formed, as everyone can see in Figure I. This story was also recounted by Lycosthenes.

According to the report of the same author, in the year 1528, a woman was born without arms in Frankfurt am Main. When she reached adulthood, although she lacked hands, she used her feet with remarkable agility: by grasping a pen with her feet, she wrote elegant letters, handled a distaff, counted money, and performed even the most delicate tasks with her toes.

Likewise, Nicolaus Rocheus relates that he saw a woman without arms in 1540 in the castle of Amandino Allifero who used her feet instead of hands to pick up a cup and, in the manner of soldiers, took up sticks to beat a drum. Paré also records observing a woman in Paris who performed many tasks without arms.

Furthermore, in April 1548, in Meissen—according to Lycosthenes—an infant was born with only a small hole where the mouth should be; but even more remarkable was that it lacked arms and stood on only a single leg, as Figure II demonstrates. Indeed, Hali Rodoham, in his commentaries on Galen’s *Art of Medicine*, recorded that he once saw a very small man who lacked both arms and feet.

Ruffus in the Picene territory, as Cornelius Gemma has reported, mentions an infant born without