was born without arms, but also lacked feet; and Lycosthenes published that this occurred in the year of the world 3772, as seen in Figure III.

To the aforementioned is added another birth without arms, born in Thrace in the year of our Lord 601. There, a woman gave birth to a monstrous fetus that was almost a sacrilege against Nature: it had neither hands nor arms, and the rest of its bodily constitution lacked any proper shape or form. Indeed, it was devoid of eyes, eyelashes, and eyebrows, and a tail like that of a fish hung down, attached to its hips. When the Emperor Maurice saw this truly monstrous work of Nature, he ordered it to be killed, and it was immediately dispatched by the sword. The mother who had produced the monster, however, was acquitted of any crime, as it was not believed that it had been procreated through any fault of her own. Figure IV illustrates this monster.

Cardanus also recorded that he had seen a certain man lacking both arms who threw a spear with his right foot, sewed clothing, ate, wrote, and even threaded a needle; he assures us that there was no lack of witnesses, as these actions were performed in public. Likewise, Julius Caesar Scaliger testifies that he observed the same man—named Antonius, who claimed to be a native of Naples—in the province of Savoy, where he was a marvel to everyone. For, in addition to the operations recounted by Cardan, Scaliger says he could drive a nail deep into a board with a hammer and then, with amazing celerity, pull it out by turning the hammer’s claws.

Lycosthenes recounted that a man of this monstrous kind was seen in the year 1528. Furthermore, Paré affirms that a forty-year-old man was seen in Paris with a square body and lacking arms, as Figure V shows. This man successfully performed all the duties usually completed with hands; aided by the stump of his shoulder, his head, and his neck, he could strike a post with an axe with a heavier blow than anyone else could manage by hand. He could crack a coachman’s whip with such force that it made a great crack as it struck the air. Moreover, he ate with his feet, drank, and played at dice and knuckle-bones. But eventually, he was caught and arrested as a thief and an assassin; after a sentence of capital punishment was passed, he was strangled and fixed to a wheel.

Furthermore, Joannes Schenck the elder saw either the same man or another of the same age and bodily constitution, lacking arms and claiming to be Swiss, at Hagenau. There, besides the other feats narrated by Paré, he would cut through a beech branch as thick as an arm with a single stroke of a drawn sword held between his chin and shoulders. In a similar way, he would strike a battle-axe he had gripped exactly into a designated spot on a board attached to a wall.

Joannes Georgius Schenck mentions another person lacking both arms who was seen at Hall in Swabia in the year 1586, named Thomas Schweicker. What others perform with their hands as the most ingenious works, he performed with his feet with incredible skill. Indeed, Schenck admits that he saw writing produced with the feet by this man that was so elegantly drafted and adorned with various emblems around the borders that he could undoubtedly surpass the most skilled professional scribes in the cities. For this reason, an epigram written on the dexterity of this man is found in Schenck’s work, running as follows:

"What others perform with their fingers, Schweicker performs the same with the wonderful dexterity of his feet. With his foot, he paints verses adorned with sweeping strokes; With his feet, he plucks his food and does everything. No one will deny that this is a wondrous work of God— At least no one who possesses a heart ruled by reason."

Many testimonies could be brought forward concerning this man born without arms, but let the most learned Camerarius stand for them all, who recorded these words about him: "The providence and care of Nature—which the Maker of all things assigned to her as the best of mothers—is wonderful. For when the limbs of living beings are distorted, mutilated, or weakened, or even entirely missing, she usually supplies such strength and dexterity to other limbs beyond their intended purpose through continuous habit that it is marvelous to tell. For when we were at Comburg, at the house of the noble and most excellent man Erasmus Neinstet-