History of Monsters 525

*VARIOUS KINDS OF ANIMALS*

APODIA (Lack of Feet)

Nature, in the formation of human offspring, sometimes commits various errors when it is hindered by some cause from reaching its intended goal—as we observed in the previous chapter regarding the feet of human fetuses. However, one should not believe that such things cannot also occur in the offspring of beasts. Indeed, through various examples and cases, we shall demonstrate that Nature commits similar errors in the formation of animal feet, as *apodia*—that is, a total lack of feet—also occurs among the brutes. For instance, Albertus Magnus mentions a goat born with only its front legs; because it lacked hind legs, it walked by dragging its rear portion along the ground.

Lycosthenes the historian also records a calf born from a cow that lacked front legs. It was born in January of 1556, in a village in the Bishopric of Dillingen known in the vernacular as Obenhausen. Although this calf lacked front limbs, the author reports that it nevertheless ran with its body held upright and with such speed that it easily outpaced other calves in a race.

We provide a similar illustration of a calf at figure I, which was recently born without front legs in the territory of Bologna. This provided us with an opportunity to observe the membranes of a bovine fetus and its position within the uterus on January 13, 1592.

A bovine fetus is wrapped in two membranes, referred to as the internal and external layers. These differ from one another in thickness: the internal one is very thin, originating from the fetus's peritoneum, which covers the umbilical vessels. Once it emerges from the body, it eventually expands to envelop the fetus, abounding with many "cotyledons." These are nothing more than fleshy portions that mimic the substance and shape of kidneys. The seminal vessels adhere to these fleshy parts, carried through this membrane and dispersed like the fibers of the portal vein through the mesentery.

The other membrane is thicker, originating from the fleshy layer attached to all the aforementioned fleshy portions. It sends a part of itself into each cavity of those fleshy parts. These fleshy areas are rough on the outside and have an oblong sinus where they face the outer membrane; the external membrane inserts portions of itself into these sinuses, where it is very firmly joined and attached.

Aristotle discussed the position of quadrupeds in the womb in his *History of Animals* (Book 7, Chapter 8), where he wrote that their position in the uterus is extended. However, we have found this to be false regarding the bovine fetus.

In the womb, the fetus is carried in such a way that the spine is bent and hunched, with the knees flexed and the front legs crossed (at least when the bovine fetus is perfectly formed, for the one we show here was imperfect). The head rests somewhat upon the shin of the left leg, while the right foot is rolled upward toward the belly. In the rear, the legs are completely reflexed, like a dog lying and sleeping on the ground, and are rolled forward under the belly. The tail is retracted between the legs, and the hooves are tender and as white as snow. Regarding the umbilical vessels—which anatomists say consist of two arteries and one vein—in this particular fetus, two veins are visible on the outside, which merge into a single origin on the inside.

Between the fetus and its first membrane, a vast quantity of pituitous, viscous, and sticky fluid is contained, so much so that it can hardly be wiped off if it sticks to the fingers. This fluid is the material of urine and the water of the blood that nourishes the fetus, which descends from the bladder through the urachus into this cavity. Nature deliberately retains this moisture there,