History of Monsters. 591

The menstrual discharges that flow at the time of conception should not be excluded from these causes. Indeed, if parents engage in procreation during this time, there is a looming danger that monsters of this kind might be born. This was the opinion of the renowned Paré and other most learned men, who believed that when impure blood is mixed into the embryonic mass, a monstrous birth is inevitable, particularly one marked by wounds or gashes.

Finally, the imagination of parents—whether awake or dreaming—exerts a powerful influence on the tender little body of the fetus, especially during the time when the structure of its limbs is being formed. For instance, if a mother sees someone riddled with many wounds, or observes the blade of a sword threatening her, she may give birth to an infant that is torn all over, or pierced in only one specific place.

Furthermore, many are born with cleft lips in the shape of a hare's mouth; these children grow up with this condition and a disfigured mouth because the pregnant mothers were startled by fears or sudden sights of hares, or perhaps because they craved the meat of a hare too greedily. As for the torn horse shown previously, we assert that it was an omen rather than a true monster.

MONSTROUS HARDNESS OF THE SKIN.

Among the blemishes of the skin, roughness and hardness are prominent. Since skin should naturally be smooth, if it acquires a rough or hard texture from birth, it undoubtedly takes on a form that is not natural, but monstrous. This is even more marvelous when the skin, along with the fetus itself, turns to stone in the womb. Johann Georg Schenck has recorded a similar occurrence in Sens, the capital of Celtic Gaul, and named such a fetus a "lithopaedion" (stone child) because of this effect.

This fetus was removed from its deceased mother. Its position in the womb was almost spherical: the face was pressed against the chest, and the knees were drawn up toward the buttocks, appearing broad, flattened, and upturned. The bones of the head were thin and firm, shining like horn, and the scalp was hairy in many places. The head leaned onto the left arm in such a way that the ear and the back of the head were pushed by the protruding shoulder, appearing hollowed out in that area.

The elbow was bent back toward the top of the shoulder, with only the hand extended and clenched into a fist. The fingertips adhered to the palm so that, although they appeared distinct, they had nonetheless fused into one and the same stony body. The right arm extended its hand toward the navel; the left thigh, knee, and shin lay upon the right ones, and they were so entwined that they were bound by an indissoluble bond. Both legs were bent back toward the belly and chest, covering the clear signs of the female sex. Both shins were twisted toward the buttocks, with the feet and toes so compacted and petrified together that one might have said it was the work of some sculptor who had carved a perfect image of a fetus from either ivory or marble.

Furthermore, the internal parts—namely all the viscera, the heart, and the brain—were naturally formed, except that they had acquired an excessive hardness, though less so than the external parts. Thus, even today, this little body is preserved, untouched by decay or earthly corruption.

The history of the case is as follows. There was a woman of Sens named Colombe Chatry, who had married a small but sturdy and well-built tailor named Louis. Twenty-eight years ago, though she had been married for a long time, she had never before been pregnant, but then she experienced the most certain signs of a developing fetus. The menstrual discharges that usually occurred at regular intervals were immediately suppressed. In the first months, she suffered from pica; she felt the timely and frequent movement of the fetus; her loins and breasts swelled; and finally, when the course of the pregnancy had passed, she began to feel the heavy pains of labor. Her urine was suppressed for several days, but finally broke forth with great force, along with a profuse flow of that fluid which usually precedes birth. Her breasts then shrank,