In the older works, the following authors have reported cases of
pregnancy before the appearance of menstruation: Ballonius,
Vogel, Morgagni, the anatomist of the kidney, Schenck,
Bartholinus, Bierling, Zacchias, Charleton, Mauriceau,
Ephemerides, and Fabricius Hildanus.
In some cases this precocity seems to be hereditary, being
transmitted from mother to daughter, bringing about an almost
incredible state of affairs, in which a girl is a grandmother
about the ordinary age of maternity. Kay says that he had
reported to him, on "pretty good" authority, an instance of a
Damascus Jewess who became a grandmother at twenty-one years. In
France they record a young grandmother of twenty-eight. Ketchum
speaks of a negress, aged thirteen, who gave birth to a
well-developed child which began to menstruate at ten years and
nine months and at thirteen became pregnant; hence the negress
was a grandmother at twenty-five years and nine months. She had a
second child before she was sixteen, who began to menstruate at
seven years and six months, thus proving the inheritance of this
precocity, and leaving us at sea to figure what degree of
grandmother she may be if she lives to an advanced age. Another
interesting case of this nature is that of Mrs.
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