Again, during the early months of her pregnancy she was
frightened by seeing another woman suddenly light the fire with
kerosene, and at that time became firmly impressed with the idea
that her child would be marked." Parvin also pictures the
"turtle-man," an individual with deformed extremities, who might
be classed as an ectromelus, perhaps as a phocomelus, or
seal-like monster. According to the story, when the mother was a
few weeks pregnant her husband, a coarse, rough fisherman, fond
of rude jokes, put a large live turtle in the cupboard. In the
twilight the wife went to the cupboard and the huge turtle fell
out, greatly startling her by its hideous appearance as it fell
suddenly to the floor and began to move vigorously.
Copeland mentions a curious case in which a woman was attacked by
a rattlesnake when in her sixth month of pregnancy, and gave
birth to a child whose arm exhibited the shape and action of a
snake, and involuntarily went through snake-like movements. The
face and mouth also markedly resembled the head of a snake.
The teeth were situated like a serpent's fangs. The mere mention
of a snake filled the child (a man of twenty-nine) with great
horror and rage, "particularly in the snake season.
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