Laxity of
the skin after distention is often seen in multipara, both in the
breasts and in the abdominal walls, and also from obesity, but in
all such cases the skin falls in folds, and does not have a
normal appearance like that of the true "elastic-skin man."
Occasionally abnormal development of the scalp is noticed.
McDowall of twenty-two. On each side of the median line of the
head there were five deep furrows, more curved and shorter as the
distance from the median line increased. In the illustration the
hair in the furrows is left longer than that on the rest of the
head. The patient was distinctly microcephalic and the right side
of the body was markedly wasted. The folds were due to
hypertrophy of the muscles and scalp, and the same sort of
furrowing is noticed when a dog "pricks his ears." This case may
possibly be considered as an example of reversion to inferior
types. Cowan records two cases of the foregoing nature in idiots.
The first case was a paralytic idiot of thirty-nine, whose
cranial development was small in proportion to the size of the
face and body; the cranium was oxycephalic; the scalp was lax and
redundant and the hair thin; there were 13 furrows, five on each
side running anteroposteriorly, and three in the occipital region
running transversely.
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