The accompanying illustration is a representation
of a "bearded woman" born in Bracken County, Ky. Her beard
measured 15 inches in length.
There is a class of anomalies in which there is an exaggerated
development of hair. We would naturally expect to find the
primitive peoples, who are not provided with artificial
protection against the wind, supplied with an extra quantity of
hair or having a hairy coat like animals; but this is sometimes
found among civilized people. This abnormal presence of hair on
the human body has been known for many years; the description of
Esau in the Bible is an early instance. Aldrovandus says that in
the sixteenth century there came to the Canary Islands a family
consisting of a father, son, and two daughters, who were covered
all over their bodies by long hair, and their portrait, certainly
reproduced from life, resembles the modern instances of "dog
men."
In 1883 there was shown in England and France, afterward in
America, a girl of seven named "Krao," a native of Indo-China.
The whole body of this child was covered with black hair. Her
face was of the prognathic type, and this, with her extraordinary
prehensile powers of feet and lips, gave her the title of
"Darwin's missing link.
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