This singular being lived to the extraordinary age of ninety-eight;
a great age for an ordinary man, and quite without example in the
history of dwarfs. He died at Bank's Cottage, near Durham, on the 5th
of September, 1837, and his remains were placed near those of Stephen
Kemble, in the Nine Altars of Durham Cathedral. It is stated in the
_Gentleman's Magazine_ (October, 1837), that the cottage was the gift
of some of the prebendaries of Durham, who also allowed him a handsome
income. They may have given him the cottage, but the income came,
as Boruwlaski himself informs us, from the Misses Metcalfe. In the
parish church of St. Mary-the-Less is a mural tablet of white stone,
with an inscription erected in memory of the Count, who long resided
in the city, and has, indeed, given his name to a bend in the river,
known as "Count's Corner."--(Walker's _Brief Sketch of Durham_, 4th
edition, 1865.) If the reader attentively considers the story we have
narrated, he will perceive that the Count, although an anomaly in
respect of size, was in all other respects a perfectly formed man,
and is distinguished from most other dwarfs by longevity, paternity,
and intelligence. The anomaly, therefore, could not have been deeply
seated. He was a perfect copy of nature's finest work in duodecimo.
A full-length portrait of him may be seen in the Hunterian Museum,
life-size, leaning against a chair.
It may be interesting to narrate a few more examples of dwarf life,
from accredited sources.
M. St. Hilaire relates from the _Philosophical Transactions_, 1751-2,
the case of a dwarf named Hopkins, who, at fifteen years of age, stood
only 2 ft. 7 in., and weighed between 12 and 13 lbs. He had all the
signs of old age. He was bent, deformed, and troubled with a dry cough.
His hearing and sight were bad; his teeth almost all decayed. He was
very thin, and so weak as scarcely to be able to stand. Till the age
of seven he had been gay, healthy, and active; nor at that age did he
show any indications of stopped growth. He was well formed, and weighed
nineteen pounds, _i.e._ six pounds more than he weighed at fifteen.
From that period his health declined, and his body wasted. He came
from healthy parents of ordinary stature, and was the second of six
children, another of whom also was a dwarf.
Dantlow, the Russian dwarf, was only thirty inches high; he was without
arms, and had only four toes on each foot. With his feet he made
pen-and-ink sketches rivalling etchings; and knitted stockings with
needles made of wood. He fed himself with his left foot; learned with
great facility, and was eager to learn.
M. Virey describes a German girl, exhibited in Paris in 1816. She was
of parents above the average height, who had previously produced a male
dwarf. At eight years old she weighed no more than an ordinary infant;
her height was eighteen inches. In temper she was gay, restless, and
excitable. Her pulse normally was at ninety-four.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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