Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/93

* DEFORMED TKANSFORMED. 69 DEFREGGER. DEFORMED TRANSFORMED, The. A drama by Lord Byron (1S24), ba^ed partly on an old story. The Three Brothers, and partly on Uoethc's Fiiiist. DEFORMITIES (Lat. deformitas. ugliness, deformity, Irom rfc, away, off + fonim. form, shape). "Varieties of form which mar the ex- ternal appearance. Deformities may l)e divided into congenital and acquired, according as they occur before or after Ijirth. The former class were considered by the ancients to carry some important meaning in their mysterious shapes, and to show the anger of the gods; hence, they termed them monsters, from monstrqre, to show; and even in later times they were popularly be- lieved to be tlie result of the most hideously unnatural combinations. Jlodern scientific writ- ers have, however, made them a subject of special study under the name teratology ( Gk. Ttpac, teras, monster, and /.d)«f, logos, science), and their researches have shown that deformities generally depend on some arrest of development of the fetus, or some accidental position it has assumed, or some inllammatoiy disease which has caused unnatural adhesion of parts. It has been found that in Paris one monster occurs in about 3000 births. Deformities are more com- mon among tlomcstie than wild animals, among mammalia than birds, and are very rare among lishes and the invetebrata. It is a common belief that the mind of the mother has an influence over the shape of her infant; but although some singular coincidences have occurred, there is no scientific proof that such is really the case. Yet the theory was uni- versally adhered to in the Middle Ages; it was, in fact, often appealed to in the interest of mercy, as a loophole of escape for pregnant women who. by the barbarous ignorance of the time, might be condemned to torture. Even at the present day. no scientific demonstration to the contrary has proved sufficient to undermine the absurd i)elief. That deformities are in many oases hcreditaiy may be seen in the instances of additional fingers" and toes, and of harelips. It seems uncertain whether the male or female parent chiefly influences the occurrence of de- formity in tlie offspring. Cases arc reported of a family of three with harelips, whose father alone is" similarly deformed: and another family of three, with perfectly formed mouths, whose mother has an uncorrected and extremely iin- sightly harelip. The chief congenital deformities may be classed under the following heads: (1) Deformity (i.t rei/ard-i the number of parts. — The Sirens, for instance, have apparently but a single inferior extremity, which tapers to a point, and the Cyclopes have but one eye. In some cases the head itself, or some organ, as the brain, may be absent. Such deformities, from a deficiency of part, may also result from amputation of por- tions of the limbs of the fetus, when still within the uterus, by the pressure of the umbilical cord. Curiously enough, however, it often happens that this intrauterine amputation of parts leads in- directly to an exactly opposite condition — name- ly, a multiplication of parts arising from the stumps left by these uterine amputations, the fetus in the early stages of its gi-owtb appear- ing to possess something of the power of re- production of parts obsen'ed in most of the lower orders of animals. The parts most commonly reproduced are fingers and toes, or, most eom- monly of all, only abortive portions of these, as little projections, from the stump of the limb, with traces of nail, and sometimes a single joint with an imi)erfect bony development. We see a new growth of little fingers or toes according to the member lost, and this power shows itself sometimes without lieing preceded by .such an injury, in additional fingers, toes, etc. These parts are generally close to the similar natural ones, but not always, as. for instjince. an ear in the neck. (2) Deformity with regard to size. — This may involve the whole body, as in dwarfs, of whom there have been some remarkable peri- patetic specimens: the Corsican fairy was only 2 feet 'V-i inches high; JlUe. Craehami, the smallest child that ever lived, died at ten years of age, only 20 inches in height. This kind of deformitj' is not necessarily hereditary; the father of Borowlaski, who was only 39 inches wlien thirty years old, had six children alter- nately short and tall, and dwarf women have brought forth infants as long, when extended, as their mothers. In some cases one limb only is diminutive. Of course, deformities the oppo- site of these exist, such as giants, or instances of premature or excessive local growth. O'Byrne, the Irish giant, measured 8 feet 4 inches when he died at the age of twenty-two. Such in- dividuals are generally subject to premature decay. (3) Deformity as regards shape. — This results generally from retarded growth, the parts of the embryo not consolidating as growth advances, as in harelip, or from irregular muscu- lar contractions as in clubfoot (q.v.) ; or by two or more parts coalescing, as two fingers; or in eyclopy, when both eyes run into one. (4) Deformities of color are frequently coexistent with a tendency to, or the i>resence of, some dis- ease. There may be a deficiency of coloring matter, as in albinos; or an apparent 'increase, as in cyanosis (q.v. K or "blue disease,' arising from the partition between the right and left sides of the heart not being completed; or from pigment abnoriiuilly placed in the body, as in the mottled individuals shown in caravans. (5) Deformities of continuity occur from the lateral halves of the embryo not completely closing, as seen in clefts of the back, the palate, etc. Ac- quired deformities will be noticed under their special name-;. DEFREGGER, da'freg-er, Franz von (1835 — ). A distinguished Austrian genre painter, widely popular through his delineations of Tyrolese evcry-day life and of many stirring episodes in the history of his native land. Me was born at Stronach, Tyrol, April 30. 1835. the son of a peasant, and showed early a talent for drawing and wood-carving, which he practiced untutored while tending his father's cattle. His career began late, for he lacked instruction till, in 1860. he went to Innsbruck to study sculpture under Michael Stolz. who, discovering his greater talent for painting, sent him to Munich, where he studied at the academy under Anschutz. After eighteen mtmtbs spent "in Paris (18113-65) and a sojourn at home, he returned to Miniich in 1866. and in the spring following became the pupil of Piloty, to whose influence he is indebted for his brilliant technique. He now also found the sphere in which be was soon to score success after success.