n the authority of Dr. Purland, a
dentist: Julia Pastrana, a Spanish dancer, was a remarkably fine woman, but
she had a thick masculine beard and a hairy forehead; she was photographed,
and her stuffed skin was exhibited as a show; but what concerns us is, that
she had in both the upper and lower jaw an irregular double set of teeth,
one row being placed within the other, of which Dr. Purland took a cast.
From the redundancy of the teeth her mouth projected, and her face had a
gorilla-like appearance. These cases and those of the hairless dogs
forcibly call to mind the fact, that the two orders of mammals--namely, the
Edentata and Cetacea--which are the most abnormal in their dermal covering,
are likewise the most abnormal either by deficiency or redundancy of teeth.

The organs of sight and hearing are generally admitted to be homologous,
both with each other and with the various dermal appendages; hence these
parts are liable to be abnormally affected in conjunction. Mr. White Cowper
says "that in all cases of double microphthalmia brought under his notice
he has at the same time met with defective development of the dental
system." Certain forms of blindness seem to be associated with the colour
of the hair; a man with black hair and a woman with light-coloured hair,
both of sound constitution, married and had nine children, all of whom were
born blind; of these children, five "with dark hair and brown iris were
afflicted with amaurosis; the four others, with light-coloured hair and
blue iris, had amaurosis and cataract conjoined." Several cases could be
given, showing that some relation exists between various affections of the
eyes and ears; thus Liebreich states that out of 241 deaf-mutes in Berlin,
no less than fourteen suffered from the rare disease called pigmentary
retinitis. Mr. White Cowper and Dr. Earle have remarked that inability to
distinguish different colours, or colour-blindness, "is often associated
with a corresponding inability to distinguish musical sounds."[823]

{329}

Here is a more curious case: white cats, if they have blue eyes, are almost
always deaf. I formerly thought that the rule was invariable, but I have
heard of a few authentic exceptions. The first two notices were published
in 1829, and relate to English and Persian cats: of the latter, the Rev.
W. T. Bree possessed a female, and he states "that of the offspring
produced at one and the same birth, such as, like the mother, were enti