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THE
ST. JAMES'S MEDLEY;
FICTION, FACTS, AND FANCIES, FROM THE ROADSIDE OF LIFE.
One word, reader, and then God speed thee. Do not open it at adventures, and
by reading the broken pieces of two or three lines judge it ; but read it through,
and then if beg no pardon if thou dislikest it. — Thoa. Adams.
Clerieus es ? legito hocc. Laicus ? legito ista libenter ;
Crede mihi, invenies hie quod uterque voles.
VOL II.
LONDON :
JOHN MITCHELL, PUBLISHER TO HER MAJESTY,
38, OLD BOND STREET.
MDCCCLVIII.
�THE NONDESCRIPT.
20S
it would be useless to urge his arguments further, and that he had
only fruitlessly wasted his persuasion and zeal in a quarter in which
he could hope for no success.
We had enjoyed for two days most delightful sailing, and a fair
wind, and congratulated ourselves with the anticipation of a fine passage
the whole way to Constantinople ; when we arrived off the Island of
Cerigo, however, the wind rose, and bad weather suddenly overtook
us. This Island belongs to the Ionian group, of which I shall have
to speak more fully hereafter. I may, however, state that it is
under British protection, and garrisoned by a small detachment of
British troops, under a Lieutenant. It was supposed by the ancients
to be the place near which Venus rose up from the sea. We had
rough sailing the whole way from this Island to Syra, the currents
between the islands being both strong and rapid, and the mountainous
coast of the Morea inviting storms of wind and rain. After our
third day's sail, we made the Isle of Syra, off which we anchored
during the night ; and early in the morning of Wednesday the 22nd,
took up our station in the harbour.
(7b be continued.)
THE NONDESCR1FT.
" Look out for the Nondescript," were the words which, a few
days since, caught our eye in the columns of The Times. The same
day, when walking down Regent Street, we were surprised, not to
say alarmed, at the sudden apparition of a human sandwich (as
they call the poor men who walk about with an advertising board
slung on each side of their persons). The sandwich was quietly
smoking his short pipe, but he carried, suspended from his neck, a
life-size portrait of the most hideous and extraordinary specimen
of a human being we ever beheld. It has lately become the fashion
for exhibitors to have their portraits stuck up all over London. For
example, Mr. Woodin gratuitously papers all the hoardings and
houses in Chancery with life-like pictures of his person—now as a
beardless youth, now as The Doctor in Love—though we confess
that, although in the profession, should we chance to fall in love, we
should not put ourselves into the attitude considered appropriate by
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THI SOXDESCRIPT.
the " Polygraphia Mimic." Again, both in London and out of
London, wherever there is room enough, we are haunted by the
apparition of a gaunt-looking and body less pair of trowsers, with
the words, ' seventeen and sixpence ' inserted on the waistband. But
the portrait of the Nondescript, or Bear Lady, is by far the most
hideous tlung we have seen for many a day. Nevertheless, the
Nondescript must be visited ; and though a nondescript, we trust
that a descriptoin may not be unacceptable to the readers of this
journal.
TVe found, in the exhibition rooms (the Regent Gallery, Regent
Street), a goodly crowd of Londoners, all anxious to see this re
markable specimen of their own race—ourselves not the least
anxious of the number. The curtain drew up, and out walked the
Nondescript. Miss Julia Pastrana, for that is her name, is now twentythree years old, four feet six inches high, and weighs one hundred
and twelve pounds. Her body is remarkably well shaped, but her
face is covered with hair, so that, at a distance, she looks like a large
monkey in human garments. Her face is indeed most ferocious and
savage-looking at a distance ; but, as we subsequently ascertained,
there is nothing at all of the wild beast about her.
Miss Julia is a most elegant dancer. She danced a polka with
the gentleman who lionizes her (not to use a coarser term), and then
she executes a pas de seul in a manner which many an English danseuse would be proud to equal. After the dance, she came down
among her visitors, to give them an opportunity of examining her
person ; this she did in a most good-natured manner. Having
asked her permission, she allowed me to touch the hair upon
her face. I was quite surprised to find it soft and delicate.
The skin of her forehead is remarkably thickened, and upon
it grows a dense mass of hair, about half-an-inch long ; so thick,
indeed, is it, that it has to be divided with the finger before the fore
head can be touched. It grows quite straight upwards from the
skin, so that when the palm of the hand is applied to it, it feels
exactly like the pile of the finest velvet. Her eyebrows are ex
ceedingly dense and bushy, giving a most ferocious aspect to her
eyes ; they are partially joined over her nose. The nose and cheeks
are covered with hair ; but this hair is longer than that on the fore
head ; it grows in a backward direction, and occupies the same space
that bushy whiskers do in a man. The skin, between these pseudo
whiskers and the eyes, is covered with hair of a downy character;
the nose, too, is covered with this same kind of downy-like hair, and
the nose itself feels soft when pressed upon, as though the gristle
was wanting. We were surprised to see the moustaches so little
developed. The hairs composing them are by no means of that dense
�THE NONDESCRIPT.
205
and firm character that they assume in a man, being a continuation
of the downy hair—not so long as the whiskers. Upon her chin
there is a beard growing that would not disgrace a Crimean hero,
or a sailor just returned from the Arctic regions. It moves with
her under jaw as she speaks, as we see the beard of an old Jew ; it
is also cleft in the centre, as we see sometimes in the portraits of
divines of old. To the touch, it is exceedingly soft and velvet-like—
what the French would call " poil follet"—and, were it belonging
to the other sex, would be called a very handsome beard. This
beard is decidedly the most curious feature in her person. It is three
inches long. Miss Julia was kind enough to allow us to examine
her mouth, which she opened wide. At first sight, there did not
appear to be any teeth at all in it ; but a closer examination revealed
that she had her back teeth perfect and in good order. The space
usually occupied by the six front teeth in the upper jaw was occupied
by a remarkable development of the gum ; not, however, apparently
of an unhealthy character, but simply the true gum much swollen,
and of a clear choral colour. We were told that there were no teeth
in the front of the upper jaw ; and this is the case. It is not, how
ever, impossible that either the teeth are buried in the gum, or that
they had been developed and fallen out ; for we observed a portion of
decayed tooth still adherent in it. The front portion of the lower
jaw is occupied by a somewhat similar swelling of the gum ; but to
a much greater degree. Here, too, the front teeth are apparently
wanting ; but the finger detects their existence in a sound state and
in their natural position behind this gum, which conceals them from
the view. In answer to our question, we were told that Julia did
not like to drink anything hot ; we thought this probable, as the
projecting gum would be naturally very sensitive. These enlarged
gums cause both lips to project very much, giving her the appearance
of an African. The palate is not cleft, but is in a natural condition.
The tongue is said to be porous and spongy ; but it is not so. The
lobes of the ears are exceedingly large ; the ears themselves, and the
skin round the ears, being covered with hair. The breast is that of
a healthy, well-developed female. This too is hairy, the hair being
recumbent upon the skin, and not projecting from it. The skin itself is
very soft. Upon the backs of her hands and on the back of the
joints of the fingers she has hair growing ; in the latter places, in
patches ; as is the case with ordinary persons. When she left her
home, according to the custom of her country she cut off most of
her hair from her head, and presented it to her friends and relations ;
what she has now, therefore, is only three years' growth ; it is ex
ceedingly thick, and, when bound up, looks very glossy and nice ;
she wears it in plain bands over the ears.
�206
THE NONDESCRIPT.
Towards the close of the evening, she retired for a moment, and
returned with her combs out, and her hair hanging about her
shoulders, in dishabille, quite straight, and without the slightest
tendency to curl, and apparently about half a yard long. She
evidently takes great pains to keep it nicely brushed and coifled.
We obtained two or three of the hairs from her head, which one of
our greatest microscopists kindly put under his glass. The single
hair, when magnified, appeared small in diameter, and varied in size
more than ordinary hair generally does, being thick in some parts,
then getting thin, and so on. The scales generally observed on
human hair, and which are formed of what is called epithelium, were
looser, larger, and more abundant than common. Though soft to
the touch, the hair under the microscope, appears of a coarse, rough
texture. When a section, or thin slice is made of the hair of a
Negro, it appears of an oval shape ; and this is, we believe, a neverfailing characteristic of Negro hair. Julia's hair, in section, is quite
round, as is European hair ; thus we may with safety say there is no
Negro blood in her. We see, from the little book sold at her levees,
that Dr. Kneeland, of the Boston Society of Natural History, has,
from a microscopical examination, arrived at the same result.
Julia was dressed very nicely, and certainly with great taste. She
wore a white silk dress with red stripes, short enought to display
her finely developed leg and pretty little feet, of which she is very
proud. She wore also a chocolate-coloured polka jacket, of a French
cut, winch fitted her very well ; this was embroidered with gold,
and ornamented with a very pretty pair of gold epaulets, which set
her off well as she was dancing ; a handsome watch and chain, and
a fine diamond ring completed her toilet : and Julia is fond of her
toilet. Before she spoke, Julia had most decidedly a ferocious and
savage aspect. Her hairy forehead, bushy eyebrows, projecting lips,
gave her much the appearance of a wild beast—or something very
Eke a wild beast—altogether, not unlike our friend the Chimpanzee,
at the Zoological Gardens; but the moment she spoke, all this
vanished; the human mind caused human delineaments to appear
upon her face, and the man predominated over the beast.
Her voice is soft, mild, and womanly, and her manner dignified
and gracious. With exceeding good nature, she answered all ques
tions put to her, allowed us to handle her hair and beard, and
received a little compliment with a pleasing smile and a flirting
twirl of her fan ; for she has been much among Spaniards, and sings
Spanish songs. She talks English pretty well, but with a decided
Yankee twang, as she has associated much with our cousins over the
water. Her health is perfectly good ; she bears travelling well, and is
fond of moving about and excitement. We were informed that she
�THE NONDESCRIPT.
207
learns everthing with about the same readiness as a child of eight
years of age, and retains knowledge in a similar degree. Of London
she told us she had not seen much ; but she liked Liverpool very
much. She is a Roman Catholic, and is very attentive to her re
ligious duties.
I could see that many persons present had come with the idea of
seeing a " wild woman of the woods," or some savage monster. This
was the expression on the countenances of persons entering the
room ; soon, however, this feeling appeared to give way to that of
curiosity, mixed with pity, for one of their own race so grievously
afflicted. There were mauy ladies present, who, at first regarding
her with a look tainted with disgust, left the room highly satisfied
with what they saw, and with feelings of pity for their sister. No
ladies need fear going to see her; there is nothing in any way un
pleasant about her, rather the contrary ; and she is undoubtedly a
great human curiosity.
The story of Julia's birth and parentage is curious. It is stated
that in Mexico there is a tribe of Indians called the " Root-Diggers."
This tribe is scattered over a wide extent of country, from Oregon
to the Gulf of California, and throughout the territories of Utal and
New Mexico. They are exceedingly poor, and live upon roots,
grasshoppers, wasp grubs, &c. ; very much in the state of the
aborigines of Australia, as recorded by Sir Thomas Mitchell. From
the little book containing her history, we gather that, in 1830, several
Digger women went up from Copala to a pond by the side of a
mountain in order to bathe. They missed one of their companions,
who was found six years afterwards by a Ranchero, or cow-herd.
This woman stated that she had been kept captive by a rival tribe of
Diggers. When found, she had Julia, then a child of two years
old, in her arms. The place where she was discovered is stated to
be "a region abounding with monkeys, baboons, and bears," and
hence the idea seems to have got about, that Julia is not a perfect
being, but a quasi-hybrid. That this should be the case, is of course
utterly impossible ; it would be a single and unprecedented exception
to one of the fundamental laws of the great Creator. Such a hybrid
never existed since man lived upon the face of the earth, nor will it
ever exist as long as we believe what we read in the first chapter of
Genesis : " So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him ; male and female created he them." By the
known laws of science we might prove that the popular theory con
cerning the origin of the subject of this article was untenable ; but
let the above verse, carefully read and considered, be an answer to
all such wild and foolish ideas. Again, is it according to divine
ordinance, that a human being with an immortal soul should be
crossed with a beast that perisheth ?
�208
THE NOXDESCBTFT.
But what is the true nature of this li airy-faced female ? Not
many weeks ago, there was exhibited, at the Prince of Wales's
Bazaar, in Begent Street, a boy " having two faces." This boy was
examined by Mr. Lawrence, who reports that one half the boy's face
was the seat of the disease known as Hairy Namis ; and Na;vus is
the learned name for mother-marks. A few days ago, we met, on
Hampton Court Bridge, a young man who had what is called "a
mouse" on his face. Underneath the right eye, upon the bare
cheek, was growing a coland, about the size of a five-shilling piece,
of jet black hair, about half-an-inch in length ; it looked soft and
silky; but, as we only saw it in passing, we cannot say mure
about it.
Now, it apears to us, that Julia is simply an exaggerated example
of the two cases above mentioned. That, instead of having a single
co-called mouse on her face, she has many mice, all united in one,
forming a mass of hair, which, being in the usual positions of
whiskers, beard, and moustache, are, with reason, called by those
names, even though they occur in a female. Again, babies are not
unfrequently bom covered with hair all over their bodies, like a
young bird just come out of the egg. This hair drops off in time,
generally speaking ; but in some cases remains still upon the body.
Julia was probably born one of these downy babies; but her hair
never falling off, remained, covering her body ; as she grew, the hair
also grew, and became most developed in the places where hair
generally grows most abundantly ; viz. on the face, chin, arms, and
backs of the hands.
We believe Julia to be a Mexican by blood ; for it is recorded
of the Mexicans, by Humbolt, that " their hair is iank, and so smooth
that it always appears as if it had been wetted. Their figure is
rather short and stout ; their eyes small, long, and a little raised
towards the temple bones, as in the tribe belonging to the Mongol
race ; their cheek-bones are prominent ; their lips thick ; and their
mouths exhibit an expression of softness, which forms a strange
contrast with the ridigity of their looks."
Now, the above is almost a description of Julia's appearance—
minus her deformity. Hoinbolt's remark about the feel of the
hair and the looks is particularly applicable; we may therefore,
with all submission, write her -a Mexican.
There arc other instances of hairy women on record ; about
three, years ago, such a person was exhibited in Leicester Square.
She had a long beard ; but not much hair upon her body. I did
not take any notes of this case, but recollect that she was suckling
a little baby, which was as smooth as the generality af babies.
In a most rare and valuable collection of drawings, which
belonged to the great John Hunter, and which are now being most
�THE NONDESCRIPT.
209
carefully arranged at the Royal College of Surgeons by Mr. Peel, I
find a most curious old drawing upon parchment of a hairy woman,
who lived just two hundred years ago. Upon the drawing is written,
"Vera effigies Barbara uxor Johan's Michael von Beek-nata
Augusta Vindelicorum in Germ*. Superi1. Vulg. Augsburgh. ex.
Parentibus Balthazara et Anna Ulster, An. Christi 1629, aetatis 27,
anno 1658." To this drawing is appended a MS. note : " Evelyn,
in his memoirs, says, 'Aug. 15, 1657, I saw the hairy woman whom
I had seen before when a child. She was born at Augsburgh, in
Germany ; the very eyebrows were combed upwards, and all her
forehead as thick and even as grows on any woman's head ; neatly
dressed, and very long locks of hair out of each ear ; she had also a
most prolix beard and mustachoes, with long locks growing on the
middle of her nose, like an Iceland dog, exactly the colour of a
bright brown, fine as well-dressed flax. She was now married, and
told me that she had one child that was not hairy, nor were any of
her parents or relations. She was very well shaped, and played well
on the harpsichord.'" Close to this Hunterian drawing is another
of and Indian boy, eleven years old, who had (1786) a long tuft of
hair growing, like a horse's tail, from the bottom of His back. The
rest of his body was quite natural ; this, too, I take to be a highly
developed mouse, or hairy mother-mark.
In the Philosophical Magazine, 1722, we find an account of the
discovery of the body of a hairy woman in a coffin at Norimburgh :
"Through the clefts of the coffin much hair was thrust out, and
had grown plentifully, insomuch that it is believed that the whole
coffiu may for some time have been covered with hair. The
cover of this coffin being removed, the whole corpse appeared, per
fectly resembling a human shape, exhibiting the eyes, nose, mouth,
and ears ; but, from the very crown of the head, to the sole of the
foot, covered over with a very thick-set hair, long and much curled.
The sexton, after a little viewing of it, going to handle the upper
part of the head with his fingers, found immediately all the shape of
the body to fall and left nothing in his hand but a handful of hair."
In the Ashmolean Museum, at Oxford, are preserved two horns,
which look like conglomerated hair ; one horn is about two inches
long, and curved upon itself; the other is smaller. These were
taken from the head of a certain Mary Davies, who lived many
years ago.
The Polish Jews allow their hair to grow to a great length, and
but seldom clean it ; the consequence is that they are subject to a
terrible disease, called " Plica Polonica." A fine specimen of this
has lately been presented to the Royal College of Surgeons by Mr.
Be Meric. It is a quantity of black hair consolidated into a single
VOL. II.
o o
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OCR ENRAGED CORRESPONDENT.
mass. So firmly do the separate liairs stick together, that they
cannot be separated one from the other. On the lower side is a
hollow, the shape of the head of the individual from whom it was
taken (a Polish girl who sought to get rid of her disease by cutting
all her hair off at once). It much resembles in appearance a bunch
of tow and pitch mixed, such as they use to stuff into the seams of
ships, and, in consequence of the hollow, is of a bird's nest form.
OUR ENRAGED CORRESPONDENT.
to the editor of the st. james's medley.
Sir,
With feelings of the utmost indignation and astonishment I
have just perused a paper in the last number of The Medley
entitled, More Scrambles. When I inform you that I am the
fortunate individual, Theodore, whom you have been pleased to
expose to the laughter and ridicule of your readers, you will not
wonder at my surprise or anger.
I wish to know, sir, by what right you have dragged me into
print ? I was quite content in the humble obscurity of my native
town, and the poet's corner of the ' Stratford Gazette ' has more than
once received the effusions of my muse. By what right, sir, have
Jou put me into the middle of a scramble ? Do you suppose that I
ave no feelings, because I don't lodge in St. James's Street, or
that my heart is as hard because my birth-place is stony ? If so,
you are in the wrong ; altogether in the wrong, as you are in many
other points in your scramble. It was no scramble to me, I can
assure you ; but a grave, matter-of-fact, business journey,—that trip
to France. It cost me many guineas, and all but lost me the
affections of a beloved woman, whom I adored with all the warmth
of an unsophisticated heart. I had left England in perfect security;
having exchanged, with her, vows of unalterable love. But no
sooner was I gone, than a cousin of Betsey's, one John Bolter, a
lieutenant in the Stratford Militia, laid siege to the poor girl, and
by dint of flattery and fine feathers had almost turned her head. I
came home just in time to save her, and having horse-whipped the
lieutenant, and brought home Betsey Jane's mamma a new cap from
Paris, soon put matters to-rights.
�
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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The Nondescript
Subject
The topic of the resource
Description of Pastrana's performance and person
Description
An account of the resource
Description of Pastrana's person and performance in London
Creator
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The St. James's Medley; or Fiction, Facts, and Fancies, from the Roadside of Life
Source
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John Mitchell, Publisher to Her Majesty
Publisher
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Google Books
Date
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1858
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IsVersionOf St. James's Medley
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pdf
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English
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<a href="https://books.google.no/books?id=amUEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA204&dq=julia+pastrana&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=julia%20pastrana&f=false">Link</a>
Type
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Article
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London