1878
The Fawn-Child
Alphonse is growing so wonderfully, like a plant in
the spring. What a miracle, what a machine; I am
increasingly grateful for his healthy deliverance into
the world.
—Dr. Spencer Black
D
r. spencer Black’s career and aspirations changed after he paid a visit to a
local carnival (the exact name of which remains unknown). featured among
the giants, acrobats, and other “marvels of nature” roaming the sideshows
was an anatomy museum—an exhibit of strange medical artifacts and bizarre biological
specimens.
The anatomy museums, along with cabinets of curiosities, had been popular
scientific novelty collections for hundreds of years; many of these grand accumulations
are still available for public view. It was this show that eclipsed Black’s previous work and
inspired him to study what would become one of the most bizarre and unique pursuits of
any scientist, least of all one with his talents.
These sideshows, of which I have seen many, are typically decrepit
affairs leaving one with a great thirst for civility, men, and manners.
The performers are often subjects of ridicule and humiliation, and
they usually become patients of mine in the Ward—seeking a better
life or, at the least, humanity.
The show was primarily a showcase of well-known abnormalities with a few less-
The ResuRRecTionisT 34
common defects of the human form. The collection included a skeleton of conjoined
twins, fused at the skull; the monster-baby (a pig fetus in a jar); and the south pacific
mermaid (a monkey and trout sewn together). all the displays were easily identified
by anyone familiar with science and medicine. The exception was the fawn-child, a
deceased young boy displaying an orthopedic condition that had caused his knees to
bend the wrong way. The bones were misshapen, and excessive hair was present over
the entire surface of the skin; there were bone or calcium growths at the top of his skull,
which gave the appearance of juvenile horns. The dead child was preserved in a large
alcohol-filled glass jar.
Black was convinced that the specimen held a secret to his research. he believed that
the mutations were manifestations of the ancient past he had written about—evidence
of a genetic code that was not completely eradicated. some have argued that Black
found answers in places where there was no need for questions. Whatever the case, the
encounter with the fawn-child fueled his obsession for finding a cure for the deformation
that was paramount in his work. he would never again practice conventional medicine.
The promoter of the sideshow sold the specimen to Black for two hundred dollars,
a small fortune. Black took the fawn-child home and conducted a secret but thorough
dissection in the attic. not even his family knew of his work until it was completed.
What is interesting is that in his writings and notes, Black expressed that he was
not working on a human being who had suffered from deformation. rather, he believed
the fawn-child was exhibiting a vestige of a mythological past. his approach to anatomy
and medicine had changed dramatically in a rather short amount of time.
August 14, 1878
My dissection thus far has revealed nothing that would lead
me to think this was not a relative to a satyr. I have brought a
small common domestic goat (Capra domestica) up to the attic
to use for comparison. My tests determine that there is indeed an
animal woven into the fawn-child; however, it is not related to
this particular type of goat. Discovering the relative will not be
easy; the differences in size, color, and horns make it difficult to
determine relationships. The fawn-child bears a resemblance to the
ibex (Capra ibex), one of the more perfect goats, but its fur is like
that of the cashmere goat (Capra thibetensis).
Physiologically, the animal is human, it does not have the
four chambered stomach of other ruminants; therefore, I have not
found a bezoar stone either. It is human . . . mostly.
I am trying to hold firm to reason and logic while I learn a
lifetime of zoological science in a mere month. I am trying not to
perform an injustice to the innocent creature on my table. I am
fighting fatigue and sickness daily now: the anxiety of this work
and knowledge is weighing heavily. My nerves are ruined, but
oddly I feel vitalized and nourished at the same time. I cannot
think, I cannot eat or sleep, smile or be angry; I feel nothing other
than a nauseating compulsion to continue the work on the flayed
creature who silently waits in the attic. With its skin peeled back
and pinned in place, its organs removed and floating in jars of
noxious liquid; it waits beside drawings and notes documenting its
total and final destruction.
Drawing made by Spencer Black during the early stages of dissecting the fawn-child.
Philadelphia, 1878.
The ResuRRecTionisT 35
36
In these details, the genetic deformation is illustrated more clearly, and it’s easy to see why
this condition might generate such interest in the nineteenth century, or even today. In his
notes on the dissection, Dr. Black writes: I positioned the body transverse and squarely on
its back. I then prepared the side table and logbook for notes to record the first session of
the dissection. I will continue carefully; I will make notes of everything I can think to write.
I will draw the details of the animal, the sinus and the tissue as they are torn or cut. I am
racing against the inevitable destruction of this animal. I must take care to document every
inch, every aspect of its body. I worry, while sweat is in my eyes and my fingers tense, that I
will do something wrong, that a crucial element will be missing and this puzzle will never be
assembled.
The ResuRRecTionisT 36
Excerpted from The Resurrectionistby E.B. Hudspeth. Reprinted with permission of Quirk Books, Philadelphia, PA.
Releasing May 21, 2013. Visit QuirkBooks.com for more information and to pre-order the book.
The Fawn-Child
Alphonse is growing so wonderfully, like a plant in
the spring. What a miracle, what a machine; I am
increasingly grateful for his healthy deliverance into
the world.
—Dr. Spencer Black
D
r. spencer Black’s career and aspirations changed after he paid a visit to a
local carnival (the exact name of which remains unknown). featured among
the giants, acrobats, and other “marvels of nature” roaming the sideshows
was an anatomy museum—an exhibit of strange medical artifacts and bizarre biological
specimens.
The anatomy museums, along with cabinets of curiosities, had been popular
scientific novelty collections for hundreds of years; many of these grand accumulations
are still available for public view. It was this show that eclipsed Black’s previous work and
inspired him to study what would become one of the most bizarre and unique pursuits of
any scientist, least of all one with his talents.
These sideshows, of which I have seen many, are typically decrepit
affairs leaving one with a great thirst for civility, men, and manners.
The performers are often subjects of ridicule and humiliation, and
they usually become patients of mine in the Ward—seeking a better
life or, at the least, humanity.
The show was primarily a showcase of well-known abnormalities with a few less-
The ResuRRecTionisT 34
common defects of the human form. The collection included a skeleton of conjoined
twins, fused at the skull; the monster-baby (a pig fetus in a jar); and the south pacific
mermaid (a monkey and trout sewn together). all the displays were easily identified
by anyone familiar with science and medicine. The exception was the fawn-child, a
deceased young boy displaying an orthopedic condition that had caused his knees to
bend the wrong way. The bones were misshapen, and excessive hair was present over
the entire surface of the skin; there were bone or calcium growths at the top of his skull,
which gave the appearance of juvenile horns. The dead child was preserved in a large
alcohol-filled glass jar.
Black was convinced that the specimen held a secret to his research. he believed that
the mutations were manifestations of the ancient past he had written about—evidence
of a genetic code that was not completely eradicated. some have argued that Black
found answers in places where there was no need for questions. Whatever the case, the
encounter with the fawn-child fueled his obsession for finding a cure for the deformation
that was paramount in his work. he would never again practice conventional medicine.
The promoter of the sideshow sold the specimen to Black for two hundred dollars,
a small fortune. Black took the fawn-child home and conducted a secret but thorough
dissection in the attic. not even his family knew of his work until it was completed.
What is interesting is that in his writings and notes, Black expressed that he was
not working on a human being who had suffered from deformation. rather, he believed
the fawn-child was exhibiting a vestige of a mythological past. his approach to anatomy
and medicine had changed dramatically in a rather short amount of time.
August 14, 1878
My dissection thus far has revealed nothing that would lead
me to think this was not a relative to a satyr. I have brought a
small common domestic goat (Capra domestica) up to the attic
to use for comparison. My tests determine that there is indeed an
animal woven into the fawn-child; however, it is not related to
this particular type of goat. Discovering the relative will not be
easy; the differences in size, color, and horns make it difficult to
determine relationships. The fawn-child bears a resemblance to the
ibex (Capra ibex), one of the more perfect goats, but its fur is like
that of the cashmere goat (Capra thibetensis).
Physiologically, the animal is human, it does not have the
four chambered stomach of other ruminants; therefore, I have not
found a bezoar stone either. It is human . . . mostly.
I am trying to hold firm to reason and logic while I learn a
lifetime of zoological science in a mere month. I am trying not to
perform an injustice to the innocent creature on my table. I am
fighting fatigue and sickness daily now: the anxiety of this work
and knowledge is weighing heavily. My nerves are ruined, but
oddly I feel vitalized and nourished at the same time. I cannot
think, I cannot eat or sleep, smile or be angry; I feel nothing other
than a nauseating compulsion to continue the work on the flayed
creature who silently waits in the attic. With its skin peeled back
and pinned in place, its organs removed and floating in jars of
noxious liquid; it waits beside drawings and notes documenting its
total and final destruction.
Drawing made by Spencer Black during the early stages of dissecting the fawn-child.
Philadelphia, 1878.
The ResuRRecTionisT 35
36
In these details, the genetic deformation is illustrated more clearly, and it’s easy to see why
this condition might generate such interest in the nineteenth century, or even today. In his
notes on the dissection, Dr. Black writes: I positioned the body transverse and squarely on
its back. I then prepared the side table and logbook for notes to record the first session of
the dissection. I will continue carefully; I will make notes of everything I can think to write.
I will draw the details of the animal, the sinus and the tissue as they are torn or cut. I am
racing against the inevitable destruction of this animal. I must take care to document every
inch, every aspect of its body. I worry, while sweat is in my eyes and my fingers tense, that I
will do something wrong, that a crucial element will be missing and this puzzle will never be
assembled.
The ResuRRecTionisT 36
Excerpted from The Resurrectionistby E.B. Hudspeth. Reprinted with permission of Quirk Books, Philadelphia, PA.
Releasing May 21, 2013. Visit QuirkBooks.com for more information and to pre-order the book.
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