“MONSTER, Monstrum, a birth or production of a living thing, degenerating from the proper and usual disposition, in the species it belongs to. As, when there are too many members, or too few; or some of them are extravagantly out of proportion, either on the side of defect or excels. [...]
Suppose, v. gr. a child born a fool, and with all its legs and arms broken in the same manner as those of criminals in some countries are; which case we choose to instance in, because we are told from Paris, that such a monster was actually born there, and lived in one of their hospitals twenty years; the cause of this accident, according to the principles laid down, was that the mother seeing a criminal executed, every stroke given to the poor man struck forcibly the imagination of the woman; and, by a kind of counter-stroke, on the tender and delicate brain of the child. Now, though the fibres of the woman’s brain were strangely shaken by the violent flux of animal spirits on this occasion, yet they had strength and consistence enough to prevent an entire disorder; whereas the fibres of the child’s brain, being unable to bear the shock of those spirits, were quite ruined; and the ravage was great enough to deprive him of reason all his life-time.
Again, the view of the execution frighting the woman, the violent course of the animal spirits was directed forcibly from the brain to all those parts of the body corresponding to the suffering parts of the criminal; and the same thing must also happen to the child. But in regard the bones of the mother were strong enough to resist the impulse of those spirits, they were not damaged; and yet the rapid course of these spirits could easily overpower and break the tender and delicate fibres of the bones of the child; the bones being the last part of the body that are formed, and having a very tender consistence while the child is yet in the womb.”
Art. “Monster” in: Cyclopaedia, or, An universal dictionary of arts and sciences, containing an explanation of the terms, and an account of the several subjects, in the liberal and mechanical arts, and the sciences, human and divine. By by E. Chambers … with the supplement, and modern improvements, incorporated in one alphabet, by Abraham Rees. 4 vols. London 1786, vol. 3, [image no. 498, Source Citation: Chambers, Ephraim. Cyclopaedia; or, An universal dictionary of arts and sciences. Volume 3. London, 1786. 4 vols. The Making of the Modern World. Gale 2008. Gale, Cengage Learning. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Muenchen. 12 August 2008 ].
Wenn ich das jetzt recht verstehe, ist der Verfasser dieses Artikels William Lawrence, der zu seiner Zeit in London die Shelleys beeinflußte. Mehr dazu findet man in Mary Shelley: Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The 1818 Text, Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Marilyn Butler. (Oxford World’s Classics) Oxford: OUP 1998.
One Comment
Hab dich nominiert:
http://kriminalakte.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/brilliante-weblog-premio-2008/