An Account of Margaret Cutting, a Young Woman, Now Living at Wickham Market in Suffolk, Who Speaks Readily and Intelligibly, Though She Has Lost Her Tongue

terlices of Air, because then a cubic Inch of Air, loaded with Vapour, would be made specifically heavier than an Inch of dry Air; which is contrary to Experiments, which shew us by the Barometer, that Air which is moist, or full of Vapours, is always lighter than dry Air. XI. An Account of Margaret Cutting, a young Woman, now living at Wickham Market in Suffolk, who speaks readily and intelligibly, though she has lost her Tongue. Read July 1. A Brief Account of this young Woman's Case, in a Letter from Mr. Benjamin Boddington, of Ipswich, Turkey-Merchant, to Mr. Henry Baker, F.R.S. was communicated to the Royal Society in the Month of February last, and appeared so extraordinary, that Mr. Baker was desired to make all possible Inquiries into the Reality of the Fact, and lay before the Society what Information he should receive in relation thereto. In pursuance of this, he wrote to Mr. Boddington, and begged the Favour of him to make the strictest and most critical Inquiry he was able into this Affair, not only by viewing the young Woman's Mouth, and examining her himself, but also by calling to his Assistance some skilful Gentleman in the Physical Way, and any other learned and judicious Person whom he might judge most likely to contribute towards discovering the real Truth, and detecting any Error, Fallacy, or Imposition. He likewise desired they they would heedfully observe her Manner of speaking and articulating the Sounds of those Letters and Syllables, in the Formation whereof the Apex of the Tongue seems more particularly needful: And, in order to render their Examination more easy, as well as more satisfactory, he sent a List of Letters and Sounds, together with several such Sentences as he imagined would be most difficult to be pronounced without the Help of the Tongue. Mr. Boddington, as soon after this as their Affairs would give them Leave, prevailed upon Mr. Notcutt, a Minister, a learned and curious Gentleman, and Mr. Hammond, who perfectly understands Anatomy, to accompany him to Wickham Market, about Twelve Miles from Ipswich, where the young Woman lives; whose Case (after they had inspected her Mouth, and examined her in the strictest Manner) is set forth in the following Certificate signed by them all. Ipswich, April 9. 1742. We have this Day been at Wickham Market, to satisfy our Curiosity concerning Margaret Cutting, a young Woman, who, we were informed, could talk and discourse without a Tongue. She informed us, that she was now more than Twenty Years of Age, born at Turnstal, a Village within Four Miles of Wickham Market in Suffolk, where she lost her Tongue by a Cancer [being then about Four Years old]. It first appeared like a small black Speck on the upper Superficies of the Tongue, and soon eat its Way quite to the Root of it. She was under the Care of Mr. Scotchmore, a Surgeon of Saxmundham, who soon pronounced the Case incurable: How- However, he continued using the best Means he could for her Relief. One Day when he was Syringing of it, the Tongue dropped out, and they received it into a Plate, the Girl, to their Amazement, saying to her Mother, "Don't be frighted, Mamma; 'twil grow again." It was near a Quarter of a Year after, before it was quite cured. We proceeded to examine her Mouth with the greatest Exactness we could, but found not the least Appearance of any remaining Part of a Tongue, nor was there any Uvula. We observed a fleshy Excrecence on the under Left Jaw, extending itself almost to the Place where the Uvula should be, about a Finger broad: This Excrecence, she said, did not begin to grow till some Years after the Cure: It is by no means moveable, but quite fixed to the Parts adjacent. The Passage down the Throat, at the Place where the Uvula should be, or a little to the Right of it, is a circular open Hole, large enough to admit a small Nutmeg. Notwithstanding the want of so necessary an Organ as the Tongue was generally supposed to be, to form a great Part of our Speech, and likewise to be assisting in Deglutition, to our great Admiration, she performed the Office of Deglutition, both in swallowing Solids and Fluids, as well as we could, and in the same manner: And as to Speech, she discoursed as fluently and well as other Persons do; though we observed a small Sound, like what is usually called speaking through the Nose; but, she said, she had then a great Cold, and she believed that occasioned it. She pronounced Letters and Syllables very articulately; the Vowels she pronounced perfectly, as also those those Consonants, Syllables, and Words, that seemed necessary to require the Help of the Tongue, as *d, l, t, n, r, at, al, ath, ash, cha, la, ta, ja. The little Dog did not eat Bread.—Touch the Tooth.—Try to light the Candle.—Thrice Thirty-three.—Let the large Cat scratch the little Dog.—The Church.—doth.—Lilly.—All these she pronounced perfectly. She read to us in a Book very distinctly and plain; only we observed, that sometimes she pronounced words ending in ath as et—end as emb—ad as eib—; but it required a nice and strict Attention to observe even this Difference of Sound. She sings very prettily, and pronounced her Words in Singing as is common. What is still very wonderful, notwithstanding the Loss of this useful Organ the Tongue, which is generally allowed by Anatomists, and Natural Philosophers, to be the chief, if not the sole Organ of Taste, she distinguishes all Tastes very nicely, and can tell the least perceivable Difference in either Smell or Taste. We the Underwritten do attest the above to be a true Account. Benjamin Boddington. William Notcutt, Minister. William Hammond, Apothecary. Mr. Baker received along with the foregoing Certificate, by Letter from Mr. Boddington, some farther Particulars, which he supposed less material.—He says, in her Person she is a little thin Body, genteel * These were the Letters, Sounds and Sentences mentioned by Mr. Baker. enough, a pretty good Face, fair Complexion, with light-brown Hair, of a weakly Constitution, lame on one Side, through Weakness after a Fever and the Small-pox, which she had last Summer. She seems a well-behaved Girl, and has nothing of a Country Micn. She discourses agreeably, very fluently and pertinently, has every thing clean and neat about her, gets her Livelihood by making Mantuas, and has an Aunt in London, named Mary Cutting, who is Housekeeper to the Dowager Lady Rockford in Bond-street. He says, if she were among Twenty People in a Room, he thinks it would be impossible for a Stranger by any means to guess her being the Person without a Tongue, for she has no odd Motion of her Mouth or Lips in Speaking: She sings with an easy Air, and modulates her Voice prettily.—He asked her, if she did not miss her Tongue, or find any Inconvenience from the Want of it? She answered, No: Not in the least; nor could she imagine what Advantage he had in the Use of his. He inquired, how she did to guide her Food in her Mouth to eat: She replied, very easily, she could eat before, on one Side or the other as she pleased, but could not explain the Manner how. He was very observing to see her eat, but could discern no Difference from others in the moving of her Jaws, or other Motions of her Face, nor in her Swallowing Food, or in drinking; she did both very neatly, and had exactly the same Motion in her Throat as we have in its passing down. He was apprehensive the Excrescence mentioned in the Certificate, might, in some measure, supply the Use of a Tongue; but she assured him, it never moved. moved in the least, and that she spoke as well before it began to grow (which was several Years after the Cure); and Mr. Hammond convinced him, by trying with their Fingers and a Spoon, that it was quite fixt and immovable.—He observes further, that she is no ways afflicted by a good Set of Teeth; for she has but few, those bad, and scarce so high as her Gums.—He asked her, in what Part of her Mouth her most sensible Taste lay? She said, it was all over alike; and, smiling, added, She was afraid she was too nice in that; for, if her Butter was not curious, she eat dry Bread. Mr. Boddington, in another Letter to Mr. James Theobald, F. R. S. dated the 14th of April 1742, after giving an Account of this young Woman in the Manner as before, adds, He can recollect nothing more, except her telling him, that though she was able to speak from the very first losing of her Tongue, she was not so happy as to her Deglutition; for she was unable to swallow any thing solid for many Months after, without its being minced very fine, and then thrust into her Throat by a Finger: But by degrees, she knows not how, she became able to manage without that Help, and could eat any thing in the same manner as other Persons can.—He adds, That, in his own Mind, he thinks the fleshy Excrecence is of great Service to her, though she cannot make out in what manner: That for his own part, he had formerly supposed it as impossible to speak without a Tongue, as to see without Eyes; and therefore expects many, who shall hear this Account, will continue Unbelievers, and think he and his Friends are all mistaken, that they do not know what they see, and that that their Ignorance is the only Ground of their Admiration. While Mr. Baker was making his Inquiries, he was informed, that Mr. John Dennis, Tobacconist, in Aldersgate-street, could give him a full and satisfactory Account of this Affair: He therefore applied to Mr. Dennis, who assured him in a very civil, candid and intelligent Manner, that he was well acquainted with Margaret Cutting, having many Years ago been carried by a Gentleman to see her as a Prodigy for being able to speak without a Tongue: That he had seen her several times since, commonly calling on her when he travels that Way, and carrying some Friend or other with him; and at all these times he had inspected her Mouth, and was sure she had no Tongue: And that last Summer, in particular, he and another went to see her: That he would declare this under his Hand, and should always be ready to attest the Truth of it to any Body, or in any Manner. He likewise gave an Account how she lost her Tongue, as he had it from her Mother, who died some Years ago, and it was exactly as above related; and said he had been told the same by an Apothecary also, who had her in Hand along with Dr. Scotchmore. The Testimony of Mr. Dennis, and the Person who saw her with him last Summer, is as follows: March 20. 1741. We the under-written saw Margaret Cutting, at Wickham Market in Suffolk, in or about June last; and, examining her Mouth, found she had no Tongue, and yet she speaks very intelligibly. John Dennis. Gabriel Daniells. Myself saw her in about Two or Three Years after her Tongue was lost, had a full Account of it from her Mother, heard her then speak, and have seen and heard her divers times since, and heard her talk better and better. She was under the Care of Dr. Scotchmore at Saxmundham, Suffolk. John Dennis. Mr. Dennis (upon Mr. Baker's Inquiry) wrote to the young Woman herself, acquainting her, that many People would not believe it possible for her to speak without a Tongue, and desiring she would not be ashamed to give an Account of herself under her own Hand; in Answer to which he received the following Letter: To Mr. John Dennis, in Aldersgate-street. Sir, This being the first Opportunity that I had to answer your Letter, I assure you, that I have no more Tongue in my Mouth than I had when you saw me last, which is none; but, Thanks be to my God, I have had the Happiness to speak ever since it came out, which was when I was about Four Years old. As for my Age now, I cannot rightly tell, but I think I am about Twenty-four Years old. I would have none suspect the Truth of it; for I have no Tongue, and can speak very well, and this is from my own Hand. I was not ashamed to write about myself, but of my bad Writing. So no more, but I am Your humble Servant, Margaret Cutting. The Case of this young Woman is indeed extraordinary *; but there are several Examples of like Nature to be met with in medical Writers, and those of the greatest Authority; one of which, as it has the Attestation of a whole University, cannot be improper to mention here. Monsieur Drelincourt, a very noted Physician, tells us, in his Treatise on the Small-pox, of a Child Eight Years of Age, who had lost his Tongue by that Distemper, and was yet able to speak, to the Astonishment of the University of Saumur in France; and that the University (who doubtless had first carefully examined into the Truth) had attested it, by drawing up a particular Account of the Fact, that Posterity might have no room to doubt concerning the Validity of it. The Account is to be met with at large, in the Third Volume of the Ephemerides Germaniae, under the Title of Aglossostomographia. Tulpius too makes mention of a Man who had the Misfortune to have his Tongue cut out by the Turks, and yet, after Three Years, could speak very distinctly. He says, he went himself to Wesop, a Town in Holland, to be satisfied of the Truth of it, and found it to be as it was reported. Nay, he does not so much as mention any Defect in his Speech, but assures us, that he could pronounce those Letters which depend upon the Apex of the Tongue, even the Consonants, very articulately. And this Case is still the more worthy Attention, because the Patient could not swallow even the least Quantity of Food, unless he thrust it into the Oesophagus by means of his Finger. * N. B. All the original Papers are in the Repository of the Royal Society. If we go back to earlier Times, the Emperor Justin, in Cod. Tit. de Off. Praef. Præt. Af. says, he had seen venerable Men, qui abscissis radicitus Linguis, pœnas miserabiliter loqucebantur, whose Tongues having been cut out by the Roots, they miserably spoke, or complained, of the Punishments they had suffered. And again, Nonnullos alios, quibus Honorichius Vandolorum Rex Lingua radicitus praeciderat, loquelam tamen habuisse integram, that some others, whose Tongues Honorichius, King of the Vandals, had cut out by the Roots, yet perfectly retained their Speech. XII. A remarkable Conformation, or Lusus Naturæ, in a Child; by C. Warwick, Surgeon, in Truro, Cornwall. Read July 1. ABOUT April 1741. one Sarah Allen, of the Parish of St. Blazy, near Truro, having been married near Four Years, and Mother of Two Children, well-formed and living, was brought to-bed of my present Subject, but of so remarkable and preternatural a Constitution, as must render its whole Life inevitably miserable, the Particulars whereof, from my repeated Observations, are as follows: The Umbilicus is nearly in its natural Site, but somewhat large and prominent, having more the Appearance of a Tumour, than the ordinary irregular Shape of that Organ. Immediately below this Umbilicus, is a large fungous Excrecence, nearly the Size of a small Egg, but somewhat