Account of a case of hermaphrodism / P.D. Handyside.

  • Handyside, P. D. (Peter David), 1808-1881.
Date:
[1835]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Account of a case of hermaphrodism / P.D. Handyside. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    viate the inconvenience of hernias, which succeeded these opera¬ tions, a double truss has since been worn. The parts hitherto regarded as the labia externa were thus shown to be the lateral halves of the scrotum separated by a fis¬ sure on the median line. He still continued to clothe himself in female attire, and to wear his hair turned up, till November 1832, when he visited the University of Heidelberg; and then it was that I had first the opportunity of seeing him. Professor Tiedemann, before whom he presented himself, did not hesitate to regard him at once as a male, but declared him to be (in the words of that distin¬ guished anatomist) u evidently a man, with genitals of uncommon conformation. She will dress herself, therefore, in men’s clothes, and adopt the name of Gottlieb.” Professor Blumenbach of Got¬ tingen, to whom this individual was presented on the 4th Fe¬ bruary 1833, confirmed the view of Professor Tiedemann. Since that period Gottlich has been employed exhibiting him¬ self to the members of the medical profession at the different schools in various countries in Europe. After visiting Bonn, Jena, Marburg, Mainz, Offenbach, Breslau, Bremen, and other places on the continent, he travelled by way of Hamburg and Christiania to London in April last, where he was examined by Sir A. Cooper, Mr Green, Dr Davis, and Dr Grant. He next exhibited himself at Manchester, Liverpool, Cork, Dublin, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Montrose, and arrived at Edinburgh in November last. Since coming here, he has attracted so much of the attention of the profession, that I have been in¬ duced to believe that a short notice of the facts connected with his case might not prove unacceptable if placed upon record. The general appearance and confor mation of body of Gott¬ lieb Gottlich are essentially and distinctly masculine; although when attired in female clothing he bears a remarkable similari¬ ty both in form and temperament to the robust females of the lower class in the Department of the Upper Rhine. There is, how¬ ever, a perfect masculine gravity of countenance, and a complete manly self-possession in his deportment at those times when he is exhibited in a state of nudity to a number of persons. His features are rather void of expression ; he is not very intelligent; in his appetites and desires he is thoroughly sensual; and his discourse and occupations (perhaps from the influence of female habits and society) are altogether womanish. This bias and turn of mind may also proceed from the constitution being so long deprived of that influence which it naturally receives from the developement which the testes undergo at puberty ; from the long-deferred appearance of which in this individual, his system has failed to be impressed with the true characters of his sex.