MADAME DIMANCHE


 


Madame Dimanche, also known as 'Widow Sunday', was a French woman living in Paris, in the early 19th century.


At age 76, she began growing a 9.5-inch horn from her forehead.


Luckily for her, it was successfully removed by a French surgeon.


According to medical reports, Dimanche's horn started as a small wart above her right eyebrow, and then continued to grow.


Madame Dimanche died seven years after her horn was removed.


The Mütter Museum acquired the wax model of Madame Dimanche's face, which was sculpted from life.


It shows the face of an elderly woman, with a large horn protruding from the top of her forehead and hanging in front of her face.


The growths of 'Cornu cutaneum', or 'cutaneous horns', look similar to animal horns, but have a different composition.


They are compact keratin protrusions of lesions, which occur most often on areas of the body commonly exposed to the sun, such as the face, hands, and forearms.


Women over the age of 50, who have had long-term sun exposure and many sunburns, are more likely to have these growths than men.


The first well-documented case of human cutaneous horn dates back to 1588, and was that of Margaret Gryffith, an elderly Welsh woman.


Another famous case is that of 17th-century Englishwoman Mary Davis, an elderly widow who had horns on the back of her scalp.


She was exhibited in London as a "natural wonder... continue reading 

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