An Account of an Instance of Remarkable Deformity of the Lower Limbs

As the opportunities of examining malformations of the human body so as to make known the anatomical condition of the parts must necessarily be few, I am induced to con- sider the account of a single and rare instance of mon- strosity worthy of presentation to this Society.In this case, whose peculiarities I will notice presently in detail, the deformity affected the lower limbs, but chiefly the thighs, and it involved the bones, the muscles, the joints, and the blood-vessels.Thus the thigh-bone was absent, except a rudiment of the lower end on the left side, atnd its cor- responding joints were likewise wanting; the muscles were altered in various respects; the large femoral artery was transferred from the front to the back of the limb; and not the least interesting particulars in the history are the ad- vanced age (55 years), and the extraordinary strength and activity of the person.These peculiarities existed in a man named Harvey Leitch, or Leach; and our knowledge of them is due to the unusual circumstance of his body being given by himself to