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Show ' A Human Phenomenon. M.ie Quatrefages, a French naturalist, natural-ist, recently examined one of the most remarkable human curiositie.'ver seen. The man, Simon Aiquier by name, is a Provencal 80 years of age. Aiquier, thanks to his peculiar system of muscles and nerves, can transform himself in most wondrous fashion. He has very properly dubbed himself "L'Homme Protee." At one moment assuming the rigidity of a statue, his body may be struck sharply, the blows falling as on block of stouo. At another he moves his intestines from above and below and right to left into the form of a large foot ball, and projects it forward, which gives him the appearance of a colossally stout personage. per-sonage. He then withdraws it into the thorax, opening like a cave, aud the hollow hol-low look of his body immediately reminds re-minds une of a skeleton. Aiquier successfully suc-cessfully imitates a man subjected to the tortures of tho rack, as also a man hanging hang-ing himself, and assumes a cadaverous look. What most astonished M. de Quatrefages was tho stoppage of the circulation cir-culation of the blood, now on the left and now on tho right sido, which was effected by muscular contraction. |