Lincoln may have had facial defect

[babylonsister]

Lincoln may have had facial defect

By CARLA K. JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer


CHICAGO (AP) -- Artists, sculptors and photographers knew Abraham Lincoln's face had a good side. Now it's confirmed by science.

Laser scans of two life masks, made from plaster casts of Lincoln's face, reveal the 16th president's unusual degree of facial asymmetry, according to a new study.

The left side of Lincoln's face was much smaller than the right, an aberration called cranial facial microsomia. The defect joins a long list of ailments - including smallpox, heart illness and depression - that modern doctors have diagnosed in Lincoln.

Lincoln's contemporaries noted his left eye at times drifted upward independently of his right eye, a condition now termed strabismus. Lincoln's smaller left eye socket may have displaced a muscle controlling vertical movement, said Dr. Ronald Fishman, who led the study published in the August issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology.

snip//

Lincoln's appearance was mocked by his political enemies, historians say. The author Nathaniel Hawthorne, a Lincoln fan, wrote of the president's "homely sagacity" and his "sallow, queer, sagacious visage." Hawthorne's description was deemed disrespectful and deleted by a magazine editor, said Daniel Weinberg, owner of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago.

Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum described the left side of Lincoln's face as primitive, immature and unfinished.

When Lincoln was a boy, he was kicked in the head by a horse. Laser scans can't settle whether the kick or a developmental defect - or neither - contributed to Lincoln's lopsided face, Fishman said.

more...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LOPSIDED_LINCOLN?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[LostinVA]

1. Very interesting -- thanks for posting!

I'm a history buff.

[babylonsister]

4. I never knew the poor guy got kicked in the head by a horse!

Ya learn something new every day.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I've seen a copy of the life mask

It was (and may still be) on display at the University of Illinois library. It is interesting to study.

I've also met cousins of Lincoln (descendants of his uncle Mordecai Lincoln), and they share the characteristics of tall stature and dark hair.

[rosesaylavee]

3. Poor guy...

can you imagine getting this kind of attention so many years after your death? Yeah, I would like public scrutiny of my facial oddities in about 150 years... Sheesh.

[TwilightGardener]

5. I thought his unusual appearance was due to Marfan's Syndrome.

[hisownpetard]

6. Absolutely! (That's what medical books say, at any rate.) n/t

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

7. And every time someone tells me they wont vote for Dennis K. because he looks to weird to win...

I wonder how Abe would fare in today's shallow climate

[LittleClarkie]

8. Horribly I fear

his voice and his face would disqualify him.

Sad. They called our last candidate names because of his appearance too. Lurch, for one. What a lousy reason not to vote for someone.

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. Indeed *sigh*

[Phrogman]

10. Didn't have TEE VEE in Lincoln's day, or he never would have been elected

think about that Americans.