(Vol. iv., pp. 190. 331.)
A reference to Dr. Guggenbuehl's _Letter to Lord Ashley on Cretinism_,
and to the reviews of the subject, of which I can name two in the
_Athenaeum_, one in 1848, p. 1077., and another on June 21, 1851, will, I
think, show that there are no "races of Cretins," though the
disease--for it is nothing but a disease--will sometimes largely affect
even families. One of the principal characteristics of the disease is a
disgusting goitre, enlarging the neck to such a size, that a part of it
becomes pendulous to the length of upwards of a foot, and can even be
flung over the shoulder, and is, indeed, often carried there. It is very
commonly accompanied by idiocy; and, in fact, the Cretin is one of the
most distressing objects that can be seen. The disease is very common in
some parts of Switzerland, especially, I believe, the Valais; some
attribute it to the water: and probably climatic influences, in
conjunction with the deleterious elements contained in the water, and
the frequent intermarriage of the villagers, and deficient or
unwholesome diet, are the chief sources to which it must be traced. It
is curable; at the institution on the Abendberg the treatment is very
successful. The disease never appears above a certain level, and
disappears when, under favourable circumstances, the patient is raised
to that level. Cases have been found in Lancashire, and at Chiselborough
in Somersetshire, and at other places which present predisposing causes
resembling those of Switzerland.
I do not think that AJAX'S suggestion "credentes" as the derivation of
Cretin can be substantiated. Is it a term at all connected with
diversity of religious opinion and consequent persecution? In the Alps,
Cretinism is regarded with pity and kindness, as RUSTICUS truly remarks.
The term _cagot_ is current in the French with the meaning of an
impostor, a hypocrite; "celui qui a une devotion fausse ou
mal-entendue," is the meaning in the _Dictionnaire de l'Academie_; also
a bigot.
It is altogether a religious term. May I suggest that they are a relique
of the old population of the mountain vallies imperfectly Christianised,
therefore despised by the more enlightened population of the
neighbourhood,--half-civilised, perhaps, and physically degraded by the
same causes which have given the goitre and the idiocy of the Cretin to
the inhabitants of the Valais. If so, they may be Iberian, or what is
commonly called Celtiberian, a term which I think there is reason for
abandoning. I shall be glad to hear more of these _Cagots_; about the
Cretins a good deal is known, and with much certainty, but nothing, as
far as I can learn, that tends to identify them historically with any
religious sect.
I am able to add further information concerning the _Cagots_. They are a
miserable race, mostly beggars, or employed only about the meanest and
filthiest work, abounding in leprosy and other cutaneous diseases, and
in the most loathsome vermin; houseless, half-clad, inhabiting stables,
barns, or any casual place of shelter, generally mutilated and lame,
outcasts from society, reputed to lead infamous lives, indulging in the
most horrible practices, even of cannibalism, and worse offences than
that. Their brand used to be an eggshell on their clothes, and the
custom was to pierce their feet with an iron. Scaliger derived their
name from "Canis Gottus," and their origin has been assigned to some one
of the northern nations which penetrated into the south of France and
north of Spain in the third and fourth centuries before our era.
On this may I be allowed to forward a Query or two? What is their
language? What are their own traditions concerning their origin? I am
confirmed in my opinion that they are no way analogous to the Cretins;
the latter being diseased, and Cretins because they are diseased; the
_Cagot_ being diseased and filthy, and despised because he is a _Cagot_,
an individual of a degraded and outcast race of men.