Although the Enlightenment strove for scientific advancement,
there was still many theories and methods that were simply
primeval. One of these was maternal impressions, an idea that
would last through the Victorian age. Maternal impression was
the belief that a pregnant woman's experiences would affect how
her child would come out. It was mostly used to explain why a
child was born deaf (there was a loud noise that surprised the
mother) or blind (the mother looked at a blind person) or ugly
(I just made that one up). One of the most famous cases of birth
defects credited to maternal impression was Joseph Merrick, aka
the Elephant Man, of whom it was said his mother was scared by
an elephant. You mean they couldn't narrow it down to
neofibromotosis? Hullabaloo of course, but I would still
recommend pregnant women shouldn't eat too much garlic and stay
away from circus clowns...just in case! 19 minutes ago