O'BRIEN (pp 298 - 299):
That men of extraordinary stature, called giants, have frequently existed, we know, but there is no good reason to believe that the general stature of man was ever different from what it now is. If men were either smaller or larger than they are, they would be ill proportioned to the condition of things around them; beside, those of extraordinary height have usually a feeble pulse, and short lives. Those greatly below the usual stature, generally die early. It is fair to infer from these facts, that the present average height of man is the permanent standard. Among the mummies of Egypt, or the ancient remains of mankind found in other countries, there appears to be no general deviation from the common height.
Of the individual instances of great stature, Patrick O'Brien, born in the county of Kinsale, Ireland, in 1761, affords a memorable instance. He was put to the trade of a bricklayer, but such was his height at eighteen, that he was taken to England, and shown as the Irish giant. At twenty-five he attained the height of eight feet and seven inches; and though not well made, his bulk was proportioned to his height. He continued to exhibit himself for several years, when, having realized an independence, he retired to the vicinity of Epping forest, where he died, in 1806. He was peculiarly mild and gentle in his character and manners. His body was enclosed in a leaden coffin, 9 feet 2 inches long, and to prevent any attempt to disturb his remains, his grave, by his own direction, was sunk twelve feet in the solid rock.
[Note: Patrick O'Brien (whose surname was actually Cotter) was only one of several tall eighteenth century performers billed as "O'Brien, The Irish Giant". Charles Byrne, also born in Ireland in 1761 (quite a year for giants), preceded Cotter in the title and found early success in Edinburgh and London while also attracting ghoulish curiosity from a number of surgeons. Desirous of dissecting Byrne's lanky corpse, John Hunter went so far as to hire a man to follow Byrne around in case he expired suddenly. With his health failing in 1783, Byrne contracted with a group of fisherman to dispose of his body at sea. When Byrne finally died, Hunter got the fisherman drunk, bribed them with 500 pounds sterling, and thereby acquired the giant's corpse - which Hunter boiled in a large kettle to facilitate the preparation of the skeleton for mounting. Byrne's skeleton today resides in the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Physicians, London, next to that of Caroline Crachami, the Sicilian Fairy. Presumably, Cotter wished to avoid Byrne's fate. (for more on Charles Byrne, see Jan Bondeson's essay "Three Remarkable Specimens in the Hunterian Museum" in A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities , Cornell University Press: 1997)]
