Shocking Pictures Of A Preserved Woman Who Died Because Her Tongue Was Too Big

HERE'S one lady that would make a Kiss in front of a man, Gene Simmons green with envy due to her massively oversized tongue

This Dutch woman, who died more than 400 years ago, had such a big one she would have had the US rocker famous for his long one firmly licked when it came to volume.

But the large organ, the sight of which is enough to leave anyone tongue tied, was clearly nothing to boast about in the 1700s as the unfortunate woman wore an odd metal device to conceal it when out and about.

Her monster tongue is also thought to have been responsible for her demise as it got simply too big.

Yet, this never before seen picture, shows that more than 400 years after her death she looks no different after being pickled in a bell jar to be kept as an example of the rare disorder.

She suffered from macroglossia, a congenital malformation of the tongue, which can now be treated with surgery and radiotherapy, but could not be at the time.

The picture, which is part of the Beyond Belief Archive shows her head preserved in perfect condition due to then revolutionary techniques developed in Holland, where the specimen is still stored.

Dutch anatomists injected wax into the soft tissue, so they would retain their structure before decomposition began, then immerse the subject into an alcohol solution.

Her problem and likely cause of death was her grossly enlarged tongue.

In the 17th century there was no cure. Radiotherapy didn’t exist and the only possible surgery would have been amputation, probably leading to an agonising death.

Unfortunately it is believed that her tongue just grew and grew and grew, until it reached the grotesque proportions shown in this picture.

Pictured beside the jar is a strange metal device with a chain which is a specially made silver cover which the woman wore over her tongue when she went out, in an attempt to conceal her ghastly deformity.