Pubic hair, short and curly in most of us, sometimes grows to quite extraordinary lengths. Havelock Ellis worked as a midwife in his early days, and he notes that only in one case did long pubic hair hamper his efforts. In some remarkable cases recorded by a certain Mr. F. L. John (1778-1852) the pubic hair was longer than the women’s ordinary hair. Thus (Paulini): the pubic hair reached the knees…. (Bartholia): the pubic hair was plaited behind the woman’s back. Ronald Learsall, who nicely notes these instances, observes with appropriate insight that such cases “are unquestionably freakish.”