Sex in Relation to Society
1569. It represented the face and visage of a man, with small living
12450 words | Chapter 9
serpents taking the place of beard and hair. So credulous were people
at this time that even a man so well informed as Pare believed in the
possibility of these last two, or at least represented them as facts.
At this time were also reported double hermaphroditic terata, seemingly
without latter-day analogues. Rhodiginus speaks of a two-headed monster
born in Ferrari, Italy, in 1540, well formed, and with two sets of
genitals, one male and the other female. Pare gives a picture of twins,
born near Heidelberg in 1486, which had double bodies joined back to
back; one of the twins had the aspect of a female and the other of a
male, though both had two sets of genitals.
Scientific Teratology.--About the first half of the eighteenth century
what might be called the positive period of teratology begins.
Following the advent of this era come Mery, Duverney, Winslow, Lemery,
and Littre. In their works true and concise descriptions are given and
violent attacks are made against the ancient beliefs and prejudices.
From the beginning of the second half of the last century to the
present time may be termed the scientific epoch of teratology. We can
almost with a certainty start this era with the names of Haller,
Morgagni, Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, and Meckel, who adduced the
explanations asked for by Harvey and Wolff. From the appearance of the
treatise by Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, teratology has made enormous
strides, and is to-day well on the road to becoming a science. Hand in
hand with embryology it has been the subject of much investigation in
this century, and to enumerate the workers of the present day who have
helped to bring about scientific progress would be a task of many
pages. Even in the artificial production of monsters much has been
done, and a glance at the work of Dareste well repays the trouble.
Essays on teratogenesis, with reference to batrachians, have been
offered by Lombardini; and by Lereboullet and Knoch with reference to
fishes. Foll and Warynski have reported their success in obtaining
visceral inversion, and even this branch of the subject promises to
become scientific.
Terata are seen in the lower animals and always excite interest. Pare
gives the history of a sheep with three heads, born in 1577; the
central head was larger than the other two, as shown in the
accompanying illustration. Many of the Museums of Natural History
contain evidences of animal terata. At Hallae is a two-headed mouse;
the Conant Museum in Maine contains the skeleton of an adult sheep with
two heads; there was an account of a two-headed pigeon published in
France in 1734; Leidy found a two-headed snake in a field near
Philadelphia; Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Conant both found similar
creatures, and there is one in the Museum at Harvard; Wyman saw a
living double-headed snake in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris in 1853,
and many parallel instances are on record.
Classification.--We shall attempt no scientific discussion of the
causation or embryologic derivation of the monster, contenting
ourselves with simple history and description, adding any associate
facts of interest that may be suggested. For further information, the
reader is referred to the authors cited or to any of the standard
treatises on teratology.
Many classifications of terata have been offered, and each possesses
some advantage. The modern reader is referred to the modification of
the grouping of Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire given by Hirst and Piersol, or
those of Blanc and Guinard. For convenience, we have adopted the
following classification, which will include only those monsters that
have LIVED AFTER BIRTH, and who have attracted general notice or
attained some fame in their time, as attested by accounts in
contemporary literature.
CLASS 1.--Union of several fetuses. CLASS 2.--Union of two distinct
fetuses by a connecting band. CLASS 3.--Union of two distinct fetuses
by an osseous junction of the cranial bones. CLASS 4.--Union of two
distinct fetuses in which one or more parts are eliminated by the
junction. CLASS 5.--Fusion of two fetuses by a bony union of the
ischii. CLASS 6.--Fusion of two fetuses below the umbilicus into a
common lower extremity. CLASS 7.--Bicephalic monsters. CLASS
8.--Parasitic monsters. CLASS 9.--Monsters with a single body and
double lower extremities. CLASS 10.--Diphallic terata. CLASS
11.--Fetus in fetu, and dermoid cysts. CLASS 12.--Hermaphrodites.
CLASS I.--Triple Monsters.--Haller and Meckel were of the opinion that
no cases of triple monsters worthy of credence are on record, and since
their time this has been the popular opinion. Surely none have ever
lived. Licetus describes a human monster with two feet and seven heads
and as many arms. Bartholinus speaks of a three-headed monster who
after birth gave vent to horrible cries and expired. Borellus speaks of
a three-headed dog, a veritable Cerberus. Blasius published an essay on
triple monsters in 1677. Bordenave is quoted as mentioning a human
monster formed of three fetuses, but his description proves clearly
that it was only the union of two. Probably the best example of this
anomaly that we have was described by Galvagni at Cattania in 1834.
This monster had two necks, on one of which was a single head normal in
dimensions. On the other neck were two heads, as seen in the
accompanying illustration. Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire mentions several
cases, and Martin de Pedro publishes a description of a case in Madrid
in 1879. There are also on record some cases of triple monster by
inclusion which will be spoken of later. Instances in the lower animals
have been seen, the three-headed sheep of Pare, already spoken of,
being one.
CLASS II.--Double Monsters.--A curious mode of junction, probably the
most interesting, as it admits of longer life in these monstrosities,
is that of a simple cartilaginous band extending between two absolutely
distinct and different individuals. The band is generally in the
sternal region. In 1752 there was described a remarkable monstrosity
which consisted of conjoined twins, a perfect and an imperfect child,
connected at their ensiform cartilages by a band 4 inches in
circumference. The Hindoo sisters, described by Dr. Andrew Berry, lived
to be seven years old; they stood face to face, with their chests 6 1/2
inches and their pubes 8 1/2 inches apart. Mitchell describes the
full-grown female twins, born at Newport, Ky., called the Newport
twins. The woman who gave birth to them became impregnated, it is said,
immediately after seeing the famous Siamese twins, and the products of
this pregnancy took the conformation of those celebrated exhibitionists.
Perhaps the best known of all double monsters were the Siamese twins.
They were exhibited all over the globe and had the additional benefit
and advertisement of a much mooted discussion as to the advisability of
their severance, in which opinions of the leading medical men of all
nations were advanced. The literature on these famous brothers is
simply stupendous. The amount of material in the Surgeon General's
library at Washington would surprise an investigator. A curious volume
in this library is a book containing clippings, advertisements, and
divers portraits of the twins. It will be impossible to speak at all
fully on this subject, but a short history and running review of their
lives will be given: Eng and Chang were born in Siam about May, 1811.
Their father was of Chinese extraction and had gone to Siam and there
married a woman whose father was also a Chinaman. Hence, for the most
part, they were of Chinese blood, which probably accounted for their
dark color and Chinese features. Their mother was about thirty-five
years old at the time of their birth and had borne 4 female children
prior to Chang and Eng. She afterward had twins several times, having
eventually 14 children in all. She gave no history of special
significance of the pregnancy, although she averred that the head of
one and the feet of the other were born at the same time. The twins
were both feeble at birth, and Eng continued delicate, while Chang
thrived. It was only with difficulty that their lives were saved, as
Chowpahyi, the reigning king, had a superstition that such freaks of
nature always presaged evil to the country. They were really discovered
by Robert Hunter, a British merchant at Bangkok, who in 1824 saw them
boating and stripped to the waist. He prevailed on the parents and King
Chowpahyi to allow them to go away for exhibition. They were first
taken out of the country by a certain Captain Coffin. The first
scientific description of them was given by Professor J. C. Warren, who
examined them in Boston, at the Harvard University, in 1829. At that
time Eng was 5 feet 2 inches and Chang 5 feet 1 1/2 inches in height.
They presented all the characteristics of Chinamen and wore long black
queues coiled thrice around their heads, as shown by the accompanying
illustration. After an eight-weeks' tour over the Eastern States they
went to London, arriving at that port November 20, 1829. Their tour in
France was forbidden on the same grounds as the objection to the
exhibition of Ritta-Christina, namely, the possibility of causing the
production of monsters by maternal impressions in pregnant women. After
their European tour they returned to the United States and settled down
as farmers in North Carolina, adopting the name of Bunker. When
forty-four years of age they married two sisters, English women,
twenty-six and twenty-eight years of age, respectively. Domestic
infelicity soon compelled them to keep the wives at different houses,
and they alternated weeks in visiting each wife. Chang had six children
and Eng five, all healthy and strong. In 1869 they made another trip to
Europe, ostensibly to consult the most celebrated surgeons of Great
Britain and France on the advisability of being separated. It was
stated that a feeling of antagonistic hatred after a quarrel prompted
them to seek "surgical separation," but the real cause was most likely
to replenish their depleted exchequer by renewed exhibition and
advertisement.
A most pathetic characteristic of these illustrious brothers was the
affection and forbearance they showed for each other until shortly
before their death. They bore each other's trials and petty maladies
with the greatest sympathy, and in this manner rendered their lives far
more agreeable than a casual observer would suppose possible. They both
became Christians and members or attendants of the Baptist Church.
Figure 31 is a representation of the Siamese twins in old age. On each
side of them is a son. The original photograph is in the Mutter Museum,
College of Physicians, Philadelphia.
The feasibility of the operation of separating them was discussed by
many of the leading men of America, and Thompson, Fergusson, Syme, Sir
J. Y. Simpson, Nelaton, and many others in Europe, with various reports
and opinions after examination. These opinions can be seen in full in
nearly any large medical library. At this time they had diseased and
atheromatous arteries, and Chang, who was quite intemperate, had marked
spinal curvature, and shortly afterward became hemiplegic. They were
both partially blind in their two anterior eyes, possibly from looking
outward and obliquely. The point of junction was about the
sterno-siphoid angle, a cartilaginous band extending from sternum to
sternum. In 1869 Simpson measured this band and made the distance on
the superior aspect from sternum to sternum 4 1/2 inches, though it is
most likely that during the early period of exhibition it was not over
3 inches. The illustration shows very well the position of the joining
band.
The twins died on January 17, 1874, and a committee of surgeons from
the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, consisting of Doctors
Andrews, Allen, and Pancoast, went to North Carolina to perform an
autopsy on the body, and, if possible, to secure it. They made a long
and most interesting report on the results of their trip to the
College. The arteries, as was anticipated, were found to have undergone
calcareous degeneration. There was an hepatic connection through the
band, and also some interlacing diaphragmatic fibers therein. There was
slight vascular intercommunication of the livers and independence of
the two peritoneal cavities and the intestines. The band itself was
chiefly a coalescence of the xyphoid cartilages, surrounded by areolar
tissue and skin.
The "Orissa sisters," or Radica-Doddica, shown in Europe in 1893, were
similar to the Siamese twins in conformation. They were born in Orissa,
India, September, 1889, and were the result of the sixth pregnancy, the
other five being normal. They were healthy girls, four years of age,
and apparently perfect in every respect, except that, from the ensiform
cartilage to the umbilicus, they were united by a band 4 inches long
and 2 inches wide. The children when facing each other could draw their
chests three or four inches apart, and the band was so flexible that
they could sit on either side of the body. Up to the date mentioned it
was not known whether the connecting band contained viscera. A portrait
of these twins was shown at the World's Fair in Chicago.
In the village of Arasoor, district of Bhavany, there was reported a
monstrosity in the form of two female children, one 34 inches and the
other 33 3/4 inches high, connected by the sternum. They were said to
have had small-pox and to have recovered. They seemed to have had
individual nervous systems, as when one was pinched the other did not
feel it, and while one slept the other was awake. There must have been
some vascular connection, as medicine given to one affected both.
Fig. 36 shows a mode of cartilaginous junction by which each component
of a double monster may be virtually independent.
Operations on Conjoined Twins.--Swingler speaks of two girls joined at
the xiphoid cartilage and the umbilicus, the band of union being 1 1/2
inches thick, and running below the middle of it was the umbilical
cord, common to both. They first ligated the cord, which fell off in
nine days, and then separated the twins with the bistoury. They each
made early recovery and lived.
In the Ephemerides of 1690 Konig gives a description of two Swiss
sisters born in 1689 and united belly to belly, who were separated by
means of a ligature and the operation afterward completed by an
instrument. The constricting band was formed by a coalition of the
xiphoid cartilages and the umbilical vessels, surrounded by areolar
tissue and covered with skin. Le Beau says that under the Roman reign,
A. D. 945, two male children were brought from Armenia to
Constantinople for exhibition. They were well formed in every respect
and united by their abdomens. After they had been for some time an
object of great curiosity, they were removed by governmental order,
being considered a presage of evil. They returned, however, at the
commencement of the reign of Constantine VII, when one of them took
sick and died. The surgeons undertook to preserve the other by
separating him from the corpse of his brother, but he died on the third
day after the operation.
In 1866 Boehm gives an account of Guzenhausen's case of twins who were
united sternum to sternum. An operation for separation was performed
without accident, but one of the children, already very feeble, died
three days after; the other survived. The last attempt at an operation
like this was in 1881, when Biaudet and Buginon attempted to separate
conjoined sisters (Marie-Adele) born in Switzerland on June 26th.
Unhappily, they were very feeble and life was despaired of when the
operation was performed, on October 29th. Adele died six hours
afterward, and Marie died of peritonitis on the next day.
CLASS III.--Those monsters joined by a fusion of some of the cranial
bones are sometimes called craniopagi. A very ancient observation of
this kind is cited by Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire. These two girls were
born in 1495, and lived to be ten years old. They were normal in every
respect, except that they were joined at the forehead, causing them to
stand face to face and belly to belly. When one walked forward, the
other was compelled to walk backward; their noses almost touched, and
their eyes were directed laterally. At the death of one an attempt to
separate the other from the cadaver was made, but it was unsuccessful,
the second soon dying; the operation necessitated opening the cranium
and parting the meninges. Bateman said that in 1501 there was living an
instance of double female twins, joined at the forehead. This case was
said to have been caused in the following manner: Two women, one of
whom was pregnant with the twins at the time, were engaged in an
earnest conversation, when a third, coming up behind them, knocked
their heads together with a sharp blow. Bateman describes the death of
one of the twins and its excision from the other, who died
subsequently, evidently of septic infection. There is a possibility
that this is merely a duplication of the account of the preceding case
with a slight anachronism as to the time of death.
At a foundling hospital in St. Petersburg there were born two living
girls, in good health, joined by the heads. They were so united that
the nose of one, if prolonged, would strike the ear of the other; they
had perfectly independent existences, but their vascular systems had
evident connection.
Through extra mobility of their necks they could really lie in a
straight line, one sleeping on the side and the other on the back.
There is a report a of two girls joined at their vertices, who survived
their birth. With the exception of this junction they were well formed
and independent in existence. There was no communication of the cranial
cavities, but simply fusion of the cranial bones covered by superficial
fascia and skin. Daubenton has seen a case of union at the occiput, but
further details are not quoted.
CLASS IV.--The next class to be considered is that in which the
individuals are separate and well formed, except that the point of
fusion is a common part, eliminating their individual components in
this location. The pygopagous twins belong in this section. According
to Bateman, twins were born in 1493 at Rome joined back to back, and
survived their birth. The same authority speaks of a female child who
was born with "2 bellies, 4 arms, 4 legs, 2 heads, and 2 sets of
privates, and was exhibited throughout Italy for gain's sake." The
"Biddenden Maids" were born in Biddenden, Kent, in 1100. Their names
were Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst, and their parents were fairly
well-to-do people. They were supposed to have been united at the hips
and the shoulders, and lived until 1134. At the death of one it was
proposed to separate them, but the remaining sister refused, saying,
"As we came together, we will also go together," and, after about six
hours of this Mezentian existence, they died. They bequeathed to the
church-wardens of the parish and their successors land to the extent of
20 acres, at the present time bringing a rental of about $155.00
annually, with the instructions that the money was to be spent in the
distribution of cakes (bearing the impression of their images, to be
given away on each Easter Sunday to all strangers in Biddenden) and
also 270 quartern loaves, with cheese in proportion, to all the poor in
said parish. Ballantyne has accompanied his description of these
sisters by illustrations, one of which shows the cake. Heaton gives a
very good description of these maids; and a writer in "Notes and
Queries" of March 27, 1875, gives the following information relative to
the bequest:--
"On Easter Monday, at Biddenden, near Staplehurst, Kent, there is a
distribution, according to ancient custom, of 'Biddenden Maids' cakes,'
with bread and cheese, the cost of which is defrayed from the proceeds
of some 20 acres of land, now yielding L35 per annum. and known as the
'Bread and Cheese Lands.' About the year 1100 there lived Eliza and
Mary Chulkhurst, who were joined together after the manner of the
Siamese twins, and who lived for thirty-four years, one dying, and then
being followed by her sister within six hours. They left by their will
the lands above alluded to and their memory is perpetuated by
imprinting on the cakes their effigies 'in their habit as they lived.'
The cakes, which are simple flour and water, are four inches long by
two inches wide, and are much sought after as curiosities. These, which
are given away, are distributed at the discretion of the
church-wardens, and are nearly 300 in number. The bread and cheese
amounts to 540 quartern loaves and 470 pounds of cheese. The
distribution is made on land belonging to the charity, known as the Old
Poorhouse. Formerly it used to take place in the Church, immediately
after the service in the afternoon, but in consequence of the unseemly
disturbance which used to ensue the practice was discontinued. The
Church used to be filled with a congregation whose conduct was
occasionally so reprehensible that sometimes the church-wardens had to
use their wands for other purposes than symbols of office. The
impressions of the maids 'on the cakes are of a primitive character,
and are made by boxwood dies cut in 1814. They bear the date 1100, when
Eliza and Mary Chulkhurst are supposed to have been born, and also
their age at death, thirty-four years."
Ballantyne has summed up about all there is to be said on this national
monstrosity, and his discussion of the case from its historic as well
as teratologic standpoint is so excellent that his conclusions will be
quoted--
"It may be urged that the date fixed for the birth of the Biddenden
Maids is so remote as to throw grave doubt upon the reality of the
occurrence. The year 1100 was, it will be remembered, that in which
William Rufus was found dead in the New Forest, 'with the arrow either
of a hunter or an assassin in his breast.' According to the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle, several 'prodigies' preceded the death of this profligate
and extravagant monarch. Thus it is recorded that 'at Pentecost blood
was observed gushing from the earth at a certain town of Berkshire,
even as many asserted who declared that they had seen it. And after
this, on the morning after Lammas Day, King William was shot.' Now, it
is just possible that the birth of the Biddenden Maids may have
occurred later, but have been antedated by the popular tradition to the
year above mentioned. For such a birth would, in the opinion of the
times, be regarded undoubtedly as a most evident prodigy or omen of
evil. Still, even admitting that the date 1100 must be allowed to
stand, its remoteness from the present time is not a convincing
argument against a belief in the real occurrence of the phenomenon; for
of the dicephalic Scottish brothers, who lived in 1490, we have
credible historic evidence. Further, Lycosthenes, in his "Chronicon
Prodigiorum atque Ostentorum", published in 1557, states, upon what
authority I know not, that in the year 1112 joined twins resembling the
Biddenden phenomenon in all points save in sex were born in England.
The passage is as follows: 'In Anglia natus est puer geminus a clune ad
superiores partes ita divisus, ut duo haberet capita, duo corpora
integra ad renes cum suis brachiis, qui baptizatus triduo supervixit.'
It is just possible that in some way or other this case has been
confounded with the story of Biddenden; at any rate, the occurrence of
such a statement in Lycosthenes' work is of more than passing interest.
Had there been no bequest of land in connection with the case of the
Kentish Maids, the whole affair would probably soon have been forgotten.
"There is, however, one real difficulty in accepting the story handed
down to us as authentic,--the nature of the teratologic phenomenon
itself. All the records agree in stating that the Maids were joined
together at the shoulders and hips, and the impression on the cakes and
the pictures on the 'broadsides' show this peculiar mode of union, and
represent the bodies as quite separate in the space between the
above-named points. The Maids are shown with four feet and two arms,
the right and left respectively, whilst the other arms (left and right)
are fused together at the shoulder according to one illustration, and a
little above the elbow according to another. Now, although it is not
safe to say that such an anomaly is impossible, I do not know of any
case of this peculiar mode of union; but it may be that, as Prof. A. R.
Simpson has suggested, the Maids had four separate arms, and were in
the habit of going about with their contiguous arms round each other's
necks, and that this gave rise to the notion that these limbs were
united. If this be so, then the teratologic difficulty is removed, for
the case becomes perfectly comparable with the well-known but rare type
of double terata known as the pygopagous twins, which is placed by
Taruffi with that of the ischiopagous twins in the group dicephalus
lecanopagus. Similar instances, which are well known to students of
teratology, are the Hungarian sisters (Helen and Judith), the North
Carolina twins (Millie and Christine), and the Bohemian twins (Rosalie
and Josepha Blazek). The interspace between the thoraces may, however,
have simply been the addition of the first artist who portrayed the
Maids (from imagination?); then it may be surmised that they were
ectopagous twins.
"Pygopagous twins are fetuses united together in the region of the
nates and having each its own pelvis. In the recorded cases the union
has been usually between the sacra and coccyges, and has been either
osseous or (more rarely) ligamentous. Sometimes the point of junction
was the middle line posteriorly, at other times it was rather a
posterolateral union; and it is probable that in the Biddenden Maids it
was of the latter kind; and it is likely, from the proposal made to
separate the sisters after the death of one, that it was ligamentous in
nature.
"If it be granted that the Biddenden Maids were pygopagous twins, a
study of the histories of other recorded cases of this monstrosity
serves to demonstrate many common characters. Thus, of the 8 cases
which Taruffi has collected, in 7 the twins were female; and if to
these we add the sisters Rosalie and Josepha Blazek and the Maids, we
have 10 cases, of which 9 were girls. Again, several of the pygopagous
twins, of whom there are scientific records, survived birth and lived
for a number of years, and thus resembled the Biddenden terata. Helen
and Judith, for instance, were twenty-three years old at death; and the
North Carolina twins, although born in 1851, are still alive. There is,
therefore, nothing inherently improbable in the statement that the
Biddenden Maids lived for thirty-four years. With regard also to the
truth of the record that the one Maid survived her sister for six
hours, there is confirmatory evidence from scientifically observed
instances, for Joly and Peyrat (Bull. de l'Acad. Med., iii., pp. 51 and
383, 1874) state that in the case seen by them the one infant lived ten
hours after the death of the other. It is impossible to make any
statement with regard to the internal structure of the Maids or to the
characters of their genital organs, for there is absolutely no
information forthcoming upon these points. It may simply be said, in
conclusion, that the phenomenon of Biddenden is interesting not only on
account of the curious bequest which arose out of it, but also because
it was an instance of a very rare teratologic type, occurring at a very
early period in our national history."
Possibly the most famous example of twins of this type were Helen and
Judith, the Hungarian sisters, born in 1701 at Szony, in Hungary. They
were the objects of great curiosity, and were shown successively in
Holland, Germany, Italy, France, England, and Poland. At the age of
nine they were placed in a convent, where they died almost
simultaneously in their twenty-second year. During their travels all
over Europe they were examined by many prominent physiologists,
psychologists, and naturalists; Pope and several minor poets have
celebrated their existence in verse; Buffon speaks of them in his
"Natural History," and all the works on teratology for a century or
more have mentioned them. A description of them can be best given by a
quaint translation by Fisher of the Latin lines composed by a Hungarian
physician and inscribed on a bronze statuette of them:--
Two sisters wonderful to behold, who have thus grown as one, That
naught their bodies can divide, no power beneath the sun. The town of
Szoenii gave them birth, hard by far-famed Komorn, Which noble fort may
all the arts of Turkish sultans scorn. Lucina, woman's gentle friend,
did Helen first receive; And Judith, when three hours had passed, her
mother's womb did leave. One urine passage serves for both;--one anus,
so they tell; The other parts their numbers keep, and serve their
owners well. Their parents poor did send them forth, the world to
travel through, That this great wonder of the age should not be hid
from view. The inner parts concealed do lie hid from our eyes, alas!
But all the body here you view erect in solid brass.
They were joined back to back in the lumbar region, and had all their
parts separate except the anus between the right thigh of Helen and the
left of Judith and a single vulva. Helen was the larger, better
looking, the more active, and the more intelligent. Judith at the age
of six became hemiplegic, and afterward was rather delicate and
depressed. They menstruated at sixteen and continued with regularity,
although one began before the other. They had a mutual affection, and
did all in their power to alleviate the circumstances of their sad
position. Judith died of cerebral and pulmonary affections, and Helen,
who previously enjoyed good health, soon after her sister's first
indisposition suddenly sank into a state of collapse, although
preserving her mental faculties, and expired almost immediately after
her sister. They had measles and small-pox simultaneously, but were
affected in different degree by the maladies. The emotions,
inclinations, and appetites were not simultaneous. Eccardus, in a very
interesting paper, discusses the physical, moral, and religious
questions in reference to these wonderful sisters, such as the
advisability of separation, the admissibility of matrimony, and,
finally, whether on the last day they would rise as joined in life, or
separated.
There is an account of two united females, similar in conjunction to
the "Hungarian sisters," who were born in Italy in 1700. They were
killed at the age of four months by an attempt of a surgeon to separate
them.
In 1856 there was reported to have been born in Texas, twins after the
manner of Helen and Judith, united back to back, who lived and attained
some age. They were said to have been of different natures and
dispositions, and inclined to quarrel very often.
Pancoast gives an extensive report of Millie-Christine, who had been
extensively exhibited in Europe and the United States. They were born
of slave parents in Columbus County, N.C., July 11, 1851; the mother,
who had borne 8 children before, was a stout negress of thirty-two,
with a large pelvis. The presentation was first by the stomach and
afterward by the breech. These twins were united at the sacra by a
cartilaginous or possibly osseous union. They were exhibited in Paris
in 1873, and provoked as much discussion there as in the United States.
Physically, Millie was the weaker, but had the stronger will and the
dominating spirit. They menstruated regularly from the age of
thirteen. One from long habit yielded instinctively to the other's
movements, thus preserving the necessary harmony. They ate separately,
had distinct thoughts, and carried on distinct conversations at the
same time. They experienced hunger and thirst generally simultaneously,
and defecated and urinated nearly at the same times. One, in tranquil
sleep, would be wakened by a call of nature of the other. Common
sensibility was experienced near the location of union. They were
intelligent and agreeable and of pleasant appearance, although slightly
under size; they sang duets with pleasant voices and accompanied
themselves with a guitar; they walked, ran, and danced with apparent
ease and grace. Christine could bend over and lift Millie up by the
bond of union.
A recent example of the pygopagus type was Rosa-Josepha Blazek, born in
Skerychov, in Bohemia, January 20, 1878. These twins had a broad bony
union in the lower part of the lumbar region, the pelvis being
obviously completely fused. They had a common urethral and anal
aperture, but a double vaginal orifice, with a very apparent septum.
The sensation was distinct in each, except where the pelves joined.
They were exhibited in Paris in 1891, being then on an exhibition tour
around the world. Rosa was the stronger, and when she walked or ran
forward she drew her sister with her, who must naturally have reversed
her steps. They had independent thoughts and separate minds; one could
sleep while the other was awake. Many of their appetites were
different, one preferring beer, the other wine; one relished salad, the
other detested it, etc. Thirst and hunger were not simultaneous.
Baudoin describes their anatomic construction, their mode of life, and
their mannerisms and tastes in a quite recent article. Fig. 42 is a
reproduction of an early photograph of the twins, and Fig. 43
represents a recent photograph of these "Bohemian twins," as they are
now called.
The latest record we have of this type of monstrosity is that given by
Tynberg to the County Medical Society of New York, May 27, 1895. The
mother was present with the remarkable twins in her arms, crying at the
top of their voices. These two children were born at midnight on April
15th. Tynberg remarked that he believed them to be distinct and
separate children, and not dependent on a common arterial system; he
also expressed his intention of separating them, but did not believe
the operation could be performed with safety before another year.
Jacobi describes in full Tynberg's instance of pygopagus. He says the
confinement was easy; the head of one was born first, soon followed by
the feet and the rest of the twins. The placenta was single and the
cord consisted of two branches. The twins were united below the third
sacral vertebrae in such a manner that they could lie alongside of each
other. They were females, and had two vaginae, two urethrae four labia
minora, and two labia majora, one anus, but a double rectum divided by
a septum. They micturated independently but defecated simultaneously.
They virtually lived separate lives, as one might be asleep while the
other cried, etc.
CLASS V.--While instances of ischiopagi are quite numerous, few have
attained any age, and, necessarily, little notoriety. Pare speaks of
twins united at the pelves, who were born in Paris July 20, 1570. They
were baptized, and named Louis and Louise. Their parents were well
known in the rue des Gravelliers. According to Bateman, and also Rueff,
in the year 1552 there were born, not far from Oxford, female twins,
who, from the description given, were doubtless of the ischiopagus
type. They seldom wept, and one was of a cheerful disposition, while
the other was heavy and drowsy, sleeping continually. They only lived a
short time, one expiring a day before the other. Licetus speaks of Mrs.
John Waterman, a resident of Fishertown, near Salisbury, England, who
gave birth to a double female monster on October 26, 1664, which
evidently from the description was joined by the ischii. It did not
nurse, but took food by both the mouths; all its actions were done in
concert; it was possessed of one set of genitourinary organs; it only
lived a short while. Many people in the region flocked to see the
wonderful child, whom Licetus called "Monstrum Anglicum." It is said
that at the same accouchement the birth of this monster was followed by
the birth of a well-formed female child, who survived.
Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire quotes a description of twins who were born in
France on October 7, 1838, symmetrically formed and united at their
ischii. One was christened Marie-Louise, and the other
Hortense-Honorine. Their avaricious parents took the children to Paris
for exhibition, the exposures of which soon sacrificed their lives. In
the year 1841 there was born in the island of Ceylon, of native
parents, a monstrous child that was soon brought to Columbo, where it
lived only two months. It had two heads and seemed to have duplication
in all its parts except the anus and male generative organs.
Montgomery speaks of a double child born in County Roscommon, Ireland,
on the 24th of July, 1827. It had two heads, two chests with arms
complete, two abdominal and pelvic cavities united end to end, and four
legs, placed two on either side. It had only one anus, which was
situated between the thighs. One of the twins was dark haired and was
baptized Mary, while the other was a blonde and was named Catherine.
These twins felt and acted independently of each other; they each in
succession sucked from the breast or took milk from the spoon, and used
their limbs vigorously. One vomited without affecting the other, but
the feces were discharged through a common opening.
Goodell speaks of Minna and Minnie Finley, who were born in Ohio and
examined by him. They were fused together in a common longitudinal
axis, having one pelvis, two heads, four legs, and four arms. One was
weak and puny and the other robust and active; it is probable that they
had but one rectum and one bladder. Goodell accompanies his
description by the mention of several analogous cases. Ellis speaks of
female twins, born in Millville, Tenn., and exhibited in New York in
1868, who were joined at the pelves in a longitudinal axis. Between the
limbs on either side were to be seen well-developed female genitals,
and the sisters had been known to urinate from both sides, beginning
and ending at the same time.
Huff details a description of the "Jones twins," born on June 24, 1889,
in Tipton County, Indiana, whose spinal columns were in apposition at
the lower end. The labor, of less than two hours' duration, was
completed before the arrival of the physician. Lying on their mother's
back, they could both nurse at the same time. Both sets of genitals and
ani were on the same side of the line of union, but occupied normal
positions with reference to the legs on either side. Their weight at
birth was 12 pounds and their length 22 inches. Their mother was a
medium-sized brunette of 19, and had one previous child then living at
the age of two; their father was a finely formed man 5 feet 10 inches
in height. The twins differed in complexion and color of the eyes and
hair. They were publicly exhibited for some time, and died February 19
and 20, 1891, at St. John's Hotel, Buffalo, N.Y. Figure 45 shows their
appearance several months after birth.
CLASS VI.--In our sixth class, the first record we have is from the
Commentaries of Sigbert, which contains a description of a monstrosity
born in the reign of the Emperor Theodosius, who had two heads, two
chests with four arms attached, but a single lower extremity. The
emotions, affections, and appetites were different. One head might be
crying while the other laughed, or one feeding while the other was
sleeping. At times they quarreled and occasionally came to blows. This
monster is said to have lived two years, one part dying four days
before the other, which evinced symptoms of decay like its inseparable
neighbor.
Roger of Wendover says that in Lesser Brittany and Normandy, in 1062,
there was seen a female monster, consisting of two women joined about
the umbilicus and fused into a single lower extremity. They took their
food by two mouths but expelled it at a single orifice. At one time,
one of the women laughed, feasted, and talked, while the other wept,
fasted, and kept a religious silence. The account relates how one of
them died, and the survivor bore her dead sister about for three years
before she was overcome by the oppression and stench of the cadaver.
Batemen describes the birth of a boy in 1529, who had two heads, four
ears, four arms, but only two thighs and two legs. Buchanan speaks at
length of the famous "Scottish Brothers," who were the cynosure of the
eyes of the Court of James III of Scotland. This monster consisted of
two men, ordinary in appearance in the superior extremities, whose
trunks fused into a single lower extremity. The King took diligent care
of their education, and they became proficient in music, languages, and
other court accomplishments. Between them they would carry on animated
conversations, sometimes merging into curious debates, followed by
blows. Above the point of union they had no synchronous sensations,
while below, sensation was common to both. This monster lived
twenty-eight years, surviving the royal patron, who died June, 1488.
One of the brothers died some days before the other, and the survivor,
after carrying about his dead brother, succumbed to "infection from
putrescence." There was reported to have been born in Switzerland a
double headed male monster, who in 1538, at the age of thirty, was
possessed of a beard on each face, the two bodies fused at the
umbilicus into a single lower extremity. These two twins resembled one
another in contour and countenance. They were so joined that at rest
they looked upon one another. They had a single wife, with whom they
were said to have lived in harmony. In the Gentleman's Magazine about
one hundred and fifty years since there was given the portrait and
description of a double woman, who was exhibited all over the large
cities of Europe. Little can be ascertained anatomically of her
construction, with the exception that it was stated that she had two
heads, two necks, four arms, two legs, one pelvis, and one set of
pelvic organs.
The most celebrated monster of this type was Ritta-Christina, who was
born in Sassari, in Sardinia, March 23, 1829. These twins were the
result of the ninth confinement of their mother, a woman of thirty-two.
Their superior extremities were double, but they joined in a common
trunk at a point a little below the mammae. Below this point they had
a common trunk and single lower extremities. The right one, christened
Ritta, was feeble and of a sad and melancholy countenance; the left,
Christina, was vigorous and of a gay and happy aspect. They suckled at
different times, and sensations in the upper extremities were distinct.
They expelled urine and feces simultaneously, and had the indications
in common. Their parents, who were very poor, brought them to Paris for
the purpose of public exhibition, which at first was accomplished
clandestinely, but finally interdicted by the public authorities, who
feared that it would open a door for psychologic discussion and
speculation. This failure of the parents to secure public patronage
increased their poverty and hastened the death of the children by
unavoidable exposure in a cold room. The nervous system of the twins
had little in common except in the line of union, the anus, and the
sexual organs, and Christina was in good health all through Ritta's
sickness; when Ritta died, her sister, who was suckling at the mother's
breast, suddenly relaxed hold and expired with a sigh. At the
postmortem, which was secured with some difficulty on account of the
authorities ordering the bodies to be burned, the pericardium was found
single, covering both hearts. The digestive organs were double and
separate as far as the lower third of the ilium, and the cecum was on
the left side and single, in common with the lower bowel. The livers
were fused and the uterus was double. The vertebral columns, which were
entirely separate above, were joined below by a rudimentary os
innorminatum. There was a junction between the manubrium of each. Sir
Astley Cooper saw a monster in Paris in 1792 which, by his description,
must have been very similar to Ritta-Christina.
The Tocci brothers were born in 1877 in the province of Turin, Italy.
They each had a well-formed head, perfect arms, and a perfect thorax to
the sixth rib; they had a common abdomen, a single anus, two legs, two
sacra, two vertebral columns, one penis, but three buttocks, the
central one containing a rudimentary anus. The right boy was christened
Giovanni-Batista, and the left Giacomo. Each individual had power over
the corresponding leg on his side, but not over the other one. Walking
was therefore impossible. All their sensations and emotions were
distinctly individual and independent. At the time of the report, in
1882, they were in good health and showed every indication of attaining
adult age. Figure 48 represents these twins as they were exhibited
several years ago in Germany.
McCallum saw two female children in Montreal in 1878 named Marie-Rosa
Drouin. They formed a right angle with their single trunk, which
commenced at the lower part of the thorax of each. They had a single
genital fissure and the external organs of generation of a female. A
little over three inches from the anus was a rudimentary limb with a
movable articulation; it measured five inches in length and tapered to
a fine point, being furnished with a distinct nail, and it contracted
strongly to irritation. Marie, the left child, was of fair complexion
and more strongly developed than Rosa. The sensations of hunger and
thirst were not experienced at the same time, and one might be asleep
while the other was crying. The pulsations and the respiratory
movements were not synchronous. They were the products of the second
gestation of a mother aged twenty-six, whose abdomen was of such
preternatural size during pregnancy that she was ashamed to appear in
public. The order of birth was as follows: one head and body, the lower
extremity, and the second body and head.
CLASS VII.--There are many instances of bicephalic monsters on record.
Pare mentions and gives an illustration of a female apparently single
in conformation, with the exception of having two heads and two necks.
The Ephemerides, Haller, Schenck, and Archenholz cite examples, and
there is an old account of a double-headed child, each of whose heads
were baptized, one called Martha and the other Mary. One was of a gay
and the other a sad visage, and both heads received nourishment; they
only lived a couple of days. There is another similar record of a
Milanese girl who had two heads, but was in all other respects single,
with the exception that after death she was found to have had two
stomachs. Besse mentions a Bavarian woman of twenty-six with two heads,
one of which was comely and the other extremely ugly; Batemen quotes
what is apparently the same case--a woman in Bavaria in 1541 with two
heads, one of which was deformed, who begged from door to door, and who
by reason of the influence of pregnant women was given her expenses to
leave the country.
A more common occurrence of this type is that in which there is fusion
of the two heads. Moreau speaks of a monster in Spain which was shown
from town to town. Its heads were fused; it had two mouths and two
noses; in each face an eye well conformed and placed above the nose;
there was a third eye in the middle of the forehead common to both
heads; the third eye was of primitive development and had two pupils.
Each face was well formed and had its own chin. Buffon mentions a cat,
the exact analogue of Moreau's case. Sutton speaks of a photograph sent
to Sir James Paget in 1856 by William Budd of Bristol. This portrays a
living child with a supernumerary head, which had mouth, nose, eyes,
and a brain of its own. The eyelids were abortive, and as there was no
orbital cavity the eyes stood out in the form of naked globes on the
forehead. When born, the corneas of both heads were transparent, but
then became opaque from exposure. The brain of the supernumerary head
was quite visible from without, and was covered by a membrane beginning
to slough. On the right side of the head was a rudimentary external
ear. The nurse said that when the child sucked some milk regurgitated
through the supernumerary mouth. The great physiologic interest in this
case lies in the fact that every movement and every act of the natural
face was simultaneously repeated by the supernumerary face in a
perfectly consensual manner, i.e., when the natural mouth sucked, the
second mouth sucked; when the natural face cried, yawned, or sneezed,
the second face did likewise; and the eyes of the two heads moved in
unison. The fate of the child is not known.
Home speaks of a child born in Bengal with a most peculiar fusion of
the head. The ordinary head was nearly perfect and of usual volume, but
fused with its vertex and reversed was a supernumerary head. Each head
had its own separate vessels and brain, and each an individual
sensibility, but if one had milk first the other had an abundance of
saliva in its mouth. It narrowly escaped being burned to death at
birth, as the midwife, greatly frightened by the monstrous appearance,
threw it into the fire to destroy it, from whence it was rescued,
although badly burned, the vicious conformation of the accessory head
being possibly due to the accident. At the age of four it was bitten by
a venomous serpent and, as a result, died. Its skull is in the
possession of the Royal College of Surgeons in London.
The following well-known story of Edward Mordake, though taken from lay
sources, is of sufficient notoriety and interest to be mentioned here:--
"One of the weirdest as well as most melancholy stories of human
deformity is that of Edward Mordake, said to have been heir to one of
the noblest peerages in England. He never claimed the title, however,
and committed suicide in his twenty-third year. He lived in complete
seclusion, refusing the visits even of the members of his own family.
He was a young man of fine attainments, a profound scholar, and a
musician of rare ability. His figure was remarkable for its grace, and
his face--that is to say, his natural face--was that of an Antinous.
But upon the back of his head was another face, that of a beautiful
girl, 'lovely as a dream, hideous as a devil.' The female face was a
mere mask, 'occupying only a small portion of the posterior part of the
skull, yet exhibiting every sign of intelligence, of a malignant sort,
however.' It would be seen to smile and sneer while Mordake was
weeping. The eyes would follow the movements of the spectator, and the
lips would 'gibber without ceasing.' No voice was audible, but Mordake
avers that he was kept from his rest at night by the hateful whispers
of his 'devil twin,' as he called it, 'which never sleeps, but talks to
me forever of such things as they only speak of in hell. No imagination
can conceive the dreadful temptations it sets before me. For some
unforgiven wickedness of my forefathers I am knit to this fiend--for a
fiend it surely is. I beg and beseech you to crush it out of human
semblance, even if I die for it.' Such were the words of the hapless
Mordake to Manvers and Treadwell, his physicians. In spite of careful
watching he managed to procure poison, whereof he died, leaving a
letter requesting that the 'demon face' might be destroyed before his
burial, 'lest it continues its dreadful whisperings in my grave.' At
his own request he was interred in a waste place, without stone or
legend to mark his grave."
A most curious case was that of a Fellah woman who was delivered at
Alexandria of a bicephalic monster of apparently eight months'
pregnancy. This creature, which was born dead, had one head white and
the other black the change of color commencing at the neck of the black
head. The bizarre head was of negro conformation and fully developed,
and the colored skin was found to be due to the existence of pigment
similar to that found in the black race. The husband of the woman had a
light brown skin, like an ordinary Fellah man, and it was ascertained
that there were some negro laborers in port during the woman's
pregnancy; but no definite information as to her relations with them
could be established, and whether this was a case of maternal
impression or superfetation can only be a matter of conjecture.
Fantastic monsters, such as acephalon, paracephalon, cyclops,
pseudencephalon, and the janiceps, prosopthoracopagus, disprosopus,
etc., although full of interest, will not be discussed here, as none
are ever viable for any length of time, and the declared intention of
this chapter is to include only those beings who have lived.
CLASS VIII.--The next class includes the parasitic terata, monsters
that consist of one perfect body, complete in every respect, but from
the neighborhood of whose umbilicus depends some important portion of a
second body. Pare, Benivenius, and Columbus describe adults with
acephalous monsters attached to them. Schenck mentions 13 cases, 3 of
which were observed by him. Aldrovandus shows 3 illustrations under
the name of "monstrum bicorpum monocephalon." Bustorf speaks of a case
in which the nates and lower extremities of one body proceeded out of
the abdomen of the other, which was otherwise perfect. Reichel and
Anderson mention a living parasitic monster, the inferior trunk of one
body proceeding from the pectoral region of the other.
Pare says that there was a man in Paris in 1530, quite forty years of
age, who carried about a parasite without a head, which hung pendant
from his belly. This individual was exhibited and drew great crowds.
Pare appends an illustration, which is, perhaps, one of the most
familiar in all teratology. He also gives a portrait of a man who had a
parasitic head proceeding from his epigastrium, and who was born in
Germany the same year that peace was made with the Swiss by King
Francis. This creature lived to manhood and both heads were utilized in
alimentation. Bartholinus details a history of an individual named
Lazarus-Joannes Baptista Colloredo, born in Genoa in 1617, who
exhibited himself all over Europe. From his epigastrium hung an
imperfectly developed twin that had one thigh, hands, body, arms, and a
well-formed head covered with hair, which in the normal position hung
lowest. There were signs of independent existence in the parasite,
movements of respiration, etc., but its eyes were closed, and, although
saliva constantly dribbled from its open mouth, nothing was ever
ingested. The genitals were imperfect and the arms ended in badly
formed hands. Bartholinus examined this monster at twenty-two, and has
given the best report, although while in Scotland in 1642 he was again
examined, and accredited with being married and the father of several
children who were fully and admirably developed. Moreau quotes a case
of an infant similar in conformation to the foregoing monster, who was
born in Switzerland in 1764, and whose supernumerary parts were
amputated by means of a ligature. Winslow reported before the Academie
Royale des Sciences the history of a girl of twelve who died at the
Hotel-Dieu in 1733. She was of ordinary height and of fair
conformation, with the exception that hanging from the left flank was
the inferior half of another girl of diminutive proportions. The
supernumerary body was immovable, and hung so heavily that it was said
to be supported by the hands or by a sling. Urine and feces were
evacuated at intervals from the parasite, and received into a diaper
constantly worn for this purpose. Sensibility in the two was common, an
impression applied to the parasite being felt by the girl. Winslow
gives an interesting report of the dissection of this monster, and
mentions that he had seen an Italian child of eight who had a small
head proceeding from under the cartilage of the third left rib.
Sensibility was common, pinching the ear of the parasitic head causing
the child with the perfect head to cry. Each of the two heads received
baptism, one being named John and the other Matthew. A curious question
arose in the instance of the girl, as to whether the extreme unction
should be administered to the acephalous fetus as well as to the child.
In 1742, during the Ambassadorship of the Marquis de l'Hopital at
Naples, he saw in that city an aged man, well conformed, with the
exception that, like the little girl of Winslow, he had the inferior
extremities of a male child growing from his epigastric region. Haller
and Meckel have also observed cases like this. Bordat described before
the Royal Institute of France, August, 1826, a Chinaman, twenty-one
years of age, who had an acephalous fetus attached to the surface of
his breast (possibly "A-ke").
Dickinson describes a wonderful child five years old, who, by an
extraordinary freak of nature, was an amalgamation of two children.
From the body of an otherwise perfectly formed child was a
supernumerary head protruding from a broad base attached to the lower
lumbar and sacral region. This cephalic mass was covered with hair
about four or five inches long, and showed the rudiments of an eye,
nose, mouth, and chin. This child was on exhibition when Dickinson saw
it. Montare and Reyes were commissioned by the Academy of Medicine of
Havana to examine and report on a monstrous girl of seven months,
living in Cuba. The girl was healthy and well developed, and from the
middle line of her body between the xiphoid cartilage and the
umbilicus, attached by a soft pedicle, was an accessory individual,
irregular, of ovoid shape, the smaller end, representing the head,
being upward. The parasite measured a little over 1 foot in length, 9
inches about the head, and 7 3/4 inches around the neck. The cranial
bones were distinctly felt, and the top of the head was covered by a
circlet of hair. There were two rudimentary eyebrows; the left eye was
represented by a minute perforation encircled with hair; the right eye
was traced by one end of a mucous groove which ran down to another
transverse groove representing the mouth; the right third of this
latter groove showed a primitive tongue and a triangular tooth, which
appeared at the fifth month. There was a soft, imperforate nose, and
the elements of the vertebral column could be distinguished beneath the
skin; there were no legs; apparently no vascular sounds; there was
separate sensation, as the parasite could be pinched without attracting
the perfect infant's notice. The mouth of the parasite constantly
dribbled saliva, but showed no indication of receiving aliment.
Louise L., known as "La dame a quatre jambes," was born in 1869, and
had attached to her pelvis another rudimentary pelvis and two atrophied
legs of a parasite, weighing 8 kilos. The attachment was effected by
means of a pedicle 33 cm. in diameter, having a bony basis, and being
fixed without a joint. The attachment almost obliterated the vulva and
the perineum was displaced far backward. At the insertion of the
parasite were two rudimentary mammae, one larger than the other. No
genitalia were seen on the parasite and it exhibited no active
movements, the joints of both limbs being ankylosed. The woman could
localize sensations in the parasite except those of the feet. She had
been married five years, and bore, in the space of three years, two
well-formed daughters.
Quite recently there was exhibited in the museums of the United States
an individual bearing the name "Laloo," who was born in Oudh, India,
and was the second of four children. At the time of examination he was
about nineteen years of age. The upper portion of a parasite was firmly
attached to the lower right side of the sternum of the individual by a
bony pedicle, and lower by a fleshy pedicle, and apparently contained
intestines. The anus of the parasite was imperforate; a well-developed
penis was found, but no testicles; there was a luxuriant growth of hair
on the pubes. The penis of the parasite was said to show signs of
erection at times, and urine passed through it without the knowledge of
the boy. Perspiration and elevation of temperature seemed to occur
simultaneously in both. To pander to the morbid curiosity of the
curious, the "Dime Museum" managers at one time shrewdly clothed the
parasite in female attire, calling the two brother and sister; but
there is no doubt that all the traces of sex were of the male type. An
analogous case was that of "A-Ke," a Chinaman, who was exhibited in
London early in the century, and of whom and his parasite anatomic
models are seen in our museums. Figure 58 represents an epignathus, a
peculiar type parasitic monster, in which the parasite is united to the
inferior maxillary bone of the autosite.
CLASS IX.--Of "Lusus naturae" none is more curious than that of
duplication of the lower extremities. Pare says that on January 9,
1529, there was living in Germany a male infant having four legs and
four arms. In Paris, at the Academie des Sciences, on September 6,
1830, there was presented by Madame Hen, a midwife, a living male child
with four legs, the anus being nearly below the middle of the third
buttock; and the scrotum between the two left thighs, the testicles not
yet descended. There was a well-formed and single pelvis, and the
supernumerary legs were immovable. Aldrovandus mentions several similar
instances, and gives the figure of one born in Rome; he also describes
several quadruped birds. Bardsley speaks of a male child with one head,
four arms, four legs, and double generative organs. He gives a portrait
of the child when it was a little over a year old. Heschl published in
Vienna in 1878 a description of a girl of seventeen, who instead of
having a duplication of the superior body, as in "Millie-Christine, the
two-headed nightingale," had double parts below the second lumbar
vertebra. Her head and upper body resembled a comely, delicate girl of
twelve.
Wells a describes Mrs. B., aged twenty, still alive and healthy. The
duplication in this case begins just above the waist, the spinal column
dividing at the third lumbar vertebra, below this point everything
being double. Micturition and defecation occur at different times, but
menstruation occurs simultaneously. She was married at nineteen, and
became pregnant a year later on the left side, but abortion was induced
at the fourth month on account of persistent nausea and the expectation
of impossible delivery. Whaley, in speaking of this case, said Mrs. B.
utilized her outside legs for walking; he also remarks that when he
informed her that she was pregnant on the left side she replied, "I
think you are mistaken; if it had been on my right side I would come
nearer believing it;"--and after further questioning he found, from the
patient's observation, that her right genitals were almost invariably
used for coitus. Bechlinger of Para, Brazil, describes a woman of
twenty-five, a native of Martinique, whose father was French and mother
a quadroon, who had a modified duplication of the lower body. There was
a third leg attached to a continuation of the processus coceygeus of
the sacrum, and in addition to well developed mammae regularly
situated, there were two rudimentary ones close together above the
pubes. There were two vaginae and two well-developed vulvae, both
having equally developed sensations. The sexual appetite was markedly
developed, and coitus was practised in both vaginae. A somewhat similar
case, possibly the same, is that of Blanche Dumas, born in 1860. She
had a very broad pelvis, two imperfectly developed legs, and a
supernumerary limb attached to the symphysis, without a joint, but with
slight passive movement. There was a duplication of bowel, bladder, and
genitalia. At the junction of the rudimentary limb with the body, in
front, were two rudimentary mammary glands, each containing a nipple.
Other instances of supernumerary limbs will be found in Chapter VI.
CLASS X.--The instances of diphallic terata, by their intense interest
to the natural bent of the curious mind, have always elicited much
discussion. To many of these cases have been attributed exaggerated
function, notwithstanding the fact that modern observation almost
invariably shows that the virile power diminishes in exact proportion
to the extent of duplication. Taylor quotes a description of a
monster, exhibited in London, with two distinct penises, but with only
one distinct testicle on either side. He could exercise the function of
either organ.
Schenck, Schurig, Bartholinus, Loder, and Ollsner report instances of
diphallic terata; the latter case a was in a soldier of Charles VI,
twenty-two years old, who applied to the surgeon for a bubonic
affection, and who declared that he passed urine from the orifice of
the left glans and also said that he was incapable of true coitus.
Valentini mentions an instance in a boy of four, in which the two
penises were superimposed. Bucchettoni speaks of a man with two penises
placed side by side. There was an anonymous case described of a man of
ninety-three with a penis which was for more than half its length
divided into two distinct members, the right being somewhat larger than
the left. From the middle of the penis up to the symphysis only the
lower wall of the urethra was split. Jenisch describes a diphallic
infant, the offspring of a woman of twenty-five who had been married
five years. Her first child was a well-formed female, and the second,
the infant in question, cried much during the night, and several times
vomited dark-green matter. In lieu of one penis there were two,
situated near each other, the right one of natural size and the left
larger, but not furnished with a prepuce. Each penis had its own
urethra, from which dribbled urine and some meconium. There was a
duplication of each scrotum, but only one testicle in each, and several
other minor malformations.
Gore, reported by Velpeau, has seen an infant of eight and one-half
months with two penises and three lower extremities. The penises were 4
cm. apart and the scrotum divided, containing one testicle in each
side. Each penis was provided with a urethra, urine being discharged
from both simultaneously. In a similar case, spoken of by
Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, the two organs were also separate, but urine
and semen escaped sometimes from one, sometimes from both.
The most celebrated of all the diphallic terata was Jean Baptista dos
Santos, who when but six months old was spoken of by Acton. His father
and mother were healthy and had two well-formed children. He was easily
born after an uneventful pregnancy. He was good-looking, well
proportioned, and had two distinct penises, each as large as that of a
child of six months. Urination proceeded simultaneously from both
penises; he had also two scrotums. Behind and between the legs there
was another limb, or rather two, united throughout their length. It was
connected to the pubis by a short stem 1/2 inch long and as large as
the little finger, consisting of separate bones and cartilages. There
was a patella in the supernumerary limb on the anal aspect, and a joint
freely movable. This compound limb had no power of motion, but was
endowed with sensibility. A journal in London, after quoting Acton's
description, said that the child had been exhibited in Paris, and that
the surgeons advised operation. Fisher, to whom we are indebted for an
exhaustive work in Teratology, received a report from Havana in July,
1865, which detailed a description of Santos at twenty-two years of
age, and said that he was possessed of extraordinary animal passion,
the sight of a female alone being sufficient to excite him. He was said
to use both penises, after finishing with one continuing with the
other; but this account of him does not agree with later descriptions,
in which no excessive sexual ability had been noticed. Hart describes
the adult Santos in full, and accompanies his article with an
illustration. At this time he was said to have developed double
genitals, and possibly a double bladder communicating by an imperfect
septum. At adulthood the anus was three inches anterior to the os
coceygeus. In the sitting or lying posture the supernumerary limb
rested on the front of the inner surface of the lower third of his left
thigh. He was in the habit of wearing this limb in a sling, or bound
firmly to the right thigh, to prevent its unseemly dangling when erect.
The perineum proper was absent, the entire space between the anus and
the posterior edge of the scrotum being occupied by the pedicle.
Santos' mental and physical functions were developed above normal, and
he impressed everybody with his accomplishments.
Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire records an instance in which the conformation
was similar to that of Santos. There was a third lower extremity
consisting of two limbs fused into one with a single foot containing
ten distinct digits. He calls the case one of arrested twin development.
Van Buren and Keyes describe a case in a man of forty-two, of good,
healthy appearance. The two distinct penises of normal size were
apparently well formed and were placed side by side, each attached at
its root to the symphysis. Their covering of skin was common as far as
the base of the glans; at this point they seemed distinct and perfect,
but the meatus of the left was imperforate. The right meatus was
normal, and through it most of the urine passed, though some always
dribbled through an opening in the perineum at a point where the root
of the scrotum should have been. On lifting the double-barreled penis
this opening could be seen and was of sufficient size to admit the
finger. On the right side of the aperture was an elongated and rounded
prominence similar in outline to a labium majus. This prominence
contained a testicle normal in shape and sensibility, but slightly
undersized, and surrounded, as was evident from its mobility, by a
tunica vaginalis. The left testicle lay on the tendon of the adductor
longus in the left groin; it was not fully developed, but the patient
had sexual desires, erections, and emissions. Both penises became
erect simultaneously, the right more vigorously. The left leg was
shorter than the right and congenitally smaller; the mammae were of
normal dimensions.
Sangalli speaks of a man of thirty-five who had a supernumerary penis,
furnished with a prepuce and capable of erection. At the apex of the
glans opened a canal about 12 cm. long, through which escaped monthly a
serous fluid. Smith mentions a man who had two penises and two
bladders, on one of which lithotomy was performed. According to
Ballantyne, Taruffi, the scholarly observer of terata, mentions a child
of forty-two months and height of 80 cm. who had two penises, each
furnished with a urethra and well-formed scrotal sacs which were
inserted in a fold of the groin. There were two testicles felt in the
right scrotum and one in the left. Fecal evacuations escaped through
two anal orifices. There is also another case mentioned similar to the
foregoing in a man of forty; but here there was an osseous projection
in the middle line behind the bladder. This patient said that erection
was simultaneous in both penises, and that he had not married because
of his chagrin over his deformity. Cole speaks of a child with two
well-developed male organs, one to the left and the other to the right
of the median line, and about 1/4 or 1/2 inch apart at birth. The
urethra bifurcated in the perineal region and sent a branch to each
penis, and urine passed from each meatus. The scrotum was divided into
three compartments by two raphes, and each compartment contained a
testicle. The anus at birth was imperforate, but the child was
successfully operated on, and at its sixtieth day weighed 17 pounds.
Lange says that an infant was brought to Karg for relief of anal
atresia when fourteen days old. It was found to possess duplicate
penises, which communicated each to its distinct half of the bladder as
defined by a median fold. The scrotum was divided into three portions
by two raphes, and each lateral compartment contained a fully formed
testicle. This child died because of its anal malformation, which we
notice is a frequent associate of malformations or duplicity of the
penis. There is an example in an infant described in which there were
two penises, each about 1/2 inch long, and a divided scrotal sac 21
inches long. Englisch speaks of a German of forty who possessed a
double penis of the bifid type.
Ballantyne and his associates define diphallic terata as individuals
provided with two more or less well-formed and more or less separate
penises, who may show also other malformations of the adjoining parts
and organs (e.g., septate bladder), but who are not possessed of more
than two lower limbs. This definition excludes, therefore, the cases in
which in addition to a double penis there is a supernumerary lower
extremity--such a case, for example, as that of Jean Baptista dos
Santos, so frequently described by teratologists. It also excludes the
more evident double terata, and, of course, the cases of duplication of
the female genital organs (double clitoris, vulva, vagina, and uterus).
Although Schurig, Meckel, Himly, Taruffi, and others give bibliographic
lists of diphallic terata, even in them erroneous references are
common, and there is evidence to show that many cases have been
duplicated under different names. Ballantyne and Skirving have
consulted all the older original references available and eliminated
duplications of reports and, adhering to their original definition,
have collected and described individually 20 cases; they offer the
following conclusions:--
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