Essays In Pastoral MedicineWalsh, James J. (James Joseph)
Religion
Essays In Pastoral Medicine
Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
First aid in illness and injury; Medicine
The second group of the double autositic monsters are _Terata
Anadidyma_--terata divided from below upward. The first genus is the
_Dipygus_. This has a single body above, but a double pelvis with
double lower extremities in the typical cases. There is an exact
description of a double monster of this kind in the Gaelic _Annals of
the Four Masters_ as early as the year 727 of this era. The chronicler
says in that year on Dalkey Island near Dublin, "There was a cow seen
which had one head and one body as far as her shoulders, two bodies
from her shoulders hindward, and two tails. She had eight legs, and
she was milked three times a day."
A perfect human Dipygus with two equally developed pairs of legs is
unknown. Catherine Kaufmann, who was born in 1876, and who died in
1878, had a double pelvis with double pelvic organs in part, but she
had only one pair of legs. There is a similar anomaly said to be
living in Philadelphia at present. Blanche Dumas, born in 1860, had a
double pelvis, double pelvic organs, and three legs. Mrs. B., born in
1868, {84} had four legs--the two inner ones were smaller than the
outer pair. Her spinal column was divided up to the third lumbar
vertebra. Her double pelvic organs acted independently. There are
living male examples of this form of monster.
The next genus is the _Syncephalus_, called also _Janus_ and
_Janiceps_. Its lower body is double up to the umbilicus, the trunk
single above that point; the head shows signs of doubling, and there
are four legs and four arms; the bodies grow front to front. The head
usually is large, therefore this monster is born dead.
Another genus is the _Craniopagus_--twins joined only by the skull or
scalp. There are three species, named from the place of
union--_Craniopagus Frontalis, C. Parietalis_, and _C. Occipitalis_.
A third group of double autositic monsters are the _Terata
Anakatadidyma_, which are divided above and below, but joined from the
navel to the head. There are three genera. The first, the
_Prosopothoracopagus_, is joined at the upper abdomen, the chest, and
the faces; the spinal columns are separate. The faces are imperfect,
the jaws are united; there is a broad neck with one oesophagus, and
there is one stomach and one duodenum. This is a rare form, and it can
not exist out of the uterus.
A second genus, the _Thoracopagus_, has a thorax in common, and the
inner legs may be united. It is, as a rule, still-born.
The next genus is the _Omphalopagus_, in which the twins are joined
from the navel to the bottom of the chest. This double monster has the
slightest union of all, and it is very rare. The Siamese Twins were
omphalopagi. They quarrelled; one became a drunkard and the other
remained temperate. They married two women, and Chang had ten
children, and Eng twelve. Chang died while Eng was asleep, and the
latter died two hours after he had waked and learned of his brother's
death.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account