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
In Katadidyma (terata divided from above downward), when we have
dicephali, ischiopagi, or pygopagi, there are evidently two
individuals present. Is the Diprosopus, however, the two-faced
monster, possessed of one or two souls? The cases vary, as we said,
from examples with two distinct faces and four ears to cases that have
merely two noses. What portion of a human body is required to contain
a new soul? That is an interesting question for the psychologist and a
very practical one for the moralist, and no moralist has yet attempted
to solve it. The presence of a brain is not essential, because
acephalous monsters develop without brain, and they are born alive;
they have a vital principle which is identical with the soul.
Among the Terata Anadidyma (divided from below upward) the Syncephalus
and the Craniopagus are unquestionably two persons. Is the Dipygus
(single down to the navel, double below) one or two persons? Mrs. B.,
the example already given, was as double below the navel as any
Dicephalus is above that point. She had features so well ordered in
unity that she was a pretty woman, but that unity ceased at her waist.
Was her husband unknowingly a bigamist? I think he was. After a
consideration of the fission of terata, and the non-essential quality
of the brain, why should fission that started at the feet differ from
fission that started at the head?
In the _Rituale Romanum Pauli V._ (tit. ii. cap. i. nn. 18, 19, 20,
21), the following directions for the baptising of terata are given:
{87}
18. In monstris vero baptizandis, si casus eveniat, magna cautio
adhibenda est, de quo si opus fuerit, Ordinarius loci; vel alii
periti consulantur, nisi mortis periculum immineat.
19. Monstrum, quod humanam speciem non praeseferat, baptizari non
debet; de quo si dubium fuerit, baptizetur sub hac conditione: _Si
tu es homo, ego te baptizo,_ etc.
20. lllud vero, de quo dubium est, una ne, aut plures sint personae,
non baptizetur, donec id discernatur: discerni autem potest, si
habeat unum vel plura capita, unum vel plura pectora; tunc enim
totidem erunt corda et animae, hominesque distincti, et eo casu
singuli seorsum sunt baptizandi, unicuique dicendo: _Ego te
baptizo_, etc Si vero periculum mortis immineat, tempusque non
suppetat, ut singuli separatim baptizentur, potent minister
singulorum capitibus aquam infundens omnes simul baptizari, dicendo:
_Ego vos baptizo_, in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti.
Quam tamen formam in iis solum, et in aliis similibus mortis
periculis, ad plures simul baptizandos, et ubi tempus non patitur,
ut singuli separatim baptizentur, alias numquam, licet adhibere.
21. Quando vero non est certum in monstro esse duas personas, ut
quia duo capita et duo pectora non habet distincta; tunc debet
primum unus absolute baptizari, et postea alter sub conditione, hoc
modo: _Si non es baptizatus, ego te baptizo in nomine Patris, et
Filii, et Spiritus sancti._
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