It is scarcely necessary for me to repeat the evidence from which it has
been concluded that without doubt such twins arise by division of the
same fertilised ovum. There is a perfect series of gradations connecting
them with the various forms of double monsters united by homologous
parts. They have been shown several times to be enclosed in the same
chorion, and the proofs of experimental embryology show that in several
animals by the separation of the two first hemispheres of a dividing egg
twins can be produced. Lastly we have recently had the extraordinarily
interesting demonstration of Loeb, to which I may specially refer.
Herbst some years ago found that in sea water, from which all lime salts
had been removed, the segments of the living egg fall apart as they are
formed. Using this method Loeb has shown that a temporary immersion in
lime-free sea water may result in the production of 90 per cent. of
twins. We are therefore safe in regarding the homologous or "identical"
twins as resulting from the divisions of one fertilised egg, while the
non-identical or "fraternal" twins, as they are called, arise by the
fertilisation of two separate ova.[3]
In the resemblance of identical twins we have an extreme case of
hereditary likeness[4] and a proof, if any were needed, that the
cause of individual variation is to be sought in the differentiation
of germ-cells. The resemblance of identical twins depends on two
circumstances, First, since only two germ-cells take part in their
production, difference between the germ cells of the same individual
cannot affect them. Secondly the division of the fertilised ovum,
the process by which they became two instead of one, must have been
a symmetrical division. The structure of twins raises however one
extremely significant difficulty, which as yet we cannot in any way
explain. The resemblance between twins is a phenomenon of symmetry,
like the resemblance between the two sides of a bilaterally symmetrical
body. Not only is the general resemblance readily so interpreted, but
we know also that in double monsters, namely unseparated twins, various
anatomical abnormalities shown by the one half-body are frequently shown
by the other half-also.[5] The two belong to one system of symmetry.
How then does it happen that the body of one of a pair of twins does
not show a transposition of viscera? We know that the relation of right
and left implies that the one should be the mirror-image of the other.
Such a relation of images may be maintained even in minute details.
For example if the same pattern of finger-print is given by the fingers
of the two hands, one is the reverse of the other. In double monsters,
namely unseparated twins, there is evidence that an inversion of viscera
does occur with some frequency. Evidence from such cases is not so clear
and simple as might be expected, because as a matter of fact, the heart
and stomach, upon which the asymmetry of the viscera chiefly depend, are
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