The Ethics of Medical Homicide and MutilationO'Malley, Austin
Religion
The Ethics of Medical Homicide and Mutilation
O'Malley, Austin
Medical ethics
I described the various kinds of terata in _Essays in Pastoral
medicine_,[58b] and of these the most important in the matter under
discussion here are the double and triple monsters. Many of the
double monsters evidently were two persons. There is only one well
authenticated case of a triple human monster, and this happened in
Italy in 1831. It had a single broad body with three distinct heads
and two necks, and was killed in delivery. There is no proof as to
whether it was one or more persons. The standard of judgment in such
cases as regards the presence of one or two souls in the monster
is the evidence of one or more distinct consciousnesses. A monster
double from the navel or breast downward (_terata anadidyma_) is,
I think, one person. There was an example of a monster in this
group which was divided from the foreheads downward; or better,
the distinct twins were united by their foreheads only; but such a
form is very exceptional. In my article on "Human Terata and the
Sacraments," in _Essays in Pastoral Medicine_, in 1906, I expressed
the opinion that a monster which is single to the navel and double
below is composed of two persons, but I now am of the opinion that
such a monster is only one person, because there is apparently only
one consciousness. There are about eight cases of two-headed monsters
known which were evidently two persons in each case, and several
terata kata-anadidyma, divided above and below but joined at the
sternum, abdomen or sacrum. Several ischiopagic twins, joined at the
pelvis with the heads at the opposite ends of the double body, are
grouped with either the katadidyma or kata-anadidyma. It is commonly
not difficult to recognize individuality or duality of personality in
monsters, but it is not easy to explain the origin of life, to point
out the moment the _second_ soul enters these fused or undivided
twins.
[58b] Chap. vi, p. 69. New York, 1906.
We can artificially obtain double embryos of frogs by inverting
the blastomeres in the two-cell stage.[58c] We thus get united
twins with heads turned in opposite directions, twins united back
to back like the Blazek Sisters, twins united by their ventral
sides, and double-headed tadpoles, but we have no knowledge of
how similar doubling in human monsters takes place; we must guess
vaguely from analogy. There was one soul, at least, present from
the one-cell stage of the human monster; when the second soul
is created and infused we do not know, but the moment of the
creation of this second soul has no practical significance in
this discussion.
[58c] See Wilson, _op cit._., p. 421.
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