Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1869-04-03
THE sIAMEsE TWINS.
Their Life and the Tie that Binds
t.tI Them. ...r .,,"..


The London Times has the follow
ing interesting facts concerning the
Siamese twins: .... +, ....,.
The return to this country Of the
Siamese twins, thirty-eight years after
their first appearance here, has natu-
rally excited good deal of interest
and curiosity, both among men of
science and the general public. The
rumor that preceded them to the eff.
feet that the bond of their long union
might, perhaps, be shortly severed,
has added much to this feeling, aud
has given occasion to some very un-
necessary sensational writing upon
the subject. For this reason, and
also because some of the popular no.
tions about twins have been even ex-
aggerated with regard to them, we
think it desirable to place before our
readers short account of the facts
of the case. r.. ..a~st.r g.
Chang and Eng, the Siamese twins,
were born in May, 1911, so that they
are not quite fifty-eight years old
They are of short stature, Eng, the
taller of the two, being five feet two
and half inches high, and Chang
about an inch shorter. They have
had excellent health throughout
life, and possess good muscular de-
velopment. The band that unites
them sprang originally from the lower
portion Of each breast bone, and kept
them face to face; but their efforts
during childhood to attain a more
convenient position produced some
bending of the yielding structures
concerned, so that they can now stand
nearly, but not quite, shoulder to
shoulder, in which position they usu-
ally cross their adjacent arms behind
each others backs. When necessary,
however, as at meals, they can bring
both arms forward without inconve-
nience. The band itself is about four
inches in length. 1t is rather more
than seven inches in circumference in
the center, and more than three inches
deep at its junction with each body.
1t is unfortunately too thick to be
under any circumstances translucent;
and all attempts to see by means OF
the lime or magnesium light the ma,
ture of the contained structures have
ended in failure. As far as can be
estimated by the touch, the band con-
tains at its upper part the cartridges
of the two breast bones, curved round
and meeting at its center, and united
by a sort of imperfect joint. To
these cartilages are added those Of
some adjacent ribs, probably of the
seventh and eighth, At the lower
part it is quite certain that the gene
raj cavity Of the abdomen Of each
brother enters the band, but whether
these cavities communicate in the
center, can not be ascertaincd with
certainty. Tho nerves of each
brother pass little beyond the mid
die of the baud, so that touch is fell
by both over central portion about
an inch in width but beyond that
portion only by the brother that is
touched. The blood-vessels of each
must in like manner communicate, but
there is nothing like interchange o.
blood between the two, and some ex'
periments have been made which
show that chemical agents introduced
in one body have no appreciable CT
feet upon the other. The hearts o.
the two brothers are perfectly distinct
and even somewhat unlike; the pulses
of the two at the time of our inspec'
ton were a little different in fire.
> quency and decidedly SO in charac
ter. On various occasions they have
been extremely different. The respi
ration of the twins is wholly indepen'
dent Of each other. ,.f.l .-s.a u
1t may, therefore, be said broadly
that there is no more intimate union
between Chang and Eng than such as
might be effected artifcially between
any two persons. They are in every
respect two men, with the misfortune
of this connecting band. Their men
tai operations are entirely distinct, O.
which we can perhaps givsno better
illustration than by saying that whcr
playing chess against an adversary
they consult one another about the
next move. Their original resem
blance, the necessities of their posi-
, ton, and the fact that thek expert