Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1870-11-11
THE DOUBLE CHILD.
a Professional Description.

The Delaware (O.) Gozette gives
full description of the "doublc
child" OF which mention was made
in the Eremi,g Past last week:
'Ten days ago the wife of Samu-
cl Finley, a farmer residing in Nor
row county, about five miles south
east Of Ashley, gave birth to one of
the most singular malformations of
the human species ever heard of in
any age or country. The mother
was not allowed a sight Of hel off.
spring until after the physician who
had been summoned arrived, when
it was exhibited to her, and, as we
are told, caused her to swoon. And
no wonder, for human eyes probably
never looked upon such a develop
ment of the human form.
One OF our prominent physicians,
who has seen and examined this
strange freak of nature, tavors us
with the following clear and accu-
rate description:
'This wonderful thing can be tr,,-
ly called double child. There is
bat one spine, at each extremity Of
which there is perfectly formed
head and face. Each has well form
ell shoulders, arms and hands, and
4 good chest, containing lungs and
heart, as any other human being.
Each has also a stomach and liver.
There is bu; one navel, which is III
the centre of the abdomen, cquidis-
tant from the two heads. 1t is at
:hc middle Of the body that the two
a"e grown together. The abdomen
l|, ears to be but one, and the or
cans contained in it, below the stom-
ach and small intcStines, are proba-
bis common to the two, as there is
but one external outlet.
Upon one side, ut right angles to
he body, there is a wcll-tormed pair
# hips, legs and feet. Upon the
opposite side there is one large LEG
i'ossibly the consolidation of two
lcgs) upon the extremity of which
5here are eight toes. Most mon,
>tr"Sitlcs are reru9nant to lock up
| on. This one Is not so in any r.
sPect, excepting TINS lee.
This child, or those children, ar,
now ten days old, and are doing as
well as children mostly do at tina,
period Of existence. One will b.
asleep'whilc the other is CRYING, and
sometimes both will sleep or cry al
the same time The natural outlets
from the body are in their natura
position. between the perfect pair o
legs, and are common to the two
there being no outlet upon the oppo
site side. In sex it is female. tn,
length from the top of one head to
the top Of the other is twenty in h
cs, and the weight at birth was ter
pounds
There are no terms in our Ian
guage applicable to such Il phcnom
enon; it is something for which tn,
dictionary makers have made NJ
provision whateves. and which ut
.crly contoundS all grammatical
rules rs to gender, number and per
son. Let any one undertake to write
about it, being precise as to tho
meaning and application of terms
and he will at once recognize tn,
poverty of language.
As might be expected, the house
of Mr.. F'ilcy has, during the pas
ten days, been overrun with visitors
come to witness this wonderful Gu
riosity. So great is the press thai
| it has been found necessary to
| charge IN admission fee which is
now fixed ut one dollar. We under
stand the parents have been offered
ten thousand dollas for the dual in
i:ant, the offer being unconditional
as to whether it should live or not
The offer has not been, and proba-
bly, will not be accepted"
The following extract from anoth-
er account of the phenomenon will
add to the completeness of the de-
scriptlon:
There are two perfectly formed
| heads, one on either end Of the spi-
nal column. To give a clear idea
just suppose that You sever the bod
les OF two men at the lower part Of
the abdomen, and then put the two
upper parts together, and you have
the trunk of this child. At the in
stance Of Drs. Williams and Little,
the clothing was taken from it, and
i critical examination was made, SO
| far rs could he without doing ln.u-
~. From the occipnt OF one child
to the occiput Of the other, there is
Il continuous spine, in Il direct line.
| Upon one side. and directly in the
centre of the trunk, we perfectly
developed hips, thighs, legs and
icct. They are in n.cc proportion
10 the body OF either child. On the
opposite side there is one large i'm,
perfectly formed leg, presenting the
| appearance of the consolidation OF
two legs.