Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1871-06-02
REMARKABLE HUMAN MON
STROSITY.
The Double Baby before JeHersen
Medical Coilegc-Dcscription Of tho
Wonder. "

Mcd1cul sAo
Wonder.
From tho Philadelphia Ledger, May19.]
The very curious and interesting
double baby, now on exhibition Mt the
Museum at Ninth and Arch streets,
was made the subject Of q scientific
examination aud lecture, yesterday, ut
the Jefferson Medical College. DR.. +.
Gctcliell, who delivered the lecture,
had examined the child ut the Museum,
aud felt so much interest In 1t that he
procured permission to Introduce 1t
before the faculty of the College, and
medical students. The child WAS
brought into the a%mphiteatre of the
College, In q little crib, nicely adapted
to its peculiar form. The crib was
then placed OH the revolving table, in
full Wow of the audience, the body Of
the child being covered by neat bed
clothing. At each end Of the little
bell was n bright and pretty little
face, one being plump and cheerful,
and the other i little thin. Both, how
ever, were very sprightly.
As the two faces lay in the crib they
gave the idea of two very short babies
lying with their heads In opposite
directions and their feet In contact.
And this idea was strengthened by the
fact that while II face was laughing
and one set of hands were playing
with DR.. Getchell's pencil, the face Mt
the other end wore quite a sedate eS-
preston, and its eyes were looking
about In seeming wonderment at the
movements of the lecturer and his as
sistants. Subsequently the child-or
rather that end Of the double child
which had been laughing and playing
hurt itself with n key which 1t had In
its hands, and began to cry, while the
face ut the other end began to laugh.
When the clothing was removed, the
two heads and two sets Of arms and
hands were found to be attached to n
body, joined together just rs If two
separate babies were cut through the
middle OF the abdomen, just at the
waist, and then the two upper halves
united at that point. There Is a fully
developed sot of shoulders to each
head, and a fully developed chest or
thorax to each, but from the breast or
chest ut one end to the breast or chest
mt the other there il only IN trunk.
On one side ttlIe left side OF the plump
baby, Just where the waists Of the two
come together, there are two hips and
two we'll formed legs, extending ut
q right angle from the body, like ex-
tended arms. These look as If the
lower half of one of the babies, from
the middle of the abdomen down, had
grown out of that side, and this part
of the body performs the functions for
both heads and the half bodies attached.
On the other side, also extending from
the waist at = right angle, is u long
ex~crcscencc, composed OF the bones
and toes OF two other legs, inclosed IN
one skin, and having the appearance
OF one dcformed leg.
The two photographs and other pub
lished pictures give n fair Idea of the
child, except rs to the two bright,
pretty little faces, which it is n real
pleasure to look at. 1t Is the only eX-
hibited curiosity We have ever seer
that has not been exaggerated In the
descriptions Of it. LII this case the
simple truth and fact are so strong that
there Is no room for cXag,-eration. DIR.
Getchell states that the child was born
in Morris county, Ohio, October IL,
1870, and Is now about seven months
old. The birth was natural and easy 4;
SO much so that the child was born half
an hour before the doctor, who had
been sent for, arrived.
At birth 1t weighed about twelve
pounds. The mother was healthy, and
was not aware Of any circumstances to
account for the peculiar and very OK
traordinary form of the child. Since
its birth it has been healthy, suffering
only from the common complaints Ill
cident to all children in carly infancy.
The mother ut first nursed both heads
until recently. when she found that
she had not milk enough, and Que
being rather less strong than the other,
she now nurses the feebler II only,
and the other Is fed from 4 bottle.
The circulation Of the blood mt the
two extremities of this double child Is
perfectly independent The pulse ut
the wrists of one set of arms had, upon
examination, been found to be six
beats faster than that Of the other,
while the prick ola pin or pinch Of the
shoulders attached to one head is.not
noticed by the other. Sometimes one
Is asleep whilst the other Is awake and
playing, and again both are asleep.
The curious being Is Of an exceed
ingly rare class of what the medical
books call monsters" There are
plenty of cases of deformities In the
upright position, where two persons
are Joined together; but specimens OF
this class have been very rare, and
have generally died very soonrafter
birth. They are almost always fe-
males The lecturer had never heard
of one of the male sex. Engravings
of two cases nearly similar to this
were exhibited By tile lecturer, one of
which was in Il medical work in Latin,
published in the seventeenth century.
That one lived but q few days. There
was another almost precisely similar
birth In Spain, in the early part of this
century, but that II also died, after
existence of five days. The present
one, the lecturer thought, had a fair
chance to live. as it digested and assim-
Hated its food Is do other human
beings.