The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1874-04-03

/ = 80 Hls
] The mystery that has surrounded
/ the existence Of these monsters is at
last solved, and the question whether
they couldhave survived a separation,
although perhaps not beyond the
bounds of dispute, is, we think, pref
ty clearly established. We have re-
Trained from presenting our readers
the daily telegraphic dispatches rela-
ting tb the progress of the case, be-
cause they presented no positive in
formation, and VIE preferred to wait
for the official report of the post NOR
fem examination; which Is now before
us.
Casts and photographs were taken
at various steps III the proceedings,
Ind everything Has beeA done that
could possibly elucidat6 the marvel,
and render the knowledge perma-
hent 1t is probably, from this point
Of view, the most remarkable exami-
nation ever made in the annals of
medical science.
The history of these monsters is al
ready sufficiently familiar toall We
will therefore not refer to it further
than to say that the band uniting
them extended from the lower por-
ton of the breast bone down toward
the navel, and was four inches long
and eight inches in circumference.
Their names, Chang and Eng, were
respectively the Siamese words for
left and right. Chang was consider
ed to be the more intellectual Of the
two, Eng the more muscular.
The whole interest iii the case,
during their lives, depended upon
the nature of this band, and the ques1
ton whether it might be safely divid-
ed has at different times been an
swered differently by surgeons of
equal repute. They were themselves
always opposed to the idea of sepata-
ton, except in one instance, during
their residence in North Carolina,
when, after a more severe quarrel
than usual, they applied to their
physician, DR.. Hollingsworth, to sep
arate them, saying that they could no
longer live together. He, however,
dissuaded them, and their temperhad |
time to cool off. Examination has
shown, we think, that the attempt
would hardly have been successful. |
The band was found to contain three
folds of the peritoneum, or lining
membrane of the abdominal cavity. |
Two passed from Chang to Eng, the
upper and the lower, and one in the
middle from Eng to Chang. The
upper pouch, which was the largest
passing from Chang to Eng, fairly |
entered the abdomen of Eng, although |
it was not continuous with it, l. e., its
extremity, although closed, lay in the
abdomen of Eng The middle and /
lower pouches extended a little be-
yond the middle line of the band.
Between the large upper pouch and
the middle pouch from Eng to Chang,
Ntun OVhlSNbllS ANSI puluy ruiz
ming from the liver of the one to that
of the other. This was demonstrated
by injecting colored plaster solution
into the vessels of the liver of Chang,
and finding thecolored injection flow
ing freely through the liver of Eng.
In the absence of any positive proof
Bf the substance of the liver in this
band, DR.. Allen preferred to desig-
nate it as the 'tract Of portal contin-
uity,"
We thus SEQ that any attempt to
separate them would have involved
cutting through this band, having
such intimate relations with the liver
of each.
With the publication of the report
the excitement in the popular mind
will soon cease. Their lives certain
ly were not lovely, and their death
in some respects shocking to our hui
man sensibilities.