The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-02-05
Sketch of the Siamese Twins.

The Siamese Twins, Eng and Chang,
up to the time of their death resided in
North Carolina. They were born at a
small village on the coast of Siam, in
the year 1911. Their parents got their
living by fishing, and until 1929, when
Eng and Chang were brought to the
United States, they made their living
by selling shellfsh. Their mother bore
seventeen children. At one time she
gave birth to three and never less than
two. But none of these children were
deformed.
The Twins were united at the ante
rior part of the chest by a prolongation
of kind of heshy band the size of the
hand. This band of flesh is about two
inches broad and four inches thick.
The whole mass is tough and capable
of being considerably extended. One
could whisper in the ear of one of them
without the other hearing, while vola-
tile salts applied to the nostrils of one
had no effect on the other: and while
pinching the arm Of one excited no SEN
sation in the other, still if you but
stick pin in the exact vertical centre
! finch from the hurt. The Twins were
other, They played a good game of
draughts, made pretty much the same
moves, and at the same time, and quite
frequently played against each other.
After attracting a vast amount of at
| tention among scientists and physiolo-
gists i'll the old world, they married two
sisters, and settled down near Sails
bury, N. c., on a well-stocked planta-
ton. In addition they had at one
period ample funds invested through
their agent in New York. During the
war they continued to reside on their
plantation, and lived in the same quiet
and harmony as ever, until some few
years afterwards. OF course, no one
ever thought of drafting them and their
negroes prospered. The brothers prob
ably never would have had any diff
Guilty, but that their wives, though sis
ters, turned away their hearts. Up to
the period that each had five children
all prospered we'll enough, but one of
them had a sixth, and this awoke envy
and jealousy to such degree that the
twin sisters, not being bound together
like the twin brothers, would no longer
live under the same roof. The brothers
were, it seems, about fifty four years of
age, but one, we believe, the smaller
and feebler of the two, looked, it is
said, ten years older than the other
They could turn either back to back or
face to face, but that is as far as the re-
markable bond that united them per-
mitted.
1t was almost certain, as their death
showed, that should either die the
other could not survive, as there was an
artery as large as the femoral artery
that connected them. A few years since
they corresponded with some of the
leading surgical operators in London,
as to the possibility of the umbilicus
being cut, so that i'll case of the death of
one, the life of the other might be
saved. At the request of London sur
geon they visited that city, and many
experiments were tried to determine
the safety of such an operation, but
they returned again to the United
States with the understanding that no
surgical operation could ever be sue
cessfully performed.
The twins were both members of the
same church, having united with a small
| Baptist church in their neighborhood,
of which they were considered very
worthy members.