Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1876-03-17

About Twins.
Mistakes made by near relatives, between
twins, are numerous, but not very varied
in character. When the twins are children,
they have commonly 10 be distinguished
by ribbons tied round their wrist or neck !;
nevertheless the one is sometimes fed,
physicked, and whipped by mistake for
the other, and the description of these little
domestic catastrophes is usually given to
me by The mother, in phraseology that is
somewhat touching by reason of it's seri-
business. have one case in which doubt
remains whether the children were not
changed in their bath, and the presumed A
is not really b, and vice versa. In another
case an artist was engaged on the portraits
of twins who were between three and four
years of age; he had to lay aside his work
for three weeks, and, on resuming ii, could
not tell to which child the respective like
nesses he had in hand belonged. The mis-
takes are less numerous on the part of the
mother during the boyhood and girlhood
of the twins, but almost as frequent on the
part of strangers. have many instances
of tutors being unable TO distinguish their
twin pupils. Thus, two girls used regular
ly to impose on their music-teacher when
one of them wanted whole holiday; they
had their lessons at separate hours, and the
one girl sacrificed herself to receive two
lessons on the same day, while the other
one enjoyed herself. Here is brief and
comprehensive account: Exactly alike
in all, their school masters never could tell
them apart; at dancing parties they con-
SANITY changed partners without discov-
cry; their close resemblance is scarcely
diminished by age."' The following is a
typical school-boy anecdote: Two twins
were fond Of playing tricks, and complaints
were frequently made; but the boys would
never own which was the guilty one, and
complainants were never certain which OF
the two he was. One head master used TO
say he would never fog the innocent for
the guilty, and another used to fog both.
No less than nine anecdotes have reached
me of a twin seeing his or her reflection in
a looking-glass, and addressing IT,, in the
belief it was the other twin in person. /
have many anecdotes of mistakes when the
twins were nearly grown up. Thus
Amusing scenes occurred at college when
one twin came to visit the other; the por-
ter on one occasion refusing to let the Wis
itor out OF the college gates, for, though
they stood side by side, he professed ignor.
ance as TO which he ought to allow to de-
part" Children are usually quick in dis
tinguishing between their parent and his
or her twin but 1 have two cases to the
contrary. Thus, the daughter Of a twin
says: "Such was The marvellous similari-
ty of their features, voice, manner, &c,
that remember, as a child, being very
lived much with us, I should have ended
by thinking 1 had two mothers" The
other, a father of twins, remarks: ave
were extremely alike, and are so at this
moment, so much so that our children up
TO five and six years old did not know us
apart" l have four or five instances OF
doubt during an engagement of marriage.
Thus: "a married first, but both twins
met the lady together for the first time,
and fell in love with her there and then.
A managed 10 see her home and TO gain
her affection, though b went sometimes
counting in his place, and neither the lady
nor her parents could tell which was
which," l have also German letter, writ
Ten in quaint terms, about twin brothers
who married sisters, but could not easily
be distinguished by them. In the we'll
known novel by Mr.. Wilkie Collins OF
Poor Miss Finch, the blind girl distin-
guishes the twin she loves by the touch Of
his hand, which gives her thrill that the
touch of the other brother does not. Phi
losophers have not, believe, as yet inves-
tigated the conditions of such thrills but
l have q case in which Miss Finch's test
would have failed. Two persons, both
friends of certain twin lady, told me that
she had frequently remarked to them that
kissing her twin sister was not like kissing
her other sisters, but like kissing herself
her own hand, for example. 1t would be
an interesting experiment for twins who
were closely alike to try how far dogs
could distinguish between them by scent.
have few anecdotes of strange mistakes
made between twins in adult life. Thus,
an officer writes: "On one occasion when
returned from foreign service my father
turned 10 me and said: Il thought you
were in Lordon,' thinking was my broth
er-yet he had not seen me for nearly four
years-our resemblance was so great" The
next and last anecdote I shall give is, per-
haps, the most remarkable of those that l
have. 1t was sent me by the brother of the
twins, who were In middle life at the time
of the occurrence. A was again coming
home from India on leavei the ship did
not arrive for some days after it was due
the twin brother had come up from his
quarters to receive A, and their old moth
err was very nervous. One morning A
rushed in, saying, "oh, mother, how are
your Her answer was, mo, b, it's a
bad joke, you know how anxious I am -
and 1t was little time before A could per.
suade her that he was the real man.-Fran-
els Gallon.