Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-06-20
Anecdnfes of Twins

CFrom Prof. Cations Book on Human Faculty.l
Two twins were fond of playing tricks,
and complaints were frequently made;
but the boys would never own which
was the guilty one, and the complalnants
were never certain which of the two he
was. One head master used to say that
he would never fog the innocent tor 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 ad.
dressing it in the belief it was the other
twin III person.
[ have many anecdotes OF mistakes
when the twins were grown up. Thus:
Amusing scenes occurred at college
when one twin came to visit the other,
the porter on one occasion refusing to
let the visitor out of the college gates,
for though they stood side by side, he
professed ignorance as to which he
ought TO allow to depart.
Children are usually quick in distin-
gushing between their parents and his
or her twin; but have two cases to the
contrary. Thus the daughter of twin
says: "Such was the marvellous
similarity of their voice, features, and
manner, etc., that [ remember as a chil6
being very much puzzled, and, [ think,
had my aunt lived much with US,
should have ended by thinking that I
had two mothers.
In the other case, father who was a
twin, remarks of himself and his broth
er: "We were extremely alike, and are
so at this moment, so much so that our
oh %n CIV nj II
not know us apart.
I 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 then and there. a.
managed to see her home and TO gain
| her affection, though B went sometimes
counting in his place, and neither the
| young lady nor her parents could tel
which was which.
I have also German letter, written
in quaint terms, about twin brothers
who married sisters, but could not easily
be distinguished by them.
In the well-known novel of Wilkie
| Collins of ''POor Miss Finch" the BLIND
| girl distinguishes the twin she loves by
| the touch of his hand, which gives hel
a thrill that the touch of the other broth
er does not. Philosophers have not, ]
believe, as yet investigated the condi.
lions of such thrills but [ have case
in which Miss Finch's test would have
failed. Two persons, both friends of 8
certain twin lady, told me that she had
| frequently remarked to them that kiss.
ing her twin sister was not like kissing
her other sisters, but like kissing her
self-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 a few anecdotes
of strange mistakes made between twins
IN adult life. Thus an officer writes:
son one occasion, when l returned
from foreign service, my father turned
to me and said, Il thought you were in
London, thinking [ was my brother
| yet he had not seen me for ne 8rly four
years-our resemblance.was so great.
The next and last anecdote I shall
give is perhaps the most remarkable OF
| those L have. 1t was sent me by the
brother of the twins, who were in mid
| die life at the time of its occurrence:
''Iwas coming home from India on
leave. The ship did not arrive until
some days after it was due. The twin
brother B had come up from his quar-
tiers to receive A. and their old mother
| was very nervous. One morning A
rushed in, saying, 20. mother, how are
you? Her answer was, No, B; it's a
bad joke. You know how anxious 1
am 1t was little time before A could
persuade her that be was the real man.