Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1889-07-26
Has TWO Hearts.

Pittsburg Dispatch.
"Is, Doc,ah WiIlyumm m King. the Yau-
kce Black Man from Boston. rse got two
hearts. am two sets Of ribs an Kim
stop eoder Lgart-.ies Is easy,
Tie foregoing wa- the startling su
nouncemc1t Of short. heavy set negro
who strobe into the Dispatch editorial
rooms last night The coNrcd gentleman
took Off his COAT. mopped his brow with q
bandana. and dropped into a chair. lie
then raised lis only remaining upper gar
ment and proceeded 90 roli about his ab
domcu, which consisted of great seit
bulb, in % most ludiorous manner. sud
denly the workings Of the muscles ceased.
and, when the city editor and the reporters
put their hands on the negro, where FOR
merly there had only been soft lulb
there was now hard, resistant, bosy cage.
In other words, the ribs appeared to extend
from the neck to the legs.
With the hands of the spectator, still Oh
these false ribs. the latter We're gradually
allowed to recede, and apparently tele-
scoped up behind the true ribs.
Vt the request og Mr. King, the city edi-
tor put a hand on each side of the negro's
chest, and was surprised to find distinct
impulse or thud on each side, just below
the nipple, as though two hearts were
beating against the ribs Next the negro.
after a sort Of convul.iou Of The abdominal
muscles, protruded a violently throbbing
internal object down below his ribs on his
left side; then allowing this to recede to Its
place, he pulled down what he called his
other heart, which could be seen and felt
pulsating low down on the right side.
With one hand on this pulsating mass and
the other on the left breast, both hearts
could be felt distinctly beating.
Here it was thought advisable to call in
physician to explain the phenomenon. \
messenger was sent out, and soon returned
with Dr. Chevalier @ Jackson. The doe
tor proceeded to make thorough exami.
nation, and soon reported the results sub
stantially as follows:
The man has two distinct hearts, CON
nected only by the large blood vessels and
probably very elastic perieardium. He
| has the power of moving these two hearts
independently, and can place them one at
a time down in his groins, where they can
be seen and felt pulsating He can stop
one or both from beating for period Of a
minute and probably longer. If I would let
him. The stopping Of either heart stops
/ the pulSebeat on the corresponding side.
/ If both hearts are stopped no pulsation can
/ be detected over the heart, at the wrist,
temples, nor anywhere else in the body.
The eft'heart is the larger. being as big
as eocoanut which is a large heart foI
this sized man. The right heart is smaller
about as big as a goose egg. When one
heart is down in the flank. and the other in
its natural place, the two organs are sepa-
rated about II inches. As they lie ordi-
narily in the chest they are about two
or or three inches apart
His pulsation is about normal; but he
has murmur in his right heart which may
be from drinking. lie has an alcoholic
pulse and probably if he don't give NJ
whisky he will turn up some fine morning
ON the dissecting table. He will be wortI
more dead than living-that is, worth NOR,
financially, for any anatomist will Civ,
! $40, 600 for his body As to the phenom
enon of stopping his heart, that is not Al
absolutely new thing; there have been
three similar cases known to science; on,
who. after stopping his heart for exhibition
failed to get it going again, and died il
consequence None of the three cases
refer to could stop their hearts for as great
length of time as this man. ! have
warned him to be careful, for he already
has a murmur in his right heart, and witt
his alcoholic habit it will be no surprise tC
me to hear of him some day not being able
to start his heart after stopping 1T.
The most peculiar thing about it is the
fact that each heart appears to be complete
and to furnish blood each to its own side o.
the body In some species of the lower
animals there are two distinct hearts, but
in them the right side sends blood to the
lungs and the left side to the general cir
culation through the whole body. As tC
his second set of ribs, they seem to be
there, but the great thickness and rigidity
of his muscles makes positive examina-
tion impossible; certain it is, however, he
has some sort of bony formation which he
has the power to bring down so as to cover
his bowels and his entire belly, so as To
make his trunk resemble a bony barrel.
will make more thorough examination OF
him when l have more time. He is GER
tainly the only man living who has any OF
the peculiar qualities that he has shown
me.
Mr.. King is about > feet , inches in
height, of herculean build, with gigantic
biceps. He has travelled from one end OF
the earth to the other exhibiting his pc
culiar attributes to the medical profession.
lie is at present boarding near the south
end of the Panhandle tunnel. He says he
is ~ years old though he does not look it
| by 80 years. lie claims to be able to bend
a three-quarter inch iron bar across his
left arm; and to feel his arm no one would
doubt it. Physicians everywhere are in
tensely interested in his case