CONTRIBUTION TO TERATOLOGY. 
JOSEPH JONES, WL. D., 
Piesident Louisiana State Medical Society; Professor of Chemistry and Clinica' 
Medicine, Medical Department Tulane University of Louisiana; Visiting 
Physician, Charity Hospital, New Orleans. 
Definition of Teratology; Giants and Dwarfs; Classification of Mon 
strosities ; Four-Legged Child, J. Myrtle Corban ; Siamase Twins; 
Hungarian Sisters; Carolina Twins, Millie and Christine; John 
Allen; Hermaphroditism; Miss Emily Landry, the Bearded Girl 
Delivered before the Louisiana State Medical Society at its 
ioth Annual Session, Monroe, Louisiana, April 25th, 1888. CONTRIBUTION TO TERATOLOGY. 
The word Teratology which we owe to Geoffroy St, 
Hilaire, literally means the science oi monsters; and in the 
present article we shall apply the term to the doctrine of 
congenital deformities. Teratology in a scientific sense 
constitutes a part of pathological anatomy, which comprises 
all anomalies of the organization; those which occur during 
intra-uterine life are called congenital, and those which 
arise during extra-uterine life, acquired. What are com- 
monly called monsters, are most generally referable to the 
former; that is, to the imperfections of the primitive for- 
mation. 
Teratology, therefore, as a department of Morphological 
Science, treats of the deviation from the normal develop- 
ment of the embryo. The term “ embryo ” is conven- 
tionally limited in human anatomy to the ovum in the first 
three months of its intra-uterine existence, in which it is 
still developing and acquiring the rudiments of its form; 
the term foetus being applied to it in the subsequent months 
during which the organism grows in the lines of the 
development already laid down. It is mostly in the first or 
embryonic period that these deviations from the normal type 
occur which present themselves as monstrosities at the 
time of birth. These early traces of deviation within the 
embryo may be slight, but they “grow with the growth 
and strengthen with the strength,” until they amount to 
irreparable defects, accretions often incompatible with 
extra-uterine life. 
Although monstrosities both in the human species and ani- 
mals tend to repeat certain definite types of erroneous de- 
velopment, they do not fall readily into classes. 
It is remarked by Vrolik that a scientific classification is 
Definition of Teratology. 3 
impracticable from being too cumbrous, and that a conven- 
ient grouping is all that need be attempted. The most 
usual grouping originally suggested by Buffon (1800), is 
into monstra per excessum, monstra per defectum, and 
monstra per fabricam alienam. Some writers, however, 
place the more simple cases of excess and defect side by 
side, and separate the double monsters from the single, the 
theory of the former being a distinct chapter in Teratology 
The origin of monstrosities, has been referred to two 
main causes: 1. To the original malformation of the 
germ. 2. To the subsequent deformation of the embryo 
by causes operating on its development. 
It is evident that giants and dwarfs are not referable to 
the action of these causes, because in both forms of mon- 
strosity nothing peculiar may be noticed at birth. The in- 
fant of the future giant may be small and well proportion- 
ed, and that of the dwarf large and well proportioned. 
Giants are conventionally limited to persons over seven 
feet in height, and after the examination of one dozen ex- 
amples of giants and about the same number of dwarfs, 
the results of my observations may be thus formulated: 
(a) In rare instances the development of the giant is sym- 
metrical; in many cases (excluding of course those indi- 
viduals who have suffered from rickets or injuries of the 
spine in infancy or youth), dwarfs are well formed. 
(b) In giants the skull is relatively small. Accurate 
measurements even in the best proportioned cases prove, 
when reduced to a scale, that other parts besides the skull, 
especially the thigh bones and the feet, may be undersized 
though overgrown. The brain case especially is under- 
sized. 
(c) In many giants the muscles and viscera are not suf- 
ficient for the overgrown frame, and they are usually of 
feeble intelligence and languid disposition and short-lived. 
(d) In most cases the indications of great stature do not 
appear at birth, and in some individuals not until the ninth 4 
year, and they generally attain their full height before the 
2 ist year. 
(e) Giants are not born of gigantic parents and are most 
generally sterile. 
(f) Dwarfs, which are conventionally limited to persons 
under four feet in height, are more intelligent and more 
lively and more symmetrically formed than giants. 
(g) In the dwarf as a general rule the proportion be- 
tween the several parts is good, corresponding with those 
of the normal adult, the diminutive stature depending not 
upon the relative imperfect growth of any one of the seg- 
ments, or upon the permanence of a foetal or child-like con- 
dition, but upon the general want of growth. 
When disproportion occurs in a true dwarf, it takes the 
form of a large-sized head, broad shoulders and capacious 
chest and undersized lower extremities. 
(h.) Although dwarfs are generally strong, active and 
long-lived, and endowed with strong passions and acute in- 
telligencers in the case of giants, they are usually sterile. 
Mexican or “Aztec” Dwarfs. 
At various times idiotic Mexican and Central American 
dwarfs have been exhibited in various parts of the United 
States, as descendants of the Aztecs who founded the 
City of Mexico, and were conquered in 1518-1520 by 
Cortez. These dwarfs were characterized by black short 
hair, copper-colored skin, large prominent nose, retreating 
forehead and small crania. In profile they strongly resem 
ble many of the ancient Mexican and Central American 
carvings. Traditions of the existence of races of dwarfs 
have existed in various portions of North and South 
America, and it has been affirmed that portions of the 
Cumberland valley, in Tennessee, of the isthmus of Panama 
and of Peru were inhabited by dwarfs. I have, in the 
years 1866 and 1867, investigated the graves of the so- 5 
called ancient pigmies of Tennessee, and found them to be 
occupied by the skeletons of children. The carvings, 
however, upon some of the ancient Central American 
monuments would appear to confirm the tradition that a 
race of dwarfs existed in former ages, and took part in 
military operations and political changes. 
In 1855, I examined, in Philadelphia, two idiotic Mexi- 
can children, exhibited publicly, as “The Aztec Children.” 
These dwarfed and idiotic Central American children 
have thus been described by Dr. John C. Dalton, in his 
“ Treatise on Human Physiology,” 4th ed., p. 409. 
“There were a boy and a girl, aged respectively about 
seven and five years. The boy was about 2 feet inches 
high, and weighed a little over twenty pounds. The girl 
was 2 feet 5 inches high, and weighed seventeen pounds. 
Their bodies were tolerably well proportioned, but the 
cranial cavities were extremely small. The antero-posterior 
diameter of the boy’s head was only inches, the trans- 
verse diameter less than 4 inches. The antero-posterior 
diameter of the girl’s head was \]/2 inches, the transverse 
diameter only inches. The habits of these children, so 
far as regards feeding and taking care of themselves, were 
those of children three or four years of age. They were 
incapable of learning to talk, and could only repeat a few 
isolated words. 
Notwithstanding, however, the extremely limited range 
of their intellectual powers, these children were remarka- 
bly vivacious and excitable. While awake they were in 
almost perpetual motion, and any new object or toy pre- 
sented to them immediately attracted their attention, and 
evidently awakened a lively curiosity. They were accord- 
ingly easily influenced by proper management and under- 
stood readily the meaning of those who addressed them, 
so far as this meaning could be conveyed by gesticulation 
and the tones of their voices. 
Their expression and general appearance, though de- 6 
cidedly idiotic, were not at all disagreeable or repulsive, 
and tht\ weie much less troublesome to the persons who 
had them in charge than is often the case with idiots pos- 
sessing a larger cerebral development.” 
During the past ten years I have examined five other 
similar “ Aztec idiots, four of which are represented in 
the following engraving (No. 2). 
Mexican- Idiots.— 
“Dt*c*udants of the 
Ancient Aztecs of 
Mexico.” 
In 1885, a girl 
with Aztec fea- 
tures, with excess- 
ively small cra- 
nium, was exhibit- 
ed on Canal street, 
and although the 
coloring and fea- 
tures were Mexi- 
can, her keeper 
aflirmed that she 
Dwas a native of 
Hay St. Louis, 
Miss., and was of 
Indian parentage. 
This girl, of 
about 12 years of 
age,was not larger 
than an ordinary 
child of 6 years of age. Although lame from an injury of 
the left hip, the femur having been broken and the limb 
shortened, the child was in perpetual motion; had no 
power of speech. When a pet dog was brought near she 
passed her hands through the cage in which she was con- 
fined and caught its leg and seized it with her teeth. She 
Engraving No. 2. 7 
also endeavored to scratch and bite all the children who 
approached her cage. 
At the close of the recent Exposition in New Orleans, I 
obtained two Mexican babies preserved in alcohol, which 
presented the same prominent features, with small crania, 
which characterized all these so-called Aztecs. 
In figure No. 2, A A and C C, are represented the fe- 
males, and in B B and D D the males. 
A A and B B were exhibited together in 1S84, and C 
C and D D had been exhibited in this city some years 
previously. 
The woman represented by the figure A A died in this 
city whilst on exhibition at Grunewald Hall,.on Baronne 
street, of what her attending physician styled retro-pha- 
ryngeal abscess. 
At the request of her exhibitor, Mr. Keller, the body 
was delivered to the Medical Department of the University 
of Louisiana for dissection, as will be seen from the fol- 
lowing letter of Dr. A. B. Miles, at that time Demonstrator 
of Anatomy. 
Medical Department, University of Louisiana, \ 
New Orleans, La., February 14, 1884. j 
My Deai- Doctor—I enclose certificate of death of a Mexican woman, 
who, during life, was on exhibition at Grunewald Hall. 
The manager of the show proposes giving the body to the College. 
With your permission, I will have it removed to-night. 
If a written permission be necessary, you will oblige me by sending 
by bearer. Im am very respectfully, 
A. B. Miles. 
Dr. Joseph Jones, 
President Board of Health, State of Louisiana. 
The necessary permit was granted, and I made careful 
examinations of the body, internal organs and cranium. 
I record the following results of my observations and 
cranial measurements. Engraving No. 3 represents the 
front and side view of the cranium of this woman. 
Engraving No. 3.—Cranium, front and side view of Mexican (Aztec) 
woman, see Engraving No. 2, A A. 
Mexican woman, A, Engraving No. 2. 
Died from retro-pharyngeal abscess, at Dime Museum, Baronne street 
near Canal, February 14, 1884. 
Well-formed; fat plump trunk and extremities. Marks of extensive 
cicatrix, apparently caused by a burn on right side of buttock and thigh. 8 
Engraving No. 3.—Crank m ok Mexican (Aztec) Woman. 
No mark* of previous pregnancy. Apparent age, about 21. Wisdom 
teeth perfectly formed. Chest well-developed and full; mamma: well- 
formed and firm. Hands and feet and upper and lower extremities well 
formed; the former small and beautiful. Limbs round; they as well as 
the abdomen and body generally encased in a thick layer of fat. Height 
about 4 feet 4 inches. Cranium remarkably small, with retreating fore- 
head and prognathous jaws. Teeth full and perfect, ifiabove and 16 below. 
Lower jaw large-boned and powerful. 
Facial angle, 62°; frontal diameter, 2f inches. 
Contents ot cranium, 360 cubic centimeters ■■ 23.5 cubic inches. 
Biparietal diameter, inches; occipito-trontal diameter, inches. 
Intermastoid diameter, 48 inches; diameter vertical from mafgin of 
foramen magnum to most prominent portion of arch of cranium, 4} 
inches. 
Frontal diameter, between the antero-inferior angles of the parietal 
bones, inches. 
Vertical diameter, from the fossa between the condyles of the occipital 
bone to top of skull, 3.5 inches. 
Intermastoid arch, from one mastoid process to the other over the 
arch of cranium, o.8 inches. 
Intermastoid line, distance in straight line between the points of the 
mastoid processes, 9.2 inches. 
Occipito-frontal arch, posterior margin of foramen magnum to the 
suture of os frontis and nasal bones, 14 inches. 
Horizontal periphery, os frontis above superciliary ridge and most 
prominent part of occipital bone, 13# inches. 
Vertical circumference of cranium over meatus of foramen magnum, 
S| inches. 
Diameter meatus to meatus, 3# inches; cubic capacity of cranium, 
23cubic inches; length of each ramus of lower jaw, 38 inches: greatest 
width of lower jaw, inches; greatest width ot each ramus, ijj inches. 
Distance of posterior border of foramen magnum to occipital protu- 
berance, 2 inches; distance of anterior border of foramen magnum to 
symphysis of rami (chin), 4-iV inches; diameter of foramen magnum 
(large), it1, inches. 9 
After many measurements of the crania of various races, 
as the Mound Builders of the Mississippi Valley, the 
North American Indians, the Anglo-Saxon, the Negro of 
Africa, the mummies of Egypt, Arabs, Malays and Chinese, 
I have found the cranium of this Mexican woman to be of 
less cubic capacity than any which has ever come under 
my observation. 
So remarkable was the smallness of the brain of this 
Mexican woman that I instituted careful measurements of 
the crania of such animals as it had been in my power to 
procure and prepare for my private collection of compara- 
tive anatomy, as will be shown in the following table: 
Name of Animal. 
Mexican Woman (Aztec). 
Fossil Sloth (Megalonjx Jeffersonii) 
American Bison (Buffalo), male 
Horse (draught) 
Horse (draught) 
Mule 
Capacity 
of cranium 
in cubic 
centimeters. 
360 
520 
1560 
660 
670 
Capacity 
of cranium 
in cubic 
inches. 
23-5 
32.0 
34-6 
40.7 
4i-3 
46-5 
Texas Steer (long horns) 
560 
346 
Bull (short horns,) 
510 
31-6 
Sheep (Ram, long horns) 
no 
6.8 
Goat (long horns) 
105 
6.4 
Sheep (Ram, long horns) 
130 
S.o 
Sheep (Yew) 
120 
7-4 
American Deer (Buck, long horns) 
165 
10.2 
American Deer (Buck, long horns) 
160 
9.9 
Large Dog (cur) 
100 
6.2 
Hog (male). 
Go 
10.4 
Hog (female) 
no 
6.8 
Large Brown American Bear 
250 
15-5 
Brown American Bear 
230 
14.2 
Brown Russian Bear 
240 
14.9 
The most interesting cranium embraced in the preceding 
measurements is that of the fossil sloth of the Missis- 
sippi Valley (Megalonyx Jeffersonii), which I have figured 
in engraving No. 4, figure No. 1. This specimen was 
found in the loess near Natchez, Mississippi. 
The drawing represents only a fragment of the tooth, 
5 inches in length. The entire tooth was formerly 10 
inches in length. 10 
Engraving No. 4.—Fossil Mammalia of Mississippi Valley 
l FIG. 3 
FIG. 2 
FIG I 
Figure 1.—Cranium of Megalonyx Jeffersonii. Cubic capacity of 
cranium, 520 cc = 32 cubic inches. Length of superior surface of cra- 
nium, 13 inches. Width of opening of proboscis, inches. Perpendicu- 
lar diameter of cranium, 7 inches. Length of cranium from border of 
foramen magnum to end of upper jaw, 14 inches. 
Figure 2.—Molar of Mastodon giganteus, Adams county, Miss. 
Length, 9 inches; from crown to end of fang, 8 inches. Figure No. 3.— 
Molar of Elephas primogenius or Mammoth, from St. Landry parish, La. 
From the preceding explanation we obtain the remarka- 
ble results that the cubic capacity of this Mexican (A/tec) 
idiotic dwarf is 160 centimeters less than that of the ex- 
tinct North American sloth, Megalonyx Jcffcrsonii\ 200 
less than that of the American bison; 310 less than that of 
the horse; 390 less than that of the mule; 200 less than 
that of the Texas steer, and only no cubic inches more 
that that of the cranium of the American brown bear. 
The capacity of this Mexican cranium was not more 
than about one-fourth of the well-developed human cra- 
nium. 11 
Causes of Congenital Anomalies. 
If the germ be considered as a product or secretion by 
the female organism, upon which the male sperm acts with 
its material and vital influences, the germ may be originally 
malformed, owing to some influence proceeding either from 
the female or male sex. 
I. Original Malformation of the Germ. 
II. Deformation of the Originally Well-Formed 
Germ. 
(a) By mental impression of the pregnant woman. 
(b) By external injuries suffered by pregnant women. 
(c) By the supervention of diseases during the period 
of pregnancy. There are instances of the foetus being the 
subject of intermittent fever (P. Russell); of sudden 
death, occasioned by frightful agitation of the mother 
(Wienholdt); of jaundice communicated by the mother 
(Kerckring); of small-pox (Jenner, Montgomery, Fried- 
lander); of syphilis and scarlet fever (R.Lee); of yellow 
fever (Joseph Jones, M.D.)—all derived from the mother. 
III. Diseases of the Ovum and Fcetus. 
(a) Acute and chronic placentitis. 
(b) Destruction of the coats of the ovum. 
(c) Formation of pseudo-membranes; brides placen- 
taires of Professor St. Hilaire. • 
(d) Morbid states of the coats of the ovum: molcefungo- 
sce, carnosce, cruentce, and tendinosoe. 
Valentin distinguishes in the sanguineous mass of mol a 
carnosa a net of vessels, from which the blood issues. It 
is the vascular net of the chorion, in which the mass of 
blood has been collected, in consequence of too great a 
supply from the uterus. By these means the villi are dis- 
tended and removed. The ovum being thus degenerated, 
occasions defective respiration and nutrition of the foetus, 
which, in consequence, soon dies. The ovum, however, 
may still continue to grow, and is finally expelled. In this 
manner these molce are frequently the cause of miscarriage. 12 
IV. Impeded Development of the Fcetus from Some 
Remote or Unknown Cause. 
It has been a subject of dispute whether the deforming 
cause operates on the foetus in its totality, or whether it af- 
fects originally only one system, which spreads its deform- 
ing influence over all the others. This last idea was em- 
braced by Tiedemann, who at first deduced all monstros- 
ities from some defect of the vascular, and later from the 
nervous, system. 
W. Vrolik has ably contested this view of Tiedemann. 
Classification of Monstrosities. 
We shall avoid a critical examination of the systems pro- 
posed by Licetus, Huber, Wigtel, Malacarne, Buffon, Blu- 
menbach, Breschet, Geotfroy St. Hilaire, Gurlt, Otto and 
Bischoff, and we shall adopt the simple grouping of the 
learned Dr. W. Vrolik, taking embryogenesis as the basis. 
I. Malformation of the Ovum. 
( a) - Wolabotryoides or Hydatica, Hydrometra A quatica: 
This is a degeneration of the chorion into vesicles of dif- 
ferent sizes, filled with a serous liquor, which were erro- 
neously taken for hydatids. 
(b) Separation of the Placenta into Lobes or Cotyledons. 
(c) The Vesicles of the Umbilical Cord are separated 
near the placenta and meet at a considerable distance from 
it. 
(d) The Umbilical Cord too long. The common length 
of the cord is 20 inches, but it maybe 48 inches, and some- 
times 5 feet. This abnormal length of the cord may cause 
its circumvolution around the fcetus, strangulation and 
death, or, by constricting one of the extremities, causing 
spontaneous amputation. 
(e) The Umbilical Cord too short. The minimum meas- 
ure has been stated at 7 inches, but the cord may, however, 
be much less. This condition may cause ectopia of the 
abdominal viscera. 
(f) Absence of one of the Umbilical Arteries. This 13 
may be observed in double monsters, but occurs princi- 
pally in Ectopia Viscerum Abdominalium, and in defective 
formation of the inferior parts of the body. 
(g) Increased Number of the Vesicles of the Cord. 
(h) Persistence of the Umbilical Vesicle. 
(i) Constriction of the Umbilical Cord. 
(j) The Umbilical Cord too thick. 
II. Malformation of the Fcetus. 
A. Monstrosities Produced by the Arrest of Devel 
OPMENT. 
i. Non-closure of the Anterior Part of the Body. 
(a) Fissure of the whole anterior wall of the body. 
(b ) Fisstire of the thorax. 
(c) Fissure of the anterior abdominal wall. Complete 
ectopia of the abdominal viscera; congenital umbilical 
hernia; congenital ventral hernia; acquired umbilical her- 
nia. 
(d) Fissure of the -pubic and hypogastric regions. 
Formation of a cloaca; congenital fissure of the urinary 
bladder, ectopia vesicas urinariae, inversio vesicas urinarias. 
(e) Cervical fissure (fistula colli congenita}. 
(f) Fissure of the face. Complete fissure of the face; 
double labium leporinum ; single hare-lip; fissure of the 
palate without a hare-lip; fissure of the under-lip. 
2. Fissure of the Skull—Acrania. 
(a) Want of the brain and exposure of the whole basis 
of the skull. 
(b) The denuded surface of the basis cranii occupied 
by a spongy substance instead of brain. 
(c) The surface of the basis cranii only partially 
denuded and a spongy tumor occupying the place of the 
brain. 
(d) The skull flat and closed, but having an opening 
through which the brain protrudes as a hernia. 
3. Fissure of the Back Part of the Body. 
(a) Hydrorachis and spina bifida. 14 
4 Hydrocephalus Congenitus. 
(a) Hydrocephalus Internus. 
(b) Hydrocephalus Externus. 
5. Acephalia or Fcetus Without a Head. 
6 Want and Defective Formation of the Trunk,— 
Acomia. 
7. Defective Formation of the Extremities. 
8 Cyclopia. 
9. Deficiency of the under jaw—Monotia. 
B. Monstrosities Produced by an Excess of Devel- 
opment. 
1. Fcetus in Fcetu. 
The human foetus may be in another foetus or adhere 
to its body. This may happen in two different manners: 
First, a foetus more or less perfect contained in the cavity 
of the body of its twin brother or sister. Second, the 
more or less developed rudiments of a foetus adhere, in 
the form of a tumor, to the external surface of a second 
body, and are covered by the external integuments.. 
2. Double Monsters—Heteradelphi, 
in which one of the foetuses is more or less perfect and 
the other merely an appendix to it,| and these are called 
Heteradclph i. 
Under this name, Ifcteradclphs, which we owe to Geof- 
froy St. Hilaire, we understand that species of double 
monster, of which one fcetus is large and perfect, and an- 
other, or part of another, adheres to it like a parasite. 
They should be considered as tzvins, of which one has been 
developed at the expense of the other, which other some- 
times becomes partially included in its . body. According 
to the more or less perfect state of the appendix, they are 
reduced to different species: First species, the appendix 
consists of a head only; second, the appendix consists of 
more or less developed extremities only; third, the appen- 
dix is an acephalus with four extremities; fourth, the ap- 
pendix a complete body, with a head and four extremities. 15 
This form of Heteradelph makes the transition to the an- 
terior duplicity. The appendix has but to be more equally 
proportioned to the chief body, and a completely double 
monster is formed. 
3. Double Monsters. 
(a) Anterior Duplicity.—It has been observed that 
some of the rarer kinds of Heteradelphia approximate 
closely to the double monsters. 
(b) Lateral Duplicity.—In lateral duplicity the two 
bodies are not set opposite to one another, but are turned 
sideways from one another. They have a common tho- 
racic cavity, for the formation of which, at least in the high- 
est degree of duplicity, the right ribs of one body and the 
left of the other proceed towards the anterior and posterior 
aspects, and are there connected with an anterior and pos- 
terior sternum. 
The numerous varieties of lateral duplicity may be divid- 
ed into two principal sets. The first begins with the com- 
plete duplicity of the whole body and ends with its perfect 
singleness; in the second, the duplicity of the body re- 
mains, but the head gradually becomes single. The forms 
herein included may be divided into 13 groups. 
(c) Inferior Duplicity.—This division of double mon- 
sters includes those cases in which there are two complete 
bodies, with the lower portions of their respective trunks 
united, so that there is a head with upper extremities both 
above and below (the bodies being placed in the same 
straight line) and on either side of the part at which they 
meet two lower limbs. 
(d) Posterior Duplicity.—In this form two bodies are 
united by their backs, or apart of them. The union may 
be at the pelvis (which is most common), and occurred in 
the well-known Hungarian sisters, who lived to their twen- 
ty-second year; or at the back of the vertebral column, or 
at the back part of the heads. 
(e) Superior Duplicity.—In superior duplicity the two 
children are connected by their skulls, the bones of which 16 
are united so as to form a single skull—all these are true 
double monsters. 
4. Triple Monsters. 
This form of monstrosity appears to he very rare as it 
appears that but one instance has been recorded in the hu- 
man subject. 
The preceding brief of the labors of various 
writers, but more especially of W. Yrolik, enables us to 
refer to their position in the classification of monstrosities 
those cases which have come under our observation. 
We do not propose upon this occasion an exhaustive de- 
scription and anatomical dissection of the numerous 
cases of double monsters in the lower animals, now in 
our possession, as a double-headed snake (Coronella ge- 
tula), the two perfectly formed heads being joined upon 
the same lateral plane of the common neck; several spec- 
imens of doubled-headed chickens; double-headed chick- 
ens with four legs; double-headed pigs, with two anterior 
and four posterior extremities; eight-legged calf, etc. We 
desire to place on record two or more cases which appear 
to be worthy of study and preservation. 
As tar as my observations have extended those remark- 
able cases of monstrosity, when two or more individuals 
are united, the changes may be referred to definite laws of 
union, and of altered or aberrated development of the 
ovum. In such cases, the unions are symmetrical, or may 
be referred either to the union at an early stage of two or 
more impregnated ova, or to a division or fission of the sin- 
gle ovum, or to an excess of the developmental powers 
of the ovum. 
But we never have in such monstrosities a new genus or 
species produced. The acephalous monster, the double- 
headed monster, and all the varied forms of monstrosity 
in the human race partake of one common nature, and are 
incapable of propagating their peculiarities, and are thus 
incapable of originating new species or genera. 17 
Four-Legged Child—J. Myrtle Corban. 
One of the most remarkable instances of monstrosity 
which has come under my observation is that of the four- 
legged infant, J. Myrtle Corban, examined and described 
by Prof. Paul F. Eve and myself in Nashville, Tennessee, 
June 16, 1868. 
The following engraving (No. 5) represents the appear- 
ance of this monstrosity : 
Engraving No. 5. 
Four-Legged Child, J. 
Myrtle Corban, June 16, 
1S68, About 5 Weeks of 
P 
Age. 
The following description of the infant, J. Myrtle Corban, 
was prepared by the late Prof Paul F. Eve and myself. . 
Nashville, Tenn., June 16, 1868.—The undersigned, in response to 
the request of a number of physipirfns and the relatives and friends of the 
unfortunate subject of this investigation, give the following testimony: 
The infant, J. Myrtle Corban, has four legs and two distinct external 
female organs of generation, with two external openings of the urethra 
and two external openings of the double rectum. The external genito- 
urinary organs are as distinct as if they belonged to two separate human 
beings. The faeces and urine are passed (most generally simultaneously, 
particularly the urine) from both external urinary and intestinal open- 
ings, situated respectively between the left and right pairs of legs. 
The head and trunk are those of a living, well-developed, healthy, ac- 
tive infant of about five weeks, whilst the lower portion of the body is 
divided into the members of two distinct individuals, near the junction of 
the spinal column with the os sacrum. As far as our examination could 
,be prosecuted in the living child, we are led to the belief that the lower 
portion of the spinal column is divided or cleft and that there are two 
pelvic arches supporting the four limbs, which are situated upon the same 
plane. 
Photographs of this infant have been made by the advice and under the 
supervision of one of our number. 
The reality in this case surpasses expectation, and we are of the opinion 
that this interesting living monstrosity exceeds in its curious manifestation 
of the powers of nature in abnormal productions, the celebrated “Siam- 
ese Twins.” 
Joseph Jones, M. D., 
Prof, of Phys. and Path., U. of Nashville. 
Paul F. Eve, M. D., 
Prof, of Surgery, University of Nashville. 18 
Further remarks by Profs, ptones and Ere.—Josephine Myrtle is the 
third offspring of W. H. and Nancy Corban, aged twenty-five and thirty- 
four, the wife being the senior by nine years. They are so much alike in 
appearance, having red hair, blue eye6 and very fair complexion, as to 
produce the impression of their being blood kin, which, however, is not 
the case. Mrs. Cobban is from North Alabama, had borne one child to a 
former husband, the child having dark coloring, and resembling mostly 
the father, who had black hair and eyes. Her three children are all girls; 
the one already alluded to, now six years old, another three, and this 
infant monstrosity, now to be more minutely described, born the 12th of 
May, 1868, in Lincoln county, Tennessee, five weeks ago. 
Mr. Corban is a Georgian, served in the Confederate army through the 
war, and was severely wounded in the right and left hands. The parents 
are in fair health, though the mother is antrmie. She recollects no fright 
or disturbance during her last pregnancy. The presentation was fortu- 
nately her head, which accounts for the preservation of the life of the 
child. It would be curious to speculate on the trouble which might have 
been produced had the feet or breach presented, while the result, in all 
probability, would have proved fatal to the infant, and possibly to the 
mother. Mrs. Corban says that there was nothing peculiar in the labor 
or delivery. When throe weeks old the child weighed ten pounds. It 
now nurses healthily, is thriving well, and we saw it urinate simultane- 
ously, between the two pairs of labia of the two vagiwr, situated about 
six inches apart. From the crown of the head to the umbilicus the child 
measures twelve inches, and from this point to the toes of the right and 
left external feet, eleven inches. From the umbilicus up, all is natural 
and well-formed; all below this, extraordinary and unnatural. An inch 
below the navel is a mark of an apparent failure for a second one. There 
are four distinct pretty well developed, lower extremities. They exist in 
pairs on both sides of' the median line, which resembles the cleft of an 
ordinary pair of legs; but here there are no marks whatever of anus or 
genital organs, and upon pressure we discover no os coccygis or sacrum. 
The outer legs of both 6ides are the most natural of the four (though the 
foot of the right one is clubbed), but are widely separated by the two 
supernumerary ones, which are less developed, except at their junction 
with the body, from which they taper to the feet and toes more diminu- 
tive and which are turned inwards. One toe is bifid on the left extra in- 
ward extremity. At birth these extra legs were folded flat upon the abdo- 
men. We are led to believe that there are two uteri as well as two recta; 
in fact, that the pelvic organs are double. Of course a minute dissection 
would alone expose the true condition of these parts. 
Should this infant reach maturity and the internal generative organs 
be double, there is nothing to prevent conception on both sides. The 
first difficulty will, however, be in her walking. The outer, or external 
legs, may be used for progression; the inner or inturned ones, probably 
never. Lhese might be successfully amputated at the knee, or higher up. 
One of us recollects of being in London, in January, 1830, at an exhibi- 
tion of the Siamese Twins, when Sir Astley Cooper gave an opinion ad- 
verse to an operation with a view to separate them, but which has always 
appeared to us feasible and without much risk of peritonitis; an opera- 
tion, too, which should undoubtedly be performed in case of the death of 
one of them, for no medical man believes in the vulgar impression that 
they must die simultaneously. In the present case all surgical interfer- 
ence is, of course, out of the question, except that alluded to—removal of 
the extra legs. 
Cases somewhat similar to the above have occurred and been described. 
Rokitansky refers to two completely distinct bodies conjoined at their 
ossa sacra'or coccyges, as in the well-known Hungarian sisters, Helena 
and Judith, born in 1701, who survived their twenty-second year. 
Geoffroy St. Hilaire alludes to cases of a trunk with two heads, some 
even Janus-like, having four upper and four lower extremities. 19 
The case, however, recalled most vividly by Josephine Myrtle, is that of 
Rita-Christina, well-known in Europe, and accurately described in this 
country years ago by Prof. Meigs. In this wonderful instance there were 
two heads, two necks, four arms, but only two legs; and was thus the re- 
verse of our case. From the umbilicus down there was one well-formed 
child, but above this all the organs were double; in reality there existed 
two beings. The rectum and bladder were common to both, but all else in 
the trunk was double and distinct. One would sleep while the other 
played, etc., for they had tivo spinal marrovjs, tzvo brains, tivo hearts, 
but the last two occupied a common pericardium. Unfortunately, after 
surviving a little over a year, one sickened and died, when the other, then 
in health, instantly expired. 
Rita and Christina were born in Sardinia, 1829, and described by Dr. De 
Michaelis, Professor of Surgery in the Royal University of Sassari, and 
lived eighteen months. 
The late Prof. J. C. Warren, of Boston, first described the Siamese 
Twins brothers, when purchased of their mother by Capt. Coffin and Mr. 
Hunter ("joint owners), and brought to that city in 1829. 
The infant, J. Myrtle Corban, described by Prof. Paul 
F. Eve and myself in 1868, appears to be one and the same 
individual as the lady described in the following report of 
the Alabama State Medical Association, published in the 
New Orleans Picayune of April 13th, 1888 : 
Montgomery, Ala., April ij, 1888.—The State Medical Association ad- 
journed without day this evening, having been in session here since Tues- 
day morning. 
Dr. Milton C. Baldridge..of Huntsville, was elected president, Dr. B. 
F. Cross, of Decatur, vice-president, and Dr. B. M. Hughes, of Birming- 
ham, orator. 
Mobile was chosen as the place for holding the next annual meeting. 
A wonderful case of deformity or freak of nature, which is without a 
parallel in all history, has come to light in Alabama. Dr. Lewis Whaley, 
of Birmingham, read a paper presenting the strange case to the State Med- 
cal Association last night. 
The phenomenon is in the person of Mrs. Clinton Bicknel, a white lady, 
who resides in Alabama. She is a perfectly double woman in her body 
and lower extremities, having four legs, four feet and two separate and 
distinct but complete sets of physical organs. 
Dr. Whaley was called to see the lady some weeks ago, and was non- 
plussed by her strange sickness and symptoms. 
He called in two other physicians to assist him in making a diagnosis of 
the case. Thev fecund on examination that Mrs. Bicknel was in a state of 
pregnancy on one side only—the left side. They found it necessary to 
produce an abortion and she gave premature birth to a well-formed child. 
Sometimes, the doctors say, the lady suffered with diarrhoea on one side 
of her body and constipation on the other. 
She was formerly Miss Josephine Myrtle Corban. At 18 she married 
Clinton Bicknel and is now 20 years of age. At present she enjoys good 
health. 
Photographs of the lady were presented to the Association by Dr. Wha- 
ley, illustrating the marvelous case of deformity which has attracted more 
attention than anything that has ever come to the notice of medical science 
in Alabama. 
I was compelled to rely upon the report of the Picayune 
until a brief answer was received from my letter of inquiry 20 
addressed to the President of the Alabama Medical Asso- 
ciation, which we here record. 
Birmingham, Ala., May 17, 1888. 
Dr .Joseph Jones—Dear Doctor: Your surmises are correct. Yesterday 
evening for the first time since yours of the 4th inst., I saw Dr. Lewis 
Whaley. The lady, Mrs. Bicknel, of Blouut county, Ala., is the Myrtle 
Corban of days gone by. Attractive in face, physically well and able to 
attend to all her household duties. Dr. W. has seen her quite recently. 
He promised me yesterday evening to have some photographs taken from 
his latest and will give me one to send to you at the earliest practical 
date. I regretted that I could not find a delegate to your meeting at 
Monroe and urged my successor, Dr. Baldridge, of Huntsville, to send 
one. Some of these years, if I can find leisure from my busy work, I will 
come myself. Your old friend, E. II. Shull. 
I have recently received the following letter from Dr. 
Lewis Whaley, of Birmingham, communicating valuable 
information, with reference to Myrtle Corban, and enclosing 
two excellent photographs, taken at the ages of about 4 
years and 17 years. 
Engraving No. 6. 
Miss J. Myrtle Corban, about 
4 years of age. 
It will be seen that at 
the age of four or five 
years, the difference be- 
tween the two outer and 
the inner limbs was much 
more marked than during 
the period of infancy. 
The difference between 
the inner and outer limbs 
becomes still more marked 
at the age-of seventeen; 
the former presenting an 
atrophied appearance,due 
without doubt to the ab- 
sence of muscular exer- 
cise and pressure. 
Birmingham, Ala., June 13, 1888. 
Dr. Joseph yours—Dear Doctor: I will give you as complete descrip- 
tion of Myrtle as I can. I have known her from childhood, but never 
fully realized the peculiar development until called to attend her in the 
case reported to the Association. She was 20 years old the 12th of May. 
One photo taken about 4, the other near 17 years of age. You know the 21 
inferior extremities were the same length in infancy, and I sup itpose 
was the pressure which retarded the growth of the inner ones. Her 
health has usually been good, and she is very intelligent. Is about five 
feet high—has fair skin, blue eyes and red curly hair. Holds her hands 
slightly extended in walking as if to balance herself. 
The genital organs are perfect, though small. I can’t account for the 
double development, unless it be that two ova blended and were impreg- 
nated at once. 
A brief sketch of her pregnancy is as follows: I found her with pain 
in left side, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, except for certain 
articles. Had not menstruated for two months; headache and fever. 
Pain over pubis, and she thought an abscess was forming there. After 
watching and treating symptoms, making thorough examinations fre- 
quently, I decided she was pregnant in her left side, and told her so. She 
replied, she thought I was mistaken, but could have believed it more 
readily if it had been the right side. The outlet to the pelvis being so 
small, I decided it would be necessary to produce abortion, and she was 
then very much emaciated. I requested consultation, and two physicians 
were summoned, who agreed with me as to the pregnancy, also that 
abortion would be necessary. We introduced the uterine sound and gave 
extract ergot. After waiting two days, I introduced the sound again, and 
was satisfied I had pierced the membranes. The next day I was sent for 
in haste, and she was soon delivered of a well-developed foetus of three 
and one-half months. You can have the pictures engraved if you wish. 
I shall be pleased to read the article to which you allude, and thank you 
for the circular you sent of John Allen. That case is unfortunate, for one 
does not know where to place such anomalies. I will take pleasure in 
assisting you in any way I can, and in answering any questions which may 
occur to you, and remain, Respectfully yours, Lewis Whaley. " 
The progressive de- 
velopment of the two 
outer legs, in the case of 
J. Myrtle Corban, is well 
marked and is worthy of 
consideration. 
Something similar was 
noted in the remarkable 
example of the Siamese 
twins. 
When exhibited they 
were not exactly opposite 
to each other, but stood 
side by side, or rather, 
obliquely, one by the 
other; but this position was 
acquired by the attempts 
which they had evidently 
made to separate from 
Engraving No. 7. 
Miss J. Myrtle age 17 years. 22 
each other in walking, or in lying and sitting down, and 
by the extension they have thus effected in their bond of 
union, which was considerably more slender than in any 
other yet described. It was quite impossible for them to 
remain always face to face; therefore their bodies acquired 
an oblique direction, in which they also moved. The con- 
sequence of this was that the right limbs of the one 
and the left of the other individual were the principle or- 
gans of movement; and that the intermediate limbs, that 
is to say, the left of the one and the right of the other, re- 
mained merely passive (Dubois). 
The thanks of the medical profession are due to Dr. 
Lewis Whaley for the valuable record of the subsequent 
history of the wonderful case of Myrtle Corban. 
One individual was stronger than the other and seemed 
to control him; nevertheless, in organic and animal 
relation of life, the Siamese twins seemed to be in- 
dependent of each other, each having his own circulation 
of blood, his own respiration and digestive function. W. 
Vrolik, and other physiologists concluded that, whilst there 
did not seem to be a large anastomosis of vessels between 
the two bodies, nevertheless, reasoning from analogous 
cases, the twins were connected by the ends of their 
sterna and by some of their abdominal organs. As 
proof of this connection, they adduced the results of the 
observation of Mr. Mayo communicated at the Conversa- 
zione of the College of Physicians, March 8, 1831; that 
when either of the Siamese twins coughed, the bond of 
union swelled up in its whole length, proving that they had 
but one peritoneal cavity, of which a transverse prolonga- 
tion passed through the connecting medium. From these 
observations W. Vrolik and others concluded that an at- 
tempt at separation could not be made with probability of 
success. The probability of having to cut through a piece 
of liver, or a peritoneal cord, must render an operation 
unwarrantable, unless after the death of one of the bodies 
during the healthy state of the other. As we shall see in 23 
the progress of these observations, the opinion expressed 
by anatomists and surgeons relative to the severance of 
the bond of union between the Siamese twins was sus- 
tained by the results of post-mortem examination. 
Engraving No. 8. — Infans 
Bicorporeus Xyphopagus.* 
Double Monster with two bodies 
united at the sterna. 
Engraving No. 9.—Thoraces 
of Double Monsters united by 
sterna. 
In the case represented by engravings 8 and 9, the two 
bodies are more nearly united than the Siamese twins. 
The two bodies, in a state of nearly equal development, 
are placed nearly opposite to one another, with their sterna 
connected together, and with their abdominal cavities 
coalesced. The umbilical cord was single, notwilhstand- 
♦Tabula Nonagesima Octava. Tabulae ad illustrandam embryogenesin hominis et 
mammalium, tam naturalem quam abnormem. Auctore \V. Vrolik, Med. Doctore, etc. 
Amstelodami, 1849. 24 
ing that the heart was perfectly double. The rest of the 
sterna and ribs were distinct, and the thoracic cavities, 
with their viscera (heart and lungs), were thereby separated. 
When the sterna are more completely fused than in 
the preceding case, or entirely absent, only a single heart, 
or one partially double with two ventricles and four auricles 
or otherwise malformed is found. In these as in all other 
kinds of double monsters, there is no constant relation be- 
tween the respective states of the external and internal 
organs, for the condition of the two digestive canals, even 
in those which are externally alike, is subject to still greater 
varieties than the condition of the heart. 
The abdominal organs are always in some degree con- 
nected; the two livers are usually continuous. 
A spleen, pancreas and stomach are commonly found in 
each body, and each stomach has its own duodenum, 
which, after some length (being continued into the 
jejunum), unites with the other to lorm a single tract of 
small intestine, which again divides into two canals, lead- 
ing respectively to the large intestine of each body. The 
lungs, the urinary and the genital systems are always 
double.* 
Wands has recently reported a case of Thoracopagus, 
in which both children, females, except for the area of 
union, were perfectly formed. There were two thoracic 
cavities, but only one abdominal; one placenta and abdom- 
inal cord supplied both. It was divided for a short dis- 
tance from the abdominal wall. A slight condition of ecto- 
pia abdominalis existed, and through the opening Dr. 
Wands was able to feel the liver, which was single, and 
lay across the cavity. The bodies weighed n lbs., each 
was over 17 inches in length, and the two measured 16x/t 
in circumference around the waist. 
Van Henkelom has described the anatomy of a double 
mo'nster in the Boerhaave laboratory, very similar to the 
•The Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology, edited by Robert Hentley Todd, Vol. 
iv, London’ iSji; Article Teratology, W. Vfolia, pp. 25 
above. The union, however, was by the thoraces as well 
as the abdomen; a single line, triangular in form, with a 
sulcus in the centre, showed where the union had taken 
place. The heart was single, there were two stomachs, 
and two duodena, united to a single jejunum. The ilium 
was double. 
Herrgott records a case of thoracopagus, in which union 
was by the thoraces and abdomen. With the excep- 
tion of a double hare-lip on one of the children, they were 
apparently well formed. 
Skibbe reports a similar case, in which one heart was 
hypertrophied, and the other defective, presenting a high 
grade of stenosis of the tricuspid valve. The greater 
portion of the intestinal canal was common to both. (An- 
nual of the Universal Medical Sciences, etc., edited by 
Chas. E. Sajous, M. D.; Phila., 1888; vol. V, p. 447.) 
Under the head of Inferior Duplicity have been included 
those double monsters in which there are two complete 
bodies, with the lower portions of their respective trunks 
united, so that there is a head with upper extremities both 
above and below (the bodies being placed in the same 
straight line) and on either side of the parts at which they 
meet two lower limbs. In the following case two children 
were stuck together by their buttocks, and so fixed with 
wide-spreading lower limbs; a common trunk being thus 
formed, with a head at each end, with two upper limbs, 
both above and below, and with two lower limbs, one be- 
longing to each foetus on the right, and two on the left of 
the united portion. 
The two children represented in engraving No. 10 were 
born about fifty years ago, at Boyle, in the County of Ros- 
common, Ireland. They were born alive and lived for 
more than a week; after their death, they were sold to 
the College of Surgeons in Dublin, in whose museum a 
preparation of their skeleton is preserved.* 
* The Cyclopaedia ot Anatomy and Phvsiologv, edited by Robert B. Todd, M. D. Lon- 
don, 1839. VoJ. 11, p. 317. See, also, case by Dr. Alcock, in Dublin Medical Essays, Vol. 
11, p. 33, and Hall on the Caesarean Section, p. 470, 26 
Engraving No. 10. 
Inferior Duplicity. 
Double Monster with the 
Lower Portion ok tiif.ir re- 
spective Trunks United. The 
Two Children were Stuck 
Together by their Buttocks. 
Born at Boyle, in the Coi sty 
of Roscommon, Ireland. 
These monsters have been known to live a considerable 
length of time, their capacity for life being probably owing 
to the separation of their hearts and the absence of mal- 
formation in the more important organs of the body. The 
umbilical cord is single and never has a double set of 
vessels. 
This fact has been regarded by some embryologists as 
an apparent proof that the one body is but formed of the 
materials of two. This view is confirmed by similar ex- 
amples in other classes of monsters, and by the concomi- 
tant singleness of the anus and urinary bladder and the 
union of the intestinal canals. 
On the other hand, such cases have been regarded by 
W. F. Mongomery * and others in contradiction to the 
theory of W. Yrolik t as due to the cohesion or intus- 
susception of germs, in consequence of more than one 
ovum being contained within the same vesicle, under which 
circumstances unnatural union may take place between 
two foetuses, and give rise to such anomalies of organiza- 
tion as we have just described. 
•Cyclop-i-dia of Anatomy and Phv*tolo|fy. Vol. II, 1S39, p. 317. 
fCyclopxdia of Anatomy and Physiology, Vol. IV. 185a, p. 97/. 27 
In the following remarkable monstrosity, figured in 
engraving No ii we have the union of two crania, and the 
coalescence of the common body with four arms, and the 
division of the common thorax at the point of the junction 
of the umbilical cords into two lower portions provided 
with two well-formed pelves, to each of which are attached 
two well-formed extremities. 
Engraving No. ii. 
Infans Deformis Bi- 
CORPOREUS MONOCE- 
PHALUS ET jANICEPa.* 
Monster represented in preceding 
engraving (Infans Deformis Bicorporeus Mo- 
nocephalus et Janiceps.) f 
Engraving No. 12. 
* Tabula Nonagesima Sexta. Tabulae ad illustrandam embryogenes'n hominis et 
m ammalium tam naturalem quain abnormem. VV. Vrolik. Amstelodami, 1S40 . 
f Tabula Nonagesima Septima, W. Vrolik, loc. cit. 28 
Base of Brain of Monster 
Represented in Engraving 
Engraving No. 13. 
No. 11. 
InfansI ;Deformis, Bicor- 
POR El’S, 1MONOCEPH ALL'S ET 
Janiceps.* 
In engraving No 12 we have the representation of the 
skeleton of this remarkable monstrosity. The two skele- 
tons are attached to a common cranium, by two distinct 
vertebral columns. 
The base of the brain figured in engraving No 13 illus- 
rates the existence of two cerebellar masses, two pontes, 
and two medullas oblongatas. 
Such examples might be cited to illustrate the doctrine 
that the origin of monsters arose from the original conform- 
ation and changes of the cerebro-spinal system, but there 
are other examples to show that the formative power or 
force precedes nervous action or the appearance of the 
nervous system. 
Siamese Twins. 
The subsequent history of the Siamese twins shows 
that the eminent surgeon, Sir Astley Cooper, was correct 
in his opinion adverse to an operation with a viewr to 
separate them. 
The Siamese twins died in 1874, at the a£e °* sixty. 
They were joined by a thick fleshy ligament from the lower 
end of the breast bone (xiphoid cartilage), having the 
common bond on the lower border; the anatomical exami- 
•Tabula Nonageaima Septima. W. Vrolik, loc. cit. 29 
nation showed, however, that a process of peritoneum 
extended through the ligament from one abdominal cavity 
to the other, and that the blood-vessels of the two livers 
were in free communication across the same bridge. 
There are one or two cases on record in which such a 
ligament has been cut at birth, one at least of the twins 
surviving. 
Twins may be regarded as the physiological analogy of 
double monsters and from the cases like the Siamese twins, 
in which the monsters have come very near to being two 
separate individuals, there are all grades of fusion of two 
individuals into one, down to the condition of a small frag- 
ment or parasitic body on a well-grown infant, feet us in 
feetu. 
The infant, J. Myrtle Corban, is with difficulty referred 
to a special form of monstrosity, as whilst the head and 
trunk are those of a healthy, active infant, the lower 
portion of the body is divided into the members of two 
distinct individuals near the junction of the spinal column 
with the os sacrum. We were led to the belief that the 
lower portion of the spinal column was divided or cleft, 
and that there were two -pelvic arches supporting the four 
limbs, which are situated upon the same plane. We were 
led to believe that there were two uteri as well as two 
recta, in fact that tho. pelvic organs were double. 
Now, if we refer Myrtle Corban to the class of hetera- 
delphs or Double Monsters, in which one of the foetuses 
is more or less perfect, and the other merely an appendix, 
it is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish the original 
and perfect foetus from the appendix. 
It looks rather as if during the development of the 
ovum there had been a true fission or division of the 
spinal cord and of the intestinal tube and genital organs. 
Nothing but a careful dissection of the parts will finally 
settle the questions suggested by this remarkable case. 
I have recently examined the case of a white lad about 
24 years of age, a native of Louisiana, who was supposed 30 
to have scrotal hernia, but I found upon careful examina- 
tion no varicocele and no hernia, but three large well- 
developed Testicles. In another case of a married man 
“ who had never had but one testicle,” I was called to 
see him in great pain, with rapid pulse and incessant 
vomiting. The attending physician had pronounced the 
case to be one of strangulated hernia, and was preparing 
to operate, to which procedure, however, the patient ob- 
jected. Upon careful examination I found a hard tumor 
about one inch in length, three-fourths of an inch in diam- 
eter in the right inguinal region. By careful taxis I brought 
the testicle out of the ring into the scrotum, and left the 
patient rejoicing in the possession of two testicles instead 
of one. These facts illustrate the difficulty of forming 
correct conclusions in the absence of the most rigid examin- 
ation. Of course, in the living infant the determination of 
the presence or absence of one or more uteri was imprac- 
ticable. 
The monstrosity, J. Myrtle Corban, appears to be a 
deviation, not from the usual kind of twin gestation, but 
from a certain rarer physiological type of dual development. 
In most cases twins have separate appendages, and have 
been developed from distinct ova; but in a small propor- 
tion of recorded cases there is evidence in the placenta 
and enclosing structures, that the twins have been devel- 
oped from two rudiments arising side by side in a single 
blastoderm. It is to the latter physiological category that 
double monsters in many cases belong, and there is some 
embryological evidence to support this opinion. Thus, 
Allen Thomson observed in the blastoderm of a hen’s egg 
at the sixteenth or eighteenth hour of incubation, two 
primitive traces or rudiments of the back bone forming side 
by side; and in a goose’s egg incubated five days he 
found in one blastoderm two embryos, each with rudi- 
ments of upper and lower extremities, crossing or cohering 
in the region of the future neck, and with only one heart 
between them. Similar observations had been published 31 
by Wolf, von Baer and Reichert. Malformations in the 
earliest stages of the blastoderm have of late been observed 
in the ovum of the pike, pointing not so much to the symmet - 
rical doubling of the primitive trace, as to irregular bud- 
ding from the margin of the germinal disc. In any case the 
perfect physiological type appears to be two rudiments or 
one blastoderm whose entirely separate development pro- 
duces twins (under these rarer circumstances), whose 
nearly separate development produces such double mon- 
sters as the Siamese twins, and whose less separate devel- 
opment produces the various singular forms of two individ- 
uals in one bod}'. There can be no question of a literal 
fusion of two embryos; either the individuality of each 
was at no time complete, or if there were two distinct prim- 
itive traces, the uniaxial type was approximately reverted 
to in the process of development, as in the formation of 
the abdominal and thoracic viscera, limbs, pelvis or head. 
The Siamese twins are an instance of the union at the um- 
bilical region, with the viscera distinct in every respect, 
except a slight vascular anastomosis and a common process 
or peritoneum; but it is more usual for union in that region 
to be more extensive, and to entail a single set of abdominal 
and thoracic viscera. The pelvis is one of the commonest 
regions for double monsters to be joined at, and, as in the 
head and abdomen, the junction maybe slight or total. The 
Hungarian sisters, Helena and Judith (1701-1723), were 
joined at the sacrum, but had the pelvic cavity and pelvic 
organs separate; the same condition obtained in the South 
Carolina negresses, Millie and Christina, known as the 
two-headed nightingale, and in the other recent case of the 
Bohemian sisters, Rosalie and Josepha. 
The following is an accurate representation of the 
interesting double monster or negro female twins united at 
the sacrum. 
Millie and Crissie were quite intelligent and sang sev- 
eral songs with good effect. It is affirmed that they were 
but one being with but one common genital organ. 32 
The Carolina Twins, Millie and Christine, are united by 
their lower lumbar vertebra*, sacrum and coccyx; there is a 
single anus and a single vulva, but two hymens, two 
clitorides, and, very probably, two vaginae and two uteri. 
The Hungarian Sisters, Helen and Judith, had but one 
vaginal orifice, although the upper part of that organ was 
divided into two, and the two intestines met in a single 
anus, placed between the four thighs. 
The Bohemian Sisters, Rosalie and Josepha, more re- 
cently exhibited, in whom there is a junction of the pos- 
terior wall of the pelvis, present, apparently, a single 
urethra and a single anus, but a double vagina. 
Engraving No. 14. 
Sot'TH Carolina Twins, or Double- 
Headed Nightingale, Millie and 
Crissie. 
I had the opportunity of ex- 
amining these South Corolina 
twins, during their exhibition in 
New Orleans, about the year 
1869. There was evident fusion 
and decussation of the nervous 
elements of the spinal cord in the 
sacral region. Pressure, prick- 
ing or pinching the lower extrem- 
ities of either twin was distinctly 
felt by the other. This was not 
the case with the upper extremities. Impressions made 
upon the hands, arms, head or heels of one twin were not 
felt or recognized by the other. 
The four-legged child, J. Myrtle Corban, and the South 
Carolina Twins, Millie and Christine, may be referred 
to Monsters, or Malformations by Excess. 
Two ova may be formed in one Graffian vesicle, for 
double-yelked eggs are well known; but there is no evi- 
dence to show that these would form a double monster. 
Thus, Professor Allen Thomson found, on incubating a 33 
dozen of such eggs, that not one produced a double 
embryo; while Wolff observed two completely separate 
foetuses developed upon a single yelk. The arrival of two 
impregnated ova in the uterus at the same time will prob- 
ably give rise, not to double monsters, but to twins, and 
fusion seems almost impossible. Embryologists have thus 
been led to the opinion that monsters by excess depend 
chiefly on an error of development taking place in a single 
germ; and this idea has been supported by the fact that 
Allen Thomson has shown that in birds two primitive 
grooves may be formed in one yelk, and in the area 
germinativa; and in this way the most complete cases of 
double monstrosity can be explained. In confirmation of 
this theory the researches of Tireboullet may be cited. 
This observer has seen, instead of the single budding of 
the blastoderma, which is ordinarily developed into the 
embryo of the fish, two or even three buds marked off; 
and these, during the process of development, would meet 
at same point, and in this manner produce distinct parts of 
embryos when they are separate, whilst a corresponding 
region of a single organism only would be formed at the 
point of junction. 
According to the mode and extent of the junction of the 
blastodermic buds, the monsters would vary; and so would 
be derived all the different varieties, from a duplicity of 
the face or head, the upper or lower extremities, to such 
extreme cases as those which we have cited, as the Hun- 
garian Sisters, the Siamese Twins and the Carolina 
Twins. 
The following singular and distressing case of malfor- 
mation of the genital organs must be referred to an arrest 
of the development of the testicles during foetal life : 
This curious case of malformation of the genital organs 
came under my observation, and was brought before the 
medical class of the University of Louisiana. 34 
Singular ani> Distkrssing 
Cask ok Malformation ok 
(iKNiTAi. Organs. 
J. H. Allen, age 23, height 5 
feet 7 inches, weight 150 lbs., 
native of Illinois, U. S. A. 
Dresses in male attire. Voice 
fine, like that of a woman. 
Face full ami smooth, without 
any sign of a beard. Features 
resemble more nearly those of 
a woman. Mamma; larger than 
is usual in men, but smaller 
than those of women. Nipples 
small, but well formed, with a 
distinct dark areola. No hairs 
around the mammas or on the 
'breast, which is smooth like 
that of a woman. With the ex- 
ception of the pubes and scalp, 
the body is devoid of hair. The 
fgeneral* form is that of an ath- 
etic, masculine woman. Hips 
full, wider than chest. Circum- 
ference around hips 39inches; 
circumference of chest during 
full inspiration, 35 inches; cir- 
cumference of chest during ex- 
piration, 32 inches, lias a small, 
well-formed penis, three-fourths 
of an inch in length, and one 
and eight-tenths of an inch in 
circumference, with glands, franum, prepuce and urethral opening. The 
patient discharged urine through this opening in my presence. Below 
the penis there is a slight swelling or fulness of the integuments, with a 
distinct raphe or trainis, like that which divides the scrotum in men into 
two parts, extending from the anterior part of the anus to the extremity 
of the penis. Upon careful examination, however, no testicles can be 
felt on either side of the raphe, or within any portion of the fulness which 
corresponds to the scrotum. A careful examination by the introduction 
of the finger into the rectum, whilst firm pressure was made upon the 
abdomen above the pubes, failed in disclosing the existence of any body 
corresponding to a uterus. This examination, however, was not entirely 
satisfactory, on account of the fulness of the abdominal walls. Buttocks 
and thighs full and round. The upper line of the hairy pubes terminated 
abruptly, without any fading off in the median line, as in males. 
I gathered the following facts from this individual: 
Father of John H. Allen a strong, healthy man, native of Boston, Mas- 
sachusetts; mother a healthy, well-formeu woman, native of Pennsylva- 
nia; parents have had nine children, eight of whom were well-formed; 
the eldest, a woman aged 25, has had three well-formed children. The 
subject of this examination is the second child. The third child, aged 21, is 
a woman and married. The remaining children were three boys and three 
girls; and of this number one girl and two boys have died; one boy, 13 
years of age, well formed, living; two sisters, aged respectively 10 and 2 
years, living. 
The subject, J. H. Allen, has alwavs been called Johnny, and was 
dressed as a boy from early childhood. Was not aware that there was 
anything peculiar in his organization until after the age of 12 years had 
been attained; upon one occasion, when swimming with a number of 
Engkaving No. 15. 
John H. Allen. 35 
boys, it was discovered that he was not formed like a boy, and was called 
by his companions “ a half boy and half girl.” Attended school up to 
the age of 17, and since this time has followed the occupation of “ bar- 
tender.” Has been taken up by the police upon several occasions as a 
woman in man’s clothing, and, after being examined, has been released 
as a “ nondescript,” but has always been compelled by the authorities to 
wear male clothing. 
Prefers the male sex; never loved a woman, regards women as sisters; 
has loved a man devotedly, but always feared to divulge the passion. 
Loves the dress of a woman and despises that of a man. When insulted 
feels like crying, as is common with women. When travelling on the 
Mississippi boats has several times been approached by rough men, who 
threatened rape, declaring that Johnny was a woman in man’s clothing. 
Upon one or more occasions has excited the jealousy of women, on ac- 
count of the supposed attentions of their husbands. When acting with a 
stock company, in the character of a woman, the wife of one of the actors 
who played the part of a lover to Johnny, was excited to violent jealousy. 
When dressed in women’s clothing neither men nor women ever sus- 
pect Johnny to be anything but what the dress and general appearance 
would indicate. 
The condition of Johnny is most distressing; it is with great difficulty 
that a position or work of any kind can be secured or retained, on ac- 
count of being suspected as a woman in man’s clothing; and when trav- 
elling in strange places, or when walking upon the streets at night, is li- 
able to insult and arrest. His most earnest wish is to be allowed to wear 
women’s clothing and to enter the stage as an actress. 
As far as my inquiries extended, there has not as yet been any periodic 
discharge of blood from the urethra, rectum, stomach, or nostrils, which 
could be considered as connected with the menstrual function, although 
the patient described certain vague and uncomfortable feelings in the ab- 
domen and certain periodic changes of the complexion and features. 
We have in the case of 
John H. Allen a strange ad- 
mixture of the male and fe- 
male natures. The male 
character is represented by 
the minute but well-formed 
penis, whilst the form of 
the body, as shown by 
the photographs which I 
caused to be taken, approach- 
ed most nearly to that of a 
female. The members were 
in like manner feminine. 
This case resembles a Herm- 
aphrodite in one sense, 
and in another a natural 
Eunuch. 
Engraving No. 16. 36 
The engmvings Nos. 15 and 16 represent the body and 
thighs and genital organs of John II. Allen. 
In striking contrast to the case of John Allen, we have 
the following: 
Miss E. Landry, the Bearded Girl of Louisiana. 
This hairy and bearded girl was a native of Terrebonne 
parish, Louisiana, where she was born in the year 1873 ; 
and was exhibited during the last three years of her life 
to the public accompanied by her mother, Mrs. Landry. 
Her father, who still resides in Terrebonne parish, is a 
farmer. 
The following is an accurate representation of Miss 
Landry. It will be seen that Miss Landry, at the age of. 
thirteen years, when her photograph was taken, presents 
the appearance of a stout, plump, well-formed young 
woman, with well-developed mamm.r and full round hips. 
Engraving No. 17. 
Miss Emily Landry, Tiik Bkari>- 
kd and Hairy Girl of Louisiana. 
Miss Landry was well form- 
ed and well grown for her age. 
Accompanying drawing repre- 
sents her in the thirteenth year 
of her age, and shortly before 
death which occurred in De- 
troit, Mich., from diphtheria, 
contracted in Minneapolis, 
April 20th, 1887. The body 
was embalmed and was ship- 
ped to New Orleans, where it 
arrived April 22d, 1887. 
Through the courtesy of the 
undertaker I was enabled to 
make a careful examination of 
the embalmed body, and found 37 
that the mammae and female organs were characteristic, 
and that with the exception of the beard, moustache and 
unusual growth of hair, she was what she was represented 
to be, a well-formed young woman. A relative informed 
me that Miss Landry had menstruated at three years of 
age ; and that when her mother was pregnant she constant- 
ly gazed upon an oil painting of Christ, whose face was 
represented with a full beard. The child was born with a 
beard, and the mother attributed this freak of nature to the 
effects of the portrait of Christ. 
Miss Emily Landry was covered with a moderatety thick- 
growth of soft light-brown hair from head to foot, and 
possessed a full beard of brown hair ; the upper lip was 
covered with a light moustache. Eyes brown; hair dark- 
brown and abundant. 
On the father’s side, many of the males were said to be 
characterized by an excessive growth of hair. 
The singular case of John Allen may be referred to the 
class of Hermaphrodites. Under the head of Hermaphro- 
ditism, or Hermaphrodism, may be included, ist, some 
varieties of malformation in which the genital organs and 
general sexual configuration of one sex approach from 
imperfect or abnormal development, to those of the other; 
and, 2d, other varieties of malformation in which there 
actually exists in the body of the same individual more or 
fewer of the genital organs and distinctive sexual charac- 
ters both of the male and female. 
Hermaphroditism may be regarded as due to a failure of 
purpose, or to an uncertainty in the nisus formativus at an 
early stage of development. 
There is a point of time following about the eighth week, 
up to which the embryo may develop either the reproduc- 
tive organs of the male or the reproductive organs of the 
female; in the vast majority of cases, the future develop- 
ment and growth are carried only on one line or the other, 
but in a small number there is an ambiguous development 
leading to various degrees of Hermaphroditism or doubtful 38 
sex. The primary indecision, so to speak, affects only the 
ovary or testes respectively, or rather the common germinal 
ridge, out of which either may develop; the uncertainty in 
this embryonic sexual ridge sometimes leads actually to 
the formation of a pair of ovaries and a pair of small testes, 
or to an ovary on one side and a testis on another; but 
even when there is no such double sex in the essential 
organs, as in the majority of Hermaphrodites, there is a 
great deal of doubting and ambiguity, entailed in the sec- 
ondary or external organs, and parts of generation. These 
parts, which are rudimentary or obsolete in the male, hut 
highly developed in the female, and those parts which are 
rudimentary in the female, but highly developed in the 
male, tend in the Hermaphrodite to be developed equally, 
and all of them in an imperfect manner. In some cases 
the internal organs of one sex go with the internal organs 
of the opposite sex. 
It is possible that in the case of John Allen, the ovaries 
and uterus were developed partially, whilst the only repre- 
sentative of the male organs is the diminutive but well 
formed penis ; hence the strange mingling of the male and 
female natures, the latter predominating in strength. 
General Conclusions. 
1. Monsters, giants and dwarfs occur in all countries, 
and amongst all races.- 
2. Whilst giants and dwarfs do not exhibit at this stage 
of the human race marked tendencies to reproduce them- 
selves, it is not improbable that in the early ages of the 
development and multiplication of the human race special 
peculiarities of physiognomy, form and size may have been 
propagated and fostered by artificial and natural selection. 
3. The peculiar flat, small head and prominent nose, 
characteristic of the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, is oc 
casionally reproduced at the present day. Such facts indi- 
cate that the peculiarly shaped heads represented upon the 
ruined temples and buildings of Mexico, Central America 39 
and Peru, were natural representations of the ancient race. 
The artificial flattening of the cranium, practised by cer- 
tain ancient nations of Europe and Asia, and by certain 
tribes of the aborigines in North, Central, Insular and 
South America, may have been suggested for the purpose 
of imitating the natural conformation of the heads of cer- 
tain distinct tribes. 
4. The hairy covering of the cave-dweller of ancient 
times is occasionally reproduced at the present time in 
the case of hairy men and bearded and hairy females. 
5. The origin and mode of development of human 
monsters still constitutes one of the most important and 
interesting subjects for the study of the embryologist, 
anatomist and physiologist. 
On the subject of the origin of double monsters, three 
hypotheses have been entertained : 
A. The double monster has been supposed to have 
proceeded from two distinct embryos, which have become 
united during the course of development. 
B. The double monster has originated in a single germ, 
which has become double or has been subdivided. 
C. The germ is abnormally compound from the first; 
the organs and parts comprising the double monster are at 
once produced from this germ without either separation or 
coalition of its parts other than belong to the natural pro- 
cess of development. 
On the comparative merits of the first and second hy- 
potheses as parts of the general doctrine of monsters, one 
of the most interesting physiological discussions extant is 
recorded in the Memoirs of the Academy of Science of 
Paris, between 1724 and 1743. 
The chief disputants were Lemery and Winslow; the 
contest lasted nineteen years; it engaged the attention of 
all anatomists, and called forth writings by Haller and a 
host of authors of less note, and was only terminated by 
the death of Lemery. Every argument that could be 
brought to bear upon the knowledge of those days W.3& 40 
urged, and the subject for the time was utterly exhausted. 
The subsequent labors of anatomists, biologists and em- 
bryologists have, however, accumulated such volumes of 
facts in latter years, that the same question between or- 
iginal and acquired monstrosity, as far as it relates to 
double monsters, may even claim the attention of anato- 
mists and embryologists as being worthy of further discus- 
sion. 
6. The following generalizations have been drawn from 
the facts recorded with reference to double monsters. 
(a) The double monsters form collectively one class of 
organic beings, which, however different in their several 
degrees of malformation, may be arranged in one contin- 
uous series. 
(b) There is no constant or positive relation between 
the external and internal organs as to their degrees or 
modes of duplicity. 
(c) Parts placed on the surface of the body are more 
liable to multiplication than the internal organs, and 
duplicity of a single part is therefore much less rare than 
the formation of a complete double body. 
(d) The upper half of the body is more frequently 
doubled than the lower. 
(e) The union of the two bodies takes place only be- 
tween similar parts. 
(f) The more each of the bodies is developed the less 
is the bond of union between them. 
(g) The probability of growing up is greater in the 
same proportion as the bond of union is smaller, and the 
coincident fusion of internal organ® less. 
(h) The further the several organs are from the situa- 
tion at which the bodies are united, the more perfect they 
are. 
(i) One body is almost always less developed than the 
other. 
(j) There are commonly not any signs of a double 
monster having been at first two individuals. Except in 41 
the cases of posterior and superior duplicity, and some 
singular examples of attachment of the umbilical cord of 
one foetus to the head or body of the other,there is never more 
than one placenta and one cord, and they usually contain 
only a single set of vessels, which divide when they reach 
the abdomen. 
(k) In double monsters, the twins are of the same sex. 
(l) Finally, we adopt the generalization of W. Vrolik, 
that it is probable that the whole class of monsters by 
excess owe their origin to different degrees of one com- 
mon fault, and consequently that the explanation of their 
origin ought to be the same for all; that no kind of fusion 
can account for the production of supernumerary individual 
organs, the rest of the body being single; but that it is not 
impossible that excess of power in the ovum, which all ad- 
mit, can alone explain the lower degrees of duplicity, may, 
in proportionately higher degrees, perhaps by the forma- 
tion of two primative grooves, produce the more complete 
double monsters, or even two such separate individuals as 
are sometimes found within a single amnion.