Another account of them by an eye-witness in London is in a manuscript volume among those of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. in the British Museum, intituled, A short History of human Prodigies and monstrous Births, of Dwarfs, Sleepers, Giants, strong Men, Hermaphrodites, numerous Births, and extreme old Age, &c. The name of the writer was James Paris du Plessis. In p. 39. under the Title Two Sisters conjoined, he gives a drawing of them, and the following description: “These two monstrous girls were born at Szony in Hungary in the year 1701. They were born conjoined together at the small of the back. I asked the father and mother, if they could not be separated one from the other? but they answered, No; because the urinary and fœcal vessels and passages were so united, as to have but one issue for the urine, and another for the excrements, betwixt both. They were brisk, merry, and well-bred: they could read, write, and sing very prettily: they could speak three different languages, as Hungarian or High Dutch, Low Dutch, and French, and were learning English. They were very handsome, very well shaped in all parts, and beautiful faces. Helen was born three hours before her sister Judith. When one stooped, she lifted the other from the ground, and carried the other upon her back; neither could they walk side by side. They loved one another very tenderly. Their clothes were fine and neat. They had two bodies, four sleeves; and one petticoat served to the bodies, and their shifts the same. When one went forward, the other was forced to go backward.”
A later and more particular account is contained in p. 41, & seqq. of a book very seldom met with in this country, being printed at Vienna in 1729. intituled, Gerardi Cornelii Drieschii Historia magnæ Legationis Cæsareæ, quam Caroli VI. auspiciis suscepit Damianus Hugo Virmondtius, &c. The following extract, tho' long, will not probably be thought unentertaining.
“Sunt in comitatu Commaroniensi in terris illustrissimi Zichii (pagus Hungaris Szony dicitur) à parentibus colonis, quibus sua vita constat, dum hæc scribo, anno 1701. vii calendas Novembreis procreatæ in lucem duæ filiæ gemellæ, posticâ parte, quâ spina dorsi definit, concretæ, sic ut altera alteram sequi, quo se cunque vertat, cogatur: cætera haud deformes aspectu, nisi concretio illa corporum prodigium efficeret. Binæ singulis manus, totidem pedes, et capita, necnon corpora: suus membris omnibus usus; rationis multò etiam, quod mirere, certior; ut, si sedentes solum videris, neque sciveris, hic monstri notare nihil valeas. Majori natu, quæ lucem citius aspexit tribus horis, Helenæ, minori Judithæ nomen est. Hæc ante annos circiter tres stupore apoplectico tacta linguæ modicum ex eo ac bonæ mentis officium impeditum habuit, simplicitatem quandam ingenii modo ut redoleat. Illa animo semper integro atque spiritu prædita eodem, pudicâ facie, non inconcinnis motibus, intuentium in se oculos ad misericordiam commovet, utpote quæ rationis planè compos, sororis tenerrimè amans, nec status ignara sui, duplicem miseriam tolerat, suam et istius. Ductæ sunt olim infantes per varias regiones ac provincias, Germaniam, Angliam, Galliam, Italiam, Poloniam, Bataviam, Austriam, Moraviam, Hungariam, à medico Hungarico nomine Csuszio, qui easdem certâ pecuniâ ad tempus sibi a parentibus concreditas et elocatas, bonâ eorundem veniâ, paterno à solo âbduxit; unde trium gentium linguis, Germanicâ, Gallicâ, Hungaricâ, hodiedum etiam loquuntur; alias desuetudine usuque interrupto, ætate præsertim nondum satis confirmatâ, omnino dedidicere.
Dux Augustus Saxo Cizius inter purpuratos LXXII patres à constantia religionis, timore erga Deum et caritate in proximum notissimus, archiepiscopus Strigoniensis, veritus, ne frequentes hæ perignationes puellarum adhuc infantium innocentiæ officerent, ac mores denique illarum, ut fieri non raro assolet, planè depavarent, pacto persolutoque pretio à medico redemit, et revocatas domum ad suos virginibus à divâ Ursulâ nuncupatis intra Posonium deinceps educandas commisit, necessariis ad hoc sumptibus benignè subministratis. Ingressæ non diu puerilem ætatem suerant, nonusque illis annus agi cœptus currebat, quando harum in disciplinam virginum tradebantur. Hic legere primum ac scribere, ea, quæ ad fidem necessaria sunt, mente atque animo comprehendere; operas manuum exercere varias, acu præcipuè phrygionicâ pingere, denticulatas affabre fimbrias conficere, et cætera quæ sunt ejusdem generis, edoctæ fuerunt. Vidi ego ex illarum operibus aliqua, quæ magistras hâc in arte fecisse non pudeat. Receptæ autem sunt sacrum hoc in collegium anno secul ix. die XII. kalendas Aprilis, ibi XI mansionis, vitæ XIX jam planè complerunt. Istuc divarum contubernium, quod adhuc constanter incolunt, nunquam postea deseruere. Addita illis e prudentioribus virago, quæ indefinentur adsit, quo velint, ducat, actonibus invigilet, de quibus respondere, ad aliosque referre, si necessum fuerit, aliquando possit. Ex hâc scire quæ cupiebam, remotis arbitris, nullo negotio percepi. Crediderat namque, quod res quoque erat, non curiositatis gratiâ, sed officii, ac boni publici causâ ista à me rogari: quare alios omnes secedere jussi, solus cum eadem remanens, ut quæ, junioribus præsertim aliquot præsentibus, accuratius explicare verecundia illam antea prohibuerat, majori mecum libertate communicaret. Partes, quas vel nominare pudor honestasque vetuit, per quas potus ciborumque fæces et reliqua corporis excrementa (sit verbo venia) ejicimus, non illis his, quibus nobis, constitutæ locis. Illis quidem, ubi nos eas habemus, occlusa sunt omnia; at infernè, quâ parte concretio illa corporum incipit, easdem obtinent utrique communes. Neque tamen cum necessitas alterutram premit ad exonerandum, exempli gratiâ, ventrem, altera se quoque sentit tam inutili pondere gravatam, at satisfaciendum necessario naturæ sit: sed jam huic, jam isti istud imbecillitatis humanæ incommodum perferendum est, sitque etiam, ut cum alvum purgat altera, alteri meatus sit urinarius aperiendus. Muliebria, quæ statis fœminas vicibus incommodant, non uno ambabus tempore veniunt. Octidui quandoque intervallo ac longiori disjuncta sunt. Dum dormit hæc, sæpe vigilat illa, et in alterius labore altera nonnunquam quiescit. Visa una potare est, aut cibo corpus reficere, cum aliud alii agebatur. Sedent, stant, ambulant, jacent semper unà, nec sine incommodo. Non permittit conglutinatio ista corporum, hæ uti actiones separentur. Si colloquuntur, obtortis faciem collis obvertunt. Suavia dant sibi, cum amant, et pugnis impetunt, cum furunt. Donec suæ utrique vires adhuc constabant, si sorte exortæ inter illas aliquando discordiæ essent, hæc, quæ se læsam magis credebat aut fortem, sublatam in humeros aliam alio asportabat. Veruntamen ingenio miti magis ac placido sunt quam incenso aut iracundo, et in communibus malis communem fidem, commune robur adhibent, immissam sibi à Deo miseriam fortitèr sustinentes. Ante triennium in gravi secundò genitæ morbo, de quo nonnulla superiùs facta est mentio est, prior nata sacris omnibus munita ad mortem quoque feliciter obeundam disposita ab sacerdote fuit, quia medicorum pars potior credit aliâ extinctâ aliam haud posse longùm amplius superesse. Id quod probare ex hoc etiam laborant, quod quoties male uni sit, quamvis altera non eadem continuo ægrotatione teneatur, angustias tamen animi certas, hebetationem sensuum, et commotionem quandam viscerum in seipsa experiatur. Equidem dubitandum minimè reor, quin monstrosa hæc bina corpora duplici mente ac spiritu regantur. Nam sive cor faciamus, sive cerebrum statuamus animi sedem, ex utrolibet idem nullo negotio evincitur. Adde tot actiones multiplices, cogitationes rerum diversas, sensa animi varia, quæ, ut aliud nihil sit, isthuc pariter nos docent. Unum præcipue hic admirandum venit, quod commemorare superius memoria excidit; post prodigiosum videlicet hunc difficilemque partum natos esse matri alios liberos, ex eodem patre procreatos, sanos et valentes, corpore, specie ac forma integros, qui monstri nihil admixtum habeant.”
XL. Observations on the Origin and Use of the Lymphatic Vessels of Animals: being an Extract from the Gulstonian Lectures, read in the Theatre of the College of Physicians of London, in June 1755. By Mark Akenside, M.D. Fellow of the College of Physicians, and of the Royal Society.
Read Nov. 30, 1757.
IT is proved, by a multitude of experiments, that the lymphatics communicate with the blood-vessels. They may be distended by blowing air, or by injecting water or mercury, into an artery: and the lymph, which they carry, is frequently, in a morbid state, found tinged with a mixture of the red globules or crassamentum of the blood. Upon this foundation two different theories have been raised, concerning the connection of the lymphatics with the arteries.
Of these, we shall first consider that of the late famous professor Boerhaave. He observed, that every artery of the body is greater, in its diameter, than any of its branches: and this observation being found true, as far as our eye and the microscope can inform us, he inferred, by analogy, that it held good even thro' the most minute subdivisions of the arterial system. But, says he, proportionable to the diameter of the canal is the size of the particles moving thro' it: therefore, if an ultimate capillary artery, admitting only one red globule at once to pass thro' it, send off lateral branches, these branches will be capable of receiving such particles only as are smaller than a red globule. But the particles next in magnitude below the red globules are the yellow serous ones; and the lateral vessel, thus receiving them, is a serous artery, and the trunk of a second order of vessels. In like manner, this trunk, being continued on thro' many lessening branches, will at last grow so minute, as to admit only one serous globule: its lateral branches, therefore, will receive only such particles as are smaller than the serous ones: but these are the particles of the lymph; and this lateral branch is a lymphatic artery, and the trunk of a third order of vessels. Thus, in the red arteries are contained all the circulated fluids of the body; in the serous arteries, all except the red blood; in the lymphatics, all except the red blood and serum: and this subordination is, according to the same laws, continued down thro' fluids more subtile than the lymph, to the smallest vessel, which is propagated from the aorta. Such was Boerhaave's doctrine concerning the vascular system of animal bodies; like many of his other notions, ingenious, plausible, and recommending itself, at first sight, by an appearance of geometrical and mechanical accuracy: but founded upon insufficient data, and by no means to be reconciled to appearances.
For, in the first place, should we admit his hypothesis, it is certain, that the conical or converging form of the aorta, and the change of direction in its branches, must, in the distant blood-vessels, occasion a great resistance to the moving blood, and a great diminution of its velocity. Suppose that this resistance be, in any capillary red artery, to the resistance in the trunk of the aorta, as any larger assignable number is to unit: the resistance, then, in a capillary serous artery will, to that in the aorta, be as the square of that number is to unit; in the capillary lymphatic, as the cube; and so in progression: that is, the velocity of the fluids, in the remoter series of vessels, will be, physically, nothing. But we know, on the contrary, that some very remote series of vessels have their contents moved with a very considerable velocity; particularly the vessels of the insensible perspiration: and in anatomical injections, the liquor thrown into an artery scarce returns more easily or speedily by the corresponding vein, than by the most subtile excretory ducts. Moreover, there are an infinite number of observations of morbid cases, in which the red blood itself has been evacuated thro' some of the most remote series of vessels, merely from an occasional temporary obstruction in one part, or a præternatural laxity in another; and without any lasting detriment to the structure and subordination of the vessels; which yet, upon this hypothesis, must have been utterly destroyed before such an irregularity could have happened.