THE HISTORY OF TWIXS, ETC. 347 



sure of the fact. I have only one case in -wliicli noloody, not even the 

 twins themselves, could distinguish their own notes of lectures, etc. ; 

 barely two or three in which the handwriting was undistinguishable 

 by others, and only a few in which it was described as closely alike. 

 On the other hand, I have many in which it is stated to be unlike, and 

 some in which it is alluded to as the only point of diiference. 



One of my inquiries was for anecdotes as regards the mistakes 

 made by near relatives, between the twins. They are numerous, but 

 not veiy varied in character. When the twins are children, they have 

 commonly to be distinguished by ribbons tied round their wrist or 

 neck ; nevertheless, the one is sometimes fed, physicked, and whipped 

 by mistake for the other, and the description of these little domestic 

 catastrophes is usually given to me by the mother, in a phraseology 

 that is somewhat touching by reason of its seriousness. I have one 

 case in which a doubt remains whether the children were not changed 

 in their bath, and the presumed A is not really B, and vice versa. In 

 another case an artist was engaged on the portraits of twins who were 

 between three and four years of age ; he had to lay aside his work for 

 three weeks, and, on resuming it, could not tell to which child the 

 respective likenesses he had in hand belonged. The mistakes are less 

 numerous on the part of the mother during the boyhood and girlhood 

 of the twins, but almost as frequent on the part of strangers. I have 

 many instances of tutors being unable to distinguish their twin puj^ils. 

 Thus, two girls used regularly to impose on their music-teacher when 

 one of them wanted a whole holiday ; they had their lessons at sepa- 

 rate hours, and the one girl sacrificed herself to receive two lessons on 

 the same day, while the other one enjoyed herself. Here is a brief 

 and. comjDrehensive account: "Exactly alike in all, their school-mas- 

 ters never could tell them apart ; at dancing-parties they constantly 

 changed partners without discovery; their close resemblance is 

 scarcely diminished by age." The following is a typical school-boy 

 anecdote: Two twins were fond of playing tricks, and complaints 

 were frequently made ; but the boys would never own which was the 

 guilty one, and the complainants were never certain which of the two 

 he was. One head-master used to say he would never flog the inno- 

 cent for the guilty, and another used to flog both. 



No less than nine anecdotes have reached me of a twin seeing his or 

 her reflection in a looking-glass, and addressing it, in the belief that it 

 was the other twin in person. I have many anecdotes of mistakes 

 when the twins were nearly grown np. Thus : " Amusing scenes 

 occurred at college when one twin came to visit the other ; the porter 

 on one occasion refusing to let the visitor out of the college-gates, for, 

 though they stood side by side, he professed ignorance as to which he 

 ought to allow to depart." 



Children are usually quick in distinguishing between their parent 

 and his or her twin ; but I have two cases to the contrary. Thus, the 



