826 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



II 



Another instance of this kind is 

 described by M. Winslow.* This 

 was also a twin, only seven inches 

 in length. Tlie age and size of the 

 other child are not mentioned. In 

 this instance there was no head, 

 nor any vestige of brain. There 

 were no lungs, liver, stomach, nor 

 spleen, and only a small portion of 

 intestine. The arterial system is 

 described as being complete, com- 

 municating with the placenta by 

 the umbilical vein opening into the 

 aorta, and the umbilical arteries 

 arising nearly as usual. In this in- 

 stance there was a circle of vessels 

 formed by the arteries only, for M. 

 Winslow expressly states, that there 

 were no veins; and however extra- 

 ordinary this may appear, we can- 

 not be otherwise than cautious in 

 denying an observation made by 

 an anatomist so remarkable for 

 his extreme accuracy and minute- 

 ness. 



Dr. le Cat, of Rouen, states ano- 

 ther case of twins f born at the end 

 of the ninth' month of pregnancy. 

 One of them was a well-formed 

 child, of the usual size, but the 

 other was only twelve inches and a 

 half in length. The head of the 

 latter was very imperfect, and there 

 w^s only a very minute portion of 

 brain. The heart, lungs, liver, sto- 

 mach, and sjjlecn, were entirely 

 wanting, and there was only a small 

 portion of intestine. The arterial 

 system was perfect: the umbilical 

 veinterminatedin the aorta, and the 

 umbilical arteries had their origin 

 from the internal iliac, as usual. 

 There is, however, an obscurity in 

 the account of the circulation, as it 



is stated that there were veins, but 

 they were not traced, nor was any 

 communication made out between 

 them and the arteries, or the ves- 

 sels of the chord. 



Dr, Clarkeij: hasgiven an account 

 of a case, in which a woman, after 

 a natural labour, was delivered of a 

 healthy child, and also of a sub- 

 stance covered by common integu- 

 ments, of an oval form, four inches 

 in length, and having a separate na- 

 vel-string and placenta. In this 

 substance there was one 05 /wno»?f?Ja- 

 tum, with a femur, tibia, and fibula. 

 There were neither brain nor nerves; 

 nor were tliere any viscera, except 

 a small portion of intestine. The 

 umbilical chord consisted of two 

 vessels, an artery and a vein, both 

 of which ramified in this substance 

 and in the placenta. 



In Dr. Hunter's anatomical col- 

 lection, there are two specimens of 

 monsters born without hearts. In 

 both of them the whole upper part 

 of the body was wanting; and in 

 neither was the exact nature of the 

 circulation ascertained. 



In each of the instances which I 

 have quoted, not only the heart 

 was wanting, but the fcEtus in other 

 respects was so imperfect, that it 

 could not be considered as any 

 thing more than a mola, or an ir- 

 regularly-formed living mass con- 

 nected with the placenta. In par- 

 ticular, in all of them the brain, 

 which may with justice be consi- 

 dered as afibrding the best distinc- 

 tion betu een a mola and a foetus, 

 waswanting; whereas in that which 

 forms the subject of the present pa- 

 per, the brain was nearly as large 



as 



• Histoire de I'Academie Royale des Sciences, 174.0. 

 t Phil. Trans, for 1767. + Phil. T 



rans. for 1793. 



