PAPERS OX MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 315 



Miller describes 247 pairs of twins of the same sex 

 which he studied at the Moscow Findelhaus. He as- 

 sumed that thirty were homologues. Twenty-three 

 showed similar or analogous malformations. In five 

 pairs the twins had hypertrophic umbilicus. Four had 

 dolico cephalic skulls and four others congenital phimosis. 

 Two had congenital depressions of the sternum. Two 

 other pairs had marked shortness of the frenulum of the 

 tongue. 



Some of the twins showed anomalies occurring in both 

 during the early days of life as a result of acquired dis- 

 Thus, two boys had simple pemphigus. Two other 

 male twins both developed mastitis on the left side, fol- 

 lowed by erysipelas. They both recovered practically 

 at the same time. 



The temperature of twins sometimes varies at birth. 

 One infant may show two- to three-tenths of a degree 

 higher temperature than the other. As a general rule, 

 well-developed twins have a slightly higher temperature 

 than those who are weakly. 



Prematurity. Twin pregnancy is a relatively frequent 

 cause of premature birth. Yip -. >rematurity 



showed that out of 6SS cases, 19.2 percent, or 12 

 were twin babies. 



The prematurely born, whether singly or in pairs, are 

 predisposed to a variety of disorders. The susceptibility 

 of prematures to rickets is a common observation. 

 Huenekens found that of seventy cases of premature 

 twins, fifty-eight developed definite signs .of rickets. He 

 observed that the condition appeared sometimes before 

 the fourth month of life. Craniotabes, an early symptom, 

 may be jn'esent in the sixth week of life. 



Other rachitic manifestations occur in premature twins 

 as well as in prematures of a single birth. Among the 

 early symptoms may be mentioned rachitic rosary and 

 rickets of the long cylindrical bones. In premature in- 

 fants there is a deficiency of the calcium content, as well 

 as of other mineral substances. By the third or fourth 

 month, there is a lowered phosphorus and calcium con- 

 tent, and rickets and its sequelae result. 



