316 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



Premature or underweight newborn twins frequently 

 manifest spasmophilic diathesis and tetany. Evi- 

 dence of spasmophilia may be found in these infants 

 even if they are born at full term. An instance is cited 

 where, in a pair of twins, the one developed laryngismus 

 stridulus, facial phenomenon, and electrical over-excita- 

 bility, giving all the symptoms of spasmophilia, while 

 the other remained free from this disorder. It has also 

 been observed that craniotabes may be present in one in- 

 fant and absent in the other. 



Langstein reports a case of twins in whom convul- 

 sions always appeared when artificial food was used as 

 a substitute or complement for breast feeding. It should 

 be noted, however, that the twins did not develop the 

 tetany at the same time. One pair developed spasmo- 

 philia within seven to twelve days after the administra- 

 tion of artificial food, the other eighteen to twenty days 

 thereafter. 



A pair of twin girls, nine weeks old, came into my ser- 

 vice on the 19th of July, 1922. The first one had con- 

 vulsions lasting three days. The other twin had convul- 

 sions which lasted a week. They both had marked 

 craniotabes, Harrison's groove, slight rosary, and pro- 

 tuberant abdomen. The Chvostek sign, as well as car- 

 popedal spasm, were present in both. Both were breast 

 fed. Thus, it is evident that these nine weeks old infants 

 had almost similar attacks of tetany with florid rickets. 



In twins not prematurely bom, rickets and spasmo- 

 philia in both children is a frequent occurrence and is 

 commonly observed. Orgler records in his series a case 

 of rachitic twins where the degree of intensity was dif- 

 ferent. The one was severely affected, the other only 

 moderately. He also recorded a case in which one child 

 had developed scurvy, the other had not. Alfred Hess 

 says that twins have a special tendency to develop 

 rickets, and this is partly due to a sub-normal quota of 

 anti-raehitic constituents stored in their tissues and also 

 to the variable susceptibility of infants to rickets. 



Anemia. The anemias of prematures may be of a 

 high degree and may be prolonged into the second and 



