MONSTER, 
the anatomy of the veftels vfeti tfell known in cafes 
Yfhere there lias been no heart, and if the circulation could 
have been obferved, we could not fail to derive fome in- 
terefting information : hitherto we know too little on 
thefe points to enable us to draw any inference appli¬ 
cable to the phyfiology of the circulation after birth. 
Supernumary extremities are by no means uncommon 
in animals. Haller diffefted a dog, in which there was 
9 . large broad bone between the two oifa innominata, fup- 
porting a leg, to the lower end of which two feet were 
connected. In a chicken, which he examined, there were 
two rumps, with a bone placed between them and fup- 
porting a fupernumerary leg. Morand diflefted a full- 
grown and perfectly well-formed fheep, in which there 
were two additional lower extremities projecting between 
the hind legs. The anus and penis were double. An 
unufual bone was placed between the two ofla pubis, and 
had acetabula for the fupernumerary thighs. The bones 
of thefe additional limbs were regular; but there were 
no mufcles. The ileum divided into two tubes, each of 
which was continued into a large inteftine: the kidneys, 
teftes, &c. were doubled. The aorta and vena cava bi¬ 
furcated ; one branch growing into the ufual courfe, and 
the others being diltributed to the fupernumerary parts. 
(Mem. de l'Acad. des Sciences, 1733.) For a fimilar in-, 
{lance in a cow, where the additional parts adhered to the 
fpine, fee the Phil. Tranf. vol. xlix. p. 183. Examples 
of thefe additional limbs in all the domefticated animals, 
»s the horfe, dog, cat, cow, fheep, pig, goat; alfo in the 
hare ; in the common fowl, duck, goofe, fparrow, dove, 
goldfinch; and in the frog; are mentioned in the work 
of Haller. 
Examples of any other parts, befides the limbs; being 
thus attached to bodies otherwife perfedf, are lefs com¬ 
mon : an ox is mentioned in the Philofophical Tranf- 
a&ions, vol. xlix. with an additional head attached under 
the lower jaw ; and a cow attained its full fize with two 
heads and necks. 
Some inftances have occurred, in the human fpecies, of 
a more or lefs confiderable portion of another individual 
adhering to fome part of the body. The Indian child 
with a double head, defcribed by Mr. Home in the Philo¬ 
fophical Tranfaftions, vol. Ixxx. is a rare example of this 
kind. Mr. Home defcribes it as lufus natvra fo unac¬ 
countable, that, though the faffs are fufficientiy efta- 
folifhed by the teftimonies of the moll refpeflable wit- 
nefles, he fhould Hill be diffident in bringing them before 
the Royal Society, were he not enabled at the fame time 
to produce the double fkull itfelf, in which the appear¬ 
ances illuftrate fo clearly the different parts of the hilfory, 
that it muff be rendered perfectly fatisfaffory to the minds 
ef the molt incredulous. 
The child was born in May 1783, of poor parents ; the 
mother was thirty years old ; the father was called 
Hannai, a farmer at Mandul Gaut, in the province of 
Sardwan, in Bengal, and aged thirty-five. At the time 
or the child’s birth, the woman who a (fed as midwife, 
terrified at the ftrange appearance of the double head, 
endeavoured to deftroy the infant by throwing it on the 
fire, where it lay a fufficient time, before it was removed, 
to have one of the eyes and ears coniiderably burnt. The 
body of the child was naturally formed ; but the head 
appeared double, there being, befides the proper head of 
the child, another of the fame fize, and to appearance 
alinoit equally perfe'ff, attached to its upper part. This 
upper head was inverted, fo that they feemed to lie two 
feparate heads united together by a firm adhefion between 
-their crowns, but without any indentation at their union, 
there being a l'mooth continued furface from the one to 
the other. The face of the upper head was not over that 
of the lower, but had an oblique poiition, the centre of 
jt being immediately above the right eye. When the 
child rvas fix months old, both of the heads were covered 
•with black hair, in nearly the fame quantity. At this 
period the fkulls feemed to have been completely oiiifled, 
-Yol. XV. No. 1077. 4 
705 
except a fmall fpate betweeft the offaffontSs of the upper 
one, like a fontinel. No pulfation could be felt in the 
fituation of the temporal arteries; but the fuperficial veins 
Were very evident. The neck was about two inches long, 
and the upper part of it terminated in a rounded foft 
tumor, like a fmall peach. The eyes did not correfpond 
in their motions with thofe of the lower head; but ap¬ 
peared often to be open when the child was afleep, and 
fhut when it was awake. The external ears were very 
imperfeft, being only loofe folds of fkin ; and one of them 
mutilated by having been burnt. There did not appear 
to be any paffage leading into the bone which contains 
the organ of hearing. The lower jaw was rather finaller 
than it naturally fhould be, but was capable of motion. 
The tongue was fmall, flat, and adhered firmly to the 
lower jaw, except for about half an inch at the tip, which 
was loofe. The gums in both jaws had the natural ap¬ 
pearance ; but no teeth were to be feen either in this head 
or the other. The internal furfaces of the nofe and mouth 
were lubricated by the natural fecretions, a confiderable 
quantity of mucus and faliva being occalionally difeharged 
from them. The mufcles of the face were evidently pof- 
l'efl'ed of powers of aftion, and the whole head had a 
good deal of fenfibility, fince violence to the fkin pro¬ 
duced the diftortion expreffive of crying, and thrufting 
the finger into the mouth made it fhow ftrong marks of 
pain. When the mother's nipple Was applied to the 
mouth, the lips attempted to fuck. The natural head 
had nothing uncommon in its appearance ; the eyes were 
attentive to objefts, and its mouth fucked the breaft vi- 
goroufly. Its body was emaciated. The parents of the 
child were poor, and carried it about the ftreets of 
Calcutta as a curiofity to be feen for money ; and, to pre¬ 
vent its being expofed to the populace, they kept it con- 
ftantly covered up, which was confidered as the caufe of 
its being emaciated and unhealthy. 
The attention of the curious was naturally attra&ed 
by fo uncommon a fpecies of deformity; and Mr. Stark* 
who refided in Bengal during this period, paid particular 
attention to the appearances of the different parts of thee 
double head, and endeavoured to afeertain the mode in 
which the two fkulls were united, as well as to difeover 
the fympathies which exifled between the two brains. 
On his return to England, finding that Mr. H. was in 
polfeflion of the fkull, and propofed drawing up an .ac¬ 
count of the child, he favoured him with the following 
particulars, and likewife allowed him to have a fketch 
taken from a very exa(t painting, made under their own 
infpeftion from the child while alive, by Mr- Smith, s. 
portrait-painter then in India. At the time Mr. Stark 
law the child, it nruft have been neatly two years old. 
At this period the appearances differed in many refpefts 
from thofe taken notice of when only fix months old. 
The burnt ear had fo much recovered itfelf as only to 
have loft about one-fourth part of the loofe pendulous 
flap. The openings leading from the external ear ap¬ 
peared as diftin(t as in thofe of the other head. The 
fkin lurrounding the injured eye, which was on the fame 
fide with the mutilated ear, was in a flight degree affefted, 
and the external canthus much contrafted ; but the eye 
itfelf was perfeft. The eyelids of the fuperior head were 
never completely fhut, remaining a little open, even when 
the child was afleep, and the eyeballs moved at random. 
When the child was rouled, the eyes of both heads 
moved at the fame time ; but thofe of the fuperior head 
did not appear to be direfted to the fame obje(f, but 
wandered in different dire&ions. The tears flowed from 
the eyes of the fuperior head almoft eonitantly, but never 
from the eyes of the other, except when crying. The 
termination of the upper neck was very irregular, a good 
deal relembling the cicatrix of an old fore. The fuperior 
head feemed to fympathiie with the child in moft of its 
natural aftions. When the child cried, the features of 
this head vvere alfeded in a finnlar mariner, and the tears 
flowed plentifully. When it lucked 'the mother, iatisfac- 
8 R " tic* 
