Louise L., known as "La dame a quatre jambes," was born in 1869, and had attached to her pelvis another rudimentary pelvis and two atrophied legs of a parasite, weighing 8 kilos. The attachment was effected by means of a pedicle 33 cm. in diameter, having a bony basis, and being fixed without a joint. The attachment almost obliterated the vulva and the perineum was displaced far backward. At the insertion of the parasite were two rudimentary mammae, one larger than the other. No genitalia were seen on the parasite and it exhibited no active movements, the joints of both limbs being ankylosed. The woman could localize sensations in the parasite except those of the feet. She had been married five years, and bore, in the space of three years, two well-formed daughters.
Quite recently there was exhibited in the museums of the United States an individual bearing the name "Laloo," who was born in Oudh, India, and was the second of four children. At the time of examination he was about nineteen years of age. The upper portion of a parasite was firmly attached to the lower right side of the sternum of the individual by a bony pedicle, and lower by a fleshy pedicle, and apparently contained intestines. The anus of the parasite was imperforate; a well-developed penis was found, but no testicles; there was a luxuriant growth of hair on the pubes. The penis of the parasite was said to show signs of erection at times, and urine passed through it without the knowledge of the boy. Perspiration and elevation of temperature seemed to occur simultaneously in both. To pander to the morbid curiosity of the curious, the "Dime Museum" managers at one time shrewdly clothed the parasite in female attire, calling the two brother and sister; but there is no doubt that all the traces of sex were of the male type. An analogous case was that of "A-Ke,"a Chinaman, who was exhibited in London early in the century, and of whom and his parasite anatomic models are seen in our museums.
Figure 58 represents an epignathus, a peculiar type parasitic monster, in which the parasite is united to the inferior maxillary bone of the autosite.
CLASS IX.--Of "Lusus naturae" none is more curious than that of duplication of the lower extremities. Pare says that on January 9, 1529, there was living in Germany a male infant having four legs and four arms. In Paris, at the Academie des Sciences, on September 6, 1830, there was presented by Madame Hen, a midwife, a living male child with four legs, the anus being nearly below the middle of the third buttock; and the scrotum between the two left thighs, the testicles not yet descended. There was a well-formed and single pelvis, and the supernumerary legs were immovable. Aldrovandus mentions several similar instances, and gives the figure of one born in Rome; he also describes several quadruped birds. Bardsley speaks of a male child with one head, four arms, four legs, and double generative organs. He gives a portrait of the child when it was a little over a year old.
Heschl published in Vienna in 1878 a description of a girl of seventeen, who instead of having a duplication of the superior body, as in "Millie-Christine, the two-headed nightingale," had double parts below the second lumbar vertebra. Her head and upper body resembled a comely, delicate girl of twelve.
Wells a describes Mrs. B., aged twenty, still alive and healthy.
The duplication in this case begins just above the waist, the spinal column dividing at the third lumbar vertebra, below this point everything being double. Micturition and defecation occur at different times, but menstruation occurs simultaneously. She was married at nineteen, and became pregnant a year later on the left side, but abortion was induced at the fourth month on account of persistent nausea and the expectation of impossible delivery. Whaley, in speaking of this case, said Mrs. B. utilized her outside legs for walking; he also remarks that when he informed her that she was pregnant on the left side she replied, "I think you are mistaken; if it had been on my right side Iwould come nearer believing it;"--and after further questioning he found, from the patient's observation, that her right genitals were almost invariably used for coitus. Bechlinger of Para, Brazil, describes a woman of twenty-five, a native of Martinique, whose father was French and mother a quadroon, who had a modified duplication of the lower body. There was a third leg attached to a continuation of the processus coceygeus of the sacrum, and in addition to well developed mammae regularly situated, there were two rudimentary ones close together above the pubes. There were two vaginae and two well-developed vulvae, both having equally developed sensations. The sexual appetite was markedly developed, and coitus was practised in both vaginae. A somewhat similar case, possibly the same, is that of Blanche Dumas, born in 1860.
She had a very broad pelvis, two imperfectly developed legs, and a supernumerary limb attached to the symphysis, without a joint, but with slight passive movement. There was a duplication of bowel, bladder, and genitalia. At the junction of the rudimentary limb with the body, in front, were two rudimentary mammary glands, each containing a nipple.
Other instances of supernumerary limbs will be found in Chapter VI.
CLASS X.--The instances of diphallic terata, by their intense interest to the natural bent of the curious mind, have always elicited much discussion. To many of these cases have been attributed exaggerated function, notwithstanding the fact that modern observation almost invariably shows that the virile power diminishes in exact proportion to the extent of duplication.
Taylor quotes a description of a monster, exhibited in London, with two distinct penises, but with only one distinct testicle on either side. He could exercise the function of either organ.
