Part 21
The thermometer fig. 3. is designed for shewing the greatest cold, which happens in any place during the time the instrument is left in it. The tube is bent into the shape of a syphon of unequal legs standing parallel to one another, the bend being at the bottom. The top of the shorter leg is bent to a right angle, and immediately opens into a ball A, which, by means of a short bent tube on the opposite side, communicates with a cylinder standing parallel to the legs of the syphon, and pointing downwards. This cylinder contains the greatest part of the fluid; and is added only to make the thermometer more sensible than it would be, if the ball A was made of a sufficient bigness to contain the proper quantity of fluid. This instrument is filled with spirit of wine, with the addition of as much mercury as is sufficient to fill both legs of the syphon, and about a fourth or fifth part of the ball A.
The common degrees of heat are shown by the top of the mercury in the longest leg, or by the top of the spirit, in case any of it is left above the mercury.
When the mercury in the longest leg sinks by cold, that in the shorter leg will rise, and will run over into the ball A; from whence it cannot return back when the thermometer rises again, as the surface of the mercury in the ball is below the orifice of the tube _n_. Therefore the upper part of the shorter leg will be filled with a column of spirits of a length proportional to the increase of heat; the bottom of which, by means of a proper scale, will show how much the thermometer has been lower than it then is; which being subtracted from the present height, will give the lowest point that it has been at.
If no further contrivance was used, the mercury would fall into the ball A in large drops; which would make the instrument less accurate. For the thermometer’s beginning to rise immediately after a drop is fallen, or just as it is going to fall (in which case it will return back into the tube), will make a difference of such part of a degree nearly as that drop answers to. To prevent this inconvenience, the top of the shorter leg, close to the ball, is contracted, by being held in the flame of a lamp; and the passage is further streightened by a solid thread of glass placed within the tube, and extending from the bottom of the shorter leg to the part near the ball A, where it is most contracted. By this means, as soon as any small portion of mercury is got beyond the end of the thread of glass, it breaks off, and falls into the ball in very small drops. This thread of glass is fastened by the heat given to the tube in making the bend next to the ball. In order to fill the shorter leg with mercury, to fit the instrument for a new experiment, it must be inclined till the mercury in the ball covers the orifice of the tube _n_. The cylinder being then heated, the mercury will be forced into the shorter leg, and will run down the thread of glass in drops, which will soon unite. By this means, such a quantity of mercury must be got into the shorter leg, as, upon the cooling of the instrument, will be sufficient to drive all the spirit of wine into the ball with a less degree of cold than what the thermometer is likely to be exposed to.
The ball A must always have some mercury in it, but never enough to fill it up to the orifice of the tube _n_. It must therefore be made of such a size, as to contain all the mercury, which can come into it from the tube without being too full. If it should happen to be made too small, so as to be too full in cold weather, any part of the mercury may easily be driven into the cylinder, and got back again into the ball when wanted in warmer weather.
It will be better to leave a little of the spirit above the mercury in the longest leg; in which case the top of the spirit will shew the common degrees of heat. For the filling the tube, so as to leave none, is attended with some trouble; and more of it will be apt to get up there, if the instrument should happen to be held in an improper situation, or if it be kept in too warm a place without filling the shorter leg with mercury by the method above described. If too great a quantity should get up, tho’ it would not affect the scale for the common degrees of heat, it would however cause some error in the degrees on the shorter leg; inasmuch as the expansion of that portion of spirits, which has got up into the longer leg, exceeds the expansion of the mercury, which must supply its place. It may be got back at pleasure, by exposing the thermometer to such a degree of cold as will make the spirit get beyond the bend of the syphon; for then it will run up along the thread of glass in the shorter leg till it gets above the mercury there. For this purpose the point of 0 degrees of Fahrenheit’s scale should be near the bend; by which means, any part of the spirit of wine may be got beyond it by an artificial cold; and there will be no danger of the whole getting beyond it by any natural cold; in which case the air would get up into the ball.
The scale of degrees on the shorter leg will, in different seasons, be liable to an error of the same kind as that, which was explained in the first-mentioned thermometer; but in this it will be less considerable, as the space between the two scales is filled with mercury, whose expansion is about six times less than that of spirit of wine.
In the thermometer, which I have, the bore of the tube is about 0.054 inches; and one inch of it contains eight grains of mercury, and answers to seven degrees of Fahrenheit’s scale. The drops of mercury, which fall into the ball A, answer to about one eighth of a degree.
If instruments of the nature of those above described, were to be used for finding the temper of the sea at great depths, some alteration would be necessary in the construction of them, principally upon account of the great pressure of the water; the ill effect of which can, I believe, be prevented no other way, than by leaving the tube open. For if the thermometer was made strong enough to resist the pressure without breaking, yet it would be impossible to be sure, that the figure of the glass would not thereby be altered, which should make the experiment uncertain.
The instrument for finding the greatest heat might be made just like that of fig. 1. only leaving the top open. It is to be filled with mercury only, as is also the lower part of the ball at top, but not near so high as the end of the capillary tube. The upper part of that ball, being left open, will in a great measure be filled with the sea-water, which will be forced into it by the pressure.
If this instrument (the tube being quite full of mercury) is plunged into any part of the sea, where the heat is greater than that of the air above, part of the mercury will be driven out of the tube; and, upon bringing it into a colder place, the sea-water or air in the ball will enter into the tube, and will fill the space left by the mercury.
As this thermometer does not show the common degrees of heat, it must be placed in a vessel of water with another thermometer, and the scale of degrees at top will shew how much the heat it has been exposed to is greater than that of the water in the vessel.
The sea-water getting into the glass will corrode the mercury, and thereby foul the glass; which will make the experiment less exact: and therefore it would be much more convenient, if the sea-water could intirely be kept out; which probably may be done by tying a bladder full of air to the neck of the ball C, which will contract by the pressure of the water, without letting any of it get in.
If this can be done, the instrument may be filled with mercury and spirits, just like that at fig. 1. But it would be more convenient to fill it with mercury only: in which case it may be made with as small a tube and ball as common mercurial thermometers: or it may be filled with spirits only. The instrument will thereby become much less bulky; which will compensate the want of the common scale of heat.
It is better to put but little mercury into the ball at top, for fear of its getting into the capillary tube by the motion of the instrument.
The thermometer for finding the greatest cold, if applied to this purpose, must also be left open at top. There is another inconvenience to be avoided; which is, that the mercury in the ball A, by the tossing of the instrument, might sometimes get into the shorter leg of the syphon; which would spoil the experiment. To prevent such an accident, the most convenient construction, which occurs to me, is that of fig. 4. which differs from fig. 3. in having the ball A omitted; so that the mercury running out of the shorter leg will fall to the bottom of the cylinder, and will not be so liable to get back into the tube by motion. The cylinder is made to stand not quite parallel to the legs of the syphon, that the mercury contained therein may more easily be brought to touch the end of the tube, in order to fit the instrument for a new experiment.
If, by means of a bladder, the sea-water can be kept out of the glass, this instrument may be made to shew the common degrees of heat; but even then, in order to render it less bulky, it may be better to supply the want of them as in the last instrument. The longer leg of the syphon may in that case be made as short as you please; only making the ball B big enough to receive all the mercury, which may be driven into it by heat.
If thermometers of this kind were to be sent up into the air by means of a kite, they might be made like those proposed for the sea; but it would not be necessary to leave them open.
As it would be desirable to make them as small as possible, they should be made so as not to shew the common degrees of heat: and it would also, on that account, be convenient to omit the thread of glass placed within the shorter leg of the syphon in fig. 3. and 4. This thread of glass is placed there in order to make the mercury fall into the ball A. fig. 3. or cylinder C. fig. 4. in smaller drops, and also to facilitate the filling the shorter leg with mercury. The latter purpose may be answered by having a ball blown towards the bottom of the shorter leg, as marked in fig. 4. at M: for as soon as the mercury driven out of the cylinder by heat gets to that ball, it will pass by the spirit of wine. The other purpose may probably be answered by having the tube contracted as much as possible at _n_.
In the foregoing instruments the tubes made use of were of a large bore, as most of the errors in them would increase by making use of smaller ones. Possibly less ones might be used without much inconvenience. The chief advantage will be, the making these thermometers more sensible of the changes of heat, than when large cylinders are used. This will be of service when the greatest degree of heat or cold continues but a short time.
It is better to use plain spirit of wine, than what is tinged, which seems more apt to cause a foulness in the tube, and thereby makes the surface of the mercury less well defined. I am induced to believe so, from observing, that the portion of spirits above the mercury in the tube fig. 3. which at first was strongly tinged with cochineal, in some months became perfectly colourless, the tinging particles being deposited in different parts of the tube, and causing a foulness there. The colour of the spirits in the cylinder does not appear to be altered.
The dark-shaded part in the several figures represents mercury, the dotted part spirit of wine.
XXXIX. _Observationes Anatomico-Medicæ, de Monstro bicorporeo Virgineo A. 1701. die 26 Oct. in_ Pannonia, _infra_ Comaromium, _in Possessione_ Szony, _quondam Quiritum_ Bregetione, _in lucem edito, atque A. 1723. die_ 23 Febr. Posonii _in Cœnobio Monialium_ S. Ursulæ _morte functo ibidemque sepulto. Authore_ Justo Johanne Torkos, _M.D. Soc. Regalis Socio._
[_See_ TAB. XII.]
[Read May 23. 1751.]
I. PARTUS hic bicorporeus singulare exemplum exhibet admirandarum virium imaginationis maternæ in fœtum utero contentum. Mater enim hujus bicorporis, primis graviditatis suæ mensibus vel potius hebdomadis, attentius contemplabatur canes coëuntes, arctius cohærentes, et capitibus erga se invicem quodammodo conversos, eosque sibi crebrius præfigurabat.
II. In partu, primum prodiit umbilicotenus Helenæ corpus; post tres demum horas editi sunt ejus pedes, cum adnexo corpore altero Judithæ. Helenæ corporis statura erat altior et rectior, Judithæ brevior et obliquior; et quamvis infra lumbos, a tergo, in unum corpus concretæ fuissent, attamen vultu et corporibus, semilateraliter, erga se fuerant conversæ, ut commode sedere, lentoque gradu procedere et recedere potuerint. Unus communi ipsis erat alvi exitus, intra duas nates, seu Helenæ dextrum et Judithæ sinistrum femur, situatus. Unam quoque habebant vulvam, intra quatuor pedes reconitam, ut dum erectis starent corporibus, ne vestigium ejus conspicuum esset. Quoad duos istos excretionum meatus, observatum est, quod, una excretionem alvi moliente, altera quoque nisum egerendi senserit; in reddenda vero urina, quælibet, diverso tempore, stimulos habuerit: quamobrem altera ad urinæ missionem solicitata, altera subinde recessum negavit. Unde in juventute, utut alias semper semet tenerrime amarent et amplexarentur, sæpius altercationes inter ipsas exortæ, et alterutra aliam vel dorso injectam abripuit, vel colluctando eo, quo vellet, protraxit.
III. Anno ætatis sexto, Judithæ paralysis totius partis sinistræ; obtigit ex qua affectione, utut convaluisset, per totam vitam suam debilior, tardior, et stupidior perstitit; e contra Helena semper agilior, docilior, et formosior suit.
IV. Prout diversa erant corpora, ita functionum vitalium, animalium, et naturalium, magna in utroque corpore, tam in sano quam ægroto statu, observata est differentia. Et quamvis variolas et morbillos uno eodemque tempore habuissent, reliqui tamen morbi eis non erant communes. Cum Judith sæpius convelleretur, Helena nec alterata nec debilitata fuit. Helena erat pleuritica. Judith benigniore febre laboravit: alterâ tussi, catarrho, colicâ afflictâ, altera sana exstitit. Hinc etiam quælibet, pro suo diverso statu, diversis medicamentis tractabatur: phlebotomia autem semper in saniore et vegetiore celebrabatur.
V. Anno ætatis decimo sexto, menstrua comparuerunt, quæ deinde per totam vitam, non tamen æquali tempore, modo, et quantitate successere. Subinde alterutra majores hinc sensit molestias; Judith vero crebrius convellebatur, variisque hystericis et pectoris affectionibus obnoxia fuit.
VI. Anno ætatis vicesimo secundo, seu A. C. 1723. die 8 Febr. Judith fortiter convulsa est, postea comatosa, usque ad mortem, quæ die 23 Febr. mane contigit, perstitit. Intra hos dies Helena febricula laboravit, eique accesserunt crebriores lipothymiæ, quibus tandem ita debilitata est, ut integra quamvis mente et loquela, subito, tribusque horæ minutis prius quam Judith, in agonem inciderit: postea vero ambæ, post brevem agonem, uno ferme momento expiraverint.
VII. Corporibus post mortem dissectis, reperta sunt in quolibet corpore viscera singula: In Helena omnia sana; in Judithæ thorace vero cor nimis magnum, fortissimo pericardio velatum, et pulmonum dexter lobus putridus: Arteria aorta et vena cava ex utroque corde descendentes, antequam arteriæ et venæ iliacæ ex iisdem emergerent, inflexæ coadunabantur, et unam arteriam aortam, unamque venam cavam, e corde uno ad aliud procedentes seu reflexas, præsentarunt. In abdomine utrinque viscera omnia sana et integra. Quodlibet corpus suum habuit hepar, splenem, pancreas, renes, vesicam, uterum cum ovariis, tubis Fallopianis, et portione vaginæ, quæ utrinque concurrentes unam communem vaginam efformarunt. Partes genitalium externorum, præter commune orificium vaginæ, cuilibet erant propriæ, velut clitoris, nymphæ, orificium urethræ; alæ seu labia utrinque ad perinæum concurrentia fossulam navicularem densiorem constituerant. Ventriculus cum intestinis, in utrâque, naturaliter erant situata; intestina recta autem utrinque ad os sacrum reflexa et coalita, unum satis amplum et communem canalem constituerunt: os sacrum ad secundam divisionem concretum erat, et unum corpus efformando, in uno utrique ossi sacro communi, osse coccygis, terminabatur.
Ex prærecensitis, sicut causa diversitaris actionum et functionum patet, ita etiam ex arteriarum aortarum, et venarum cavarum, intestinorum quoque rectorum et vaginarum uteri, compagine, coadunatione et harmonia, apparet ratio conformitatis et disparitatis morborum, synthanasiæ, communis nisus egerendæ alvi, possibilis imprægnationis alterutrius, vel fors utriusque virginis, uno eodemque coitu.
Hæc omnia conquisivi et retexui, partim e relationibus fide dignis autoptarum; partim ex ephemeridibus B. Caroli Raygeri, soceri mei, qui, dum viveret, medicum cœnobii dicti ordinarium agebat; partim ex libro cœnobiali, cui B. Vir formulas medicamentorum inscripserat. Dab. Posonii die 3 Julii 1757.
Justus Joannes Torkos, Eques Pannonius, Medic. Doct. et Liberæ Regiæ Civitatis Posoniensis Physicus ordinarius.
The interval between the reading of this paper before the Royal Society and the present publication, was occasioned by the long indisposition, and afterwards death, of their late President Martin Folkes, Esq; who having taken it to his house, with a view of collecting and adding to it some further particulars, it could not be found after his decease. But Dr. Torkos, the writer, being again applied to, immediately transmitted the copy of it printed above: and, in order to supply in some measure the want of what Mr. Folkes’s extensive reading and industry might have furnished the public with, in relation to so very remarkable a fact, the following accounts, printed and manuscript, are subjoined as a supplement to the preceding article.
_Extract of a Letter of_ William Burnet, _Esq; F.R.S. eldest Son of Dr._ Gilbert Burnet, _Lord Bishop of_ Salisbury, _to Dr. (afterwards Sir)_ Hans Sloane, _dated at_ Leyden, May 9. 1708. _N. S._[195]
“+SIR+,
I Send you inclosed the print of a wonderful union of two twin sisters, who are at this time to be seen at the Hague. I saw them, and observed all, that I could think tended to explain the appearance. They are Hungarians, as the lines under the print will shew you. There is there an exact enough description of their condition; only I may add, that in fig. 1. the urinal passage is between the two foremost thighs, as they are in the print. The same is true of the anus in the 2d figure, in such manner, that the situation of these parts is the same to outward appearance as naturally, with this difference, that they are between two different bodies here, whereas in the course of nature they are between the two parts of the same body. It seems probable, that their parts are distinct; but that the most remote labia of each are outwardly visible, and the two contiguous ones are within. There seems to be no cheat in the thing; and the skin, where they are joined, is perfectly smooth, without any scar. They are now about six years old. They speak French and High German. They are very full of action, and talk one more than the other. When one stoops to take up any thing, she carries the other quite from the ground; and that one of them often does, being stronger as well as more lively than the other. They have not their feeling common any where but in the place of their conjunction. This is all I can say about it. If you think it worth while, you will do me an honour in giving the print, and the substance of this account, to the Society; to which, tho’ an unworthy member, I would be proud to be capable of any service.”
This letter was read to the Royal Society on the 12th of May 1708[196]; and the print mentioned in it produced; which, being now become extremely difficult to be met with, is thought proper to be engraved again, and inserted here. _See_ TAB. XIII.
Soon after the date of Mr. Burnet’s letter the twin sisters were brought to England, and publicly shewn in London, as appears from the following MS. note in a copy of the print bound up by the writer with Fortunius Licetus _de Monstris_[197], edit. Amstelod. 1665. 4to. in the possession of Thomas Wilbraham, M.D. F.R.S. “_Londini 14 Junii 1708. has vidi gemellas (plus annis sex natas) quarum forma et vivacitas elegantior et vegetior quam pictura et descriptio._”
Another account of them by an eye-witness in London is in a manuscript volume among those of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. in the British Museum, intituled, _A short History of human Prodigies and monstrous Births, of Dwarfs, Sleepers, Giants, strong Men, Hermaphrodites, numerous Births, and extreme old Age, &c._ The name of the writer was James Paris du Plessis. In p. 39. under the Title _Two Sisters conjoined_, he gives a drawing of them, and the following description: “These two monstrous girls were born at Szony in Hungary in the year 1701. They were born conjoined together at the small of the back. I asked the father and mother, if they could not be separated one from the other? but they answered, No; because the urinary and fœcal vessels and passages were so united, as to have but one issue for the urine, and another for the excrements, betwixt both. They were brisk, merry, and well-bred: they could read, write, and sing very prettily: they could speak three different languages, as Hungarian or High Dutch, Low Dutch, and French, and were learning English. They were very handsome, very well shaped in all parts, and beautiful faces. Helen was born three hours before her sister Judith. When one stooped, she lifted the other from the ground, and carried the other upon her back; neither could they walk side by side. They loved one another very tenderly. Their clothes were fine and neat. They had two bodies, four sleeves; and one petticoat served to the bodies, and their shifts the same. When one went forward, the other was forced to go backward.”
A later and more particular account is contained in p. 41, _& seqq._ of a book very seldom met with in this country, being printed at Vienna in 1729. intituled, _Gerardi Cornelii Drieschii Historia magnæ Legationis Cæsareæ, quam Caroli VI. auspiciis suscepit Damianus Hugo Virmondtius_, &c. The following extract, tho’ long, will not probably be thought unentertaining.