She gave no history of special significance of the
pregnancy, although she averred that the head of one and the feet
of the other were born at the same time. The twins were both
feeble at birth, and Eng continued delicate, while Chang thrived.
It was only with difficulty that their lives were saved, as
Chowpahyi, the reigning king, had a superstition that such freaks
of nature always presaged evil to the country. They were really
discovered by Robert Hunter, a British merchant at Bangkok, who
in 1824 saw them boating and stripped to the waist. He prevailed
on the parents and King Chowpahyi to allow them to go away for
exhibition. They were first taken out of the country by a certain
Captain Coffin. The first scientific description of them was
given by Professor J. C. Warren, who examined them in Boston, at
the Harvard University, in 1829. At that time Eng was 5 feet 2
inches and Chang 5 feet 1 1/2 inches in height. They presented
all the characteristics of Chinamen and wore long black queues
coiled thrice around their heads, as shown by the accompanying
illustration. After an eight-weeks' tour over the Eastern States
they went to London, arriving at that port November 20, 1829.
Their tour in France was forbidden on the same grounds as the
objection to the exhibition of Ritta-Christina, namely, the
possibility of causing the production of monsters by maternal
impressions in pregnant women.
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