This portrays a living
child with a supernumerary head, which had mouth, nose, eyes, and
a brain of its own. The eyelids were abortive, and as there was
no orbital cavity the eyes stood out in the form of naked globes
on the forehead. When born, the corneas of both heads were
transparent, but then became opaque from exposure. The brain of
the supernumerary head was quite visible from without, and was
covered by a membrane beginning to slough. On the right side of
the head was a rudimentary external ear. The nurse said that when
the child sucked some milk regurgitated through the supernumerary
mouth. The great physiologic interest in this case lies in the
fact that every movement and every act of the natural face was
simultaneously repeated by the supernumerary face in a perfectly
consensual manner, i.e., when the natural mouth sucked, the
second mouth sucked; when the natural face cried, yawned, or
sneezed, the second face did likewise; and the eyes of the two
heads moved in unison. The fate of the child is not known.
Home speaks of a child born in Bengal with a most peculiar fusion
of the head. The ordinary head was nearly perfect and of usual
volume, but fused with its vertex and reversed was a
supernumerary head.
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