A Freak of Nature

In the section "Eyes and Ears" in a previous issue we spoke of the birth of a two-headed baby girl in England. We have lately received a photograph of this strange newborn, which you see below. She was born to an English woman married to an American soldier, in one of the hospitals of Birmingham. The baby had two heads, two necks, two stomachs, and two pairs of lungs. Each head breathed and ate separately, and often one would smile while the other cried. The baby lived 50 hours and 35 minutes, and then died. The birth of such strange creatures is attributed to a defect in the division of the embryo's egg: had the division taken place correctly, the woman would have borne twins. The Birmingham baby, however, differs from others of her kind in that she was born in the eighth month and lived two days and more, whereas such newborns usually die immediately upon delivery. — al-Hayat