A DOUBLE LAMB.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 277, 30 June 1888, Page 6

A DOUBLE LAMB.

A ctkiol's /h*h+ naJuni' was brought foith last lambing season on Mr Charles Symon*Makarora Station, Wanaka Lake, Otago. Having heard about it, we wrote u> Mr Symons for particulars, and he jas very kindly replied, sending a rous-b .sketch of the outward appearance of the extraordinary birth, as well as an anatomical sketch of the skull of the object made by Dr Money, who made a careful po>t mortn,i examination of it, his report now beinjr before us. The report, however, t is t technical in it& nature to be under- f jod by the ordinary reader, for whom general description of the curiosity will be more acceptable. It will be seen from /he outline cut we give, that this abnorn A object is in the form of two lambs ha Av^ a common neck. Jn reality it would .>ecm, from the doctor a description, that there were two spinal columns • ,tt all events there wa>> a common skull a base of which were two holes for th*^ passage of the two )»pinal cords, and two stairs of joint surface* for articulation wit!*the two spinal columtH. The front of th /skull of one lamb was defective, although I r Money say.s there was a well formed 'ipper and lower jaw, and what appeared to be a forehead with an opening- beneath it occupied for the most part by a fairly wellformed eye in the middle of it. The lambs, be say?, appeared to have a common brain cavity. Mr Symons himself writes as follows :—: — " The lambs were joined in one from the top of skull to the breast or brisket, having one common neck, being joined breast to breast. Strictly speaking there

was no breast ; they were not joined side to side. The lamb whown on the left side of ill© sketch was I think perfect in all its parts ; the lamb on the right was a malformation as regards the tace. They were grown into one at the neck. The lamb shown on the left hand side could undoubtedly have lived, in fact it was born alive, but the other could not have lived as its skull was only partially developed. ' THeir appearance when standing or alive 'would have been as shown in the sketch ; " each 'lamb would look over the other ones feack. ; '