SUPERFETA'TION, or the circumstance of two distinct conceptions occurring in the same woman at an interval of greater or less duration, so that two fetuses of ent ages—the offspring possibly of different parents—may co-exist in the uterus, is a subject of great interest both in a scientific and in a medico -legal point of view. A couple of centuries ago, there was a universal belief in not only the possibility but the comparative frequency of this occurrence. Fifty years ago, it was as universally dis believed; and now again (owing to the investigations of various inquirers, among whom Dr. Bonnar of Cupar deserves special mention), we are returning to the belief of our ancestors. The cases described as instances of superfetation may be arranged in three classes; but as will be presently seen, it is only to the cases of the third class that the term superfetation is truly applicable. The first class includes the numerous undis puted cases in which two mature children, bearing evidence, from their different colors, that they are the offspring of different parents, are born at the same time. In the slave states of America, it was by no means uncommon for a black woman to bear at the same• time a black and a mulatto child--the former being the offspring of her black husband, and the latter of her white lover; and the converse has occasionally occurred—a white woman at the same time bearing a white and a mulatto child. There is no difficulty in accounting for these cases, which are examples of contemporaneous conception rather than true superfetation. The second class includes those cases in which a twin has been aborted, leaving its fellow undisturbed in the uterus, to be matured and born in due time, or in which twins have been produced at the same time, one of which was fully formed, while the other was small and apparently premature, from being " blighted " or arrested in its development at an early period. Cases of these kinds are by no means rare; but there is no reason for believing that the infants were conceived at different periods. The third class includes the cases in which a mature child has been born, and an immature fetus, the product of a different conception, has either been left in the womb until its period of maturation, or, if expelled along with the other, has presented no mark of wasting or of arrested development. "In a case of genuine superfetation.',.
says Dr. Bonnar, "a woman must bear two (or more) mature children, with an interval of weeks or months between the birth of each; or, if she part with the whole contents of the uterus at the first delivery, the difference of the ages of the fetuses, or the mature child and the fetus, as the case may be, must be unmistakable, and there must be the absence of all marks of blight of the latter, so as to leave no doubt that, had it remained in utero, it would have one on to perfect maturity." Among the cases of superfetation that have been specially discussed by writers on midwifery and medical jurisprudence, are the following: (1) Velpeau quotes from the Recucil de la Societe de ifedecine the ease of a woman named "Arles," who, in 1796, gave birth to a child at the full time, and five. months afterward to another, which was also thought to be at the
full time; (2) Dr. Maton, an eminent London physician, communicated to the college of physicians the case of Mrs. T—, an Italian lady, who was delivered of an apparently healthy and mature male child ou Nov. 12, 1807, but which lived only nine days. On Feb. 2, 1808, or 82 days after the birth of the first, she was delivered of a second child, which likewise had every sign of being completely formed and mature. The followin case, which, as Dr. Bonnar (in his Critical Inquiry regarding Supeifetation, Edin. 1865 observes, "has been the principal battle-field of the advocates of superfetation an their opponents," and has given rise to more discussion than any other, is recorded by Dr. Desgrange of Lyon. Madame Villard had a miscarriage at seven months on May 20, 1779. In about a month thereafter she conceived again, and on Jan. 20, 1780, she brought forth a living child. No milk appeared in her breasts, the abdomen did not seem to diminish in size, and other symptoms which normally follow delivery were absent. The two surgeons who were in attendance being naturally puzzled, called in Dr. Desgrange, who declared, in opposition to their views, that there was still a child in the womb; and his opinion was confirmed by her being delivered of a living child on July 6, 1780, 167 days after the first birth. Dr. Bonnar has collected from The Peerage a number of cases of probable superfetation occurring in married life. Excluding a very few exceptional cases, he adopts Dr. William Hunter's view, that 210 days, or seven calendar months, is the minimum period of uterine life at which a child should be born in order to be reared, and he assumes that no prolific intercourse can take place until at least fourteen days after the first delivery; and with these axioms, he quotes the following cases: (1) In the Hamilton (lord Mountfiorence) family, a daughter, who was born 182 days after the birth of a son who reached maturity, lived to be married, whose supposed uterine life was not more than 168 days. (2) In the Aukland family, the hon orable William Frederick Elliot, who was born 173 days after the birth of a sister (who lived 60 years), survived 2S years, although his assumed uterine life was only 159 days. (3) Lord Cecil J. Gordon, brother to the 10th marquis of Huntly, has a son, Cecil Crosbie, who was born in January 1850 (only 127 days after the birth of a previous child). This son came to maturity, and his assumed period of gestation was only 113 days. "We cannot conceive," says Dr. Bonnar, " how these three cases can possibly be explained except by the doctrine of superfetation;" and Dr. Taylor (Principles and Practice of Hedical Jurisprudence, page 849) fully adopts his view. Dr. Duncan believes, from anatomical investigations, that up to the third month of gestation, a second conception may follow the first; and he is of opinion that this will satisfactorily account for all the cases of superfetation on record.