Dr. Doyen separating Hindoo twins (LOC)

gooo

Bain News Service,, publisher.

Dr. Doyen separating Hindoo twins

[between 1910 and 1915]

1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.

Notes:
Title from unverified data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards.
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).

Format: Glass negatives.

Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.

Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain

Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.11619

Call Number: LC-B2- 2526-11

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Comments

Ks of W says:

"Roll your sleeves up and let's get to work."
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

neefer says:

One of the twins died in 1902, after being separated.

www.sideshowworld.com/Blow-OffRDsisters.html

www.iht.com/articles/2002/02/19/edold_ed3__40 .php
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

p/c says:

And one lived...wow.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

budderflyman says:

I wonder why they refer to them by their religion, Hinduism, rather than by their nationality? Should children this young really be considered of a certain religion when they are not old enough to have experienced or read about any other religion? I think not.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

zormsk says:

Looks more like a dissection than a surgery.
Anybody wash their hands then?

The 2nd sister died about a year after the first, also of tuberculosis.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

gardenwife says:

I wonder why they didn't put the twins on a full gurney so their legs weren't left dangling.

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Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

spisharam - AWAY says:

It is interesting to be able to see for real what it was like 100 years ago.

Seen in my contacts photo stream..
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Fnarf says:

"Hindu" was more or less their nationality at the time. There wasn't really any such thing as "India"; the British colony was under the control of the British East India Company, but it was popularly called "Hindustan".

Dr. Doyen sounds like a prick. I'm glad my medical treatments aren't filmed and photographed and displayed in circuses around the world!
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Out to Lunch says:

Every next generation will shiver at the crudeness of surgical interventions...
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Star Cat says:

I'm going to remember this photo whenever I have a bad day...
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

budderflyman says:

Fnarf, thank you for the history lesson. I should know these sorts of things. I certainly remember Hindustan, but I thought India was the name of the continent for five hundred years or so.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

budderflyman says:

Oh, and I wondered about the gurney, also. I mean, what did they use, a baby's gurney? Certainly you do not want the feet hanging down during procedure so as to discourage clots.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

jon.atli says:

This is probably a staged photo. The twins appear to be dead, yet the surgeons are set up as if they are about to separate them by disecting a the thin skin band that joins them at the chest. A true separation would have been a much more complicated procedure, and educated surgeons, even at that time would have known so.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

budderflyman says:

Only one died after surgery, the other lived for a year or so.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

budderflyman says:

PS, if they were dead, their legs would be straight very soon
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

budderflyman says:

PPS, It does not matter now, does it?
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Michael DaKidd says:

Fascinating photo; even more fascinating, though, is observing the comments in reaction to the photo's content: as seen through the cultural prism of today's sensibilities. While in our eyes, the photo calls to mind all sort of concerns, if it is viewed in the context of its own times it is merely documentation of what was once the cutting edge of medicine, as was the caption referencing the "Hindoo" twins acceptable in its day. I might also note that the photo was published by the Bain NEWS Service; which also implies to me that there was something acceptable and newsworthy - albeit sensational, about the photo, and the procedure, that obscured any cultural concerns regarding the twins or their identities.
Still, provocative and interesting....
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

robotography says:

Disturbing and amazing

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Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

TheeErin says:

Seems to me that the reason for the short gurney was to allow the cameraman a full and unobstructed view of the procedure.

I agree with Mr. DaKidd that we must strive to see this moment in its historical contest. That said, clearly these surgeons were ahead of their time for trying to bring a sense of normalcy to these twin girls' lives.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

budderflyman says:

Well, they appear to be connected just by chest skin. This would be a fairly simple procedure even back then. Certainly it would be much more easy to recover from such a procedure than, say, an amputation which was a very common surgical technique back then, especially during and after the Civil War which was a half century before this photo. Infection of the wound would really be the only serious concern if this is the only linkage between the two children. The smaller girl probably died just due to the fact she was more frail and perhaps had some other internal problems.

Also, I am thinking that the photo was taken before the children were given a general, just to show how the surgeon was going to make his incision.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

oldoinyo says:

I agree that this is definitely staged. Actual surgery was no doubt done later, and not necessarily in the setting depicted,
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Milou says:

This is disturbing! Poor children.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Prosediva says:

Surgeons with facial hair... something you don't see often anymore...
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

ComputerHotline says:

Your photo is uploaded here :
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:The_Library_ of_Congress_...
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Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

The Library of Congress says:

Thanks to everyone for your interest and observations regarding this photograph.

neefer: Thank you for the links to the website and article about the twins and their surgical separation. We will add a few more details to the descriptive data and reload this record to Flickr.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

johnsadowskiii says:

Yipes.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Branddobbe says:

They're not even wearing gloves! What kind of doctors are these?
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

TheeErin says:

Branddobbe - The hands and instruments of everybody involved in Dr. Doyen's surgery were probably swabbed with a concentration of carbolic acid or maybe mercuric chloride, but the manufacture and use of sterile gloves was still about ten years away.

We can thank the surgeons at Johns Hopkins for sterile glove technique.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

kevsmahn says:

Oh My Goodness, this picture is a memory of the time when the people of this world were before the use of modern technology... What a great picture capturing time immemorial... when medical world was still using ancient methods to cure the sick...

From that to today... the modern world is equiped with all the latest technology that can operate a person in the matter of seconds in the most safest and hygenic conditions too...
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

cltan47 says:

best shot
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

Luca Cazzaniga says:

divina
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

Joanot says:

Incredible!!!!!
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

Rayana. says:

oh my!
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

Getwild(e) says:

and consider the poor girls are not even laid down correctly, with their legs like that
Posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

carla on da bayou says:

The smaller child looks malnourished.
Posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

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Dr. Doyen separating Hindoo twins (LOC)

Comments

Ks of W says:

neefer says:

p/c says:

budderflyman says:

zormsk says:

gardenwife says:

spisharam - AWAY says:

Fnarf says:

Out to Lunch says:

Star Cat says:

budderflyman says:

budderflyman says:

jon.atli says:

budderflyman says:

budderflyman says:

budderflyman says:

Michael DaKidd says:

robotography says:

TheeErin says:

budderflyman says:

oldoinyo says:

*Milou* says:

Prosediva says:

ComputerHotline says:

The Library of Congress says:

johnsadowskiii says:

Branddobbe says:

TheeErin says:

kevsmahn says:

cltan47 says:

Luca Cazzaniga says:

Joanot says:

Rayana. says:

Getwild(e) says:

carla on da bayou says:

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Milou says: