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Diphallic terata. Fetus in fetu, and dermoid cysts. Hermaphrodites. CLASS I. Triple Monsters. Haller and Meckel were of the opinion that no cases of triple monsters worthy of credence are on record, and since their time this has been the popular opinion. Surely none have ever lived. Licetus describes a human monster with two feet and seven heads and as many arms.

It occurs also on the trunk in situations where the lateral halves of the body coalesce during development. Such a dermoid usually takes the form of a globular cyst, the wall of which consists of skin, and the contents of turbid fluid containing desquamated epithelium, fat droplets, cholestrol crystals, and detached hairs.

Cullingworth reports the history of a woman in whom both ovaries were apparently involved by dermoids, who had given birth to 12 children and had three miscarriages the last, three months before the removal of the growths. The accompanying illustration, taken from Baldy, pictures a dermoid cyst of the complicated variety laid open and exposing the contents in situ.

They seemed to be composed of sebaceous matter, and were evidently formed around the short hairs by the motion of the fluid produced by walking or riding. There was some tissue resembling true skin attached to the inner wall of the sac." There are several cases of multiple dermoid cysts on record, and they may occur all over the body.

It had no pedicle and was fixed, showing unequal consistency. At birth this tumor was about the size of a pigeon's egg. A diagnosis of dermoid cyst was made and two operations were performed on the boy, death following the second. The skeleton showed interesting conditions; the rectum and pelvic organs were natural, and the contents of the cyst verified the diagnosis.

Bramann reported a case in which a dermoid cyst of small size was situated over the sternum at the junction of the manubrium with the gladiolus, and a similar cyst in the neck near the left cornu of the hyoid bone. Chitten removed a dermoid from the sternum of a female of thirty-nine, the cyst containing 11 ounces of atheromatous material. In the Museum of St.

Mears of Philadelphia reports a case of ovarian cyst removed from a girl of six and a half by Bradford of Kentucky in 1875. From this age on to adult life many similar cases are recorded. Nearly every medical museum has preserved specimens of dermoid cysts, and almost all physicians are well acquainted with their occurrence.

Quite similar to the cases of fetus in fetu are the instances of dermoid cysts. For many years they have been a mystery to physiologists, and their origin now is little more than hypothetic.

The curious formations and contents and the bizarre shapes are of great variety. Graves mentions a dermoid cyst containing the left side of a human face, an eye, a molar tooth, and various bones. Dermoid cysts are found also in regions of the body quite remote from the ovary.

Even the erector pili muscle and the sudoriparous gland are often found. The hair is partly free and rolled up into thick balls or is still attached to the walls. A large mass of sebaceous material is also found in these cysts. Thomson reports a case of dermoid cyst of the bladder containing hair, which cyst he removed.