# History of Monsters, 659

He recounts that he kept an extremely fertile cat at home, which in a single litter gave birth to three kittens. These were not merely joined by the umbilical cord but were truly fused at their bellies in the mother’s womb; because of the narrowness of the birth canal, they died during delivery. This monster appears in Figure III. Lycosthenes described the mother of this monster as a truly prolific cat, as she often conceived three times a year, bearing litters of five or six kittens at a time. However, after she reached eight years of age, she mostly gave birth to monsters. Eventually, contrary to the natural instincts of a mother, she began to devour her kittens once they were old enough to run, and for this cruelty, she was drowned.

In the bird kingdom, two-bodied creatures are also said to be found occasionally. According to Lycosthenes, in the year 1496, in a certain village belonging to the Bishopric of Strasbourg called Sugenheim (two miles from Strasbourg), a goose of monstrous form hatched from an egg. It had two heads and two tongues but a single neck. It had four feet: two occupied the place where wings usually emerge in other animals of this kind, and the other two feet were seen near the rump, where there was a double exit for excrement; finally, the wings were somehow attached to the neck.

Therefore, we might rightly call this goose "two-bodied." It does not differ much from the one Albertus Magnus claims to have seen, which had two necks, four wings, four feet, and a single back, such that one goose seemed to be carrying the other. Such a creature can be seen in Figure IIII.

To conclude this section on monsters, we wish to bring forward a two-bodied monster from the lizard family—if indeed such a thing ever existed in nature. It is found drawn in the records of Torquato Bembo and appears to represent the figure of two lizards joined together. Thus, it pleased us to name this monster the "two-bodied lizard" or "Amphisbaena," as seen in Figure V.

But a greater wonder will seize the minds of readers when they contemplate the image of a two-bodied lizard that was given as a live gift to the most distinguished Ulisse Aldrovandi by Francesco of Cento, a very famous tooth-puller. This lizard had another head where its tail should be, and consequently, it could walk toward either head. Because of this, we must admit it emerged from a double egg; it is shown in Figure VI, just as it was drawn while alive.

What we have observed regarding the doubling of external parts in animals, we believe should also be stated regarding their internal parts. Pontanus cites a witness who claimed to have seen a field-dressed ram in which the heart and intestines were doubled. Furthermore, we have mentioned the doubling of internal organs in many animals in various places above.

Although the causes of two-bodied offspring all seem to originate from an abundance of seminal material, many causes for these fetuses should nonetheless be attributed to a lack of material. This occurs when two-bodied offspring are generated in either the upper or lower parts, while the remaining parts are produced as single structures. The reason is that when the material destined for the formation of two fetuses does not reach the quantity required for a full set of twins, the offspring is produced as two-bodied only in the lower or upper parts. For Nature, intent on the construction of twins, might form the upper parts, but if the material runs out, the resulting offspring will be two-bodied in the head and thorax, while the rest remains a single small body.

On the other hand, one might argue the exact opposite for offspring that are two-bodied in their lower parts and single in their upper parts, were it not for the difficulty regarding the primary origin of the principal parts, and especially the generation of the brain. Since Nature is first occupied with forming the brain and the head, she will—due to a shortage of material—always produce this type of two-bodied creature (and twins) with doubled upper parts and single lower parts.

Furthermore, it is important to note that in producing this kind of two-bodied creature, it is not only a lack of material suitable for generating the principal parts that serves as an obstacle to Nature producing complete twins in the upper portion; sometimes it is the narrowness of the space, which prevents a double distribution of brain matter