We hope that such will not be the result of their leaving their native shores; and we are much pleased with this passage in a letter from Drs. Samuel Mitchill and Anderson to Capt.  Coffin—­“They (the youths) are under the protection of a kind and benevolent gentleman, and we know you will take good care of them, and if they live, return them to their homes again.”  Of their strength many instances are related:  since they have arrived in London they have lifted a gentleman of considerable weight, with great ease; and on this point Drs. Mitchill and Anderson say—­“As they are so vigorous and alert, we readily coincide that in ten seconds they can lay a stout ordinary man on his back.”

We shall not go out of our way to state half the curious questions which forcibly arose in our minds on visiting this interesting exhibition.  One of the most important, and least easy of solution, is the structure of the connecting band—­how it is kept alive—­whether blood flows into and circulates through it from each, and passes into the system of the other—­whether it be composed of bone, as well as of cartilage—­and whether it could be safely divided?  Upon examining the connexion, or cord, Dr. Warren says—­“Placing my hand on this substance, I found it extremely hard.  On further examination, the hardness was found to exist at the upper part of the cord only, and to be prolonged into the breast of each boy.  Tracing it upwards, I found it to be constituted by a prolongation of the ensiform cartilage of the sternum, or extremity of the breast-bone.  The cartilages proceeding from each sternum meet at an angle, and then seem to be connected by a ligament, so as to form a joint.  This joint has a motion upwards and downwards, and also a lateral motion—­the latter operating in such a way, that when the boys turn in either direction, the edges of the cartilage are found to open and shut.

* * * * *

“Besides this there is nothing remarkable felt in the connecting substance.  I could distinguish no pulsating vessel.  The whole of this cord is covered by the skin.  It is remarkably strong, and has no great sensibility, for they allow themselves to be pulled by a rope fastened to it, without exhibiting uneasiness.  On ship board, one of them sometimes climbed on the capstan of the vessel, the other following as well as he could, without complaining.  When I first saw the boys, I expected to see them pull on this cord in different directions, as their attention was attracted by different objects.  I soon perceived that this did not happen.  The slightest impulse of one to move in any direction is immediately followed by the other; so that they appear to be influenced by the same wish.”

This harmony in their movements, Dr. Warren thinks, is a habit formed by necessity.  His further account of their habits is extremely curious: