Politics, it is said, makes strange bedfellows, even in the field of pediatrics, as witness the politico-pediatric endeavors of Sebastian Brant. His history has been told by J. H. E. Hetts in "Flugblätter des Sebastian Brant," Strassburg, 1915, as to how, by using rhymed broadsides, he hoped to uphold his ruler, Maximilian. About this time there were born at Worms two children fastened together by their heads. Brant, remembering how in the past such things had been regarded as signs of importance, composed a poem trying to show that this event was a favorable omen. This was issued in 1496, four years after Columbus landed in America. The illustration gives the text, part of which may be freely rendered as follows:
When Hannibal brought victory, a child coming from its mother's womb returned there. It meant Hannibal would destroy the city. Livius tells of many wonders which foretold disaster to