Horror, Sleaze and Trash.

The Death Cast of Chang and Eng Bunker. This plaster cast was made from the bodies of conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker after their autopsy in 1874. Eng is on the left, and Chang, who died first (presumably of a cerebral clot), is on the right. In life, their usual position was standing side-by-side, with an arm over each other’s shoulder.

The doctors transported the bodies to The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, where the autopsy was done in The Mütter Museum. This plaster cast shows the incision, which revealed that the band connecting the twins included portions of the peritoneal cavities of each twin and that their livers were joined by a thin strip of liver tissue. The doctors concluded that the twins could not have been safely separated because of the blood loss that would have resulted from the operation. The joined livers are also on display in the Museum.