Can a man have a double pupil?

It's no secret that in human physiology there are a lot of oddities. And today hardly anyone can surprise this. It would seem that not so long ago people came from all around the neighborhood to look at a person who has a sixth finger on his hand. And it's no surprise if you see such an "owner of an extra phalanx" in our days, standing a few centimeters from you, say, in line for groceries.

Also, a pair of Siamese twins will not be surprising. And even if they do not wave you from the stage, but simply in the ordinary atmosphere will pass by. In view of the fact that they have already soaked all eyes on TV, this case will be left without attention. Moreover, after a couple of hours, no one will remember that just recently a couple of people who grew attached to each other walked past him.

And what if during a walk you catch a glimpse of not two but four pupils? And in one eyeball there will be two. A double pupil - that's already becoming really curious, right?

Is this real?

Perhaps this phenomenon or not, disputes are still to this day. Modern medicine completely rejects the fact that the disease is a "double pupil". Of course, it is possible that there are a lot of cases when the patient's eyeball does look like it has a pair of pupils. But most often it is either a violation in the retina, or the development of a parasite, etc.

However, this phenomenon Pupula duplex (double pupil) is found in many sources of both ancient scientists and researchers of the last century.

First mentions

Initially, this ailment was called "the devil's eye". These references can be found in the works of ancient writers. A vivid example is the work of the ancient Roman poet Ovid, where the double pupil has a special place. Naturally, in the old days people had nothing but horror to cause such a phenomenon.

However, among the owners of such eyes are very successful people. One of them is Liu Chun, governor of the ancient Chinese city of Shanxi.

Mentions about Liu Chun in history

For a long time, in 995 BC. In the city of China, Shanxi, Governor Liu Chun sat. Later he was transferred to the post of state minister. This official got his fame because of two circumstances. First, he managed to make his son the heir of all of China, which was served by his connections with the widowed empress. Second, Liu Chun had two pupils in each eye. And the most significant contribution to his popularity was made by this very moment. It is this kind of Chinese minister that is depicted in the paintings, and this is what his wax figure looks like in the London Ripley Museum. And most importantly, that he is so imprinted in history - "A man with double eyes."

In addition to this case, the double eye was fixed in medicine in 1931. Someone Henry Haun - a resident of Kentucky - had a double pupil. A photo that could confirm this phenomenon was never provided to the scientific committee, which left Mr. Houn without proper attention.

Studies of the 20th century

The double pupil aroused considerable interest among scientists during the period from 1902 to 1918. It all started with Kirby Smith's research, which Walton Brooks McDaniel later refuted with his work "A double pupil and other manifestations of the devil's eye."

In his work, Pupula Duplex Smith argues that this concept is symbolic, not medical. And this ancient people emphasized the difference in the color of the eyes of a person (for example, the left one is blue and the right one is green). And this feature in modern science has a name such as heterochromia.

In a misunderstanding of the ancient authors of this phenomenon with Smith, McDaniel agrees. But, according to his version, people of those times simply called pupula duplex such phenomena as, for example, pupil dilatation, retinal disorders and other eye defects. And undoubtedly, all of the above and the truth is capable of creating the illusion of a double pupil.

What do they say about this today?

If you ask a similar question to a modern ophthalmologist, at best you can only hear laughter. Science has long denied the possibility of finding two pupils in one eye at once.

But nevertheless in the history of medicine there really is one disease - polycoria. It is nothing more than the presence of two or more pupils, adhering to each other.

Unlike the first case (double pupil), the disease of polycoria is expressed in visual discomfort, deterioration of visual acuity. With her peculiar flaccid reaction to light in the visual organs. It is eliminated before the preschool age exclusively surgically. If this procedure was not done to the patient on time, then contact lenses are prescribed to him. But all these measures are accepted only for those who have more than three pupils. Also a signal for anxiety may be that they are expanded to 2 millimeters.

Myths about a double pupil

There are a lot of different myths about the double pupil. The most ancient of them is that the double eye is a mark of the devil. In the old days such people were subjected to contempt and persecution.

There is also an opinion that this is a gift (nowadays called superpower). Allegedly, a person who has such a feature of the eyes is able to perceive the surrounding world more accurately, highlighting each of its elements, which makes him outstanding - such a superman. Something like this, some say about the disease of "polycore". In their opinion, each pupil has a sphincter, which allows him to function equally with the neighboring. However, this is also misleading. Only one pupil in the eyeball with this disease is given a sphincter. And it does not work well.