Dicephalic parapagus twins complete hearts are present as well, which improves their chances of survival. The total number of arms may be two, three or four. Their prospects are best if no attempt is made to separate them, except in cases where one twin is clearly dying. Dicephalus means two-headed. Parapagus means joined side by side. Dicephalic twins are called: Conjoined twins appear in one in 50,000 to one in 100,000 births. Dicephalic twins represent about 11 percent of all conjoined twins. As late as the 1960s, some medical publications argued that newborn dicephalic twins should not be actively treated or resuscitated. An
Conjoined twins Two-Headed Nightingale" and appeared with the Barnum Circus. In 1912, they died of tuberculosis, 17 hours apart. Giovanni and Giacomo Tocci, from Locana, Italy, were immortalized in Mark Twain's short story "Those Extraordinary Twins" as fictitious twins Angelo and Luigi. The Toccis, born in 1877, were dicephalus tetrabrachius twins, having one body with two legs, two heads, and four arms. From birth they were forced by their parents to perform and never learned to walk, as each twin controlled one leg (in modern times, physical therapy allows twins like the Toccis to learn to walk on their own). They are