In human physiology, many congenital abnormalities can be observed. In our enlightened age, this no longer shocks anyone. If earlier people ran to the circus of freaks to look at Siamese twins, a bearded woman or a dwarf, now, thanks to the Internet and television, such oddities in appearance have become commonplace for people. Six toes on a leg or hand, a cleft lip, albinism - no one will pay attention to such defects in appearance now.
But what will be the reaction to eyes with double pupils?
Truth or fiction
Two irises in one eyeball - reality or myth? The question of the existence of such a phenomenon has been criticized by modern doctors.
No case of such an anomaly has been officially documented. However, notes about the pupula duplex - double pupil - are found in the works of scientists and researchers of the past centuries.
Historical summaries
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Mentions of this phenomenon can be found already in the works of the ancient Roman writer Ovid. It's clear that in ancient times people were afraid of everything unusual and attributed a dark origin to such things. Therefore, initially the phenomenon of a double pupil was called "devil's eye".
Among the historical figures who had this ailment, one can distinguish Liu Chong, the state minister of the Middle Kingdom, who lived in the tenth century BC.
The man with "double" eyes
Liu Chong made a really brilliant political career: from the post of governor of the ancient Chinese city of Shanxi, he reached the chair of state minister and made sure that his son became the heir to the imperial throne. However, he received his greatest fame not because of his rule or his relationship with the widow empress. Liu Chong went down in history as a person with "double" eyes, as he had an unusual appearance: in each eye he had two irises. This is how the artists of those times portrayed the minister on their canvases. Similar is the wax figure of Liu Chun at the Louis Tussauds in Copenhagen, created by Robert Ripley as part of the "Believe it or not" project.
20th century theories
The double pupil phenomenon was especially intriguing for researchers in the early twentieth century. For example, in his 1902 work Pupula Duplex, scientist and researcher Kirby Smith suggested that in ancient times people used the term "double pupil" in a figurative, symbolic sense, and not literally, medical. So, for example, could be called a different color of the iris. Let's say one of a person's eyes is brown, and the other is blue. Modern medicine calls this abnormal staining of the irises heterochromia.
Researcher Walton Brooks McDaniel agreed with Smith's point of view, who also drew attention to the fact that earlier the name "pupula duplex" could be given to such eye defects as dilated pupils, retinal disorders and similar diseases, because they really could create the illusion of double pupils …
View of modern medicine
At the moment, all research in this area refutes theories about the possibility of the presence of two irises in one eye. However, in medicine, there is an idea of one interesting congenital eye defect called "polycoria". Polycoria is a rare congenital eye pathology, which is accompanied by the presence of two or even several pupils in its iris.
This disease is not only an aesthetic defect, but also negatively affects the patient's quality of life. Pupillary openings with polycoria have an irregular, asymmetric shape, as a result of which the muscle that is responsible for the constriction of the pupil in response to light is not able to contract normally. As a result, the patient has discomfort in the eyes, and the visual acuity of the diseased eye decreases. If a diagnosis is made, surgery is indicated in the first year of life. The defect is eliminated if there are more than two pupils and their diameter is from 2 mm. At an older age, the patient is prescribed optical contact lenses.