t6 On the Minemlogical Geography 



ized ! The i magi nation must then be supposed to act on a 

 part of ihe foetus before such a part had any existence. The 

 common opinion is, that monstrosity depends on original 

 conformation of the ovum ; nor is it by any means intelli- 

 gible that a metamorphosis or annihilation of any part of 

 the foetus can lake place from an impression on the imagi- 

 nation of the parent. 



I have said that Enceps's object in writing was not 

 levity ; but when I came to the tale of the cat and the 

 kittens, my suspicions were somewhat roused. *' A preg- 

 nant she cat" had its tail trodden upon, and \o\ when she 

 littered she had an even number of kittens ; otherwise the 

 surprising things that did happen, coidd not have happen- 

 ed — that " half of her kittens had their tails bent in the 

 middle!" and that half hsid not. The circumstance which 

 roused my suspicion was the gravity with which Enceps 

 suys " this fact (or rather this tal^) seems to be very im- 

 portant, and to prove nearly to a demonstration^ that the 

 imagination of pregnant females has the power of acting on 

 the bodily conformation of their young 11" 



As a medical man, I had reason to hope that the old 

 prejudice of the perfection of the foetus being in anywise 

 contingent on the imagination of the parent was at an end ; 

 and having long been a. reader of your respectable Maga- 

 zine, I could not observe Enceps*s reasoning in favour of 

 such a prejudice, without presuming that it was subject to 

 ■animadversion. 



I remain, sir, your humble servant, 



CfllRURGICUS. 

 December, 1809. 



VL Memoir on the Mineralogical Geography of the Envi- 

 rons of Paris, By Messrs, Cuvier and Brogniart*. 



X HE country in which Paris is situated is perhaps 

 one of the most remarkable hitherto observed, from the 

 succession of the various soils which compose it, and from 

 the extraordinary remains of ancient organizations which it 

 contains: myriads of sea shells, regularly alternated with 

 fresh-water shells, form the principal mass : bones of ter- 

 restrial aninials, entirely unknown even with respect to their 

 genera, fill certain parts : other bones of species remarkable 

 il'om their size, and the counterparts of which are only 



• AimaUtdu Musiuin d^Uistoirt NaturelUf tome xi. p. 293, 



foUlKi 



