No. 1.] ORIGIN OF HUMAN. MONSTERS. 77 
tained from a criminal case, is equally remarkable, for we have 
here the amnion communicating with the coelom. In this case 
the ovum had been punctured by a bougie and the ccelom filled 
with mother’s blood. The clot is very recent, for it is composed 
largely of well-formed red corpuscles. A portion of it is 
composed of many leucocytes, and where they come in contact 
with the embryo the leucocytes are in a very imperfect state 
of preservation, showing irregularities and fragmentation of 
their nuclei. Fragmented leucoyctes are also found through- 
out the clot, in the blood-vessels of the embryo, in the chorion 
and yolk sac. At points in the villi leucocytic thrombi are 
found in the embryo’s blood-vessels, which shows the effect 
the tissues of the embryo have upon the leucocytes of the 
mother. No bacteria were found in a section stained for 
them. On the other hand, the tissues of the embryo are well 
preserved, there being no evidence of extensive necrosis. How- 
ever, on one side of the yolk sac the cells have desquamated. 
The bougie in puncturing the chorion probably also entered 
the yolk sac and was followed by its collapse. In the table 
its dimensions are given as 9 x 3 mm., which equal about a 
spherical vesicle 5 mm. in diameter. 
The amnion is also torn open, and within it there are frag- 
mented leucocytes. The invagination does not include the 
whole embryo, for a portion of the mesoderm covering the 
yolk sac contains myotomes. The experiment represented 
in this ovum gives us much over. which to reflect. 
According to the woman’s statement from whom this speci- 
men was obtained, the menstrual period had lapsed five days 
before the abortion took place, and her mechanical interference 
took place but a few days earlier. It is difficult to understand 
this high refinement in the production of abortions, and the 
degree of development of the ovum and embryo indicates that 
the specimen dates back to the last menstrual period. Possibly 
morning sickness, which in such cases may precede the first 
lapsed period, induced the woman to pass a bougie into the 
uterus after the period had been overdue a couple of days. 
