62 Observations on the Natural History 



When I look into the body of a human female, I be- 

 hold organs of higher and lower importance : the 

 lungs to oxidate the blood, the stomach to digest the 

 food, the kidneys to secrete the urine, the uterus to 

 bear the young, &c. The uterus and the ovaria, with 

 their appendages, are, equally with the stomach and 

 lungs, provided by nature. They are not morbid pro- 

 ductions. Each organ by nature is destined to certain 

 functions, or offices. Am I deceived in this ? Can the 

 ovaria and uterus be organs of nature, and yet concep- 

 tion and gestation be "grades of disease ?" Can any 

 human mind, in its calmer moments, when relieved from 

 the importunate entreaties of a new-born theory, con- 

 ceive any thing so incongruous, as that the ovaria and 

 uterus are organs of nature, and yet conception and 

 gestation are grades of disease ? Let us examine into 

 this opinion. 



In every perfect female body, we find organs of ge- 

 neration, as well as organs of digestion and respiration. 

 Our venereal appetencies are as regular as our appe- 

 tites for aliments of life, or our demands for the renewal 

 of the oxigenous stimulus to our blood ; and it is as 

 natural to gratify the one as the other. If we cease to 

 gratify our appetites for food, or demands for respiration, 

 we die ; if we cease to indulge our appetites for venery, 

 our kind becomes extinct. The former are death to 

 the body ; the latter is death to the race. 



Now, seeing that the organs of generation, with their 

 appetencies, are strictly conformable to the original inten- 

 tions of nature, with what modesty or apology do we 



