190 ON GENERATION. 



changed in disposition. In like manner women occasionally be- 

 come insane through ungratified desire, and to such a height 

 does the malady reach in some, that they are believed to be 

 poisoned, or moon-struck, or possessed by a devil. And this 

 would certainly occur more frequently than it does, without the 

 influence of good nurture, respect for character, and the modesty 

 that is innate in the sex, which all tend to tranquillize the in- 

 ordinate passions of the mind. 



EXERCISE THE SIXTH. 



Of the uterus of the fowl. 



The passage from the external uterine orifice to the internal 

 parts and uterus itself, where the egg is perfected, is by that 

 part which in other animals is called the vagina or vulva. In 

 the fowl, however, this passage is so intricate, and its internal 

 membrane is so loose and wrinkled, that although there is a ready 

 passage from within outwards, and a large egg makes its way 

 through all without much difficulty, still it scarcely seems likely 

 that the penis of the male could penetrate or the spermatic fluid 

 make its way through it ; for I have found it impossible to in- 

 troduce either a probe or a bristle; neither could Fabricius pass 

 anything of the sort, and he says that he could not even inflate 

 the uterus with air. Whence he was led I fancy to give an 

 account of the uterus, proceeding from more internal to more 

 external parts. Considering this structure of the uterus also, he 

 denies that the spermatic fluid of the male can reach the cavity 

 of the uterus, or go to constitute any part of the egg. 1 To this 

 statement I most willingly subscribe; for, indeed, there is nothing 

 in the fruitful egg which is not also in the barren one ; there 

 is nothing in the way of addition or change which indicates 

 that the seminal fluid of the male has either made its way into 

 the uterus, or come into contact with the egg. Moreover, al- 

 though without the access of the cock all eggs laid are winded 

 and barren, still through his influence, and long after inter- 



1 Op. cit. p. si. 



