OF THE 



UTERINE MEMBRANES AND HUMOUKS. 



" FOUR kinds of bodies" are enumerated by Hieronymus 

 Fabricius 1 "as existing externally to the foetus; these are the 

 umbilical vessels, the membranes, the humours, and a fleshy 

 substance." On these subjects, guided by my observations, I 

 shall briefly state wherein I differ from him ; first, however, 

 giving his statement in his own words. 



" There are," he says, "three membranes, two of which en- 

 velope the whole fetus, but the third does not do so. Of those 

 which envelope the whole foetus, the innermost, immediately 

 investing one, is called afjLviov, i. e. the mantle. That which fol- 

 lows next is entitled by the Greeks yropiov ; the Latins, how- 

 ever, have not given it a name, although some interpreters 

 have thought proper erroneously to call it " secundse" or " se- 

 cundina," the secundines ; this also envelopes the entire foetus. 

 The third is called aAAairoEtSrjc, i- e - gut-like, from its resem- 

 blance to a stuffed intestine ; it does not entirely encompass 

 the foetus, but is applied upon the thorax and part of the ab- 

 domen, and extends to either horn of the uterus." He allows 

 that this last membrane is only found in the foetus of the sheep 

 and cow; he asserts also that it is continuous with the urachus, 

 and bymeans of this receives the urine from the bladder. Hence, 

 he goes on, "horned animals, in whom this allantois is found, 

 have the urachus so wide and straight, that it resembles a 

 small intestine ; it gradually decreases in size until it reaches 

 the fundus of the bladder ; whence it would appear to owe its 



1 Lib. de Form. Foet. cap. 1 . 



