378 HISTORY OF 



Having thus seen the stages of generation in 

 the meaner animals, let us take a view of its pro- 

 gress in man, and trace the feeble beginnings of 

 our own existence. An account of the lowliness 

 of our own origin, if it cannot amuse, will at least 

 serve to humble us ; and it may take from our 

 pride, though it fails to gratify our curiosity. 

 We cannot here trace the variations of the begin- 

 ning animal as in the former instances, for the 

 opportunities of inspection are but few and acci- 

 dental : for this reason we must be content often 

 to fill up the blanks of our history with conjec- 

 ture. And, first, we are entirely ignorant of the 

 state of the infant in the womb, immediately after 

 conception, but we have good reason to believe 

 that it proceeds as in most other animals from 

 the egg.* Anatomists inform us, that four days 

 after conception, there is found in the womb an 

 oval substance, about the size of a small pea, but 

 longer one way than the other : this little body 

 is formed by an extremely fine membrane, enclos- 

 ing a liquor a good deal resembling the white of 

 an egg ; in this may, even then, be perceived 

 several small fibres, united together, which form 

 the first rudiments of the embryo. Besides these 

 are seen another set of fibres, which soon after 

 become the placenta, or that body by which the 

 animal is supplied with nourishment. 



Seven days after conception we can readily dis- 

 tinguish, by the eye, the first lineaments of the 

 child in the womb. However, they are as yet 



* This history of the child in the womb is translated from M. Buffon, 

 with some alterations. 



