FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 265 



into infusoria that are quite highly organized. If we reason 

 that the products of so-called spontaneous generation are 

 formed by the fortuitous aggregation of organic molecules, 

 we assume a fact of which we have no other example in Na- 

 ture ; and we assume, also, that such an aggregation of par- 

 ticles produces beings of a definite and uniform character. 

 For such a supposition, we have no basis in analogy. If, on 

 the other hand, we regard these low orders of beings as pro- 

 duced by the development of invisible germs, which have 

 found favorable conditions of heat and moisture, we rest 

 upon a basis of reasonable analogy, and merely confess that 

 this is a form of generation, the processes of which are not 

 as yet capable of demonstration. 



As the only true philosophic view to take of the question, 

 we shall assume, in common with nearly all modern writers 

 on physiology, that there is no such thing in Nature as spon- 

 taneous generation ; admitting that the exact mode of pro- 

 duction of some of the infusoria, lowest in the scale of being, 

 is not understood. 



Female Organs of Generation. 



An accurate knowledge of certain points in the anatomy 

 of the female organs of generation is essential to the com- 

 prehension of the most important of the processes of repro- 

 duction. Following a fruitful intercourse of the sexes, the 

 function, as regards the male, ceases with the comparatively 

 simple process of penetration of the male element through 

 the protective covering of the ovum, and its fusion with the 

 female element. The fecundated ovum then passes through 

 certain changes, which are the first processes of its develop- 

 ment, forms its attachments to the body of the mother, con- 

 tinues its development, materials being derived from the 

 mother, is nourished and grows, until the foetus at term is 

 brought into the world. An exact knowledge of the mech- 

 anism of these complicated processes can only be obtained 

 after a careful study of the anatomy of the female organs. 



