DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMBRYO. 1011 



canals are developed, by a contraction and folding in of tlie walls of the vesti- 

 bular sac ; and the cochlea is probably formed as an offset from it. At the 

 same time, the formation of cartilage, and subsequently of bone, takes place 

 around the auditory sac and its prolongations, forming the " sense-capsule," 

 which, in the higher Yertebrata, coalesces with the vertebral elements to form 

 the temporal bone. It is very interesting to remark, that the membranous 

 labyrinth, between the eighth and thirteenth days in the Chick, has a structure 

 almost precisely similar to that of the retinal expansion of the same period ; 

 consisting, like it, of a distinct but very delicate fibrous mesh, in the spaces 

 between which are deposited a quantity of granular matter and numerous 

 nucleated cells, whilst its exterior is composed of a dense mass of nuclei, almost 

 precisely analogous to the granular particles which form a large part of the 

 entire substance of the retina. 



1014. There can be no reasonable doubt, that the developmental process 

 must be greatly influenced by the quality of the nutriment supplied by the 

 maternal blood. " We have demonstrative evidence," says Dr. A. Combe, 1 

 " that a fit of passion in a nurse vitiates the quality of the milk to such a 

 degree as to cause colic and indigestion (or even death) in the suckling infant. 

 If, in the child already born, and in so far independent of its parent, the relation 

 between the two is thus strong, is it unreasonable to suppose that it should be 

 yet stronger, when the infant lies in its mother's womb, is nourished indirectly 

 by its mother's blood, and is, to all intents and purposes, a part of her own 

 body ? If a sudden and powerful emotion of her own mind exerts such an 

 influence upon her stomach as to excite immediate vomiting, and upon her heart 

 as almost to arrest its motion and induce fainting, can we believe that it will 

 have no effect on her womb and the fragile being contained within it ? Facts 

 and reason, then, alike demonstrate the reality of the influence : and much 

 practical advantage would result to both parent and child, were the conditions 

 and extent of its operations better understood." Among facts of this class, 

 there is, perhaps, none more striking than that quoted by the same author from 

 Baron Percy, as having occurred after the siege of Landau in 1793. In addition 

 to a violent cannonading, which kept the women for some time in a constant 

 state of alarm, the arsenal blew up with a terrific explosion, which few could 

 hear with unshaken nerves. Out of 92 children born in that district within a 

 few months afterwards, Baron Percy states that 16 died at the instant of birth; 

 33 languished for from 8 to 10 months, and then died ; 8 became idiotic, and 

 died before the age of 5 years ; and 2 came into the world with numerous frac- 

 tures of the bones of the limbs, caused by the cannonading and explosion. 

 Here, then, is a total of 59 children out of 92, or within a trifle of 2 out of 

 every 3, actually killed through the medium of the Mother's alarm and the 

 natural consequences upon her own organization ; an experiment (for such it is 

 to the Physiologist) upon too large a scale for its results to be set down as mere 

 " coincidences." No soundly judging Physiologist of the present day is likely 

 to fall into the popular error of supposing that " marks" upon the Infant are 

 to be referred to some transient though strong impression upon the imagination 

 of the Mother; but there appear to be a sufficient number of facts on record, to 

 prove that habitual mental conditions on the part of the Mother may have in- 

 fluence enough, at an early period of gestation, to produce evident bodily 

 deformity, or peculiar tendencies of the mind. That the mental state of the 

 Mother can produce important alterations in her own blood, seems demonstrated 

 by the considerations previously adduced (CHAP, xvm.) in regard to its effect 

 upon the processes of Nutrition and Secretion ; and that such alterations are 



1 "On the Management of Infancy," p. 76. 



