MECHANISM OF FECUNDATION. 895 



This history was accompanied by an excellent photograph of the mother an,] the tw, 

 biHren, a copy of which ,s given in Fig. 286. One of the children has tl,, ,,,],,' 

 characteristics of the negro, and the other looks like a white child. '< T he mother 

 eh, dren were mmate. of Howard Grove Hospital near this city (Richmo ll, ,e 

 p,cture was taken and I saw them frequently. Both children are now dead Tie block 



was killed br a tobacco - plaster applied to its 



FIG. 2S6. Mulatto mother with ticins, one white and the other black. From a photograph. 



" The only negro feature in the white child was its nose. There, its resemblance to 

 its mother was perfect. Its hair was long, light, and silky. Complexion hrilli. 



We have already referred to the curious fact that, when a cow gives birth to twins, 

 one male and the other female, the female, which is called the free-martin, is sterile and 

 presents an imperfect development of the internal organs of generation. This has !<.<! to 

 the idea that possibly the same law may apply to the human subject, in . 

 one male and the other female ; but numerous observations are recorded in r\ : 

 cal works, showing the incorrectness of this view, to which we may add tin- t'ollou 

 The author of the report on Rinderpest to the New York State Atrriniltnra' 

 1867, stated that his father was one of twins, male and female, and that his father's twin 

 sister had borne several children. 



It has long been a question whether impressions made upon the nervous system < 

 mother can exert an influence upon the foetus in utero. While many jmthors admit that 

 violent emotions experienced by the mother may affect the nutrition and the gt-m ral 

 development of the foetus, some writers of high authority deny that the imagination can 

 have any influence in producing deformities. It mu>t be admitted that many of the 



