SEX IxV LIVING FORMS 139 



maintains that males, and not females, are the result 

 of a better food supply to the mother. 



The persistent failure of the czar and czarina of 

 Russia to provide a legitimate male heir to the throne, 

 despite all scientific formulas, is a discouraging com- 

 ment on any theory of absolute certainty. 



Statistics collected in Germany show that when the 

 mother is older than the father, the number of female 

 births is considerably in excess. This is equally true 

 when the father and mother are of the same age. When 

 the father's age is in excess of that of the mother, the 

 male births are in excess of the females, the propor- 

 tion of cases increasing with the predominance of the 

 father's age above that of the mother. This would 

 seem to agree perfectly with the well-known fact that 

 male births are usually slightly in excess of the female. 

 This theory would be the natural result of the prevail- 

 ing custom in society by which the age of the husband 

 usually exceeds that of the wife. 



Some poultry breeders claim that mating a cockerel 

 with hens produces more female than male chickens; 

 while mating a cock with pullets results in more males 

 than females, conditions of constitutional vigor and 

 local health being equal; otherwise, the results are 

 uncertain. 



Circumcision.— The fold of integument called the 

 prepuce, which has been previously described, has upon 

 its inner surface a large number of glands which pro- 

 duce a peculiar secretion. Under certain circum- 

 stances, and from inattention to personal cleanliness, 

 this secretion may accumulate, and then often becomes 

 the cause of irritation and serious disease. To pre- 

 vent such disorders, and to insure cleanliness, the Jew- 

 ish law required the removal of the prepuce, which 



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