132 



A HISTORY OF 



and never leaves him till he dies. The em- 

 bryo even then begins to struggle for a state 

 more marked by pleasure and pain, and, from 

 about the sixth month, begins to give the 

 mother warning of the greater pain she is yet 

 to endure. The continuation of pregnancy, in 

 woman, is usually nine months ; but there 

 have been many instances when the.child has 

 lived that was born at seven ; and some are 

 found to continue pregnant a month above the 

 usual time. When the appointed time ap- 

 proaches, the infant, that has for some months 

 been giving painful proofs of its existence, now 

 begins to increase its efforts for liberty. The 

 head is applied downward, to the aperture of 

 the womb, and by reiterated efforts it endea- 

 vours to extend the same : these endeavours 

 produce the pain which all women in labour 

 feel in some degree ; those of strong constitu- 

 tions the least, those most weakly the most 

 severely ; since we learn, that the women of 

 Africa always deliver themselves, and are well 

 a few hours after ; while those of Europe re- 

 quire assistance, and recover more slowly. 

 Thus the infant, still continuing to push with 

 its head forward, by the repetition of its endea- 

 vours, at last succeeds, and issues into life. 

 The blood, which had hitherto passed through 

 the heart, now takes a wider circuit ; and the 

 foramen ovale closes ; the lungs, that had till 

 this time been inactive, now first begin their 

 functions ; the air rushes in to distend them ; 

 and this produces the first sensation of pain, 

 which the infant expresses by a shriek ; so 

 that the beginning of our lives, as well as the 

 end, is marked with anguish." 



From comparing these accounts, we per- 

 ceive that the most laboured generation is the 

 most perfect ; and that the animal which, in 

 proportion to its bulk, takes the longest time 

 .for production, is always the most complete 

 when finished. Of all others, man seems the 

 slowest in coming into life, as he is the slowest 

 in coming to perfection ; other animals, of the 

 same bulk, seldom remain in the womb above 

 six months, while he continues nine ; and even 

 after his birth appears mdre than any other to 

 have his state of imbecility prolonged. 



We may observe also, that that generation 

 is the most complete in whicli the fewest ani- 

 mals are produced : Nature, by attending to 



" Bonnet Contemplate, de la Nature, vol. i. p. 212. 



the production of one at a time, seems to exert 

 all her efforts in bringing it 10 perfection ; but, 

 where this attention is divided, the animals so 

 produced come into the world with partial ad- 

 vantages. In this manner twins are never, at 

 least while infants, so large or so strong as 

 those that come singly into the world ; 

 each having, in some measure, robbed the 

 other of its right ; as that support, which 

 Nature meant for one, has been prodigally 

 divided. 



In this manner, as those animals are the best 

 that are produced singly, so we find that the 

 noblest animals are ever the least fruitful. 

 These are seen usually to bring forth but one 

 at a time, and to place all their attention upon 

 that alone. On the other hand, all the ovipa- 

 rous kinds produce in amazing plenty ; and 

 even the lower tribes of viviparous animals in- 

 crease in a seeming proportion to their mi- 

 nuteness and imperfection. Nature seems la- 

 vish of life in the lower orders of the creation ; 

 and, as if she meant them entirely for the use of 

 the nobler races, she appears to have bestowed 

 greater pains in multiplying the number than 

 in completing the kind. In this manner, 

 while the elephant and the horse bring forth 

 but one at a time, the spider and the beetle 

 are seen to produce a thousand : and even 

 among the smaller quadrupeds, all the inferior 

 kinds are extremely fertile ; any one of these 

 being found, in a very few months, to become 

 the parent of a numerous progeny. 



In this manner, therefore, the smallest ani- 

 mals multiply in the greatest proportion ; and 

 we have reason to thank Providence, that the 

 most formidable animals are the least fruitful. 

 Had the lion and the tiger the same degree 

 of fecundity with the rabbit or the rat, all the 

 arts of man would be unable to oppose these 

 fierce invaders ; and we should soon perceive 

 them become the tyrants of those who claim 

 the lordship of the creation. But Heaven, in 

 this respect, has wisely consulted the advantage 

 of all. It has opposed to man only such ene- 

 mies as he has art and strength to conquer ; 

 and, as large animals require proportional sup- 

 plies, Nature was unwilling to give new life, 

 where it, in some measure, denied the neces- 

 sary means of subsistence. 



In consequence of this pre-established order, 

 the animals that are endowed with the most 

 perfect methods of generation, and bring forth 



