ANIMALS 



187 



Passing over, therefore, every other ac- 

 count, I shall only mention the famous instance 

 quoted by Father Malbranche, upon which- 

 he founds his beautiful theory of monstrous 

 productions. A woman of Paris, the wife of 

 n tradesman, went to see a criminal broke 

 alive upon the wheel, at the place of public 

 execution. She was at that time two months 

 advanced in her pregnancy, and no way sub- 

 ject to any disorders to affect the child in her 

 womb. She was, however, of a tender habit 

 of body ; and, though led by curiosity to this 

 horrid spectacle, very easily moved to pity 

 and compassion. She felt, therefore, all those 

 strong emotions which so terrible a sight must 

 naturally inspire ; shuddered at every blow 

 the criminal received, and almost swooned at 

 his cries. Upon returning from this scene of 

 blood, she continued for some days pensive, 

 and her imagination still wrought upon the 

 spectacle she had lately seen. After some 

 timc,however,sheseemed perfectly recovered 

 from her fright, and had almost forgotten her 

 former uneasiness. When the time of her de- 

 livery approached, she seemed no ways mind- 

 ful of her former terrors, nor were her pains 

 in labour more than usual in such circumstan- 

 But what was the amazement of her 



ces. 



friends and assistants when the child came 

 into the world ! It was found that every limb 

 in its body was broken like those of the male- 

 factor, and just in the same place. This poor 

 infant, that had suffered the pains of life even 

 before its coming into the world, did not die, 

 but lived in an hospital in Paris, for twenty 

 years after, a wretched instance of the sup- 

 posed powers of imagination in the mother, of 

 altering and distorting the infant in the womb. 

 The manner in which Malbranche reasons 

 upon this fact, is as follows: the Creator has 

 established such a sympathy between the se- 

 veral parts of nature, that we are led not only 

 to imitate each other, but also to partake in 

 the same affections and desires. The animal 

 spirits are thus carried to the respective parts 

 of the body, to perform the same actions 

 which we see others perform, to receive in 

 tome measure their wounds, and take part in 

 their sufferings. Experience tells us, that if 

 wo look attentively on any person severely 

 beaten, or sorely wounded, the spirits imme- 

 diately flow into those parts of the body which 

 NO. 17 & 18. 



correspond to those we see in pain. The 

 more delicate the constitution, the more it is 

 thus affected ; the spirits making a stronger 

 impression on the fibres of a weakly habit 

 than of a robust one. Strong vigorous men 

 see an execution without much concern, while 

 women of nicer texture are struck with hor- 

 ror and concern. This sensibility in them 

 must, of consequence, be communicated to all 

 parts of their body; and as the fibres of the 

 child in the womb are incomparably finer 

 than those of the mother, the course of the 

 animal spirits must consequently produce 

 greater alterations. Hence, every stroke giv- 

 en to the criminal forcibly struck the imagi- 

 nation of the woman ; and, by a kind of coun- 

 ter-stroke, the delicate tender frame of the 

 child. 



Such is the reasoning of an ingenious man 

 upon a fact, the veracity of which many have 

 since called in question.' They have allow- 

 ed, indeed, that such a child might have been 

 produced, but have denied the cause of its 

 deformity. " How could the imagination of 

 the mother," say they, " produce such dread- 

 ful effects upon her child ? She has no com- 

 munication with the infant ; she scarcely 

 touches it in any part ; quite unaffected with 

 her concerns, it sleeps in security, in a man- 

 ner secluded by a fluid in which it swims, 

 from her that bears it. With what a variety 

 of deformities," say they, "would all man- 

 kind be marked, if all the vain and caprici- 

 ous desires of the mother were thus readily 

 written upon the body of the child !" Yet, 

 notwithstanding this plausible way of reason- 

 ing, I cannot avoid giving some credit to the 

 variety of instances I have either read or seen 

 upon this subject. If it be a prejudice, it is 

 as old as the days of Aristotle, and to this day 

 as strongly believed by the generality of man- 

 kind as ever. It does not admit of a reason; 

 and, indeed, I can give none, even why the 

 child should, in any respect, resemble the fa- 

 ther or the mother. The fact we generally 

 find to be so. But why it should take the par- 

 ticular print of the father's features in the 

 womb is as hard to conceive, as why it should 

 be effected by the mother's imagination. We 

 all know what a strong effect the imagination 



Billion, vol iv. p. 9. 



2L 



