166 APPENDAGES OF THE FCETUS. 



become impregnated with the odor, color, and even nature of me- 

 dicinal substances taken by the woman; to the existence of suppose! 

 vessels between tlie womb and envelop of the ovum, most physio- 

 logists have admitted that the liquor amnii is directly furnished by 

 the mother. Others, however, have maintained the contrary, and 

 believe with Scheele, Winslow, Van-den-Bosh, and M. Lobstein, 

 that it comes chiefly from the fcetus, particularly from the placental 

 vessels; Chaussier, Beclard and Meckel seem to hold a mixed opi- 

 nion, and endeavor to reconcile both the above hypotheses. 



433. Those who refer the liquor amnii to the foetus, have placed 

 its source in the sweat, the insensible transpiration, or the urinary 

 secretion, or in the glands or particular bodies of the placenta, or in 

 the vessels which Needham, Fabricius, Ruysch and Haller say they 

 observed betwixt the lamellae of the amnios; some of the ancients 

 made of it a coUiquamentum, coming from the semen, &c. Such as 

 attribute it to the mother merely say that it is poured out by exha- 

 lation in the interior of the ovum. 



434. I do not think it would be useful to refute these opinions 

 one by one; I shall content myself with remarking that there is no 

 vascular connection betwixt the womb and the membranes; that the 

 spongy coat is separated from that organ by an inorganic layer, the 

 membrana caduca, and that for more than a month the amnios does 

 not even touch the inner face of the chorion, to show that the fluid 

 in question is not derived immediately from the uterus; the propor- 

 tional quantity of the liquid being much greater in the first period 

 of pregnancy, ought also to suffice to show that it cannot be sup- 

 posed to come directly from the foetus. 



Every thing proves that the water of the amnios is the product of 

 a transudation, or of a simple exhalation, like the serosity of the 

 pleura, the pericardium, the peritoneum or arachnoid, and like the 

 synovial fluid of the tendinous sheaths, or of the articulations; and 

 that tliis perspiration does not require for its production the existence 

 of special canals; that it is an instance of mere vital imbibition: the 

 viscid matters, the muddy appearance, the yellow or greenish flocks 

 frequently met with in it, do not in any respect belong to it; for they 

 are nothing more than portions of meconium, or of the induitiis se- 

 parated from the fcelus, or even of the vitriform substance, and also 

 of the vesicles which exist primarily between the membranes. 



435. Its uses are, 1. To favor the active or passive motions of 

 the foetus, wliich, if it were without the liquor, would be every where 

 pressed by the uterus, and could not develop itself; 2. To permit 

 the isolation of the limbs and of their diflTerent parts; to prevent the 

 fingers from remaining in contact and adhering together; to oppose 



