SECT. XXXIX. 6. 3. GENERATION. 409 



and not by fexual generation, that there would not at this time 

 have exifted one thoufandth part of their prefent number of fpe- 

 cies ; which have probably been originally mule -productions ; 

 nor could any kind of improvement or change have happened 

 to them except by the difference of foil or climate. 



3. I conclude that the imagination of the male at the time 

 of copulation, or at the time of the fecretion of the femen, may 

 fo affect this fecretion by irritative or fenfitive afTbciation, as 

 defcribed in No. V. I. of this feet ion, as to caufe the produc- 

 tion of fimilarity of form and of features, with the diftinclion 

 ' of fex ; as the motions of the chiflcl of the turner imitate or 

 correfpond with thofe of the ideas of the artift. It is not here 

 fo be under flood, that the firft living fibre, which is to form an 

 animal, is produced with any fimilarity of form to the future an- 

 imal ; but with propenfities, or appetencies, which (hall produce 

 by accretion of parts the fimilarity of form, feature, or fex, cor- 

 refponding to the imagination of the father. 



Our ideas are movements of the nerves of fenfe, as of the 

 optic nerve in recollecting vifible ideas, fuppofe of a triangular 

 piece of ivory. The fine moving fibres of the retina act in a 

 manner to which I give the name of white ; and this action is 

 confined to a defined part of it ; to which figure I give the 

 name of triangle. And it is a preceding pleafurable fenfa- 

 tion exifting in my mind, which occafions me to produce 

 this particular motion of the retina, when no triangle is pre? 

 fent. Now it is probable, that the acting fibres of the ulti- 

 mate terminations of the fecreting apertures of the veiTels of 

 the redes, are as fine as thofe of the retina ; and that they are 

 liable to be thrown into that peculiar action, which marks the 

 fex of the fecreted embryon, by fympathy with the pleafurable 

 motions of the nerves of vifion or of touch ; that is, with certain 

 ideas of imagination. From hence it would appear, that the 

 world has long been miltaken in afcribing great power to the 

 imagination of the female, whereas from this account of it, the 

 real power of imagination, in the act of generation, belongs 

 folely to the male. See Seel. XII. 3. 3. 



It may be objected to this theory, that a man may be fuppof- 

 ed to have in his mind, the idea of the form and features of the 

 female, rather than his own, and therefore there (hould be a 

 greater number of female births. On the contrary, the general 

 idea of our own form occurs to every one almolt perpetually, 

 and is termed confcioufnefs of our exiftence, and thus may ef- 

 fect, that the number of males furpafles that of females. See 

 Sect XV. 3. 4. and XVIII. 13. And what further con- 

 firms this idea is, that the male children moft frequently 



VOL. I. EEC refemble 



