170 THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OP 



Mr. Aldrich. I learned that at two previous births she had 

 brouglit forth twins, and now was the mother of three at one 

 birth ; thevSe were milk-white, and a perfect counterpart of each 

 other. 



I understood Mr. Aldrich to say that the cow had never been 

 bred to the same bull, so that the plural and triple births were 

 the result of a peculiarity of constitution on the part of the 

 cow. This remarkable peculiarity seems to favor the hypoth- 

 esis of Pythagoras and Aristotle, who maintained that the 

 female parent affords all the materials necessary for the forma- 

 tion of the offtjpring, the office of the male being merely to 

 awaken the dormant formative powers residing in the female 

 ovaducts. The " ovists " farther assume, that the foetal germs 

 already exist, with all their organs in some part of the female 

 organs of generation, and that the action of the male is merely 

 that of exciting and endowing the foetus with vitality. These 

 theories, however, appear irreconcilable with the phenomena 

 of the offspring inheriting the faults and defects of the male. 



The cow alluded to never required any assistance in labor; 

 this may be accounted for from the fact that the mother had a 

 large pelvis, and her offspring at the time of birth were all 

 small. 



But here are two other remarkable cases. 



" The subject of this notice had been delivered of her first 

 calf in January, 1857, when two years old, a fine heifer of the 

 Brittany breed, and of medium size. 



" Soon after she was served (only once) by a bull of the 

 district, and became impregnated. During gestation the animal 

 was healthy, walked easily, and her belly presented no uncom- 

 mon appearance as regards size. 



" On December 26, her term of gestation having closed with 

 little pain or expulsive efforts, she gave birth, in a very few 

 minutes, to two calves (male and female,) the first being in the 

 normal position ; the last having the posterior limbs presented 

 first. At the same time the foetal envelopes of the calves came 

 away. 



" During delivery the cow showed no suffering, and would 



