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124 DR. LEE ON THE FUNCTIONS OP-^ 



coating the inner surface of the duodenum ; and its properties were, if possible, 

 still more decidedly albuminous than those of the intestines. 



I have been led to conclude from these facts, that the function of the foetal 

 liver is not, as has generally been supposed, that of separating from the blood 

 an excrementitious fluid injurious to the oeconomy of the child ; at least that 

 such is not its only use, but that it also performs some other important 

 office destined to assist in the nutrition of the foetus. 



It would be superfluous here to enumerate the various opinions which have 

 been entertained by physiologists on the subject of the nutrition of the foetus 

 in utero ; but that of Hippocrates as adopted by Harvey in his great work de 

 Generatione Animalium, requires to be noticed. He observes, "Quinetiam 

 certum est, intra pulli ingluviem (talisque prorsus in omnium embryonum 

 ventriculus cernitur) substantiam quandam, colore, sapore, et consistentia 

 dicto jam liquori persimilem reperiri ; eandemque, in ventriculo aliquantulum 

 coctam, lac coagulatum referre ; quam etiam, chyli specie, in primis intestinis 

 deprehendimus, inferiora autem intestina excrementis stercoraceis referta sunt. 

 Similiter in viviparonim in foetibus intestina crassiora consimili excremento 

 replentur, quali eadem, cum lacte vescuntur, abundare cemimus. In ovibus 

 etiam, aliisque bisulcis, manifesta sunt scybala. 



" Quid dubitemus igitur affirmare foetum in utero sugere ; et in eo fieri chy- 

 lificationem, cum ejus manifesta adsint tum principia, turn rejectamenta ?" 



The fallacy of the opinion of Harvey, and of later physiologists with regard 

 to the source of the nutritious fluid found in the intestinal canal of the foetus, 

 is demonstrated by the fact, that acephalous children*, and those born with 

 the oesophagus impei-vious, have not only been perfectly nourished, but in their 



* Meckel's Manuel d'Anatomie Generale, &c. Tom. iii. p. 792. 



The translators of Meckel's work, Messrs. Jourdan and Breschet, have stated the opinion of 

 Geoffroy St. Hilaire on this subject in the following note : — " Geoffroy St. Hilaire (Monstruosites 

 Humaines, p. 279.) ayant rencontre dans le canal intestinal d'un anomocephale de veritables matieres 

 fecales moulees meme, et reunies en crottins dans I'intestin post-ca2cal, s'est trouve conduit par ce 

 phenomene a examiner la nutrition propre du foetus. II pense que le mucus secrete dans les voies 

 alimentaires, et qui est trop abondant pour ne jouer <jue le role de fluide lubrifacteur, est I'aliment sur 

 lequel agit d'abord la digestion ; que pris d'abord par I'appareil digestif, ensuite par les voies chy- 

 liferes, il est la source du fluide nutritif, qui afflue ainsi sans cesse dans I'appareil circulatoire, et qui, 

 a chaque passage, eprouve une animalization graduelle. Consideree de la sorte, la nutrition du foetus 



