29'1> HISTORY OF 



extremely fine membrane, inclosing a liquor a good deal re- 

 sembling the white of an egg -. in this may, even then, be 

 perceived, several small fibres, united together, which form 

 the first rudiments of the embryo. Beside these, are seen 

 another set of fibres, which soon after become the placenta, 

 or that body by which the animal is supplied with nourish- 

 ment. 



Seven days after conception, we can readily distinguish by the 

 eye, the first lineaments of the child in the womb. However, 

 they are as yet without form ; showing at the end of seven days 

 pretty much such an appearance as that of the chicken after four 

 and twenty hours, being a small jelly-like mass, yet exhibiting 

 the rudiments of the head ; the trunk is barely visible : there 

 likewise is to be discerned a small assemblage of fibres issuing 

 from the body of the infant, which afterwards become the blood- 

 vessels that convey nourishment from the placenta to the child, 

 while inclosed in the womb. 



Fifteen days after conception, the head becomes distinctly 

 visible, and even the most prominent features of the visage begin 

 to appear. The nose is a little elevated : there ai-e two black 

 specks in the place of eyes ; and two little holes where the ears 

 are afterwards seen. The body of the embryo also is grown 

 larger ; and both above and below, are seen two little protube- 

 rances, which mark the places from whence the arms and thighs 

 are to proceed. The length of the whole body at this time is 

 less than half an inch. 



At the end of three weeks, the body has received very little 

 increase ; but the legs and feet, with the hands and arms, are 

 become apparent. The growth of the arms is more speedy than 

 that of the legs ; and the fingers are sooner separated than the 

 toes. About this time the internal parts are found, upon dis- 

 section, to become distinguishable. The places of the bones 

 are marked by small thread-like substances, that are yet more 

 fluid even than a jelly. Among them, the ribs are distin- 

 guishable, like threads also, disposed on each side of the 

 spine ; and even the fingers and toes scarcely exceed hairs ia 

 thickness. 



In a month, the embryo is an inch long ; the body is bent 

 forward, a situation which it almost always assumes in the womb, 

 either because a posture of this kind is the most easy, or be- 



