98 SEX-LORE 



the time needed for embryonic development. The 

 secretion of milk starts with gestation, and is in full 

 flow at the birth of the young. It lasts as long as 

 suckling goes on. 



2. REPRODUCTION IN MAN. 



Gestation in human beings (called pregnancy) last, 

 on an average about 280 days (ten lunar months). It 

 has already been pointed out that in the act of mating 

 the semen of the male is e j aculated into the vagina . In 

 any case, the sperm by its active movement reaches the 

 uterus, where it finds the ovum. The ovum is shed 

 by the ovary at periodical intervals and travels along 

 a connecting tube (oviduct) into the uterus, where 

 it awaits fertilization. This takes place, therefore 

 (with very rare exceptions when the ovum has not 

 reached the uterus), in the womb. The act of fertili- 

 zation is called conception, and pregnancy commences 

 thenceforth. The first sign of pregnancy is the cessa- 

 tion of menstruation. There now take place certain 

 changes in the mother's organism, which is especially 

 adapted for the bearing and carrying out of the 

 young. The fertilized ovum attaches itself to the 

 wall of the uterus and grows gradually; with it the 

 uterus grows, modified in structure so as to give 

 proper shelter and sustenance to the living being 

 inside it. This growth shows itself externally in the 

 steady enlargement of the abdomen (belly). The milk 

 glands of the breast develop considerably in order to 

 yield milk to the new-born child. The embryo is 

 connected with the mother by the umbilical cord, 

 which runs from the navel or umbilicus of the child 

 to a specially thickened part of the uterus called the 



