DIFFERENT SYSTEMS. 137 



it ; becaufe, fay they, the firft worm fhuts up the 

 paflage ; or rather, there is a valve at the entry 

 to the pedicle, which plays while the egg is not 

 perfectly full ; but, when the worm has filled 

 the egg, this valve will not open, though pufh- 

 ed by a fecond worm. Befides, this valve is 

 exceedingly well contrived ; for, if the worm 

 fhould chance to defcend through the paiTage by 

 which it entered, the valve prevents its efcape, 

 and obliges it to remain till it be transformed. 

 The. fpermatic worm then becomes a real foe- 

 tus ; and it is nourifhed by the fubftance of the 

 egg, and the membranes lerve it for a covering ; 

 and, when the nourifliment contained in the egg 

 begins to fail, the foetus attaches itfelf to the in- 

 ternal furface of the uterus, and, by this means, 

 extracts nourifhment from the blood of the mo- 

 ther, till, by its weight, and the increafe of its 

 ftrength, it at laft breaks off all conedtion with 

 the uterus, and iffues into the world. 



According to this fyftem, it was not the firft 

 woman, but the firfl man, who contained all 

 mankind in his own body. The pre-exiftent 

 germs are no longer inanimate embryos locked 

 up in eggs, and included, i}i hifinitiun, within each 

 other. They are, on the contrary, fmall ani- 

 mals or organized living homunculi. Included In 

 each other in endlefs fucccffion, and which, to 

 render them men, or perfedl: animals, require 

 nothing but expanfion, and a transformation fi- 

 milar to that of winged infcds. 



As 



