OF THE FOETUS. 297. 



mer hypothefis, to explain the fads above rela- 

 ted, we fhall be obliged to admit, that the male 

 fluid fometimes afcends to the ovarium, and, by- 

 mixing there with the female fluid, forms orga- 

 nized bodies; and alfo, that the female fluid, 

 by being copioufly cff^ufed in the vagina, may, 

 in the time of coition, penetrate as far as the 

 fcrotum of the male, in the fame manner as the 

 venereal virus often reaches that part ; and, con- 

 fequently, that an organized body may be form- 

 ed in the fcrotum by a mixture of the male and 

 female fluids. If the other hypothefis, which is 

 the moft probable, be adopted, namely, that the 

 feminal fluid of each individual may feparately 

 produce organized maflcs, then all thefe ofleous, 

 flelhy, and hairy bodies, which fometimes appear 

 in the ovaria of females, and in the fcrotum of 

 males, may derive their origin from the feminal 

 fluid of the individual in which they are found. 

 But it is needlefs to fpeculate farther concerning 

 fads which Teem to be more uncertain than in- 

 explicable ; for 1 am inclined to think, that the 

 kminal fluid of each individual may flngly pro- 

 duce fomcthing ; and that young girls, for ex- 

 ample, may produce moles, without any inter- 

 courfe with the male, in the fame manner as 

 hens lay eggs without the intervention of the 

 cock. I might fupport this opinion v»'irh oblcr- 

 vations equally credible as thole we have juft 

 now quoted. M. de la Saone, a phyfician and 

 unatomifl, publjflicd a treatif: on this fubjed:, in 



which 



