328 OF THE GROWTH, 5ic. 



It has been imagined that the liquor of the 

 amnios is a nourifliment received by the mouth 

 of the foetus. Some have even pretended to 

 have found this liquor in the ftomach, and to 

 have feen feveral foetufes who wanted the um- 

 bilical cord entirely, and others who had only a 

 fmall portion of it, wiiich had no conncdion 

 with the placenta. But, in this cafe, may not 

 the liquor have pafled into the body of the foe- 

 tus by the portion of the cord that remained, or 

 even by the navel itfelf? Befides, other fads 

 may 'be oppofed to thcfc : Foetufes have been 

 found, whole lips were not feparated ; and o- 

 thers whofe oefophagus had no aperture. To 

 leconcile thefe fads,fome anatomifts have main- 

 tained, that the aliment pafled into the foetus 

 partly by the umbilical cord, and partly by the 

 mouth. But none of thefe opinions feem to 

 have any foundation. The queftion is not, how 

 the foetus alone, but how the whole apparatus 

 of generation, receive their growth and nourifh- 

 nient? for the placenta, the liquor, and the 

 membranes, increafe in bulk as well as the foe- 

 tus ; and, confequently, thofe inftruments and 

 canals employed for receiving and tranfporting 

 nourifhment to the foetus, are themfelves en- 

 dowed with a fpecies of life. The expanfion 

 of the placenta and membranes is equally diffi- 

 cult to conceive as that of the foetus ; and, it 

 may be faid, with equal propriety, that the foe- 

 tus nouriflies the placenta, as that- the placenta 



nouriflies 



