Wolff came to the conclusion that it is impossible to 

 explain the given condition as the union of two embryos. As 

 a result of that, he raised another question: could it be 

 possible that the monsters originate from embryos which are 

 created monstrously and are prompted to develop like the 

 normal, but which by the powers of nature grow incorrectly? 

 "None of the famous authors writing about monsters," Wolff 

 said, "discuss this question, but rejecting the hypothesis 

 of collision and accidental transmutation, they all now talk 

 about embryos which are created monstrously, as if it is 

 necessary that they begin from predestined embryos" (p. 553). 



Thus Wolff formulated the solution of the question, "How 

 do monsters develop— under the effect of the modified powers 

 of nature causing the development, or are their embryos 

 directly created by God and only changed by the powers of 

 nature?" (PP- 553 - 554). 



First of all he rejected the accidental development of 

 monsters, because in their structure it is possible to 

 recognize features of beauty, regularity and expediency. 

 From another aspect, monsters occur so faultily organized, 

 so imperfect, that it is impossible to believe that this was 

 created directly by the action of God. As an illustration 

 Wolff gives the case of the duplicated monstrosity which was 

 described by Wins low, where the union of two babies in the 

 pelvic region led to such impairment of the urogenital system 

 of one of the partners that the seminal ducts opened in the 

 urinary bladder. Wolff concluded that: "The rudiments of 

 such deviations from natural structures are to a great extent 

 imperfect, and hence are deserving of deep sorrow from people. 

 They could not have been created and predetermined." (p. 556) 



Wolff was not satisfied with this example and gave 

 others; each additional example should increasingly confirm 

 the opinion he held. For example, he referred to the human 

 fetus described by CJean de) Mery in 1700 in which the region 

 of the lumbar vertebrae was twisted in such a way that its 

 knees and feet were directed backwards. The skull cavity, 

 thorax and stomach were opened, the auricles joined in one 

 cavity receiving in itself all the veins, and so on. On the 

 basis of that and some other monsters he mentioned which were 

 still more imperfect, Wolff stated: "I consider it is 



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