up to birth. 21 By what means does conception and 

 nutrition or the increment of growth occur? Another 

 question remains/ which with some assumptions has a 

 solution .... We see that the sperm from which the 

 embryo is conceived exists in some animals in the 

 uterus before fetal development; but for explaining 

 unfolding or growth, this explanation is weak. This 

 we see clearly in feathered animals. The ovum is a 

 seed, and before fetal formation it contains in 

 itself the same essentials of its composition, the 

 parts of albumin and yolk .... About plants and 

 birds it is possible to say, not with probability 

 but with definite clarity, that sperm exist not only 

 before conception but also before fetal formation 

 .... From this conclusion, according to the rule 

 of similarity, it is possible to say the same about 

 all animals and about man himself. Thus we conclude 

 that man existed before his conception, or more 

 correctly that the seeds containing the future man 

 existed; but life, i.e. the capability to grow and 

 formulate, is absent. 22 



If it is not certain, but probable, that man existed 

 prior to conception in the sperm, then in essence 

 there are two possibilities where these sperm existed. 

 The probability that they started in the wife is the 

 most probable of the assumptions. But let us 

 say a word about the sperm. Either the sperm were 

 contained in one which had existed before and which 

 contained all sperm, one containing the next 

 endlessly. Or the later sperm are a part of the earlier, 

 which were a part of those which had appeared prior to 

 them and which could divide into as many new parts or 

 sperms as possible: the uniform and separated parts 

 which can be packed and divided endlessly. 23 



21 . Radishchev means the preparations of the Cabinet of 

 Natural History, the basic stock of which is composed 

 of the collection acquired by Peter I (see p. 14) . 



22. A. N. Radishchev, ON MAN, HIS DEATH, AND 

 IMMORTALITY, pp. 40 - 41. 



23. Ibid., p. 43. 



138 



