LECTURE VII. 303 



uterine foetus. Such cases, you know, are 

 not of unfrequent occurrence. It seems, 

 therefore, highly probable that the ovum, 

 being endowed with plastic powers, forms 

 its own parts, and proceeds in such form- 

 ation to different degrees in different 

 animals and vegetables ; yet such actions 

 are not continued beyond a certain point, 

 unless the appropriate stimulus be applied 

 to excite them. 



It appears then to be the prerogative of 

 the female organs to produce an ovum, 

 which, when excited by the application of 

 some substance prepared by the male, be- 

 comes capable of beginning or continuing 

 those actions which eventually produce a 

 new living being possessing properties and 

 powers similar to those of its parents. 



Without this magic application, plants 

 may drop their seeds, and oviparous 

 animals deposit their eggs, which though 

 they do not seem destitute of life, yet 

 never continue its actions, but slowly decay. 

 On the contrary, after they have received 



