GENERATION. 



night rcfenible the 

 but whence tlo the working bees come, 



The ad'ultfroc- has no bvancliii, which arc yet Icen in the 

 tadpoles. In the bee khid, the males, icmales, and working 

 bees differ in ftrufturc. The offspring mi 

 ialher or mother, 

 which refemble neither parent, and have no geiieialive organs. 

 How entirely docs the caterpillar differ, in all points ot Us 

 organization, from the butterfly ! How can the particles 

 unTte, when the male and female are fo entirely different, as 

 in 



tioned : — of the likenefs of fruits or flowers, &c. on the 

 body, of various animals, of bruifes ; — of parts being cut, 

 dcffroyed, or otherwife injured, &c. &c. That credulity 

 and ignorance have given birth to moft of thele narratives, 

 cannot be doubted. Our faith in them muff be moft ferioufly 

 (haken, when we obferve that there are cndlefs examples of 

 the moft vehement mental difturbaiices, as terrors, longing, 

 paffion, occurring repeatedly during pregnancy, particu- 



thecafe of many infects, where one is winged, and the larly in delicate and hyfterical women, without any thing 



unnatural appearing afterwards in the child, even when the 

 "' The"f'mnofitlon of the fucccflive fixation of parts round mother has expreffcd her ftrong perfuafion that her child 

 the ..encrative organs is quite inadmifiible ; for tliofc very would be mutilated Nor can women foretel when the 

 parts'cannot be recogni/.cd until a comparatively late period, marks above alluded to (nsvi) will ^appear. Deformed 

 >ind after others have been fome tiiTie formed. ' "" " " " ' 



This faft was confirmed, fays Blumenbach, by an obfer- 

 yation which 1 lately made on abortive twins of different 

 fexes, about fixteen weeks old. Although thefe were re- 

 ■markable for the beauty of their proportions, and \ycre moft 

 perfcftly formed according to tlie ffandard of their tender 

 acre, the difference of the fexual organs could be aicertamed 



and monftrous children, and others ni?.rked with nsvi, have 

 been repeatedly obferved by the moft judicious and ac- 

 curate obfervers, when the mother was not confcious of 

 any fuch caufe as thofe above alluded to. Children are 

 born blind of healthy parents witliout the tircumttance 

 being confidered as extraordinary or requiring any thing 

 accidental to account for it. When women obferve any 



onlvbv the moft careful inveftigation: in every Other refpeft, deformity in their offsprmg, they recal to their memory 

 .' J ^ t ,' r. ,^ — *■ ^^f tl.:o li,ir.c >v. i- pvprv tinner whirli h:ifi nannrnpfl fiiinno- thoir nrpcrnaRCV ; 



as in the figure, phvfiognomy, meaUirement of the lines, &.c 

 they rcfembled each other completely. Inftitut. Phyliolog. 



p. ^87. . , , re 1 



in replv to fome of thefe objeftions it has been affirmed, 

 that thofe'parts of the fcctus, which the parents have not, are 

 formed bv intelligent nature from the fuperfluity of the cir- 

 o-anic molecules : that (he adds a fecond tefticle from the 

 cxcefs furnillied by the fingle gland of the fatlier.; and t.iat 

 the placenta and fetal coverings are produced in the fiime way 

 from the excefs of nutritious molecules ; but it nature can 

 make wings, intettines, nerves, feet, teftes, placenta, and 

 membranes, &c. without any mould, wh.y fliould (he not form 

 thp whole body in the fame way : and, whence arifes this 

 abundance of particles, produced by the tcftis of a '"""'J'yl"' 

 has only one gland, when the mould muff be one lialf lefs 

 than in a perfed: individual,' How came this intelligent nature 

 to be fo fuddenly produced in a mere machine, when we had 

 before heard nothing of her? Can any one underftand how 

 pariick-s tranfmitted from fo vaft an extent as the father's 

 whole body, can occupy fo fmall a fpace, even when uuited 

 to thofe of the mother, as to be invifible for feveral days after 

 conception ? In (hort, there is no female femen, no corpus 



every thing which has happened during their pregnaRcy ; 

 and if they can remember any fall or fright, or iuddenly 

 feeing any uncommon animal, the carcafc of a beaft opened,, 

 or a wound, &c. they immediately fet it down as the 

 caufe of the phenomenon. And, from the various turns which 

 fuperftitious and whimfical fancies take in different countries, 

 the fame appearances are afcribed to very different caufcs. 



In weighing tlie teftimonies of authors, we fhall find that 

 the moft experienced and judicious indulge the common 

 notions about nrevi much lefs than others. In the nume- 

 rous coUeftlons, wliere monfters and extraordinary produc- 

 tions of all kinds are carefully coUefted and prcfcrved, we 

 fee no example of a genuine nxvus, according to the com- 

 mon notions, that is, of the refemblance of a faufage, or 

 a pig's foot, or a wound, &c. in any part of the body of 

 a fcEtus. In further fupport of our opinions vi'e may quote 

 the numerous inftances of monfters, vegetable produfticns, 

 which cannot be afcribed to any power of imagination, or 

 any mental affeftion whatever. \Ve cannot doubt that the 

 feed and the ovum contain the caufe of the future ftruflure, 

 which is always preferved uniform in the fame fpecies. 

 That various external circumftances, as a copious or defi- 



luteumbeforecopulation, and confequently no fluid from the cient fupply of nutrition, and many caufes^ of a nature 



mother to be mixed with that of tlie father, and convey to 

 the fcetus the female generative organs, the maminie and the 

 other diftinciions of tlie female fex. 



A vcrv different theory from that which \^•e have juft 

 <?on(idere'd, and a very old one, afcribes the formation of the 

 fatus to a formative power of the mind or foal (anima 

 ftrue^a-ix, vis plaftica) : and fome conceive that the objcft 

 is effefted by the mind of the foetus. The partifans of thefe 

 opinions rely much on the effetls faid to be produced on 

 the body of the foetus by caufes operating on the mother's 

 mind. They alledge that the ftrufture of the offspring is 

 often materially changed and impaired by tlie longing of 

 tiie mother, or by various violent emotions : that thefe 

 effefts are produced, not from any corporeal caufe, but 

 from the a6lion of tiie mivi.d on the anima ftruttrix of the 

 ftttus : that there is a harmony between the nynd of the 

 mother and her body, and between the bodies of the mo- 

 ther and child. Various attempts have been made to 

 explaia the maimer and nature of this influence and con- 



entirely unknown to us, may have an cffetl: in altering or 

 variouily modifying the origkial fabric, within certain li- 

 mits, we do not pretend to deny. 



If the phenomena of ncevi afford no proof of a plaftlc 

 foul ; if we acknowledge that the beautiful ftrudlure of 

 an animal body cannot be reared by chance, nor by any 

 blind force with which inorganic parts may attraft each 

 other, it remains for us to confider whether the fcetus is 

 formed before the time of conception, according to the 

 hypothefis of evolution. This opinion has been chiefly held 

 in modern times : it is ably defended by HaJler, and has 

 been fupported by the experiments and writings of Spal- 

 lanzani and Bonnet. 



If, fays Haller, the germ or original of the firtus be con- 

 tained in the mother, if it be already formed in the 

 ovum, and fo far pcrfefted as to require merely a fupply 

 of nourilhm.ent for its growth, the grand difficulty of form, 

 ing fuch an artificial and complicated ftrufture from in- 

 organic matter is overcome. In this hypOLhcfis, the Creator, 



witt 



