[ 255 ] 
umbilical cord j or whether it is likewife nourilhed 
in part by the liquor amnii, in which it fwims. I 
have faid the prefent ftate of the controverfy ; for I 
believe very few, if any at all, will maintain now-a- 
days with Claudius de la Courvee and Stalpart Van- 
der-wiel, that the whole of its nourifhment is con- 
veyed by the mouth, and none at all by blood- 
velTels. 
Both hdes of the '‘queftion have been efpoufed by 
able writers, and fupported with great acutenefs, eru- 
dition and induftry. And as there ftill fubhfts a 
divifion amongft candid and intelligent inquirers 
concerning this matter, it would appear, that fome 
decifive fad:, fome demonftrative argument hath hi- 
therto efcaped notice, which, if clearly known and 
duly attended to, would have by this time ended 
the difpute, and rendered the propohtion, which de- 
clares the truth, on which-foever of the tides, an 
objed of fcience ; which before was only matter of 
opinion. 
An obfervation, which fell in my way two years 
ago, together with fome fubfequent ones, which I 
purpofely made in purfuance of the hint fuggefled by 
the firft, will, I hope, enable all, who candidly con- 
fider the fads themfelves, and the confequences that 
naturally flow from them, to determine certainly, on 
which tide the truth lies. 
Before I relate my obfervation s, let me lay down 
a neceifary preliminary, which I obferve the writers 
on both fides are either explicitly or implicitly agreed 
in } to wit, that if it be clearly made out, that the 
liquor amnii is naturally received into the mouth, 
ftomach, and inteftines of the foetus, fwimming in 
it > 
