324 
PHYSIOLOGY OF BREEDING. 
fore any one must perceive at a glance, that the connection 
between them is too intimate and too close to admit of the 
vital organs being conferred by one parent and the trunk by 
the other. This appears to me to dispose effectually of the 
possibility of Mr. Orton’s theory being correct, in so far as 
the trunk and abdomen are concerned. And can we suppose 
that these have no influence on the formation of the limbs, 
inasmuch as the scapulae or shoulder-blades, and ossa inno- 
minata themselves, fitting as they do closely and intimately 
with the trunk, must have a very great influence on the 
shape of their continuations, the legs and feet ? The purely 
physiological reason advanced by Dr. Harvey, which I have 
already alluded to as affording presumptive evidence of the 
correctness of Mr. Orton’s theory, may perhaps be combated 
by somewhat similar reasoning. It may thus be concisely 
stated : “ While the foetus is developed from that part of the 
ovum called by physiologists the germinal membrane, this 
membrane itself consists of two layers, an outer and an inner 
one. Of these layers the outer one gives rise to the whole 
set of organs concerned in the strictly animal functions ( i . e ., 
the external ones), while the inner gives origin to those 
concerned in the strictly vital functions. This fact, con- 
sidered with reference to Mr. Orton’s theory, appears at first 
sight to be a most interesting and significant one ; and, as 
Dr. Harvey observes, ce it is scarcely necessary to remark 
how the very keel or foundation, so to speak, of every animal 
is laid down by nature, which exactly tallies with Mr. Orton’s 
position.” And so it very strongly appeared to me on my 
first reading it ; but in the very next page another physio- 
logical fact is related, which seems to militate as strongly 
against it. It is this : “ At the conception of a foetus the 
spermatozoon (vivifying seed) of the male is not simply 
brought into contact with the ovum of the female, but into 
the closest possible union and incorporation with it; being, 
in fact, either absorbed by, or becoming intimately blended 
with some part of the ovum.” Now, after this thorough 
mingling and incorporation of both the male and female seed 
has taken place, let me ask, is it likely, is it possible, that the 
parts of the impregnated ovum should separate, or be 
separated mechanically as it were, and again be resolved into 
two distinct coverings? Any one who has noticed the 
thorough incorporation that takes place between two liquids 
in a vessel, will require a great deal of persuasion before he 
can believe it possible that they can be separated from each 
other and brought to the same state they were before mixing. 
But it seems that, in addition to the two layers or membranes 
