a Cafe of numerous Births . ^57 
ticularly of its abundant population, he mentions nothing of 
the numerous births recorded by the ancient naturalifls and 
hiflorians. 
Of dill more fruitful births I will pafs over a number of in- 
fiances which I could adduce from Johannes Rhodius, Lucas 
Schroeckius, Caspar Bauhin, Johannes IIelvigius, Bi an- 
chi, and others, and finifh with one cafe more, recorded by 
Petrus Borelli in his Second Century of Obfervations, pub* 
lifhed at Paris in the year 1656 ; a colleflion indeed filled with 
many wonderful dories, though by a man of equal integrity 
and ingenuity : he tells us, that in the year 1650, juft five 
years before, the lady of the then prefent Lord Darre produced 
at one birth eight perfect children, which he owns was a very 
unuiual event in that country. 
I think it totally unneceffary to purfue this enquiry farther; 
but muft obferve, that the prefent is the only cafe 1 have 
found, where the children were all females; that the males 
have in all the other cafes been at leafl equal, and generally 
the mod numerous; that in many of them, at leafl a part was 
dead born ; and that mofl commonly the refl died in a fhort 
time. It is thence clear, that thole numerous births are cer- 
tainly unfavourable to population, as very few indeed of thofe 
children can be carried to near the full term of pregnancy, and 
fewer dill to that degree of drength that admits of their being 
reared, where more than two are born at one time. 
As from Mr. John Hunter’s very curious Experiments and 
Obfervations, read lately to this Society, on the Procreation of 
Swine, we are led to believe, that a certain determined number 
of ova, capable of receiving male impregnation, are originally 
formed in each ovarium ; and which number, when exhaulled, 
the female conflitution has no power to renew ; if this be the 
tru® 
