Excerpt from On the Causes and Treatment of Abortion and Sterility: Being the Result of an Extended Practical Inquiry Into the Physiological and Morbid Conditions of the Uterus, With Reference Especially to Leucorrhoeal, Affections, and the Diseases of Menstruation Conception consists in the fecundation, by the agency of the male, of a germ previously existing in the female, and destined by a series Of concurrent operations, to be invested with endowments similar to those of the parent, and to be rendered capable, in process of time, of exercising similar functions. The period assigned by Nature for the matura tion Of the ovum into a being fitted for a separate state of existence, is about nine months; and although a child born before the completion of this term may live and become healthy, its parts are nevertheless imperfectly developed; and there is every reason in such cases for believing, that had the process been continued, the organs of the indivi dual, both mental and physical, would have been better fit ted for the fulfilment of their respective offices. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.