DEVELOPMENT OF THE FŒTUS.
Minuteness of the Germ of Human Life.—The Embryo Cell and
Its Store of Food.—Its Journey to the Uterus.—Meeting the
Spermatozoön, Conception Occurs.—The Changes Which take Place
in the Uterus.—Life is Present the Moment Conception takes
Place.—The Mysterious Development of the Embryo.—The Sin of
Tampering with the Work of the Infinite.—The Various Changes in
the Development of the Embryo and Fœtus set Forth.—The Changes
that Occur each Month.—Parenthood the Benediction of Husband
and Wife.
How does the tiny speck, so tiny that it cannot be seen with the naked
eye, only one hundred and twentieth of an inch in diameter, how does this
tiny atom of matter, begin in its growth, continue and develop into the
full grown child? This little germ or ovum, the part furnished by the
mother, in the creation of a human being, contains the germinal vesicle,
or embryo cell, and the stored up food for the early days of life after
conception takes place. After the ovum leaves the ovary, somewhere in
its journey to the uterus or womb, it is met by the spermatozoön, or male
element of conception, and by their mysterious union the new life is
begun.
Coincident with the impregnation of the ovum, active changes are
inaugurated in the uterus. The organ becomes more vascular, increases in
size, its lining is thickened and softened, thus in all ways preparing
a soft bed, or cradle, for the nesting time and growth of the little
one entrusted to its care. During pregnancy the uterus enlarges from an
area of sixteen square inches to three hundred and thirty-nine square
inches in the fully developed state. After delivery it does not resume
its former shape and size, but retains vestiges of the condition through
which it has passed, its retained weight having increased fully an ounce
and a half.
In some inconceivable way a notion has become prevalent, that there is no
life in the embryo until motion is felt by the mother. How life enters
then has been left by them an unexplained mystery. That this professed
belief is but a device of Satan, to excuse the shameless taking of life
in-utero, is the only method of accounting for its prevalence. Life,
organized life, begins the very moment conception takes place, and is
as surely life as that which exists when the little active creature is
placed in its mother’s arms.
After conception takes place, while yet the embryo is on the way to
its nesting place, many and rapid changes take place. By a process of
segmentation or division, the contents of the ovum are broken into
innumerable granular cells, from which mass the whole organization of the
embryo is gradually evolved.
How some of these cells are transformed into muscle, others into bone or
cartilage or nerves, or brain, or connective tissue, when no difference
can be distinguished in the various cells, is among the mysteries of life
which science has not yet fathomed. That it does this we all know; how it
does it belongs wholly within the knowledge of creative wisdom.
In tracing the steps of progress in the life of the embryo, which I
shall soon give, let every young person who reads these pages learn once
and forever, that when she is tempted to rid herself of the product of
conception, even the next moment after conception has taken place, she
is tempted to murder, as surely as though the child were in her arms, a
living visible bit of humanity, and she were plotting to take its life.
It is a terrible thing to tamper with the work of the Infinite, and with
nature’s inexorable laws, and punishment is sure to follow.
When the embryo has finished its journey, and has settled itself for a
long stay of nine months, not of rest, but of ceaseless activity, of
growth and development so marvelous and sure, it begins to draw its life
from the uterus, for the stored up food in the ovum is already exhausted.
At first it draws by absorption through the membrane enclosing it, then
through the placenta or “afterbirth,” which is created as the medium of
communication for the life-giving force, between mother and child.
Up to the close of the third month we call this little new life an
embryo; after this time it is called a fœtus. For a full description of
the embryo and fœtus, in the various stages of development, we copy from
Leavitt’s Science and Art of Obstetrics.
“_The First Month._—The embryo in the first week of gestation, is a
minute, gelatinous and semi-transparent mass, of a greyish color,
presenting to the unaided eye no definite traces of either head or
extremities. The entire ovum measures but one-fourth of an inch, and
the embryo but one-twelfth; but during the next week they double in
dimensions. The coverings of the child are developed, and it is attached
to the uterus, but does not yet draw its life from it. At the close of
the month the ovum is about the size of a pigeon’s egg, and weighs about
forty grains. The embryo is about three-fourths of an inch in extreme
length, and about one-third of an inch in direct measurement as it is
coiled up. The structures have so little bulk, that when ruptured they
easily escape attention, in abortions, generally passing with a clot.
“_Second Month._—At eight weeks the ovum is about the size of a hen’s
egg, and it weighs from one hundred and eighty to three hundred grains,
and is about two-thirds of an inch in length from head to caudal curve.
Its independent circulatory system is forming: indications of the
external generative organs are visible: and ossification has begun in
several parts of the body.
“_Third Month._—The embryo weighs from three hundred to four hundred
grains, and measures from two and a half to three and a half inches in
length. The forearm is well formed and the fingers are discernible. The
umbilical or navel cord is about two and a half inches in length. The
head is relatively large, the neck separates it from the trunk, and
the eyes are prominent. The chorion has lost most of its villi, and the
placenta is formed. Points of ossification are present in most of the
bones. Thin membranous nails appear on the fingers and toes. Sex may be
determined by presence or absence of the uterus.
“_Fourth Month._—The fœtus weighs five or six ounces, and is about
five inches long. Its sex is more distinct; movements are visible.
The convolutions of the brain are beginning to form: ossification is
extending: the placenta is increasing in size, and the cord is about
twelve inches long. The head is one-fourth the length of the whole body.
The sutures and fontanelles are widely separated. Hair begins to appear
on the scalp. If born, the fœtus may live three or four hours.
“_Fifth Month._—Fœtal weight has increased to ten ounces, and length
to about nine inches. The head is still relatively large. Fine hair,
(lanugo) appears over the whole body. Fœtal movements can be felt by the
mother. If born the fœtus can live but a few hours.
“_Sixth Month._—Weight about twenty-four ounces, length eleven inches.
Fat is found in the subcutaneous cellular tissue. Hair is darker and
more abundant. The membrana pupillaris exists but the eyelids separate.
If born at this time the fœtus breathes freely, but life is retained only
a few hours, with rare exceptions.
“_Seventh Month._—Weight from three to four pounds, length fourteen to
fifteen inches. The skin is wrinkled, of red color and covered with
vernix caseosa. The pupillary membrane disappears. If younger than
twenty-eight weeks it is not likely to live.
“_Eighth Month._—Weight from four to five pounds, length from sixteen to
eighteen inches. Development is now rather in thickness than length. The
nails are nearly perfect, and the lanugo is disappearing from the face.
The navel is gradually approaching the centre of the body, until now it
has nearly reached the median point. The cranial bones are easily molded
under pressure, a point to be remembered as bearing on the question of
induced labor in pelvic deformity.
“_Ninth Month_—or at term.—At the end of pregnancy the fœtus weighs an
average of six and a half or seven pounds, and measures about twenty
inches in length. The average weight of mature males is greater than that
of females. At birth the fœtus is covered with vernix caseosa, a whitish
tenacious substance, composed of a mixture of surface epithelium, down
and the products of sebaceous glands. During intra-uterine life it serves
as a protection for the skin against the amniotic fluid. It can be
removed thoroughly only by preceding the use of water by a free use of
oil.”
So the baby grows until it reaches intra-uterine maturity, and comes into
our arms for cherishing. Pity, pity the little one that comes with no
love to receive it, and pity more the mother of such a child. No woman
has a right to marry, unless she desires offspring and is willing to fit
herself for maternity. No man has a right to take upon himself the sacred
vows that make him husband, unless he comprehends all that it means, and
is measurably ready to meet its duties and responsibilities. With such
preparation, and such understanding upon entering matrimony, we should
see a nobler, stronger race of men and women in the coming generations.