The Mother and Her Child | Page 6

this biologic trust to succeeding generations free from taint and disease.
THE PROCESS OF FERTILIZATION
Just as within the body of "Mother Morning Glory" (See Fig. 15) may be found the ovary or seed bed, so there are two wonderfully organized bodies about the size of large almonds found in the lower part of the female abdomen on either side of the uterus, and connected to it by two sensitive tubes. There ripens in one of these bodies each month a human baby-seed, which finds its way to the uterus through the little fallopian tube and is apparently lost in the debris of cells and mucus which, with the accompanying hemorrhage go to make up the menstrual flow. This continues from puberty to menopause, each gland alternatingly ripening its ovum, only to lose it in the periodical phenomenon of menstruation, which is seldom interrupted save by that still more wonderful phenomenon of conception.
At the time of conception, countless numbers of male germ-cells (sperms) are lost--only one out of the multitude of these perfectly formed sperms made up of the mosaics of hereditary depressors, determiners, and suppressors that so subtly dictate and determine the characteristics and qualifications of the on-coming individual--I repeat, only one of these wonderful sperms finds the waiting ovum (Fig. 1). In this search for the ovum, the sperm propels itself forward by means of its tail--for the male sperm in general appearance very much resembles the little pollywog of the rain barrel (Fig. 1).
The fateful meeting of the sperm and the ovum takes place usually in the upper end of one of the fallopian tubes. It is a wonderful occasion. The wide-awake, vibrating lifelike sperm plunges head first and bodily into the ovum. The tail, which has propelled this bundle of life through the many wanderings of its long and perilous journey, now no longer needed, drops off and is lost and forgotten. This union of the male and female sex cells is called "fertilization." There immediately follows the most complete blending of the two germ cells--one from the father and one from the mother--each with its peculiar individual, family, racial, and national characteristics. Here the combined determiners determine the color of the eyes, the characteristics of the hair, the texture of the skin, its color, the size of the body, the stability of the nervous system, the size of the brain, etc., while the suppressors do a similar work in the modification of this or that family or racial characteristic.
THE FIRST WEEKS OF LIFE
The fertilized ovum remains in the tube for about one week, when it slowly makes its way down into the uterus, all the while rapidly undergoing segmentation or division. It does not grow much in size during this first week, but divides and subdivides first, into two parts, then four, then eight, then sixteen and so on, until we have a peculiar little body made up of many equally divided parts, and known as the "Mulberry Mass" (Fig. 1). The blending of the sperm and ovum has been perfect, the division of the original body multitudinous.
[Illustration: Sperm and Ovum Cell Division
Fetus at Six Weeks Fetus at Three Months
Fig. 1. Steps in Early Development]
While this division of the united sex cells is progressing, a wonderful change is also taking place in the inside lining of the uterus. Instead of the usual thin lining, it has greatly thickened and has become highly sensitized, and as the ovum enters the uterus from the fallopian tube, this sensitized lining catches it and holds it in its folds--actually covers it with itself--holding the precious mass much as the cocoon, you have so often seen fastened to the side of a plant or leaf, holds its treasure of life.
Just as soon as the new uterine home is found the baby heart begins to make its appearance, as also do many other rudimentary parts. By the end of the third week, our round mass has flattened and curved and elongated, and the nervous system and brain begin to develop, while the primitive ears begin to appear. At this time, the alimentary canal presents itself as one straight tube which is a trifle larger at the head end. And it is interesting to note that at this early date, even the arms and legs are beginning to bud and push out from the body.
LATER EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT
In the fourth and fifth weeks, the lungs and the pancreas may be found, the heart develops, the nervous system has taken on more definite form, and several of the larger blood-vessels are appearing.
By the eighth week, by the most wonderful and complicated processes of overlapping, pushing out, indentation, enfolding, budding, pressing, and curving, the majority of the important structures are formed--the eyes, ears, nose, hands, feet, abdominal organs, and numerous glands. Thus, at the end of two