Page:The Works of William Harvey (part 1 of 2).djvu/535

 abundance of a watery fluid, which in our history of the egg we have spoken of as the colliquament, this fluid modern authorities regard as the sweat and excrement of the fetus, and ascribe as its principal use the protection of the uterus against injury from the fcetus during any violent motion of the mother in running or leaping ; and, on the other hand, the defence of the foetus from injury through contact with neighbouring bones, or an external cause, particularly during the period when its limbs are still delicate and weak.

Fabricius 1 ascribes additional uses to this fluid, viz. "that it may moisten and lubricate all the parts around, and dispose the neck of the uterus to facile and speedy dilatation to the utmost extent ; and all this is not less assisted by that thick, white, excrementitious matter of the third digestion, neglected by the ancients, which is unctuous and oily, and farther pre- vents the sweat, which may occasionally be secreted sharp and salt in quality, from excoriating the tender body of the foetus."

I readily acknowledge all the uses indicated, viz. that the tender foetus may be secure against all sudden and violent movements of the mother, that he may ride safe in the " bat's wings," as they are called, and, surrounded with an abundance of water, that he may escape coming into contact with his mother's sides, being restrained by the retinacular fluid on either hand : this circumambient fluid must certainly pro- tect the body which floats in its middle from all external in- jury. But, as in many other instances, my observations com- pel me here to be of a different opinion from Fabricius. In the first place, I am by no means satisfied that this fluid is the sweat of the foetus. And then I do not believe that the fluid serves those important purposes in parturition which he indi- cates ; and much less that it is ever so sharp and saline that an unctuous covering was requisite to protect the foetus from its erosive effects, particularly in those cases where there is already a thick covering of wool, or hair, or feathers. The fluid, in fact, has a pleasant taste, like that of watery milk, so that almost all viviparous animals lap it up, and cleanse their new-born progeny by licking them with their tongues, greedily

1 Op. cit. p. 137.