bor are all above reproach, at least, have done nothing to give rise to scandal or suspicion. Or, it may resemble some great man or woman whose physical appearance is preserved in portraits or pictures, and whose mental characteristics are described in biography. Or it may bear the impress of some singular dream. EXAMPLES.-Prof. Britton tells us of a lady who lived in Fairfield County Conn., and in universal esteem for her exemplary life and unblemished char. acter, but who gave birth to a child who seemed to almost perfectly resemble the minister presiding over the church of which she was a member. The child has become a tall and graceful youth, and yet resembles the parson. The same writer also relates that a gentleman of his acquaintance, with very dark hair, beard, and eyes, wedded to a lady with brown hair, and a complexion no lighter than his own, had nine children, and, with a single exception, they all have dark straight hair and hazel eyes. Indeed, for several generations, not a single member of either family has had curly hair. The exceptional case is a fair youth with large, blue, expressive eyes, and golden locks having a natural tendency to curl. Dr. Davis relates two interesting instances, as follows: "A woman of considerable physical courage, mounted a horse, rode side by side with her soldier-husband, and witnessed the drilling of the troops for battle. The exciting music and scene together inspired her with a deep thirst to behold a war and a conquest. This event transpired a few months before the birth of her child, whose name was-Napoleon." "During the important period immediately preceding the birth of Dante, his young mother saw a startling vision of grandeur and great depth of significance. She beheld a populated globe of symmetrical proportions rise gradually out of the sea and float mid-heavens. It was decorated with every conceivable element of natural and artificial beauty. Upon a high and grand mountain, which melted away in the distant horizon and sloped gracefully into lands and lakes that spread out to the left, stood a man with brilliant countenance, whom she knew to be her son. Pointing with his upraised hand, he bade her look down to the right of the mountain. She beheld a precipice of abrupt ascent, like the walls of an immeasurable gulf with depth unknown. Whereupon she thought she fainted with excess of fright. But her son was as serene as a morning star; and, looking again, she saw no evil. After this beautiful and thrilling vision, Dante's mother had only in view the greatness of her unborn child-whose genius as a scholar and poet, as a creator of a world of fancies, is known throughout all the lands of civilization." FOURTH-A widow, remarried, not unfrequently bears children by a second husband resembling the first; maidens who have cohabited with some one of the other sex, either by consent or constraint have borne, in subsequent marriage, and in several successive confinements, children resembling the person, with whom they first had intercourse. EXAMPLES.-Rev. Charles McCombie states, that a lady neighbor of his, who was twice married, had five children by her first husband, and three by her second. One of these three, a daughter, bears unmistakable resemblance to its mother's first husband. The likeness, he remarks, was more discernible because there was such a marked difference in the features and general appearance of both husbands. A Scotch physician communicated to Dr. Hollick a fact which came under his observation as follows: "A young female was forcibly violated by a person whom she did not know, and under such circumstances that she could not see him. It was known, however, by her friends, who he was, and, to avoid exposure, the matter was kept a secret, although, unfortunately, she became pregnant in consequence. The child strongly resembled its guilty parent, and the two children she had by marriage afterward also resembled him, although they were by her husband, the guilty young man having left the country. "Dr. Dice says that he has certainly known one instance, if not more, in which a mulatto woman bore children to a white man, and that the same woman had to a mulatto man, children who bore much resemblance to the white man, both in complexion and features. "Professor Simpson, of Edinburgh, gives an instance of a young woman of that city, born of white parents, whose mother, some time previous to her marriage, had a child by a mulatto man-servant, and this young lady exhibits distinct traces of the negro. Her hair, particularly, resembles that of the African." FIFTH. A pregnant lady may become frightened or annoyed by some disagreeable circumstance, or by some deformed or hideous object, and bring forth her child mentally affected thereby, or bearing a physical resemblance to the loathsome object. EXAMPLES.-Dr. Pancoast relates the following. "A woman, absent 'from home, became alarmed by seeing a large fire in the direction of her own house, and bore a child with a distinct mark of a flame upon its forehead. "A woman who had longed for a lobster, brought forth a child resem. bling one of those animals. "A woman gave birth to a child covered with hair, and having the claws of a bear. This was attributed to her beholding the images and pictures of bears hung up in the palace of the Ursini family, to which she belonged." Dr. Dixon, in a number of his Scalpel, relates the following: "Mr. H., of the northern part of the State of New York, married some forty years since Pecuniary circumstances rendered offspring undesirable. Within a year, however, the wife thought herself with child. On expressing this belief to her husband, she was, at the moment, quite shocked at the dissatisfaction with which he received it. Taking his hat, he was absent from the house nearly an hour. He was distressed, on his return, to find his wife in tears. He assured her he was rejoiced to learn the probable realization of her announcement; and he was now satisfied with the condition of his pecuniary affairs. The wife dried her tears, and expressed her conviction that her offspring would suffer from her agitation. Her fears gradually increased as gestation advanced. A healthy and well-formed boy was born. After some months, it manifested an extreme unwillingness to approach the father. This gradually increased, until its dissatisfaction was manifested by loud and continued screaming when brought near him. As age advanced, the most persevering efforts were made to overcome this repugnance, and the attempt was abandoned in despair. This state continued, and, at the time of our receiving the information, the son, then an active and rising member of the bar, had never been able to speak a word to his father, although the most painful efforts were made." Probably every person of mature age and much observation has seen as remarkable examples as those which are herein given. The uppermost question in the minds of every one cognizant of these phenomena is-how do they happen? I think I can explain to the entire satisfaction of every reader, but before perusing the explanations, turn back to page 633, and make yourselves familiar with my theory of the process by which the male and female germs unite for the formation of the foetus, and then return here for the solution of the various phenomena indicated by the facts or examples presented in the preceding paragraphs. The same order will be ob served in their explanation that was observed in their presentation. FIRST.-Why do offspring generally possess the characteristics of both parents? This can hardly result from any character imparted by the minute embryo contributed by each. They are both too small to exercise any very controlling influence, especially when it is considered how much the peculiarities of the child depend upon surrounding influences as well before as after birth. It is a trite proverb, that as a "twig is bent the tree inclines," and certainly if education and social surroundings can so change the character of the child after its advent into the world, how much easier the little germinal speck in the mother's womb may be governed by physical influences. Thousands of the little seminal animalculæ called spermatozoa could be contained in a shell of a single mustard seed, and the egg or ovum of the female does not weigh more than a two-thousandth part of a grain. The prospective constitutional health of the offspring is most undoubtedly influenced by the purity, healthfulness, and temperamental adaptation of the spermatozoon and ovum, but further than this, these germs probably exercise very little control over the mental or physical organization of the foetus. The investigating man will find that in the highest type of animal, as well as in the highest order of vegetable life, the seed itself seldom imparts the character of its progenitor to the offspring or product. I presume it will not be questioned by man, in his vanity, that the human being is the highest type of animal life, and I believe it is conceded that fruitbearing plants and trees constitute the highest order of vegetable life. Therefore, if reasoning by analogy amounts to any thing, my hypothesis must be correct, for all horticulturists know how rarely an apple, peach, plum, pear, or cherry tree can be raised from the seed and possess the qualities of the parent tree. It is also useless to plant the seeds of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc., with the expectation that the same quality of fruit can be reproduced by this process. It can rarely, if ever be done. And I am convinced that the further the matter is investigated, the more apparent it will appear that the germinal specks which give birth to the human embryo, have little or nothing to do with imparting character to the child. Then what is it that causes the child to resemble its parents? I reply, the influence of the magnetism of the husband upon the uterus of the wife, and the influence of her magnetism in conjunction with his, upon the foetus in process of formation. We find that some of the metals may be permanently magnetized. Probably the majority of my readers have seen iron so magnetized that it would attract any small metallic bodies like tacks, nails, etc., and hold them as if they were glued to it. In the annexed illustration, A represents a horseshoe magnet which has been so magnetized, that it will pick up a piece of iron of considerable size, as represented by B, attracting it with so much force, that quite a pull is required to separate the two; Figure 193 represents a hammer which has been magnetized to such a degree that it will pick up nails without the aid of fingers. Its attractive power is sufficient to hold the while the first blow is given to drive it in the wood. Fig. 193. ть A MAGNETIO HAMMER. a represents the hammer attracting to it the tack b. Fig. 192. HORSESHOE MAGNET, Holding by attraction a bar of iron. A, the magnet; B, the iron bar. nail by the head This magnet and the hammer impart, while they are in contact with metallic substances, their magnetic properties to them, so that they are entirely under their magnetic influence. Now, I hold that the influence of the male sexual organs over the uterus, etc., of the female, are in a measure analogous. The womb becomes magnetized, 1 and, in many cases, permanently, by the male in copulation, and the in- SECOND.-Why do offspring often resemble but one of the parents? After having read my explanation of fact first, it is easy to infer that some persons are less susceptible to magnetic influences than others. Thus the uterus of a wife may never become fully magnetized by the husband. She will produce children resembling herself, for the foetus in its various stages of growth is almost exclusively under the control of her own magnetism. Then, again, the womb of another, more susceptible, will be so excessively charged with the magnetism or electricity of the husband, that the chil |