La Circulaire - Simple / Double (cordon enroulé autour du cou)

The Economy of the Animal Kingdom, volumes IV-V, The Organs of Generation, extraits:

Chapitre XVII, Le Cordon Ombilical, pp. 306-317:

no 349: “[...]“. “For the placenta is nothing but an expansion of the umbilical vessels, [...] .“ “[...]“ “[...]“ “[...]“ “[...], it follows that the connection is of such a nature, that the embryo commands the placenta and by this means the mother.“ “[...]"

no 350: “The cord is as it were the rudder and helm, and the embryo the mariner that governs it and thereby so directs the vessel of the placenta as to bring it into a state corresponding ti its own, and this, by a government that is inmost, mediate, and outmost.“  “[...]“ “[...]“ “[...]“ "[...]“ “[...]“ “[...]. The embryo seemes to manage this helm in a general manner, not with its hands but with its neck.“ [...]. The embryo also makes various mouvements, and as it were changes its places, - and this, as it seems, solely for the purpose of guiding this helm in a general manner, namely, by pulling on the placenta or letting it go, according as it is required to supply more or less of blood, or to draw more or less from the womb. This appears to be the reason of the many variations and sensible motions observed in the embryo; also of the twisting of the cord, and of the nodes found therein; sometimes also, it passes round the foetal neck, almost as though it wished to strangle the infant in its coil. By these means the controlling of the state of tension is carried farther forward and done in greaer detail, in order that the embryo may govern the cord according to his own state. It is this government, therefore, that seems to be the cause of the many and various motions made by the embryo in the womb during the last months of gestation; and the cause also of the nodes often seen in the cord, and moreover of the twisting of the cord round the neck, and of the variety in its determinaions during its course from the placenta to the umbilicus. This follows as a consequence from what was said just above.“

no 351: “But these several operations could not be carried on without an active force, nor consequently without motion. The active force belongs to the embryo, - namely, the first force, acting through the fibres, the second, through the arteries and their pulsations, and the third, through the leadingstrings of the cord itself. But the several principles of the activity are the property of the embryo itself and not of the mother. There is no room for doubting this, so far as regards the fibres and the passage of the spirit through them; for there is nothing that is truly animal or animate except the fibre.“ “[...]“. “It is therefore the system of the embryonic body that requires more or less of juice, and juice of a precice quality, - namely, that thirsts and hungers for it, and demands and invites it.“ “[...]“