Henry Morley - "Playful Poems"

Plato - "Laws"

Rosa Nouchette Carey - "Herb of Grace"

Upton Sinclair - "Jimmie Higgins"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: The Prospective Mother

J >> J. Morris Slemons >> The Prospective Mother




THE FIRST STEPS IN DEVELOPMENT.--Although the identity of the
spermatozoon is lost at the moment of fertilization, its influence
just then begins to be asserted. In the fertilized ovum the dawn of
development is shown at first by unusual activity within and later by
alterations upon the surface. Before very long the circumference of
the cell becomes indented as if a knife had been drawn around it, and
shortly two cells appear in place of one. These two cells in turn
divide, yielding four cells which grow and divide into eight. In this
manner division follows division until a multitude of cells have
sprung into existence, all of which cling together in the shape of a
ball. Development always proceeds in the same orderly way; evidently
it is governed by fixed laws which decree that the mass shall remain
for a while in the form of a ball, though the ball, at first solid,
soon becomes hollow.

While these changes are taking place the growing ovum is carried down
the oviduct a distance of four to six inches and finally comes to
rest in the uterus, where it is to dwell during the months necessary
to its complete development. The time consumed by this journey cannot
be measured accurately; it may be as short as a few hours or as long
as several days, but in all probability it is never longer than a
week. Although the element of time is uncertain the method of
transmission is well understood. Of its own accord the ovum can move
after fertilization no better than before; it is never capable of
moving itself. The active agent of transportation is the oviduct,
which has been fitted for this purpose with millions of short, hair-
like structures that project into its interior. These are closely set
upon the inner surface of the oviduct; their outer ends are free and
continually sway to and fro like a wheat field on a windy day; and by
their motion they create a current in the direction in which the ovum
should move, namely, toward the uterus. While passing through the
oviduct, the ovum has no attachment whatever to the mother, yet
development is going on all the time. It is thus made perfectly clear
that development is not directed by the parent. This independence of
the parent, though it continues to be one of the characteristic
features of the development of the ovum, shortly becomes less
evident, for communication is set up between the mother and the ovum
as soon as it reaches the uterus. Unless we were warned, we might
easily misinterpret the significance of this attachment to the
parent. It does not permit the mother, for instance, to influence the
mind or character which the child will have. The purpose of the
attachment is twofold, namely, to anchor the ovum, and to arrange
channels by which, on the one hand, nutriment may reach the embryo,
and, on the other, its waste products may return to the mother. The
mother may influence the nutrition of the fetus; but she cannot
determine the kind of brain or liver her child will have; neither for
that matter can she alter the development of any portion of the
embryo.

After its entrance into the cavity of the uterus prepared to receive
and protect it, the mass of cells sinks into the soft, velvety lining
of the organ. Here it is entirely surrounded by tissue which belongs
to the mother. But just before implantation takes place the
architecture of the ovum is modified in such a way as to indicate the
trend of its subsequent development. We left it, a hollow ball
passing down the oviduct; had we examined the sphere more closely we
should have found its wall composed of a single layer of cells. At
one spot, however, the wall soon thickens. The thickening is due to a
specialized group of cells which gradually grows toward the hollow
center of the ball. A little later, if we study the structure as a
whole, we find it a small, distended sac, from the inner surface of
which hangs a tiny clump of tissue. The clump of cells within and the
inclosing sac as well are both requisite to the ultimate object of
pregnancy; yet they fulfill very different purposes. The clump within
will mold itself into the embryo; the inclosing sac will make
possible the continued existence and growth of the embryo by securing
and conveying to it nourishment according to its needs. These two
structures, which from now on constitute the ovum, can best be
considered separately and in the order of their development. We shall
therefore first study the sac and in the next chapter the embryo.

For a time after this sac, or ball, as you may choose to think of it,
becomes implanted in the uterus, every part of its wall shares in the
responsibility of procuring nourishment for the embryo. On this
account the wall, or capsule, is for several weeks the most
conspicuous part of the ovum. Its position is naturally advantageous,
for, since it forms the outermost region of the structure and comes
into immediate contact with the tissues of the mother, it has the
first opportunity to seize and appropriate nutriment. Consequently,
while there is still relatively little development in the embryo, the
capsule of the ovum gives evidence of rapid extension; the wall
becomes thicker, and the circumference of the sac increases. The
significant thing about this growth, however, is the fact that it
does not progress evenly. At some points cell-division is more active
than at others, with the result that the surface of the ovum speedily
loses its smooth, regular outline. Projections from the capsule
appear; they increase in number and in length; and by the end of four
weeks the ovum, as yet less than an inch in diameter, resembles a
miniature chestnut-burr. To make the comparison more accurate, we
must imagine such a burr covered with limp threads instead of rigid
spines.

These projections, the so-called Villi, push their way into the
mucous membrane of the uterus and serve a two-fold purpose. One of
their functions is to fix the ovum in its new abode; and, though the
attachment is not at first very secure, it becomes stronger in the
course of time and is capable of withstanding whatever tendency the
activity of daily life may have to loosen it. The other, and equally
important, task of the villi, the majority of which dip into the
mother's blood, is to transmit substances to and from the embryo.

We have traced thus far the earliest steps in the development of the
ovum. One portion, we observed, was promptly set apart for the
construction of the future child; this favored portion became
inclosed by all the rest of the ovum, which has a more or less
spherical form and is technically called the fetal sac. The first
duty of the sac is to take root in the womb, and the second, no less
vital, is to draw nourishment from the mother. But neither of these
functions can be performed without the participation of the uterine
mucous membrane, the soil, as it were, in which the ovum is planted.
We must now learn how the maternal tissues assume the responsibility
placed upon them.

THE REACTION OF THE UTERUS.--The womb, which is small before
marriage, is converted by pregnancy into the largest organ of the
body. The virginal uterus, shaped somewhat like a pear, and placed
with apex downward, is carefully protected within the bony basin
between the hips, which is commonly called the Pelvis. The upper and
larger part of the organ, known as the body, lies at the bottom of
the abdominal cavity; the lower part, the neck, projects into the
vagina. The cavity inside the womb communicates above with the two
oviducts and terminates below in a canal which runs through the neck
and opens into the vagina by an orifice known as the mouth of the
womb.

Pregnancy modifies every portion of the womb in one way or another;
but the most profound alterations occur in the body, in the cavity of
which the ovum has come to rest. During the forty weeks of gestation
the organ grows in weight from two ounces to as many pounds; from
three inches in length it increases to fifteen inches; and its
capacity is multiplied 500 times.

The mucous membrane which lines the cavity of the uterus responds to
the stimulus of pregnancy in a characteristic manner and with a
single purpose, namely, to promote the development of the ovum. In
connection with menstruation we noted that this membrane periodically
prepares for the reception of an ovum. And if the expected ovum has
been fertilized, its arrival is followed by arrangements for its
protection and nutrition which are far more elaborate than the
preparations for its reception. Within a few weeks the mucous
membrane becomes half an inch thick, that is, about ten times thicker
than it was; and all the elements entering into its composition,
become unusually active. The blood-vessels are congested; the glands
pour out a more elaborate secretion; and certain cells lay up a
bountiful store of material to be drawn upon in the formation of the
embryo and the building up of the structures that promote its
development.

The ovum is as likely to find a resting place at one spot as another
upon the surface of the uterine mucous membrane. The whole of that
surface has been made ready to receive it; yet the area actually
required to imbed the tiny object is extremely small. As the ovum
escapes from the oviduct and enters the womb, it is smaller, in all
probability, than the head of a pin. For at least a week after its
coming, diligent search is necessary to find the site of
implantation. Insignificant as it is at first, however, the region of
implantation later becomes very prominent, for it undergoes a
transformation that the rest of the mucous membrane does not share.
That is to say, it becomes the point of attachment of the Placenta,
an organ that has the very important function of drawing upon the
resources of the mother's blood. As the ovum sinks into this
especially prepared bed, the villi are formed. They break open the
adjacent capillaries of the mother, thus diverting her blood from its
accustomed course. The blood collects in microscopic lakes in contact
with the capsule of the ovum, and from them flows back into the
mother's veins. Through the veins it returns to her heart, by which
it is distributed through the arteries to the various regions of the
body. The tiny lakes, in which the villi hang, are thus made a part
of the mother's circulation and as such are regularly replenished
with purified blood. By this means the ovum receives a rich supply of
nutriment, and as a natural consequence its growth is rapid.

Before very long the diameter of the ovum is greater than the depth
of the mucous membrane which surrounds it. Consequently that part of
the membrane which covers it is pushed into the uterine cavity, as
the ground is raised by a sprouting seed. Growth continues, the
bulging increases, and extensive alterations are wrought both in the
womb and in the capsule of the ovum. One of these alterations will be
more easily understood if we still think of the ovum as a seed, for
it grows away from its roots just as plants do. Most of the capsule,
therefore, is removed step by step farther from its source of
nourishment, for the maternal blood-vessels do not follow the
expanding sac but retain their original position at its base. Partly
on account of the lack of nutriment thus occasioned and partly on
account of the distention caused by the contents of the sac, atrophy
occurs in the distant portions of the sac's wall. As a final result
of these two factors, the maternal tissue which covers the ovum
becomes thinned and stretched; it is pushed entirely across the
uterine cavity; and by about the twentieth week meets the opposite
side of the cavity, to which it becomes adherent. Subsequently, the
sac which incloses the embryo becomes everywhere fastened to the
inner surface of the uterus and completely fills the uterine cavity.

THE AMNIOTIC FLUID.--The great enlargement of the uterus which is so
marked a characteristic of the latter part of pregnancy is due in a
measure to the luxuriant blood-supply, for better nutrition always
causes growth. In a far larger measure, however, it is due to
distention for which the product of conception is responsible. Beside
the fetus the inclosing sac also contains a considerable quantity of
fluid. This fluid, called "The Waters" by those who have no special
knowledge of anatomy, is technically designated as the Amniotic
Fluid.

In the earlier months of pregnancy the amniotic fluid is not
abundant; later it increases rapidly, so that by the end of the
period it measures about a quart, and frequently even more. The
slightly yellow amniotic fluid is itself clear, but small particles
of dead skin and other material cast off from the surface of the
child's body are floating in it, and may cause turbidity. The absence
of odor supports the view that this fluid is not the child's urine.
The evidence thus far adduced, though not absolutely conclusive,
gives good reason to believe that "the waters" are secreted by the
inner side of the sac which incloses the fetus. Very early in
pregnancy this sac becomes a double-walled structure; and, though its
layers are intimately blended, and together measure not more than
1/16 of an inch in thickness, with a little care they can be
separated. The outer layer, which comes in contact with the inner
surface of the uterus and has to do with the matter of nutrition, is
called the Chorionic Membrane; the inner, the so-called Amniotic
Membrane, is much the stronger and is devoted to the protection of
the embryo, which it completely surrounds with fluid, at the same
time retaining the fluid within set bounds.

The amniotic fluid performs many important duties. Perhaps the first,
in point of time, is to provide sufficient room for the embryo to
grow in. Later, as the fluid increases, it permits the fetus to move
freely, and yet renders the movements less noticeable to the mother.
Again, the amniotic fluid prevents injuries that might otherwise
befall the child in case the mother wears her clothing too tight.
Harmful as the practice of tight-lacing during pregnancy is, it does
not, thanks to the presence of the amniotic fluid, result in the
disfigurement of the child. For the same reason a blow struck upon
the abdomen, as in a fall forward, is not so serious as might be
thought, since the fluid, not the child, receives the force of the
impact. Some physicians believe that the fetus swallows the amniotic
fluid and thus secures nourishment. The fluid also serves to keep the
fetus warm; or, to be more exact, protects it from sudden changes in
the temperature of the mother's environment. Normally the temperature
of the fetus is thus kept nearly one degree higher than the
temperature of the parent.

Ultimately, the amniotic fluid assists in dilating the mouth of the
womb, which remains closed until the beginning of the process that
terminates with birth. The uterine contractions at the onset of labor
compress the fluid; in turn the fluid attempts to escape but is held
in check by the amniotic membrane, which it drives into the canal
leading from the uterine cavity to the vagina. Acting like a wedge,
the fluid gradually pushes the mouth of the womb wider and wider
open, until it is large enough for the child to pass. The sac usually
ruptures when that point is reached, the fluid escapes, and in due
time the child is born. This is followed within half an hour by the
extrusion of a mass of tissue--in reality the collapsed fetal sac--
which in every language, so far as I know, is named the After-Birth.
An examination of this tissue at the time of delivery repays the
physician, for it is important to ascertain that none of it has been
left in the uterus. Our interest at present, however, is to learn how
the after-birth has assisted toward the growth of the child.

THE PLACENTA.--The after-birth has puzzled scientists as well as the
laity, and not until comparatively recent times have its origin,
structure, and use been satisfactorily explained. Its meaning
profoundly interested primitive men and stimulated their imagination
scarcely less than the mystery of conception. Some uncivilized tribes
believed that the after-birth was animated like the child;
consequently they spoke of it as "the other half," and often saved it
to give to the child in case of sickness. But generally the after-
birth was buried with religious ceremony, and was occasionally
unearthed later to discover whether the woman would have other
children; the prophecy was made according to the manner of
disintegration or some other equally absurd circumstance.

The after-birth consists of a round, fleshy cake, the placenta, to
which two very essential structures are attached. One of these,
running from one surface of the cake, is a rope-like appendage, the
umbilical cord, which links the placenta with the fetus. The other,
attached to the circular edge of the cake, is a thin veil of tissue,
in some part of which a rent will be found. Now, if we lift the
margin of the rent, we shall see that the veil and the cake together
form a sac which we are holding by the opening. This aperture through
which the fetus passed, and it was really made for that purpose, was
formerly placed over the mouth of the womb; the sac itself, distended
by the fetus and the amniotic fluid, was fastened everywhere to the
inner surface of the womb.

It is plain that we have now in our hands the fetal sac, the
development of which we have already traced from the beginning. The
wall of the sac, it will be recalled, was originally of the same
formation throughout; but when the ovum became imbedded in the womb,
that part of its capsule which remained in permanent contact with the
mother's blood underwent special development, whereas the rest of the
capsule gradually pushed away from its primary position and, becoming
stunted in its growth, even lost to some degree the development it
had attained. This latter portion, the veil that passes from the edge
of the placenta, is formed of the two membranes we have mentioned,
namely, the chorion and the amnion.

The placenta is, for the most part, a highly developed portion of the
chorionic membrane, which became specialized simply because it
happened to receive the best supply of blood. At the time of birth
the placenta measures nearly an inch in thickness, is as large around
as a breakfast-plate, and generally weighs a pound and a quarter,
that is, approximately one-sixth of the weight of the child. This
relation between the weight of the placenta and of the child is
regularly maintained; therefore, the larger the child the larger the
placenta associated with it.

The placenta has two surfaces, easily distinguished from each other.
The raw maternal surface was formerly attached to the inside of the
uterus; the fetal surface, covered by the amniotic membrane, was in
contact with the amniotic fluid. Across the fetal surface run a
number of blood-vessels containing the child's blood, converging
toward a central point at which the umbilical cord is inserted. The
point at which the cord is attached affords the simplest means of
distinguishing the two surfaces of the placenta.

Our knowledge as to how the exchange of food and excretory products
between mother and child is carried on by the placenta has been
gained chiefly through the microscope. The oldest medical writings,
as we might suppose, express very fanciful ideas regarding the nature
of embryonic development and the means by which it is made possible;
no rational view of these matters could exist until the circulation
of the blood was described by William Harvey in 1628. After this
epoch-making revelation, it was accepted as true that the mother's
blood entered the unborn child and returned to her own system. But
that view eventually became untenable, for it was proved conclusively
that there is no communicating channel between the two. For years
after that, it was believed that before birth the womb manufactured
milk to sustain the child, just as the breasts do afterwards; but
this theory also was disproved; and, as I have said, only by the use
of the microscope have we learned the truth about fetal nutrition.

When thin slices of the placenta are magnified they are found to
contain countless numbers of tiny, finger-like processes; these are
the villi, and they constitute the major portion of the organ. The
villi seen in a mature placenta are the same as those which projected
from the capsule of the young ovum, but not these alone, for many
branches have sprouted from the original projections. The primary
trunks with all their branches hang from the capsule of the ovum and
extract nutriment from the mother's blood which surrounds them, just
as the roots of a tree extract it from the soil.

The interchange of material between mother and child as carried on in
the placenta can, perhaps, be made clearer if we compare one of the
trunks and its branching villi to a human forearm, hand, and fingers.
The hand, we will imagine, is held in a basin of water, in which, by
turning on a spigot and leaving the outflow unstopped, we have
arranged that the water changes constantly. In terms of this
illustration, the water corresponds to the mother's blood, rich in
oxygen, mineral matter, and all other kinds of essential nutriment;
and the fingers are the villi. The blood-vessels in the fingers, to
go a step farther, represent the blood-vessels which exist within the
villi, connecting with the umbilical cord, and passing by that route
to the body of the child. The blood which thus circulates through the
villi, it is important to emphasize, is the child's blood; it cannot
escape through the coating of the villi, just as our blood cannot
escape through the skin of the fingers. Similarly, the mother's blood
cannot enter the child; the two circulations are absolutely separate
and distinct.

It must be noticed, moreover, that the maternal blood not only brings
to the surface of the villi everything the child needs, but it also
takes away the waste products of fetal life. Let us select one of the
foodstuffs necessary for the unborn child, and follow its course so
far as it relates to fetal nutrition. The mother's blood brings
sugar, for example, from her intestinal tract to the surface of the
villi; through the coating of the villi the sugar passes into the
fetal blood, is carried to the fetal heart, and distributed to the
various fetal organs. They burn it, deriving heat and energy, and in
return give off waste products, namely, carbonic acid gas and water,
which are taken up by the fetal blood, borne back to the placenta,
and pass again through the coating of the villi into the mother's
circulation. These waste products are then transported to the
mother's lungs and to her kidneys, and are finally thrown off from
her body. Before the child is born, therefore, the placenta, which is
an aggregation of villi, acts as its stomach, intestines, lungs, and
kidneys.

In every pregnancy the placenta serves in this way as an organ of
nutrition, arranging for the passage of food from the mother's blood
to the fetal circulation. Occasionally, it is interesting to observe,
the placenta performs a very different function, namely, the
protection of the unborn child from diseases that may attack the
mother. It is able to afford such protection, because the coating of
the villi is not permeable to all sorts of substances. In order to
pass through their walls, material must be in solution; solid bodies,
therefore, are denied admission to the fetal circulation. The most
significant result of this restriction is, perhaps, that so long as
the coating of the villi remains intact and healthful, bacteria
cannot gain access to the unborn child. Since in health there are no
bacteria in the mother's blood, this fact has no bearing upon the
average pregnancy; but in those exceptional cases in which typhoid
fever or some other infectious disease appears during pregnancy, it
is gratifying to know that Nature has provided an unusual defense
against infection of the unborn child.

That we do not know all about the interchange of substances between
mother and child must be admitted; but the essential facts, and they
alone are of interest here, have been established beyond contention.
There is no doubt whatever that the mother's blood surrounds the
placental villi but never enters the child. The fetal blood, on the
other hand, is first in the child's body, then in the villi, and then
returns to the child again. It never enters the blood-vessels of the
mother but passes to and from the placenta as long as pregnancy
lasts.

THE UMBILICAL CORD.--This rope-like structure, familiarly known as
the navel-string, which connects the placenta and the fetus, is
approximately twenty inches long; its length, therefore, is
sufficient to permit the newly born child to lie between the mother's
knees while the placenta remains attached to the womb. The cord is
about the thickness of the thumb and contains three blood-vessels,
all filled with fetal blood; in two of them the current is directed
toward the placenta, the third carries the blood back to the fetus
after it has circulated through the placental villi. In the cord the
vessels lie near together and are encased in a jelly-like substance
that protects them from injury.