I. BECAUSE this _Liquor_, which seems very proper for that _Use_, is found not only in the _Mouth_, but also in the OESOPHAGUS and _Stomach_ of the _INFANT_.
II. IT is found _changed_ in the smaller _Intestines_[23]; and being _chylify’d_ in the _Ventricle_, it turns to _Excrements_, call’d MECONIUM, in the RECTUM, or _strait Gut_.
III. WE find a _large_ Quantity of this _Liquor_, surrounding the FŒTUS in the _first Months_, and but _little_ in the _last_; which cannot probably be consum’d any _other_ way, than by the _INFANT_.
IV. BECAUSE[24] that the _Oesophagus_, _Intestines_, _lacteal Vessels_, and _thoracick Duct_, may continue open, and be gradually accustomed to their respective _Functions_.
THE Infant’s _Situation_, in the _first_ and _middle Months_, is various; but, in the _latter_, it is commonly observ’d to be of an _oval Figure_: Sitting, with the _Head_ hanging down, and the _Chin_ upon the _Breast_; the _Neck_ bending forwards, the _Back_ is round; embracing the _Knees_, which are drawn up towards the _Cheeks_ with its _Arms_; the _Hands_ commonly hanging down, seem to embrace the _Feet_; the _Heels_ cling close to the _Buttocks_; and while the _Head_ is uppermost, the _Face_ is towards the _Mother’s Belly_.
BUT about the Time of _Birth_; the HEAD, which was always before _Lighter_, becomes considerably _Heavier_ than any other Part. And its ponderous _Bulk_ bearing much smaller Proportion to its _Substance_ than it did before, must needs (consequently) tumble Heels over Head, in the _Waters_ of the MEMBRANES; and the _Head_ falling downwards, the _Feet_ get uppermost, and the _Face_ is turn’d towards the _Mother’s Back_.
BUT because this is a painful and irksome _Posture_, however favourable for its EXIT; the _Motions_ it makes for its Relief, occasion frequent _Pains_ to the MOTHER, which cause a Contraction of the _WOMB_, for the Expulsion of the _Infant_.
AND, in short, this being the _natural Posture_ of the _Infant_ in the _WOMB_, its _preternatural Positions_ may from thence be easily conceived.
CHAP. XI. _Of the_ MEMBRANES _and_ WATERS.
THE _MEMBRANES_ of the _Infant_, are _Two_ in number, the one _exteriour_, call’d _CHORION_; the other _interiour, AMNION_: which are so contiguously joined _one_ to the _other_, that they appear like one and the same _MEMBRANE_; and, because they are only separable by _Art_, as a _Silk-Lining_ from a _Cloth_, are sometimes call’d the _double MEMBRANE_.