THE MYSTERIES OF THE FORMATION OF LIFE.
1. SCIENTIFIC THEORIES.—Darwin, Huxley, Haeckel, Tyndall, Meyer, and other renowned scientists, have tried to find the missing link between man and animal; they have also exhausted their genius in trying to fathom the mysteries of the beginning of life, or find where the animal and mineral kingdoms unite to form life; but they have added to the vast accumulation of theories only, and the world is but little wiser on this mysterious subject.
2. PHYSIOLOGY.—Physiology has demonstrated what physiological changes
take place in the germination and formation of life, and how nature
expresses the intentions of reproduction by giving animals distinctive
organs with certain secretions for this purpose, etc. All the
different stages of development can be easily determined, but how and
why life takes place under such special condition and under no other, is an unsolved mystery.
3. OVARIES.—The ovaries are the essential parts of the generative
system of the human female in which ova are matured. There are two
ovaries, one on each side of the uterus, and connected with it by the
Fallopian tubes. They are egg-shaped, about an inch in diameter, and
furnish the germs or ovules. These germs or ovules are very small, measuring about 1/120 of an inch in diameter.
4. DEVELOPMENT.—The ovaries develop with the growth of the female, so
that finally at the period of puberty they ripen and liberate an
ovum or germ vesicle, which is carried into the uterine cavity of the
Fallopian tubes. By the aid of the microscope we find that these ova
are composed of granular substance, in which is found a miniature yolk
surrounded by a transparent membrane called the zona pellucida. This
yolk contains a germinal vesicle in which can be discovered a nucleus, called the germinal spot. The process of the growth of the ovaries is very gradual, and their function of ripening and discharging one ovum monthly into the Fallopian tubes and uterus, is not completed until between the twelfth and fifteenth years.
5. WHAT SCIENCE KNOWS.—After the sexual embrace we know that the
sperm is lifted within the genital passages or portion of the vagina
and mouth of the uterus. The time between the deposit of the semen
and fecundation varies according to circumstances. If the sperm-cell
travels to the ovarium it generally takes from three to five days to
make the journey. As Dr. Pierce says: The transportation is aided
by the ciliary processes (little hairs) of the mucous surface of the
vaginal and uterine walls, as well as by its own vibratile movements. The action of the cilia, under the stimulus of the sperm, seems to be from without, inward. Even if a minute particle of sperm, less than a drop, be left upon the margin of the external genitals of the female, it is sufficient in amount to impregnate, and can be carried, by help of these cilia, to the ovaries.
6. CONCEPTION.—After intercourse at the proper time the liability to
conception is very great. If the organs are in a healthy condition, conception must necessarily follow, and no amount of prudence and the most rigid precautions often fail to prevent pregnancy.
7. ONLY ONE ABSOLUTELY SAFE METHOD.—There is only one absolutely safe
method to prevent conception, entirely free from danger and injury to
health, and one that is in the reach of all; that is to refrain from
union altogether.