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EVOLUTION OF THE F02TUS. 187
with the tenth lunar month, or fortieth week. Physiolo
gists have asked why the process necessary to expulsion
should be set up at this period. When they have given
an intelligible explanation of any vital periodicity what
ever, they may of this. Time is one of the elements
of the universe, whether marked by the beatings of the
heart, and the movements of respiration, or the cycles
of the stars, which require millions of millions of years
for their completion. Regularities of action, and con
sequent accuracy of periods, are inherent qualities of
the intelligent soul, animal or organic. It is the organic
soul that presides over the development of the foetus,
and fixes the time for its expulsion. But this intelligent
soul is not a machine. It has the power, for good rea-