oal--the ovum. And as the spermatozoa carry in them the
entire impress of the man, and the ova of the woman, they foretell us
the fates of the future boy and girl. The woman's role throughout life
is a passive and the man's an active one. And in choosing a mate the
man will always be the active factor or pursuer. So biology seems to
tell us. Whether education--using the word in its broadest sense--will
effect a radical change in the relation of man and woman remains to be
seen. A change putting the man and the woman on a footing of
_equality_ would be desirable; but whether biological differences
having their roots in the remotest antiquity can be obliterated, is a
question the answer of which lies in the distant future. As Geddes and
Thomson so well said: The differences [between the sexes] may be
exaggerated or lessened, but to obliterate them it would be necessary
to have all the evolution over again on a new basis. What was decided
among the prehistoric Protozoa cannot be annulled by act of
Parliament.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] Hair-like appendages.

[5] Each ovum has one germinal vesicle; occasionally one ovum may
contain two germinal vesicles; and from the impregnation of such an
ovum a twin pregnancy may result.

CHAPTER TEN

PREGNANCY

Period of Pregnancy in Human Female--Physiologic Process of
Pregnancy--Growth of Embryo from Moment of Conception--Pregnant
Woman Provides Nourishment for Two--Her Excreting Organs Must
Work for Two.

From the moment the ovum has been fertilized or fecundated by the
spermatozooen, the woman is said to be pregnant (or in French
_enceinte_. This term was used very frequently and is still used by
prudes, who seem to consider the word pregnant vulgar and
disgraceful). Pregnancy, or the period of gestation, lasts from the
moment of conception to the moment that the fetus or child is expelled
from the uterus. The period of pregnancy differs very widely in
different animals,[6] but in the human female it lasts nine calendar
months or ten lunar months--from about 274 to 280 days. We usually
count 280 days from the _first_ day of the _last_ menstruation. A
pregnant woman generally wants to know the day of the expected
confinement--for this purpose a table is appended to this chapter. If
you know the first day of your last menstruation, you will see at a
glance when the confinement may be expected. There may be a difference
of a few days--either before or after the expected