to the new being. Modern physiology emphatically
condemns this absurdity. The embryo is as much alive in the very
earliest moments of pregnancy as at any future stage of its existence.
Let every woman therefore remember that she who produces abortion is
equally guilty in the eyes of science and of Heaven, whether the act be
committed before or after the period of quickening.

How is quickening produced? Undoubtedly by the movements of the child.
So soon as its nervous and muscular systems become sufficiently
developed to enable it to move its limbs, the mother, if the movements
be sufficiently active, is rendered sensible of her situation. But the
muscular contractions may not be strong enough to impart any sensation
to the mother. In many cases in which they are too feeble to be noticed
by herself, the skilled accoucheur is capable of recognizing them. And
the movements of the foetus may be excited in various ways known to
physicians.

_Time of quickening._--This symptom usually occurs about the middle of
pregnancy, near the eighteenth week. Some women feel the movements of
the foetus as early as the third month of pregnancy, others not till the
sixth month. Cases occur in which no movement whatever is felt until the
eighth or ninth month, or even not at all. It has been suggested that a
foetus which does not indicate its presence in this way is a kind of
'Lazy Lawrence,' too indolent to move. Certainly, many of both sexes
exhibit after birth such indomitable love of repose, that it can readily
be supposed they were equally passive in foetal life.

The non-occurrence of this sign may, however, be due to the debility of
the young child, or to a want of sensibility in the walls of the womb
itself.

A woman may be deceived, and suppose she has quickened, when her
sensations are to be traced to flatulence of the bowels, or perhaps a
dropsical effusion. Many ludicrous instances of self-deception are on
record. The historian Hume states that Queen Mary, in her extreme desire
to have issue, so confidently asserted that she felt the movements of
the child, that public proclamation was made of the interesting event.
Despatches were sent to foreign courts; national rejoicings were had;
the sex of the child was settled, for everybody was certain it was going
to be a male; and Bonner, Bishop of London, made public prayers, saying
that Heaven would pledge to make him beautiful, vigorous, and witty. But
all those high hopes and