conceive of as conveyed by the mother's blood; we can even
suppose that the modified blood might act specifically on one particular
kind of tissue. We can, again, as suggested by Fere, very well believe
that the maternal emotions act upon the womb and produce various kinds and
degrees of pressure on the child within, so that the apparently active
movements of the foetus may be really consecutive on unconscious maternal
excitations.[197] We may also believe that, as suggested by John Thomson,
there are slight incooerdinations _in utero_, a kind of developmental
neurosis, produced by some slight lack of harmony of whatever origin, and
leading to the production of malformations.[198] We know, finally, that,
as Fere and others have repeatedly demonstrated during recent years by
experiments on chickens, etc., very subtle agents, even odors, may
profoundly affect embryonic development and produce deformity. But how the
mother's psychic disposition can, apart from heredity, affect specifically
the physical conformation or even the psychic disposition of the child
within her womb must remain for the present an insoluble mystery, even if
we feel disposed to conclude that in some cases such action seems to be
indicated.

In comprehending such a connection, however at present
undemonstrated, it may well be borne in mind that the
relationship of the mother to the child within her womb is of a
uniquely intimate character. It is of interest in this
connection to quote some remarks by an able psychologist, Dr.
Henry Rutgers Marshall; the remarks are not less interesting for
being brought forward without any connection with the question of
maternal impressions: "It is true that, so far as we know, the
nervous system of the embryo never has a direct connection with
the nervous system of the mother: nevertheless, as there is a
reciprocity of reaction between the physical body of the mother
and its embryonic parasite, the relation of the embryonic nervous
system to the nervous system of the mother is not very far
removed from the relation of the pre-eminent part of the nervous
system of a man to some minor nervous system within his body
which is to a marked extent dissociated from the whole neural
mass.

"Correspondingly, then, and within the consciousness of the
mother, there develops a new little minor consciousness which,
although but lightly integrated