nger required, it is easily and safely removed.

THE UMBILICAL CORD.

The foetal blood is transmitted to and fro between the body of the child
and the placenta, by a cord which contains two arteries and one vein.
This is called the _umbilical cord_, because it enters the body at the
middle of the abdominal region, or _umbilicus_. It is composed, also, of
its own proper membranous sheath, or skin, and cellular tissues, besides
the blood-vessels. Two months after pregnancy, this cord can be seen,
when it commences to grow rapidly.

QUICKENING.

Not until the mother feels motion is she said to be quick with child.
That is, the child must be old and strong enough to communicate a
physical impulse, which the mother can distinctly perceive, before it is
regarded as having received life. This is a fallacy, for the germ has to
be endowed with life before organization can begin. The act of
impregnation communicates the vital principle, and from that moment it
starts upon its career of development. A long period elapses after this
occurs before it can make the mother feel its motions. Before
quickening, the attempt to destroy the foetus is not considered so grave
a crime by our laws, but after this quickening takes place, it is deemed
a felony.

THE RIGHT TO TERMINATE PREGNANCY.

The expediency and the moral right to prematurely terminate pregnancy
must be admitted when weighty and sufficient reasons for it exist. Such
a course should never be undertaken, however, without the advice and
approval of the family physician, and, whenever it is possible, the
counsel of another medical practitioner should be obtained. There may be
so great a malformation of the pelvic bones as to preclude delivery at
full term, or, as in some instances, the pregnant condition may endanger
the life of the mother, because she is not able to retain nourishment
upon the stomach. In such cases only, is interference warranted, and
even then the advice of some well-informed physician should be first
obtained, to make sure that the life of the mother is endangered before
so extreme a measure is resorted to.

Those who are qualified for maternal duties should not undertake to
defeat the intentions of nature, simply because they love ease and
dislike responsibility. Such persons may be considered genteel ladies,
but, practically, they are indifferent to the claims of society and
posterity. How such selfishness contrasts with the glorious, her