ALegitimateBIRTHrespectsTimeonly, and that is properly so called, which most frequently happens, according to theCommon LawofNature.
ITis never sufficiently to be admired asWonderful, thatMan, who is bornHEREDITARY LORDof theUniverse, and invested withSUPREME DOMINIONover allCreatures, should, however yet, be the only one deprived of some certaindefinite Timefor hisBIRTH[108];it happening often in theseventh, commonly in theninthandtenth, and sometimes in theeighthandeleventh Months, andThatalso at all Times of the Year: Whereas, on the other hand, all the rest ofinferiour Creatureshave their certainprefixed Times, both ofcarryingtheirYOUNG, andbringing them forth, beyond which they cannot go, nor controul the Order ofNATURE.
HOWEVER, this being theGood WorkandWillof the GreatCREATOR, deserves more our silentWonderandAdmiration, than our boldEnquiry, or curiousScrutiny, into theREASONof it.
BUTnotwithstanding, I hope, we may easily account for theLatitudeofTIMEallowed ourBirths, when we consider what has been said of the Times ofFormationandAnimationin their proper Places[109]. If then these require a proportionableLatitude, what wonder is it that theLegitimate Timeof Birth is of suchExtent? Not that I mean that therational Soulis introduced either at different Times, or by Piece-meals, only that it is notdonethis or that Dayprecisely. And farther (according toAVERROES, that greatCommentator)Man[110], not only in the Womb, but also after Birth, even until hisJuvenile Age, is buta-generating; and from that Time to old Age he begins todecline: yet we daily see thatthis Changeis not equal to all, in that some Men do but arrive to their most robust andvigorous Stateabout the fortieth Year of their Age, whereas others come to that Length about the thirtieth, and most about the thirty-fifth.
ASit is anAuspicious Crisiswhich happens any Time of theCritical Day, whether anticipated or postponed by a few Hours: And as theFruitofTreeshave their constituted Time ofMaturity, which notwithstanding some are perfected sooner, and some later; so (I think) it may be also in the present Case ofBirths.
HOWEVERyet, to go a little further, without Offence: As to theLegitimacyofBIRTHS, I don’t see any Reason why everyBirth, producing avital Child, may not be justly esteemed timelylawful, whether it be of theseventh,eighth,ninth,tenth, oreleventh Month: But because few of our antient and learnedPredecessorshave been inclined to admit any standingRULEof such a largeExtent, in thisCASEwe shall be far from desiring to establish anyNew One, or advance anyParadox.
I SHALLtherefore (in this Place) only touch uponThatwhich mostAuthorsseem to have agreed upon, and reckon the most commonLegitimate Birth; namely, which happens (at the soonest) about the260thDayfromCONCEPTION, being thefirstof the38thWeek, or the20thof theninth Month; as it doth also sometimes fall out (ten Days later) about the270th, when it is neithertoo soon, nortoo late; and which likewise (at the latest) happens before the280thDay; that is, thelastof the40thWeek, or the10thDayof the10thMonth.
BUTThis(if I may be permitted to speak my Mind) depends much upon theTime of Conception; it being my Opinion, that if the Woman did conceive whenrecently purged, I mean shortly after the natural Flux, she maybring forthin the beginning[111]of the9thMonth; whereas, if when theMenstruawere almost ready toflow, towardsits Close, or later: And if in theIntervalbetwixt these Times, she mayproduce her Childin themiddleof the Month: Because asPlantsorCornarrive much sooner toMaturityafter theNewthan after theFull-Moon, so it may be also with theFœtus, because of the more or lessVigourof theWomb.
HOWEVER, in short, it is to be observed, that in all theseCases, we may commonly allow a fewmore Daysfor theGIRLthan theBOY, as appears fromSect.I.Chap.9.
AND, in fine, according to the Opinion of the most Learned and CuriousPractisersinMIDWIFERY, thisBIRTHhappens always[112]at theself-same Hourof theDayorNight, in which theWomanConceiv’d: So that from hence it is, that mostBIRTHShappen in theNight, or Dawning of theDay; wherefore they All agree, that aLegitimate BIRTHrequires not only a certain definite Number ofDays, but also ofHours, &c. To proceed therefore to