Some women have a tendency to
produce children that take after themselves, and others children
that take after the husband; and this latter case is like that of
the celebrated mare in Pharsalus, that got the name of the Honest
Wife.
7
In the emission of sperm there is a preliminary discharge of
air, and the outflow is manifestly caused by a blast of air; for
nothing is cast to a distance save by pneumatic pressure. After the
seed reaches the womb and remains there for a while, a membrane
forms around it; for when it happens to escape before it is distinctly
formed, it looks like an egg enveloped in its membrane after removal
of the eggshell; and the membrane is full of veins.
All animals whatsoever, whether they fly or swim or walk upon
dry land, whether they bring forth their young alive or in the egg,
develop in the same way: save only that some have the navel attached
to the womb, namely the viviparous animals, and some have it
attached to the egg, and some to both parts alike, as in a certain
sort of fishes. And in some cases membranous envelopes surround the
egg, and in other cases the chorion surrounds it.
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