quickening, it is misdemeanor, if after, murder. The following diagram is presented to show the situation occupied by the womb containing the child just ready to enter the world:— [Illustration: _a_—The womb. _b_—The vagina. _c_—The bladder. _d_—The rectum.] A full pregnant female, like a very corpulent man, walks very erect: hence the popular notion that ladies in the one condition, and gentlemen in the other, do not think meanly of themselves, but strut along well pleased with their own importance. It is an uncharitable idea; the attitude is unavoidable, the head and shoulders being thrown back to counterbalance the protuberance in front—to preserve, in fact, the centre of gravity, to save themselves from falling. _Symptoms of Pregnancy._—Mysterious as is the process of impregnation, there are many forewarnings which, being generally found correct, are useful to be known. Great as are the changes that take place in the female economy during child-bearing, and productive as they frequently are of serious disturbances to health, it is benevolently ordained that women who fulfil their destiny of becoming mothers, have better health to sustain them through their travail than the single or unprolific. The signs of pregnancy during the first few weeks are very equivocal. The first probability is the suppression of menstruation, which is accompanied by fulness of the breasts, the nipples of which become surrounded by a dark areola; headache, flushing in the face, and heat in the palms of the hands, ensue; also sickness in the morning, and probably an accession of mental irritability; various longings exist—many very ridiculous, others bordering on insanity, and some indicating great perversion of temper, habits, in hitherto well-conducted inclinations. There are many phenomena more readily discovered by medical men accustomed to the accoucheur’s employment than describable, that indicate pregnancy; the sinking of the abdomen, the descent and closure of the uterus, the altered facial looks, the state of the pulse, &c., &c. From the fourth month, when the womb ascends into the abdomen, the signs are more positive: the protrusion of the navel, the evident enlargement of the belly, the tenderness and fulness of, and occasional escape of milk from, the breasts, clearly point out the occasion. About the fifth month, the movements of the child are very apparent to the mother, when all doubt is removed. There are some conditions of female life that assimilate to pregnancy, and which have defied the judgment of matrons, and even medical men, but they are rare—such as dropsy of the abdomen, or ovaries, tumors, accumulations of wind, &c. These, with the suspension of menstruation (which last is but an uncertain sign, for it may depend upon cold, fever, or inflammation), have destroyed the anticipations of fond wives, and have alarmed those who desire not to become mothers.