=How mothers in the lower and higher forms of life differ.=--Among the higher animals, the eggs are formed by ovaries, just as in the case of plants and the lower animals. Here we find another important addition to the female organs of sex. As soon as the egg is formed by the ovary it passes, by means of a duct called the fallopian tube, into a pear-shaped vessel called the uterus, or womb. Here, if the egg is fertilized by the male substance, it becomes attached to the wall of the womb. At this point of the womb, a cord is formed, containing a vein and artery, called the placenta. The placenta connects with the body of the young at a point called the navel. The forming young receives its air, food, and life through the cord from the mother’s blood. There is a very close resemblance between the creative organs and their functions in the higher animals and man. We could not become fathers and mothers without these special organs of sex. =The essential female organs of sex.=--These consist of ovaries, oviducts, womb, vagina and breasts. All these organs, except the breasts, are on the inside of the body--in the lower part of the abdomen. In a mature woman the (1) ovaries, two in number, are small almond-shaped glands just below the navel and are four or five inches apart, one located in the left side of the body and the other in the right. The ovaries are enveloped in a broad, thin, strong membrane and connect with the upper part of the (2) womb by slender cords called (3) oviducts. [Illustration] =Location and function of the ovaries.=--There takes place in every girl, when she is from twelve to fifteen, a remarkable change, called puberty, or adolescence. From this time on, until she is forty to forty-five years old, there will be formed in one of the ovaries every four weeks a tiny egg, or ovum. The ovum is less than 1/120 of an inch in diameter. When this little egg breaks through the membrane of the ovary, it would drop down into the cavity of the body were it not for a most wonderful provision. The oviducts, or, as they are often called, the fallopian tubes, are ducts connected with the upper part of the womb, are three inches in length and have finger-like ends. When the little egg breaks through the membrane of the ovary, the little fingers of the oviducts close about the ovary and receive the little egg which then enters the tiny mouth of the oviduct and is conveyed through its small cavity to the womb.