What we see in the process of fecundation is a foreshadowing of the future man and woman. The ovum has no motion of its own, it is moved along by the wave-like motions of the lining cells of the Fallopian tube, and throughout the entire act it remains passive. The spermatozooen, on the other hand, is in a state of continuous activity from the moment it has been ejaculated by the male until it has reached its goal--the ovum. And as the spermatozoa carry in them the entire impress of the man, and the ova of the woman, they foretell us the fates of the future boy and girl. The woman's role throughout life is a passive and the man's an active one. And in choosing a mate the man will always be the active factor or pursuer. So biology seems to tell us. Whether education--using the word in its broadest sense--will effect a radical change in the relation of man and woman remains to be seen. A change putting the man and the woman on a footing of _equality_ would be desirable; but whether biological differences having their roots in the remotest antiquity can be obliterated, is a question the answer of which lies in the distant future. As Geddes and Thomson so well said: The differences [between the sexes] may be exaggerated or lessened, but to obliterate them it would be necessary to have all the evolution over again on a new basis. What was decided among the prehistoric Protozoa cannot be annulled by act of Parliament. FOOTNOTES: [4] Hair-like appendages. [5] Each ovum has one germinal vesicle; occasionally one ovum may contain two germinal vesicles; and from the impregnation of such an ovum a twin pregnancy may result. CHAPTER TEN PREGNANCY Period of Pregnancy in Human Female--Physiologic Process of Pregnancy--Growth of Embryo from Moment of Conception--Pregnant Woman Provides Nourishment for Two--Her Excreting Organs Must Work for Two. From the moment the ovum has been fertilized or fecundated by the spermatozooen, the woman is said to be pregnant (or in French _enceinte_. This term was used very frequently and is still used by prudes, who seem to consider the word pregnant vulgar and disgraceful). Pregnancy, or the period of gestation, lasts from the moment of conception to the moment that the fetus or child is expelled from the uterus. The period of pregnancy differs very widely in different animals,[6] but in the human female it lasts nine calendar months or ten lunar months--from about 274 to 280 days. We usually count 280 days from the _first_ day of the _last_ menstruation. A pregnant woman generally wants to know the day of the expected confinement--for this purpose a table is appended to this chapter. If you know the first day of your last menstruation, you will see at a glance when the confinement may be expected. There may be a difference of a few days--either before or after the expected date--but for practical approximate purposes the tables serve very well.