It is not putting it too strongly to say that a very large
number of people in this country who believe themselves to be legally
married are not married at all, and that thousands of children who have
not the slightest doubt as to their legitimacy are in the eyes of the
law bastards.
XXXII.--SUPERFOETATION
By superfoetation is meant the conception, by a woman already pregnant,
of a second embryo, resulting in the birth of two children at the same
time, differing much in their degree of maturity, or in two separate
births, with a considerable interval between. The possibility of the
occurrence of superfoetation has been doubted, but there are
well-authenticated cases which countenance the theory of a double
conception. It has been shown that the os uteri is not closed, as was
once supposed, immediately _on conception_. Should an ovum escape into
the uterus, it may become impregnated a month or so after a previous
conception. The most probable explanation is that the case has been one
of twins, one being born prematurely; or, on the other hand, the uterus
may have been double, and conception may have taken place in one cornu
at a later period than in the other cornu.
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