Embryology Part 4

Having noted how the embryo itself takes its origin, and then studied something of the beginnings of some of its most important parts, we may now very briefly refer to the subject of its own nourishment. This has more than a mere academic interest, because obviously the proper growth and development of all the various tissues and structures in the embryo must depend ultimately upon the nourishment with which they are supplied. Their own inherent characters cause them to divide and subdivide so as to give rise to the millions of cells which are required to make the body, but these cells, in their turn, are dependent upon outside sources for the nourishment which enables them to keep on growing, or to maintain their full growth when they have arrived at that stage.

Nature has made many varied arrangements for this nutrition during embryonic life in different cla.s.ses of animals. In some a considerable quant.i.ty of yolk is so arranged with reference to the embryo that the latter can draw upon it for some time for its supplies. This is the case, of course, in birds, and in some reptiles. We need here, however, only consider the case of the human embryo.

Three sets of structures are concerned in human embryonic nourishment, namely, the Allantois, the Villi of the Chorion, and the Placenta.

The Allantois is developed in the form of a hollow bud from the posterior part of the primitive alimentary ca.n.a.l, and ultimately comes to form the umbilical cord, and the embryonic part of the placenta. It is this structure, the allantois, which allows at a very early date of the embryo establishing a blood-connection with the maternal tissues, and hence it plays a very important part in the transmission of nourishment to the embryo. Not only does it do this, but it allows of the removal of waste products.

The villi of the chorion are outgrowths by means of which the very early embryo attaches itself to the walls of the cavity, which it has made for itself in the wall of the uterus. As they grow larger, these villi push their way into many of the small blood-vessels in the uterine wall, and so come to lie actually in a ma.s.s of blood from which they abstract the elements of nutrition. At first the villi themselves contain no blood-vessels. Nourishment pa.s.ses through them by a simple process of osmosis. Later on, vessels grow into the villi themselves. The nutriment supply is secretion, in the first place, of the uterine glands, which these villi easily absorb. This process takes place during the first two or three months of embryonic life. At the end of this time most of the villi disappear, and the few that remain take part in forming the f[oe]tal or embryonic portion of the placenta.

After the third month the embryo is nourished by the placenta itself, which is at this stage developed. As we have seen, it arises partly from the villi of the chorion, which is its embryonic portion. The other part of it is maternal in origin, arising from the portion of the uterine wall which is immediately over the embryo. The connection between this structure, the placenta and the embryo, is const.i.tuted by means of the umbilical cord. The function of the placenta is partly to supply nutrition, partly to serve as an organ of respiration for the embryo, whose lungs are, of course, not functional, and partly it acts in the same way as the kidney does in after life, by excreting certain products. From the placenta the embryo derives those food elements at first provided by the secretion of the uterine glands. Afterwards these elements are supplied by cells which lie between the f[oe]tal villi and the blood of the mother. Its respiratory function consists in allowing oxygen and carbonic acid gas to pa.s.s by osmosis between the embryonic and the maternal blood. The process is exactly a.n.a.logous to that which takes place between the gills of a fish and the water in which the fish lies. Of course, it will be easily understood that there is as yet no great need for a large supply of oxygen, because the embryo is merely growing, and not using its various organs.

It should be clearly understood that under ordinary conditions of embryonic life there is no direct mixture of the blood of the mother and that of the developing embryo. All the processes which contribute to its growth and maintenance, including those of respiration and excretion, take place through the intermediate structures above mentioned. This is an extremely important point, because it means--and evidently that is the object of the arrangement--that there may be much of an injurious character in the blood of the mother which never reaches the embryonic tissues at all. Doubtless the cells which form the organs of nutrition for the embryo have a capacity for selecting the elements required for purposes of nutrition. It is their business to look after this process.

How perfectly it is performed can at once be understood when we recollect how very frequently the tissues of the mother herself are in anything but perfect health, and yet the embryo is born healthy. Were it not for this intermediary process, the embryo could hardly help being poisoned or otherwise injured by all the varied unhealthy products and substances which the ignorance of some mothers allows to be present in their blood during this important period. Even with this means of protection, the maternal blood may be so utterly deficient in nutritive qualities, or so actively injurious from saturation with alcohol, or from some equally toxic substance, that the fluids which reach the embryonic cells may be very much impaired in quality. Nevertheless, it is astonishing how much danger can be avoided in this way by Nature's provision in the method of nourishing the embryo.

If the development and growth of the embryo in a human being runs a perfectly normal and uninterrupted course, the following points could be observed at various stages. At the end of the fourth week in growth, the embryo is distinctly curved, so that the two ends--the head and the tail--are close together, the whole being about half an inch in length.

Even at this very early stage, the ca.n.a.l which gives rise to the brain and spinal cord is closed in. The vesicles of the eye and the ear have both made their appearance, and the limbs are just beginning to show as buds. The heart is quite obvious, and its division into its four chambers is commencing. In another four weeks the embryo has reached the size of one inch, and the head is beginning to take on a shape more resembling that a.s.sociated with a human being. The tail, on the other hand, has now disappeared. The limbs have grown to the extent that both hands and feet are starting growth, and in the region of the head both the eyes and the ears, as well as the nose, can be distinguished. Even at this stage, however, the s.e.x of the embryo cannot be made out. A month later, at the end of the twelfth week, a considerable development has taken place. The embryo is now about three and a half inches long.

There is a general growth to be observed, and the bones are beginning to ossify. In sixteen weeks, when the embryo measures about five inches in length, the s.e.x is easily distinguishable. The most characteristic thing for the weeks succeeding this is the relatively large size of the head, upon which hair appears at about the twenty-fourth week. In twenty-eight weeks the embryo should weigh about 2 lb., that is to say at the seventh month of embryonic life. Should the child be born at this time as the result of any of the causes which give rise to premature birth, there is a possibility that it may live, though as a rule it does not.

Four weeks later it should weigh 3 lb., and if born now may frequently live, if carefully attended to. In another four weeks the embryo is nearly eighteen inches long, and weighs about 5 lb., and the body has a more rounded appearance, because by this time there has been a considerable growth in fat. If born at this stage it ought to be quite possible to save the life. Finally, at the end of forty weeks, the normal full embryonic period of human life, the healthy child should weigh about 7 lb., having smooth, pink skin, and being otherwise perfectly developed.

CHAPTER XII

RECAPITULATION

In bringing our study of Embryology to a close, we may glance briefly at another aspect of the subject, namely, that which emphasizes the fact that in its development the embryo recapitulates the history of its ancestors.

It is quite obvious that the offspring of any species of animal, if they are to live and survive in the same kind of environment as that in which their parents live, must resemble them somewhat closely. The only way in which Nature can secure such a sufficiently close resemblance of offspring to parents is by insuring that they should develop along similar lines. So it is that we find that the whole of the life history of an individual is more or less a recapitulation, with, of course, variations, of that of the parents and ancestors. Each successive step from the very beginning of the fertilisation of the ovum repeats a stage through which previous generations have pa.s.sed. If from any accident a step in this recapitulation is omitted, the embryo is to that extent deprived of some feature possessed by a parent or ancestor; and if this be a sufficiently important omission, it is impossible for such an embryo to survive. That is one way in which an embryo may differ from its parents. That is a retrogressive change. On the other hand, such an embryo, in addition to recapitulating the stages through which its parents pa.s.sed in development, may have something new added, something which appears for the first time. In other words a progressive variation may appear.

Now, since the embryo follows the same developmental track as did the parent, pa.s.sing through the successive stages of germ-cells, fertilised ovum, embryo, f[oe]tus, infant, child, youth, and adult, it follows that should it exhibit any additional peculiarity, unnoted in the parent, the embryo has obviously varied progressively. That is to say, it has pursued the same line of development together with some new addition. On the other hand, should the offspring at any of these stages in its career be obviously without some of the characters of previous generations, it is as certainly due to the fact that the recapitulation of the history of development has been, in that particular, incomplete.

In all successive cases of multicellular organisms, development by a process of repet.i.tion of what happened in the previous generation seems to be the rule; and it would appear that only by this means could a ma.s.s of cells which const.i.tute an individual grow into something sufficiently like the parents as to be recognised for their offspring. Given the fact that a human individual starts from a single germ-cell, it could only be by following the same steps in development trodden by the parent that the new individual could attain a similar growth. The object of this similarity is, of course, to provide that the offspring may live and survive in an environment more or less similar to that of the parents.

As Dr. Archdall Reid puts it, "the embryo starting from the same point, must follow the same road to reach the same goal. The embryo which did not recapitulate the history of the development of a parent would be a monstrosity."

While, however, recapitulation in development is always more or less clear, it does not follow that it is perfectly complete, nor perfectly identical with the development of the parent. Indeed, on the other hand, there is always a certain amount of variation, either progressive or retrogressive. Progressive variation means that in addition to the development of all the parental stages, something new has been added.

Retrogressive variation means that from the total development experienced by the parent, something has been omitted. We are here speaking of characters of a species, and it must not be thought that we are referring to the characters of the embryo as if they were derived from those of their parents. This was clearly pointed out in the earlier portion of our study. The variations in development, to which we here refer, take their origin in the germ-plasm which tends to repeat in each generation similar types of development. In other words the germ-plasm from which individuals spring is of such a nature that the embryos arising from it show in their development a recapitulation of the evolution of their particular species. In addition they may show variations of either a plus or a minus character. These variations are frequently inherited, and persist throughout succeeding generations. In course of time, if there are many of such variations, they acc.u.mulate, and to that extent, of course, alter the life history. That is why in watching the development of a human embryo it is impossible to trace accurately the early ancestral development of the race from it. It pa.s.ses through the stage of a single cell, then becomes multicellular, and gradually a.s.sumes the form of a higher and higher type of organism.

"Manifestly the additions and subtractions have been vast. It possesses, for instance, a placenta, an organ by which it is attached to the mother, through which it is nourished, and which at one time is larger than the embryo itself; but which, of course, could not have been present in its prototypes. Nevertheless the life history unfolded by the child is just as real, just as complete, and probably more accurate than any written chronicle that attempts to describe the whole past of a race." (Reid.)

"There is a history in all men's lives Figuring the nature of the times deceased."

Here we must conclude this brief sketch of some of the princ.i.p.al facts in the science of Embryology, in the hope that enough has been said to stimulate the interest of our readers in this subject to such an extent that they may be encouraged to pursue its study still further in one of the many textbooks that are devoted entirely, or partly, to this matter.

We would urge in conclusion that the study is well worth while, even for those to whom it has a non-professional interest. It should be sufficiently obvious to any earnest thinker that the problems which are involved in the study of embryology are precisely those which are of the very greatest importance to humanity at large. With this subject is most intimately bound up that of heredity itself, which has been dealt with in another volume of this series. No true understanding of what can be done, or what should be done, in the direction of improving the lot of generations to come, or of making the most of the generation at present existent, can be obtained by any who are absolutely ignorant of these topics. It is only by their study that we realise that the human embryo, which is to become the human individual, consists, to a very large extent, of characters and features which are unalterably settled for it beforehand, to which nothing can be added, and from which nothing can be taken away. In other words, the possibilities for any individual are those which are pre-existent in the germ-plasm from which he or she originates. These possibilities, however, depend upon the environment in which the embryo, infant, child, and adult is subsequently placed for their full expansion. In many directions the inherited tendencies transmitted by the continuity of germ-plasm are unalterably and strictly defined. In many other directions these inherited tendencies can be so modified, drawn out, or even partially suppressed, by suitable surroundings of a hygienic, educative, and moral nature, that if the process be taken in hand sufficiently early wonderful successes may result. These results are those for which the social reformer and the philanthropist and the serious student of sociology are earnestly striving, but it is only by a study of the sciences of Heredity and Embryology that accurate data can be obtained from which justifiable conclusions may be drawn.

The great fact which embryology teaches is that the past is unfolded stage by stage, with certain omissions and additions, so that in very truth--

"The softest dimple in a baby's smile Springs from the whole of past eternity, Taxed all the sum of things to bring it there."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following books will be found to deal in detail with some of the general questions in the foregoing pages:--

_The Laws of Heredity_. By G. Archdall Reid, M.B., F.R.S.E. (London.

Methuen.) This great work should be read by all who are interested in the subject of Heredity and all the problems involved in it. It deals in an exhaustive and interesting manner with the characteristics of living beings, the method of development, the function of s.e.x, the present evolution of man, and kindred topics.

_The Greatest Life_. By Gerald Leighton, M.D., F.R.S.E. (London.

Duckworth.) This work deals with the development of character (as well as structures) from the biological point of view. The argument is that the _whole_ of a man, mental, moral, spiritual, as well as what is usually termed physical, develops in accordance with biological laws.

_Text-books on Physiology_. Any of the standard books will be found to contain accounts of the early development of the embryo and its various tissues.