Blaikie. The explanations put forward have always
been on one of three main lines:--
(1) The imagination-theory, or, to quote Harvey: "Due to mental
causes so operating either on the mind of the female and so
acting on her reproductive powers, or on the mind of the male
parent, and so influencing the qualities of his semen, as to
modify the nutrition and development of the offspring."
(2) Due to a local influence on the reproductive organs of the
mother.
(3) Due to a general influence through the fetus on the mother.
Antenatal Pathology.--We have next to deal with the diseases,
accidents, and operations that affect the pregnant uterus and its
contents; these are rich in anomalies and facts of curious
interest, and have been recognized from the earliest times. In
the various works usually grouped together under the general
designation of "Hippocratic" are to be found the earliest
opinions upon the subject of antenatal pathology which the
medical literature of Greece has handed down to modern times.
That there were medical writers before the time of Hippocrates
cannot be doubted, and that the works ascribed to the "Father of
Medicine" were immediately followed by those of other physicians,
is likewise not to be questioned; but whilst nearly all the
writings prior to and after Hippocrates have been long lost to
the world, most of those that were written by the Coan physician
and his followers have been almost miraculously preserved.
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