CHAPTER III

_The reason why children are like their parents; and that the
Mother's imagination contributes thereto; and whether the man or
the woman is the cause of the male or female child._


In the case of similitude, nothing is more powerful than the imagination
of the mother; for if she fix her eyes upon any object it will so
impress her mind, that it oftentimes so happens that the child has a
representation thereof on some part of the body. And, if in act of
copulation, the woman earnestly look on the man, and fix her mind on
him, the child will resemble its father. Nay, if a woman, even in
unlawful copulation, fix her mind upon her husband, the child will
resemble him though he did not beget it. The same effect has imagination
in occasioning warts, stains, mole-spots, and dartes; though indeed they
sometimes happen through frights, or extravagant longing. Many women, in
being with child, on seeing a hare cross the road in front of them,
will, through the force of imagination, bring forth a child with a hairy
lip. Some children are born with flat noses and wry mouths, great
blubber lips and ill-shaped bodies; which must be ascribed to the
imagination of the mother, who has cast her eyes and mind upon some
ill-shaped creature. Therefore it behoves all women with child, if
possible, to avoid such sights, or at least, not to regard them. But
though the mother's imagination may contribute much to the features of
the child, yet, in manners, wit, and propension of the mind, experience
tells us, that children are commonly of the condition with their
parents, and possessed of similar tempers. But the vigour or disability
of persons in the act of copulation many times cause it to be otherwise;
for children begotten through the heat and strength of desire, must