knees while the placenta remains attached to the womb. The cord is
about the thickness of the thumb and contains three blood-vessels,
all filled with fetal blood; in two of them the current is directed
toward the placenta, the third carries the blood back to the fetus
after it has circulated through the placental villi. In the cord the
vessels lie near together and are encased in a jelly-like substance
that protects them from injury.

So far as is known; the umbilical cord performs no service other than
to link the blood-vessels in the placenta with those in the fetus.
Simple as this may seem, it is of paramount importance in maintaining
the life of the fetus, for compression of the vessels in the cord
would shut off its nutriment. Against such accident, however, perfect
provisions have been made; both the amniotic fluid and the jelly-like
substance which surrounds the vessels are safeguards which
effectually protect the circulation from pressure that might
interrupt it.

Frequently, prospective mothers are told they must not "reach up" for
fear the cord will become entangled. Such a precaution is quite
unnecessary. No matter what the mother does, or does not, the cord
will be found around the child's neck at the time of birth in one of
every three cases. It is not difficult to understand how this
happens. The cord is longer than the uterine cavity and must fall in
coils toward the bottom of it. Now, since the fetus is free to move
it enters and withdraws from these loops, many times, in the course
of pregnancy. Finally, when it takes up a position head downward, as
it nearly always does, the head is the part of the fetus which passes
through the coil, should one happen to lie in its path. After the
head is delivered the physician always feels about the neck to