In order to avoid suffocation it is obliged to breathe atmospheric air immediately, for its blood becomes dark by saturation with carbonic acid, which irritates the respiratory nerve centers. The first independent act of the new-born child is, therefore, a
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Fig. 23. Sagittal section of frozen body of a woman in labor: the head of the child is engaged in the neck of the womb; the orifice of the neck of the womb (os uteri) is already fully dilated and the bag of waters commences to project from the vulva: it is formed by the former membranes of the egg and the decidua.
nervous reflex determined by asphyxia, and is performed with the first cry. Soon afterward the infant begins to suck, so as not to die of hunger, while the umbilical cord, having become useless, shrivels up, and the placenta is destroyed (some animals
