CHAPTER XVIII.

PRENATAL INFLUENCES.

Prenatal influences illustrated.--Robert Burns, Napoleon.--A kleptomaniac.--How some murderers were made.--Guiteau.--The mother of an artist.--The twins that liked books.--Various instances named.--Child-marking.--A child with two thumbs.--Born with but one hand.--Corrective theory of C. J. Bayer.--Corrective longings.--"Longings."--Their treatment.--Their effects.--Instances given.--The mother's molding power in producing characteristics desired in her children.--Potency of this influence.--Forming versus reforming.--A word of comfort to parents of children that are marked at birth.--Diverse theories concerning the determining of sex, 276