Dictionary.net

An incorrect spelling of fetus.

See FETUS.

The young of viviparons animals in utero, and of oviparous ones in the shell, after the embryo has developed.

The young of animals in the womb or in the egg after assuming a perfect form.

An embryo in the egg or in the uterus.

The young of any creature.' The unborn child. (F.) Fetus, Faix.The majority of anatomists apply to the germ tho name embryo, which it retains until the third month of gestation, and with some until the period of quickening; whilst foetus is is applied to it in its latter stages. The terms are, however, often used indiscriminately. When the ovule has been fecundated in the ovarium, it proceeds slowly towards, and enters the uterus, with which it becomes ultimately connected by means of the placenta. When first seen, the foetus has the form of a gelatinous flake, which some have compared to an ant, a grain of barley, a worm curved upon itself, &c. The foetal increment is very rapid in the first, third, fourth, and sixth months of its formation, and at the end of nine months it has attained its full dimensions- Enfant a terme. Generally, there is but one foetus in utero; sometimes, there are two; rarely three. The foetus presents considerable difference in its shape, weight, length, situation in the womb, proportion of its various parts to each other, arrangement and texture of its organs, state of its functions at different periods of gestation, &c. All these differences are important in an obstetrical and medico-legal point of view. The following table exhibits the length and weight of the foetus at different periods of gestation, on the authority of different observers. Their discordance is striking. It is proper to remark, that the Paris pound- Poid de Marc- of 16 ounces, contains 9216 Paris grains, whilst the avoirdupois contains, only 8532,5 Paris grains, and that the Paris inch is 1.065977 English inch.

Pregnant-f. in Feotu, cryptodidymus.

etc. See Fetus, etc.

The child in the womb after it is perfectly formed.