ABSTRACT
‘FINALLY,’ Ambrose affirms in the chapter cited above, ‘all living creatures have fixed seasons for bearing their young, with the sole exception of human beings, whose time for giving birth is vague and indefinite. All other orders seek a mild period of the year, but women alone have their progeny under harsh conditions. A haphazard, headstrong desire for procreation leads to an equally haphazard time for childbirth. Fish traverse vast oceans in order to win some benefit for their species, and we too cross wide expanses of sea.
