superfetationn.

1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 843 Erasistratus attributeth it [sc. engendering of twins] unto divers conceptions and superfætations, like as in brute beasts.

1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 314 This superfætation is..a second conception, when a woman already with child..conceiueth againe.

1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. B2^v The hare is often troubled with superfetation.

1754–64 W. Smellie Treat. Midwifery II. 86 What you have writ me seems to favour the notion of superfoetation.

1836–9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. II. 469/1 The quadrupeds in which superfœtation..is said to occur possess a uterus with two horns.

1871 A. Meadows Man. Midwifery (ed. 2) 103 Cases of double or bihorned uteri are probably quite as rare as genuine cases of superfœtation.

1967 Canad. Med. Assoc. Jrnl. 2 Sept. 544/2 This appears, then, to be an example of superfetation.

2001 Daily Tel. 18 Dec. 3/1 An Italian woman who became pregnant with one child and then conceived triplets three months later... Specialists say she is a rare case of superfoetation—the presence in the uterus of two foetuses caused by fertilisation at different times.

1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §556 It [sc. Misseltoe] is a Plant, vtterly differing from the Plant, vpon which it groweth. Two things therfore may be certainly set downe: First, that Super-fætation must be by Abundance of Sap, in the Bough that putteth it forth: Secondly, that that Sap must be such, as the Tree doth excerne, and cannot assimilate.

1651 in S. Hartlib Legacy (1655) 107 Such a super-fœtation of ears must necessarily proceed from an improvement by the Root.

1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 156 'Tis a sort of Superfetation, by which one Grain of Corn conceives and brings forth several Young, that in the common Course..ought to be born successively.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) We meet with something like a Superfetation in Plants too; there being a kind of Lemon found to grow inclosed in the Body of another.

1799 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 89 199 It is evident, that in these instances superfœtation took place; and it is equally evident, that the seeds were not all of common parentage.

1816 P. Keith Syst. Physiol. Bot. II. 368 The other species of superfetation in which one seed is supposed to be the joint issue of two males.

1873 Gardener’s Monthly Apr. 105/1 In apples, I have reason to believe the first mentioned kind of superfetation is attainable, viz: One individual seed being the joint issue of two males.

1900 B. M. Lelong Culture Citrus Calif. 24 Such instances of seedless fruit plainly show that this so-called superfœtation could not have been the result of excess fertilization.

1603 C. Heydon Def. Iudiciall Astrol. xx. 423 We must consider, that in truth this whole chapter is but a superfetation.

1642 King Charles I Answer xix. Propositions Parl. 4 These humble Desires..are intended to make way for a Superfetation of a (yet) higher nature.

1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 6 Those dismall calamities which befel his son, were doubtlesse ampliated by a superfetation of causes.

1725 A. Pope Wks. Shakespear I. Pref. p. viii The most [of Shakespeare's errors] are such as are not properly Defects, but Superfœtations.

1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. II. xxiii. 292 The play may conclude as it began, viz. in a superfetation of blasphemy upon nonsense.

1820 C. Lamb in London Mag. Aug. 142/2 Layers of dust have accumulated (a superfœtation of dirt!) upon the old layers.

1861 M. Pattison in Westm. Rev. Apr. 403 He has thrown this superfetation of his historical work into twelve essays.

1903 Athenæum 28 Feb. 275/2 His..edition..suffered from a superfetation of notes.

1957 R. M. Wiles Serial Publ. in Eng. before 1750 ii. 232 Had this superfetation any lasting cultural significance?

1999 Amer. Hist. Rev. 104 142 A superfetation of myth on myth.

1641 H. L'Estrange Gods Sabbath 13 Consider the Law it self, and you shall see the positive accrue to the naturall by way of superfœtation.

1675 T. Plume Acct. Life & Death in J. Hacket Cent. Serm. p. v That one School [sc. Westminster] furnishing two entire Colledges of great size in Cambridg and Oxon, besides whom it does send to other places by way of Superfetation.

1684 Case of Cross in Baptism 6 The Superfoetation of Ceremonies..began to be very burdensom.

1739 Burkitt's Expos. Notes N.T. (ed. 11) Ded. sig. A2 Plays and Romances, and such like corrupting and effeminating Trash, which the Superfœtation of the Stage furnishes the Nation with.

1840 T. De Quincey Mod. Superstition in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 574/2 Mark the superfetation of omens—omen supervening upon omen, augury engrafted upon augury.

1882 J. B. Stallo Concepts Mod. Physics 114 In this endless superfetation of ætherial media upon space and ordinary matter.

1969 Rev. Metaphysics 23 256 Superfetation of meanings in our world is like the proliferation of gods and spirits in the ancient world.

1992 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 19 Nov. 27/1 Harold describes his discovery in Mozart, not of the superfetation of ideas but merely that one thing leads to another.