Prenatal growth of swine

Fetuses from forty‐three gravid uteruses from sows of known breeding dates, as well as from 448 uteruses with unknown breeding dates, were studied. Growth curves are given for weight and length of fetus and for weight of fetal membranes. The weight of the fetus first reaches that of the fetal membranes between the sixtieth and seventieth days of pregnancy. Degenerate fetuses were found in 3.68 per cent of the cases. They were found at all stages of gestation. Size of litter was found to decrease from 11.4 at the twentieth day to 6.8 at the 110th day. Also, the calculated per cent of ova lost up to each ten‐day stage tends to increase as gestation advances. Crowding was found to be an important factor, but probably not the only factor, in causing degeneration. Genetic factors were probably responsible for part of the resorbing fetuses.