Page 188 - The Miracle of Electricity in the Body

186 THE MIRACLE OF ELECTRICITY IN THE BODY

through which the baby must pass. In the sixth month after birth, the ba-
by’s skull has reached half its eventual size, and three quarters of it by
the end of the second year.
In the fourth year, the human brain is four times the size it was at
birth, in other words 1,400 cubic centimeters. It is of course impossible
for a collection of cells to know how little they need to grow in order to
be able to leave the mother’s body without difficulty, nor to prefigure
this in such a flawless manner. Their intelligent action is just one of the
signs of their acting through the inspiration of God, the Compassionate
and Merciful.
Some 5,000 neurons a second are produced in the spinal cord,
94
which forms during the fifth week of development in the womb. The
brain will later form in this region. By the moment of birth, the number
of neurons in the brain has reached one hundred billion. A large part
95
of the brain cells form during the embryo’s first five months, and each
one takes its necessary place before birth. Shortly afterwards the cells,
which divide at great speed, start migrating to form the extensions of the
central nervous system.

The formation of
the nervous sys-
tem:
From the fifth
week, cells in the
upper part of the
embryo begin
thickening around
the central line of
the body. Two lay-
ers and a tube
form here. This is
the initial forma-
tion of the brain,
to which the
spinal cord and
nerve fibers later
5th week
attach.