I remember a small display of human fetuses in jars in the biology lab. It was fascinating, of course, as a window into creatures of an unseen world, a scientific curiosity that was really more about fantasy, much like dinosaur skeletons (which I didn't see until some years later). And it was morbid in a way that I sensed but didn't fully appreciate. And it was mysterious because -- where in the world did they come from? I vaguely knew about abortions and miscarriages, but it didn't seem possible that there were so many fetuses that every school in the country would have half a dozen. I remember thinking it strange that they weren't too expensive for our school to own. I asked my mother this and she was evasive but relatively nonchalant: they came from hospitals, and there were assuredly more than enough of them. I remember their color, light and translucent, and the size of the largest one, which wasn't very far along, but had, I think, ears and fingers. The jars immediately next to them held snakes. I remember noticing the display less each time I went into the lab.