Academic Department of Paediatrics, Medical School, Mater Dei Hospital, Malta.
Early Hum Dev. 2020 Jan;140:104857. doi: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2019.104857. Epub 2019 Sep 5.
This paper reviews the classical theories that attempted to explain the influences on the sex ratio at birth (M/F). These included notions pertaining to the four elements (earth, air, fire and water) and to laterality i.e. from which side of the body (in both parents) the conceptual principle arose. This narrative will also outline the initial physical measurements of male and female births and speculations by John Graunt (1620-1674), John Arbuthnott (1667-1735) and Johann Süssmilch (1707-1767), as well as the conundrums that M/F presented to Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and the theories of Ronald Fisher (1890-1962) who expanded on concepts first promulgated by Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794). Fortunately, the thousands of papers generated on topic, especially the more recent work pertaining to direct and measurable influences (such as exogenous stress periconceptually and during pregnancy) have begun to yield some concrete findings, indeed, "among this welter of evidence, it is possible to pin down a few facts" such that "we have found ourselves following Ariadne's thread to a series of clues that bind the calculation of the proportion of boys and girls at birth".
这篇论文回顾了试图解释出生性别比（M/F）影响的经典理论。这些理论包括与四元素（土、气、火、水）相关的概念，以及后来的关于身体哪一侧（在父母双方中）产生概念原则的观点。本论述还将概述男性和女性出生的最初身体测量值，以及约翰·格朗特（John Graunt，1620-1674 年）、约翰·阿巴思诺特（John Arbuthnott，1667-1735 年）和约翰·苏斯米尔希（Johann Süssmilch，1707-1767 年）的推测，以及查尔斯·达尔文（Charles Darwin，1809-1882 年）所面临的 M/F 难题，以及罗纳德·费希尔（Ronald Fisher，1890-1962 年）的理论，这些理论扩展了尼古拉·德·卡利塔特（Nicolas de Caritat）、马克西米利安·马里安·德·孔多塞侯爵（Maximilien-Marie de Condorcet，1743-1794 年）首次提出的概念。幸运的是，关于这个主题的数千篇论文，尤其是最近关于直接和可测量影响的论文（如围孕期和孕期的外源性应激）已经开始产生一些具体的发现，事实上，“在这一大堆证据中，有可能确定一些事实”，“我们发现自己一直在追随阿里阿德涅的线，寻找一系列线索，这些线索将男孩和女孩出生比例的计算联系起来”。
