€•* / NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE Bethesda, Maryland ARISTOTLES COMPLETE MASTER-PIECE, IN TWO PARTS! DISPLAYING THE SECRETS OF NATttRET IN THE f <®tnerationof31am y REGULARLY DIGESTED INTO CHAPTERS, RENDERING IT FAR MORE USEFUL AND EASY THAN ' ANY YET EXTANT. to which is added A TREASURE OF HEALTH : OR' THE V: FAMILY PHYSICIAN: r BEING CHOICE AND APPROVED REMEDIES FOR''ALL. THE SEVERAL DISTEMPERS INCIDENT ^ TO THE HUMAN BODY. NEW-ENGLAND : Printed, and .sold by all the principal Book- sellers in the United States* i8u-. t INTRODUCTION. IF ONE of the meaneft capacity wereaflo ed, what was the wo»der ot the world ? 1 tkink the moil: proper anfwer would be man; he being the little world, to whom all things are fubordinate ; agreeing in the -genius with fenlitive things, all being ani- mals, but differing in the fpecies : for man alone is endowed with reafon. And ther*r^ fore theDeity^ at man's creawpn, as the in- fpired penman tells us, laid, i4~Let us make man in our own image, after our own like- nefs." As if the Lord had faid, let us make man in our image, that he may be, as a crea- ture, like us ; and the fame in his likenefs, may be our image. Some of the fathers do diftinguifh, as if by the image the Lord doth plant the reafonable powers of the foul, rea- fon, will and memory ; and by likenefs, the qualities of the mind, charity, juftice, pa- tience, &c. But Mofes confounded this diitindtion, if you compare these texts of fcfipture, Gen. i. 17, and v. 1. Colos. x. Eph. v. 14. And the apoftle, where fye . INTRODUCTION. faith, " He;was created,after the immageof ; God, knowledge, and the fame in righteouf- nefs and holmels.*' The Greeks reprefent him as one turning his eyes upwards, towards him whofe image and fupejlcription he bears* See how the heaven*s high Arch it eel Hath J ram* d him in this wife, Tofland, logo, to lookeree~t. With body face and eyes. And Cicero fays, like Mofes, All crea- tures were made to rot on the earth except man, to whom was-given an upright frame, to contemplate his Maker, and behold the* manflon prepared for him above. Now, to the end that fo noble and glori- es Z. cre?Jur^.™^t.ooi--QuLte..42'erilhi ii pleafcd the Creator to give unto woman the field of generation, for the reception of hu- man feed ;. whereby; the natural and vegita- ble foul which lies potentially in the feed, may by the plaftick power, be reduced into ac"t; that man, who is a mortal creature, by leaving his offspring behind him, may be- come immortal, and furvive in his pofteiity. And becaufe of this generation, the womb, is the place where this excellent creature is formed, and in (o wonderful a manner, that the royal Pfalmift, having meditated thereon, cries out as one in extacy, " I am fearfully and wonderfully madej" It will be neceflary INTRODUCTION. to treat largely thereon in this book, which is divided into two parts. The firft part treats of the manner and parts of generation in both lexes : for from the mutual defire they have to each other, which nature has implanted in them to that end, that delight which they take in the act of copulation, does the whole race of man- kind proceed ; and a particular account of what things are previous to that act, and alio what are confequential of it ; and how each member concerned, it is adapted and fitted to that work for which nature has de- signed it. The fecond part of this Treatife is wholly defigned for the female fex, and treats not only of the diftempers of the womb, and the various caulcs, but alfo gives you proper remedies for them. For iuch is the igno^ ranee of mod women, that when by any diftemper thoie parts arc afflicted, they knov.- not from whence it proceeds nor how to ap- ply a remedy ; and iuch is* their modeity alfo, that they are unwilling to afk, that they maybe informed : and foi the help of iuch is this deiigned. A 9, ARISTOTLES MASTER PIECE. PART FIRST.. CHAP. I. Of marriage and at what age young men and virgins are capable of it: and why they fo much defire it. Alfo how long men and women are capable of having children* A HERE are very few, except Tome pro* fell: debauches, but what will readily agree, that marriage.is honorable to all, being or- dained by heaven, and without which, no man or woman can be in a capacity honeftly to yield obedience to the firif law of crea- tion, " Increafe and multiply." And iince it is natural in young people to defire thefe mutual embraces, proper to the marriage bed, it behoves parents to look after their children, and when they find them inclined to marry, not to reftrain their affections, which inflead of allaying them, makes them the more impetuous, but rather provide fuch fultable matches for them, as may make their lives comfortable, left the croiT- ing of their inclinations ihould precipitate them to commit thofe follies that may bring an indeliahlc ftain upon their families. The jwclnatictf of .maid*- to marriage, may ( i3 ) be known by many fymptoms : For. when they arrive at puberty, which is about the 14th or 15th year of their age, then their na- tural purgations begin to flow and the blood which is no longer taken to augment their bodies, abounding, ffirs up their minds to venery. External caufes alfo may excite them to it ; for their fpirits being brifk and inflamed, when they arrive at this age, if they eat hard fait things and fpices, the body becomes more and more heated, whereby the defire to veneral embraces is very great, and fometimes almoft infupportable, And the ufe of this fo much deiired* enjoyment being denied to virgins, many times is fol- lowed by difmal confequences, as a green wcfel color, ihort breathing, trembling of the heart, &c. But when they are married, and their venereal defires fatisfied by the enjoyment of their huibands, thofe. diitem* pers vanifli, and they become more gay and lively then before. Alfo their eager flaring at men, and affecting their company, fhews that nature pufhes them upon coition .* and their parents neglecting to get them huf- bands, they break through modefty to fat* isfy themielves in unlawful embraces. . It is the fame with brifk windows, who cannot be fatisfied without the benevolence^ their huibands ufed to give them. At the age of 14, the menfes in virgins' begin to flow when they are capable of con* ( H ) ceiving, and continue generally to 44, wher. they ceafe bearing, unlefs their bodies are ffrong and healthful, which fometimes ena- bles to bear at 55. But many times the ' menfes proceed from violence offered to na- ture, or fome morbific matter which often J proves fatal to the party. Therefore thofe 1 men deiirous of iffue, muff, marry a woman ) within the age aforefaid, or blame them-'« felves if they meet with difappointment : , though if an old man not worn out with *. difeafes anji incoherency, marry a briik* lively lafs, there is hopes of his having chil- dren to 76, nay, fometimes till 80. Hippocrates holds, that a youth at 15, or between that and 17, having much vital ilrength is capable of getting children ; and n.lfo, that the force of procreating matter," inc/eafes till 45, 50 and 55, and then begins to nag, the feed by degrees becomeing un- j fruitful, the natural ipirit being extinguifhed, ' and the humors dried up. Thus in general, tho' it often falls out otherwife. Nay it is reported by a credible author, that in Sweden, a man was married at 100 to a bride of 30 years, and had many children by her 1 But his countenance was fo frefh, that thofe who knew him not, took him not to exceed 50, And in Campania* where the air is clearand temperate, rnqp of 80 marry young 1 virgins, and have children by them ; mew- J ing that age in them hinders not procreation , j ( 1* ) unlefs they be exhaufted in their youth, and their yards fhrivelled up. If any would know why a woman is fooner barren than a man, they may be afTured that the natural heat, which is the caufe of generation, is more predominant ia the latter than in the former : For fince a woman is truly moremoift than a man, as her monthly purgations demonftrate, as alfo the ibftnels of her body, it is alfo apparent, that he doth exceed her in natural heat, which is the fame thing that concocks the humours into proper aliment 5 which the woman wanting grows fat; when a man, through his native heat, melts hijs fit by degree6, and his humour are diffolved, and by the benefit-hereof are elaborated into feed. And this may alfo be added, that women generally are not fo ftrong as men, nor fo wife or prudent ; nor have fo much reaion and ingenuity in ordering affairs ; which fhows that thereby their faculties are hindered in operations. chap. 2. How to get a male or female child ; and of the embryo andperfeB birth : and thefittefi time for copulation* When a young couple are marred, they naturally defire children, and therefore ufe ( i6" ) the^meansthat nature has appointed for that end. But notwithstanding their endeavors, they muff, know the fuccefs of all depends on the Wettings of the Lord ; not only (o, but the fex, whether male or female, is from his difpofal alfo ; though it cannot be de- nied, but fecondary caufes have influence therein efpecially two; Firfr, the genitel humour, which is broughtbv the arteria pre- parantes to the teftes, in form of blood, and there elaborated into feed, by the femmifical faculty reiidin&in them : To which may be added, the defire of coition, which fire the imagination with unufil fancies, and by the fight of ajbrifk charming beauty, may foon enflame the appetite. But if nature be en- feebled, fuch meats mud be eaten as will conduce to the affording fuch aliment as makes the feed abound, and reffores the dc- cays of nature, that the faculties may freely operate and remove the impediments ob- ftru&ing the procreation of children. Then fince diet alters the evil ftate of the body to a better, thofe who are fubject to barrennefs muff eat fuch meats as are of good juice and that nourifh well, making the body lively and full of fap ; of which ' faculty are all hot moiff. meats. For, accof-'■« ding to Galen, feed is madeof pure concoct ted and windy fuperfluity of mood; we may therefore conclude there is a power in many things to accumulate feed, and othn ( '7 ) things to caufe erection ; as hens eggs, pheafants, wood-cocks, gnat-fnappers, thrufhers, black-birds, young pigeons, fpar- rows, patridges,—all ftrong wines taken fparingly,efpecially thofe made of the grapes of Italy. But erection is chiefly caufed by fcuraum, erihgoes, crefTes, cryfmen, parf- nips, artichoks, turnips, afparagus, canded ginger, galings, acorns bruifed to powder, drank in mufcadel, fcallion, fea fhell-fifh, &c. But thefe mult have time to perform their operation, and mufr. ufe them for a confiderable time or you will reap but little benefit by them. * The act of coition being over, let the woman repofe herfelf on her right fide, with her head lying low, and her body declining that by ileeping in that potter, the cawl in the right fide of the matrix may prove the place of conception, for therein is the great- eft generative heat, which is the chief proc- uring caufe of male children, and rarely fails the expectation of thofe that experience if, efpecially if they do but keep warm without much motion, leaning to the right, and drin- king a little fpirit of iafron & juice of hy fop in a glafs of Malaga or Alicant, when they lie down and arife, for the fpace of a week*. For a female child, let a woman He on the left fide, itrongly fancying a female in the time of procreation, drinking the decoction of female mercury four days, from the fmi ( 18 ) day of purgation ; the male mercury has the like operation in cafe of a male ; for this'1 concoction purges the right and left fides of < the womb, opens the recepticles, and makes; way for the feminary of generation. The beft time to beget a female is, when \ the moon is in the wane, in Libra or Ajua- rius. Advicene fays, when the menfes are j. fpent, and the womb cleanfed, which Is 1 commonly in 5 or 7 days at molt, if a man lie with his wife from the iff day flieis pur-*i ged to the 5th fhe will conceive a male ;— ' but from the 5th to the 8th a female; and from the^th to the izth, a male again. But after that, perhaps neither diffinctly, but both in a hermaphrodite. In a word, they that wrould be happy in the fruits of their labour, mufl obferve to ufe copulation in the dye diftance of time, not too often nor too feldom, for both are alike hurtful ; and to ufe it immediately, weakens and waftes the fpirits, and fpoils the feed. Thus much ' for the firti: particular. The fecond is to let the reader lmow how the child is formed in the womb, what accidents it is liable to there, and how nourifhed and brought forth. There are various opinions concerning this matter, therefore I (hall fhew what the lear*fJ ned fay about it. 1 Man confifts of an egg, which is impreg* j nated in the tefticles of the woman, by the i more fubtle part of the man's feed j but the ._ 'V J forming iacufty and virtue in trrc feed, is a divine gift,it being abundantly endued with \ vital fpirrt, which gives fap and form to the embryo; fo that all parts and bulk of flic body, which is made up in a few months, and gradually formed into the lovely figure of a man, do confitt in, and arc abumbcra^ ted thereby. Phyficians have remarked four different limes, in which a man is framed and per fee* ted,in the womb :—The firft. moon after coition, being perfected the'firft week, if no flux happens, which is fometimes the cafe, through the ilipperynefs of the head of the matrix, that fhifts over like a rofc-bud, anS opens on a fudden. The 2d time of form- ing is afligned 10 be, when nature make? manifeft mutation in the conception, fo that all the fubftance feems congealed flefh, and happens i-a or 14 days after copulation.-** And though this fiefliy mafs abounds with inflamed blood, yet it remains undiiKnguifh- able , without form or figure, and may he -called an embr/o, and compared to feed fownin the ground, which through heat and moiiture, grows by degrees into a pci fjcl form, either in plant or grain. The 3d time is, when the principal parts fhew themfelve;" plain ; as the heart, whence proceed the ar- teries ; the brai», from which the nerves* like fmall threads, run through the whole body ; and the liver, that divides the chyle B C ^ ) 1rom the blood, brought to it by the 'Vennai Ktirta. The two firft are fountains of life, that nourifh every part of the body; in framing which, the faculty of the womb is buried, from the conception to the 8th day 'of the firft month. The 4th and laft, about the,30th day. the outward parts are feen nicely wrought, and diftinguifhed by joints, whenthe child begins to grow. From which time, by reafon the limbs are divided, and the whole frame is perfect, it is no longer an embryo, but a perfect child. Moil males are -perfect, by the 30th day, but females feldom to the42d or 45th day, becaufe the heat is greater in producing the male than the female. For the fame rea- fon, a woman going with a male child, quickens in 3 months.; but .going with a female, rarely under 4 : at which time the hair and nails come forth, and the child be- gins to ftir, kick and move in the womb.; and then the woman is in trouble with a loathing of her meal, and longing for things contrary to nutriment, as c£nls, chalk, &c which defire often accafions abortion and mifcarriage. Some women-have been fo ex- travagant as to long for hob-nails, leather, man's flefh, and other unnatural as well as unwholefome food; for want of which things, they have either miscarried, or thr: child has continued dead in the wornb many days. J?.ut I-.-iriaJl now .proceed to fh"w hy « what real means the child is fuftained in the- womb, and what pofture it there remains in. Various are opinions about nourifhing the foetus in the Womb. Some fay by blood only, from the umbilical vein -.others by chyle taken in the mouth : but it is nourilh- eddiverfely, according to the fevcral degrees of perfection and an egg paflfes from a con- ception to a foetus ready for birth, ift, Let us explain the foetus-, there are two principles active and paffive ; the active is the man.i feed, elaborated in the teftioles, out of the arterial blood and animal fpirits ; the paiTive is an egg, impregnated by the man's feed. The nature of conception is thusy The rno^V fpiritous part of man's feed, in the act of .generation, reaching up to the teilicle of the woman, which containing divcars eggs, im- pregnates one of them ; and being conveyed by thepviducts to. the bottom of the womb, prefently begins to fvvell bigger a net bigger, and drinks in the moiftme that if plentifully fent thither, as feeds fuck moif- turefrom the ground, to m^ke them fprout. When the parts of the embryo begin 10 be a- little more perfect, and .that at the fame time, the chorin is fo thick, that the liquor cannot foak through.it, the umbilical veffels begin to*be fcrjBfe, arid to^extend the fide ol the amnion, winch they pafs through and alfo through the aliantrides and chorin, and *rc implanted in the placenta, whic.h.g*thrr- ^ig upon the chorin, joins upoa the uterus. And now the arteries, that before fent out »he nourifhment into the cavityof the womb, opens by the orifice into the placenta, where they depoiit the faid juice, which is drank up by the umbeilical vein, and conveyed by ■ it to the liver of the fcetus, and then to the heart, where its more thin and fpiritous part ■ ;s turned into blood, while the groffer part of £ it, decendingby theaorta. enters the umbel- Cc\\ arteries and is discharged into its cavity, by thofe branches that run through the am- , ion. ; As foo.n as the mouth, ftomach, gullet &c i .re formed fo perfectly, that the fcetus can , wallow,, it fucks in fome of the groffer '* nutricious juice, that is depofited im the- .mnion by the umbilical arteries, which lefcending into the ftomach and inteftine?, 3 received by the lacten: veins, as in adult perfons. m *' The fcetus being perfected, rn all its part::, vith its hams ■•' bending, fo that they touch the bottom of<| its belly, the former, and that part of the •] body which Is over againft us, as the fort- v' 1j i head, nofe, and face, are towards uiZ mov- er's back, and the head inclining downwards^, towards the rump bone, that joins to the Os-' Sacrum ; which bone, together with the Os*- Pubis, in the. time of birth, part is lofed.. The reafon why children are like their parents, and that the mother's imagination contri- butes thereto ^ and whether the man or woman is the- caufe of the male or female child. In the caufe of fimilitude, nothing ismore powerful than the imagination of the moth-' cr ; for if fhe faften her eyes upon any ob- ject, and imprint it on her mind, it oft times fo happens that the child, in fome part or other of its body, has a reprefentation there- of, And if, in the act of copulation, the wo- man earneftly look upon the rrran, and fi>: her mind upon him the child will refemble its father. iNay, if a woman, in unlawfu* copulation, fix her mind on her hufband, the child will refemblehim, thouglf he did not beget it. The fame effect hath imagi* nation in occasioning wars, {trains, molth. fpots, and daftes i though indeed they fome- times happen through frights, or extrava- gant longing.. Many woman, being \wt*:> child, feeing a hare crofs the re. d beftr' them, will, through the force of imagina- tion, bring forth a child with a hojrV \}\***~- Some children are born with flat noies ana wry months, blubber lips, and ill fhaped j bodies ; and muft be afcribed to the imagi- nation of the mother, who hath caft her eyes and mind upon fome ill fhapeel-creatures.— Jt therefore behoves all women with child, if pofhble to avoid fuch fights, or at leaft ! not to regard them. Although the mother's imagination may contribute much to the features of the child, yet in manners, wit \ and propenfion of the mind, experience tells us that children are commonly of the condi- tion with their parents, and fame tempers. 1 &ut the vigour or disability of perfons in the- act of copulation many times caufes it to be otherwile ; for children got through heat and ftrength of defire muft needs partake . more of the nature and inclination of their parents, than thofe begotten, with defires more weak ; and therefore the children be- gotten by the men in there old age, are gen- erally weaker than thofe 6egotten by them ^n their youth. As to the fliare which each , ji the parent's has in begetting the child, we will give the opinion of the. ancients about it. Though it is* apparent; fay they that the man,s-feed is the chief efficient beginingof the action, motion and generation ;,yet that the woman affords feed and effectually rontrihutes in that point to the procreation of- c^fibildj-ls-eyinced-by ftrong reafons, h\ me i ft place feminaTy veffels had been" giv- en her in vain, and genital tefticles inveited, if the woman wanted fcminal excrefence. for nature does nothing in vain ; and therefore we muft grant, they are made for the ufe of3 feed and procreation, and placed in their proper parts both the tefticles and the recpt- icles of feed, whofe nature is to operate and. afford virtue to the feed. And to prove this, there needs no ftronger argument, fay they, than that if a woman do not ufe copulation, to eject her feed, fhe often falls into ftrange: difeafes, as appears by young women and virgins. A fecond reafon they urge is that although a fociety of a lawful .bed confifts nof altogether in thefe things, yet it is*appar- cnt, the female fex are never better pleafeu, nor appear more blyth and jocund, then when rney are fatisfied this way ;. which is an inducment to believe, they have more plrafure and titnJation therein than men.For, Since nature caufes much delight to acom- pany ejection, by the breaking forth of the v iwelling fpirits, and the fwiftnefs of the ner-^- ves ; in which cafe tfae operation on the wo- man's part is double-, {he having an enjoy- ment both by ejection and reception, by which fhe is more delighted in the act. Hence it is, fay they, that the child more frequently refembles the mother than the father, becaufe the mother contributes the '.zi'/\k towsrtk it- And they think, >t may be- ' I 26 ) further inftanced, from the endeared affec- tion they bear them y for,, that" befides their contributing feminal matter, they ieed and nourifh the child with the pureft fountain of blood, until its birth. Which opinion Galen affirms, by allowing that children participate moft of the mother; and afcribes the differ- ence of fex to the operation of the menftrual blood ; buf the reafon of the likenefs, he re- fers to the power of the feed ; For, as the plants receive more nourifhment from fruit- ful ground, than from the induftry of the hufbandman ; fo the infant receives more abundance from the mother than the father. For, tit, the feed of both is cherifhed in the womrp, and there grows to perfection, being; nouriihed with blood'. And for this reafon, fay they, that children, for the moft part,. love their mother beff, becaufe they receive moft of their fubfiftance from their morh- tr : For about nine months fhe nouriihed her child in the womb, with her pureft blood, the love towards it newly born, and its likenefs do clearly fhew, that the woman afforded food, and contributes more towards^ * making the child than the man.. But in all this, the ancients were very er- roneous, for the tefticles, focalledin women, rfford not any feeds, but are two eggs, like thofe of fowls, and other creatures ; neither have they any office, as thofe of men, but ard ovaria, wherein the eggs are nourifhed. by { 27 ; the fanguinary veflels difperfed through them, and from thence one or more, as they are fcecundated by the-man's eed, is fepar- atcd and conveyed into the womb by the oveducts. The truth of this is plain, for if you boil them, their liquor will be the fame colour, tafte and confiftency, with the taftc of bird eggs. If any objects that they have-no fhells ; that fignifies nothing : For the eggs of fowls, while they are in the olriry, nay, after they are fafteded into the metus^ have no fhell. And though, when they are laid, they have one, yet that is no more than a defence which nature has provided them againit any outward injury, while they arc hatched without the body ; whereas thofe of woman being hatched within the body, need no other fence than the womb, by which *hey are fuflicintly fecured. And this is enough, I hope, for the clearing of this point. As to the third thing propofed, as whence grow the kind, and whether the man or woman is the caufe of the mate or female infant. The primary caufe we mult afcribc to God, as is moft juftly his due, who is "the ruler and difpofer of all things: yet he fuffers many things to proceed according to the rules of nature, by their inbred motions, according to ufual and natural courfes, without Varia- tion ; though indeed by favour *roraon high, 'A" afr J. -Sarah ccrwcived Ifaac, Hannah, Samuel, and Elizabeth, John the Baptift ; but thefe were all very extraordinary things, brought- to- ! pafs by a divine power, above the courfe of nature; nor have fuch inftancesbeen wanting. in latter days : Therefore I {ball-wave them, and proceed to (peak of things natural. The ancient phyficians and philofophers ' fay, That fince there are two prnciples, out* 1 of which the body,of the man is made, and- which render^e child like the parents, andi < by one or thJiotheF fex, viz. feed common to both'fexes, and menftrual blood proper to the woman only, the fimilitude, fay they, mufl. ■ needs confift in the foice and Virtue of t! * rnideor female ; in that it proves Tike the one I . or other, according to the quality afforded by either: But that the difference of the fex is not referred to the feed, but to the menftrual. . blood, which is proper, to the woman is ap- parent : For were that force altogether re— ^ tainedin the feedthe male-feed being of the hotteff quality, male children would abound? and few of the female be propagated : Wherefore th.efex.is attributed to thetemper- ment of the active qualities, which confift in heat and cold, and the nature of the matter. -« under them ; that is, the flowing of the men- " ftrous blood : but now the feed, fay thcyv affords both force to procreate and form the child,and matter for its generation; and in themenftrous blood there is both matter and force ; for as the feed moft heljs the material principle, fo alfo does the menfrual blood the potential feed ;j which is, fays ^a- len, blood well concocted by the veffels tiat contain it. So that blood is not only tie matter of generating the child, but alfo feed it being impoftiblc that menftrual blood hath both principles, The ancients alfo fay. The feed is "the -ftrongcr efficient, the matter of it being very little in quantity, but the potential quality of it is very ifrong wherefore if the princi- ples of generation, according to which the fex is made, were only in the menftrual blood, then'would the children be moftly females; as, were the efficient force in the feed, they would-be all males : but fince both have operation in menftrulrblood, matter pre- dominates in quantity, and in the feed force and virtue. And therefore Galen thinks the child receives its fix rather rrom the-mother than the father, for though his leed-contrib- utes alittleto the material principle, yet it is more weakly. But for likenefs it .^ referred rather to the father than to the mother. Yet the woman's feed receiving from the men- strual blood, for .the fpace of nine months, overpowers the main's, as to that particular ; for the ■ menftrual blood flowing in vtiiels, rathei cherifhes the one than the other ,—" from which it is plain, the woman .afTr-rds both matter to.make> and force and-virtue to t JQ ) inception ; though the female^ fit nutriment for the male's by reafon thinnefs of it, being more adapted to up conception thereby. Jut with all imaginable deference to the ffdom of our fathers, ■give me leave to fay, at their ignorance in the anatomy of man'j iody, hathjed them into the paths of error, and run them into great miftakes ; for their f hypothefis of the formation of embryo, be- *_ ing wholly falfe their opinion in this cafe muft be fo likewife. 1 fliall therefore conclude this chapter by obferving, that although a ftrong imagina- tion o^ the mother may often determine the fex yet the main agent in this cafe, is the plaftic or formative principle, which is the efficient, in giving.form to the child, which gives it this or that fex, according to thofe laws and rules given to us by the wife Cre- ator of all things. OfMonflers, and monfirous births : and the.. feveral reafons thereof. By the ancients, monfters are afcribed to depraved conceptions, and are faid to be ex- curfions of nature, which are vicious one of thefe four ways ; either in figure, magni- tude, fituation or number. I proceed to the caufe of their generation, which is either divine or natural. The di- t 31 ) vine caufe proceeds from God-?s permifnve will, fuffering parents to bring forth abom- inations for their filthy andcorrupt affections Which are let loofe unto wickednefs, like brute beafts that have no underftanding. Wherefoie it was enacted among the ancient Romans that thofe who were deformed fhould rtot be admitted into religious houfes. And St. Jerome was grieved in his time, to "fee the deformed and lame offered up to God in religious houfes. And Keckerman by way of inference, excludelh all that are ill fhaped from this Prefbyterian function in the church. And that which is of more force than all, God himfelf commanded Mo- ies not to receive fuch to offer facrifice among his people ; and he renders the reafon, Lev. xxii. 28. *' Left he pollute my fanctuaries." Becaufethe outward deformity of the body, is often a fign of the pollution of the heart, as a curfe laid upon the child for the incon- tinency of the parents. Yet it is not always fo ; let us therefore duly examine,and fearch out the natural caufe of their generation ; which is either in the matter, or in the agent, in the feed, or in the womb. The matter may be in default two ways; by defect, or by excefs: by defect, when the child hath but one arm; abut excefs, when it hath three hands, or two heads. Some monfters are begot by women unnat- urally lying with beafts, as in the year 1603, ( 3» ) there was a monfter begotten by. a woman generating with a dog ; which monfter from the naval upwards,: had the perfect refem- blance of its mother; but from its naval downwards, it refembled a dog, as you may see by the following figure. The agent or womb, may be in fault three ways: ift, in the formative faculty, which may be too ftrong or. too weak, by which is procured a depraved figure, sdly-—In the inftrument or place of conception ; the evil conformation or difpofition whereof, will caufe a monftrous birth. 3dly—In the ima- ginative power, at the time of conception ; which is of fuch a iorce, that it {lamps.the ( 33 ) character of the thing imagined, on the child. And I have heardof a woman, who, at the time of conception, 'beholding a pic- ture of a blackamore, conceived and brought forth an Ethiopian. I will not trouble you with more human icftimonies, but conclude with a ftronger warrant. We read, Gen. xxx. 31' how Jacob having agreed with Laban, to have all the fpotted (beep for keeping his flock, to augment his wages, took hazel rods, and pealed white ftreaks on them, and laid them before1 the ftieep when they came to drink, and coupled to- gether three, whilft they beheld the rods, conceived and brought forth fpotted young. Another monfter reprefeming an hairy child : It was covered with hair like a beaft. That which rendered It more frightful was, that its naval was in fhe place where his nofe ftiould ftand, and his eyes placed where his mouth ftiould have been, and its mouth was in the chin. It was ol the male kind, v.\d was born in Frmce, in the ye~ur 1597. ( 34 ) There was a monfter of this kind born at Nazara, in the year 1530. It had four arms, and four legs as you fee here. * (35") ;^v_ 'Hsav'n in our firft formation did,provide Two arms, two legs ; .buf&hat we have befide Renders us monflrous and'urrfhapcn too, Nor have we any work fof them to do. Two arms, two legs, are all that we can ufe. And to have more, there s no'wife 'man will choofe .- Likewife, in the time of Henry III.1 there was a woman delivered of a child, having two heads and four arms, and *he bodies were joined at the backfide; the heads were fo placed, that they looked contrary ways; eacnhad'twodiitindfc arms and hands; they would both laugh, both fpeak and both cry, and be hungTy together; fometimes the one would fpeak, and the other would keep fi- lence, and fomefimes both (peak together. They lived feveral years, but one outlived the other three years ^ carrying the dead one, for there was no parting them, till the other fainted with the burthen, and more with the ftink of the carcafe. i: n ( ■ 3«') ' H- .; f The imagination alfo works on the child1 alter conception, for which we have a pregnant inftancei A wonhy gentlewoman in Suffolk, being with child, palling by a butcher killing his meat, a drop of blood fprung on her face, whereupon fhe faid her child would have a biemifh on its face ; and at its birth, it was found marked with a red fpot. And it is certain, that monftrous births often happen by means, of undue copulatoin: For fome there are, who having been long from each other, and having an eagre defire for enjoyment, confider not as they ought, tp do as their circumftances require. And if it happen that they come together, whenV tfee woman's menfes are flowing, and pro- . ( "37 ) ceed to the act of copulation, the iftue of fuch copulation does-often prove monftrous, as a juft punifhment fordoing what nature ; forbids. And therefore though men fhoiild be ever Cd eager* yet women knowing then own condition, flionld at ^fuch • fimes deny them. And though fuch copulations do not always produce monftrous births, yet the childremthen begotten, are generally heavy, dull and fluggifh,and defective in their un- derftanding, wanting the vivacity and liveii*- nefs which children got in proper,feafons are endued with. By the following figure you may fee ,that though fome of the members may be want- ing, yet they are fupplied by bther members. ( 3*'-) It remains that I now make fome enquiry. whether thofe that are born monfters have a .reafonable foul, and are capable of refurrec- tion. And here both divines and phyficians are generally of opinion, thofe who, accord- ing: to the order of generation, deduced from our fiift parents, proceeJ by natural means from either fex, though their outward fhape may be deformed and mon- ffrouSj have, notwithftanding a^ reafonable foul, and confequently their bodies are ca- pable of a refurrection : but thofe monfters / that are not begotten by men, but are the product of woman's unnatural luft, in oopu- . lation with other creatures, fhall perifh like \ the brute beafts, by whom they were begot*. ten, not having a reafonable foul, or any breath of the Almighty ihfufed into therm And the fame is alfo true of- imperfect and- abortive births.. The opinion of the learned concerning childrefatK conceived and born within fivin months :— with arguments on thefybjecl to prevent-.'I fufpicion oj the inconfiancy, and bitter con~" tefts on that account. To which are added,. ^ rules to know thedispofttion of Man's body. by the genital parts. Many bitted quarrels happen between '■■ men and theirwives, upon the man's fufpi - ( 39 ) cion that his child comes too foon, and ol confequence that he is not the father;— whereas it is throng want of underftanding the fecrets of nature, which brings the man into the error; and which if known, might have cured him- of his fufpicionand jea^- oufy. To remove which, I fhall endfeavor* to prove, that it is poflible, and has been fre- quently known, that children have been bom at feven months. Paul the counfellor has this paffage in the 19th book of pleadings, viz. " It is now a received truth, that a per- fect child maybe-born in the feventh month, by the authority of the learned Hypocrates ; and therefore we muft: believe that a child born at the end of the feventh month, in lawful matrimony, may be lawfully begot- ten." Galen is of opinion, that there is no eeiv tain tione fet for bearing of children ; andt that from Plinp*s authority, who makes mention of a woman that went thiiteen months with child; but as to what concerns the feventh month, a learned'author fays, " I know feveral married people in Holland, that had twins born in the feventh month, who lived to old age, having lufty bodies and lively minds. Wherefore their opinion is abfufd, who affert, that a child at i'even. months cannot be perfect and long lived- and that it cannot it\ all pans be perfect tiiL H 40 •) the gth month." Thereupon this author proceeds to*tell a paffage from his own knowledge, viz. .. '\Q#fafe there happened a great difturbance among us which ended not without bloodfhcd ; and was occafioned by a virgin, whofe chaftity had been viola- ted, defcendirig.of a noble family of unfpofr ted fame. Several charged the fact to " the judge, who was prefident of a city in Flanders who ftiffly denied it, faying he was ready to give his 'oath that he ne,ver had any carnal copulation with her: and further argued,. that he verily believed that it was a child born in .{even months, himfelf being1 many miles diftant frOnv the mother of it, when it was conceived. Whereupon the judges decreed, that the child ftiould be view- > ed by able phyficians and experienced wo- men, and that they fhould make their re- port. They having made diligent enquiry, ail of them, with one mind, concluded the child, was,born within the fpnce of feveu months, and that it was carried in the womb but 27 weeks and odd days ; but if fhe ftiould have, gone full nine months-the, child's -pam -and limbs would have been more firm and trong,. and the ftrucfure of the body-mere compact, for the (kin was very looie, -w-A the breaft bone that defends the heart,: and the griftle that lay over the ftomach, lay hi.gher than naturally- they ftiould be ;. net .plain^.butiertfcked.and iharp.- ( 41 ; riged, or pointed like thofe of a young chicken, hatched in the begining of fpring. And being a female infant, it wanted nails upon the joints of the fingers ; upon which, . from the mafculous, cartilaginous matter of the fkin, hardened, infteed of nails upon them, wanting the heat which ought to 1>e expanded to the fingers, from the near- ne(s of the heart. All this being confidered, and above all, one gentlewoman of quality that aflilted, affrming that fhe had been the mother of nineteen children, ^ond that divers of them had been born and lived at {e\tn months ; they, without favor to any party, made their report, that the infant was a child of feven months, tho' within the feventh month. For in fuch cafeSj the revol- ution of the moon ought to be.obferved, which perfects itfelf. 4n four' weeks, or fomewhat lefs than28 davs ; in which fpace of the revolution, the blood being agitated by the moon, thecour fes of tne woman flow from them, which being fpent, and the ma- trix being cleanfed from the menftrous blood whit h happens on the 4th day ; then if a man on the7th day he with his wife, the copulation.is mpft. natural, and. then is the conceptions beft ; and a child, thus begotten mav be born in the 7th month, and prove very heelthy. So that upon this report, the ■fuppofed lather was pronounced innocent upon proof that he was one hundred .miles ( 4* ) diftant all that month in which the child was begotten. And as for the mother, fhe ftrongly denied that fhe knew the father, being forced in the dark ; and fo through fear and furprife was left in ignorance." As for coition, it ought not to be tiled-, unlefs the parties be in health, left it turn to the difadvantage of the children fo begotten, creating in them, through the abundance of ill humors, divers languishing difeafes j wherefore health is no wayi>etter to bedif- cerned than by the genitels of the man.— For which reafon midwives, and other j (killful women, were formerly wont to fee the tefticles of children, thereby to conjec- ture there temperature and ft ate of body; and young men may knbw thereby the figns or fymptoms of death ; for if the cafes of the tefticles be loofe and feable, and the chords fall down, it denotes that the vital fpirits, which are the props of life, are fall- en ; but if the fecret parts be wrinkled and railed up, it is a fign all is well ; but that the event may exactly anfwerthe prediction, it is neceffary to confider what p »rt of the body the difeafe poftVffeth ; for if it chance to be the upper part that is afflicted, as the head or ftomach, then it will not fo well ap- pear by the members, which are unconcern- ed with fuch grievances ; but the lower part of the body exactly fympathizing with them, their livelinefs on the contrary makes '. 1 *3 ■) it apparent ; for natures force, and the fpir- its that have their intercourfe, firft manifefl themfelves therein, which occafions mid- wives to feel the children to know in what part the grief is rending, and whether life or death be protendedthereby the fymptoms being ftrongly communicated by the yeffels, th;it have their intercourfe with the-principal teat of life. , Of the green-fchiefs in virgins, wifb its cauf- * es,figns, and cures. •* . The green-ficknefs is fo common a dif- temper in virgins, efpecially thofe of a ^phlegmatic compaction, that it is eafily dif- cerned, Ihewing itfelf by difcolouring the face, making it look green, pale, and of a dufty color ; proceeding from raw and indi- geited humors ; nor doth it only appear to ^the eye but fenfibly afflicts the perfon with difficulty of breathing, pains in the head, palpitations of the heart, with unufual beat- ings and fmall th.robbings of the arteries in the temples, neck and back, which often cafts them into feavers, when the humour is over vicious ; alfo the diftention of the hy- ■procondican part/by reafon of the inordi- nate effluction of the menftious blood .to the greater veffels ; and from the abundance of ^humours, the whole body is troubled wkk D h ( 44 )' dwellings, or at leaft the thighs,legs and un- cles, all above the heels ; there is alfo a great wearinefs o^ body. The Galenical phy'ficians affirm, that this diftemper proceeds from the womb ;. occa- sioned by the grofs, vicious and. rude hu- mours an'fing from feveral inward caufes; but^ there are alfo outward caufes, which have no fliare in the production of it ; as taking cold in the feet, drinking water, in- temperance of diet, eating tilings contrary to nature, viz. raw or burnt flefli, ,afhes, coals, old fhoes, chalk, wax, nut-fhells, mortar, lime, oat-meal tobacco pipes, &c. which occafion both a fuppreftion of the menfes and gbftrudtiops through the whole bodyytherefore the firft thing neceffiry is matrimonial conjunction, as fuch copulation * as mav prove fat is factory to her.^hat is af- ,dieted ; for then -the .menfes will -begin to flow according to their natural and due courfe, and the humours being difperfed, will foon wafte tbemfelves, and -then no more matter being admitted to increafe them, they will vaniih, and a good temperment of body will return ; but in cafe this oeft rem- edy cannot be had fopn enough, then blood ' her in. the ancles ; and.ifthe.be about the age of fixteen, you may likewife do it in the arm, but let her bleed but fparingly, efpe** 1 dally, if the blood be good. If the difeafe .1 be oi any continuance, then it is to be eradi- ( 45 )' ca((?d by purging, preparation of the h:t«- mour firft confidered, by the virgin's drinking the decoct of Guiacum, with ditta- ny of Greete; but the beft purge in this cafe ought to be made of"aloes, agrie, fenna, ihubarb ; and for ftrengthening the bowels, and opening obftructtions; chalybear medi- cines are chiefly to be ufed. The diet muft be moderate, and fharp things by all means avoided. For finding the hnmours. take prepared ft eel, bezoar ftor,e, the root of fcot- 2onera, oil of ehryftal in frnall wine, and let the diet be moderate, but in no wife let vin- egar be ufed threwifh. In obferving this the humors will be dilated and difperft, whereby the complexion will return, and the body be lively and" full of vigor. Virginity, what it is, in what it confift a anS how vitiated ; together with the opinion 7 the- learned about the mutation of the fix in the womb, duiing the opperation of i.aiure in framing -the body. There are many ignorant people who boaft of their {kill in the knowledge of vir ginity, and fome virgins have undergone hard cenfures through their ignorant deter- minations ; 1 therefore thought it highly ne- ceffary to clear this point that the towering imaginations of conceited ignorance may be ( 46 % brought down, and theifairfcx may be freed! from tjie calumnies and detractions of igno- rance iu*j envy ; and fo their honours may continue as unfpotted, as they, have kept their perfons uncontaminated, and fred of de- filement. Virginity in a ftrict fenfe, does fignify the prime, the chief, the beft of any thing ; -w^hich make men fo deiirous of-marryng virgins, imagining fome fecret pleafUre to. be enjoyed in thek- embraces, more than in thofe- of widows ; though not many years ago, a very great perfon was of another mind, and to ule his own, exprdlions,, " That the getting of a maidenhead was inch' a piece of dru igery, as was more proper for a porter than a prince." But this was only his opinion, for moft men,: I am fure, have- o.ther fentiments. But to our purpofe. The curious enquirers into nature's' fecrets have obferved,.that in young, maids in the Sinn Pudoris, or in that place which is cal- led the neck of the womb, is that ponduous, production, vulgayly called the Hymen .but* more rightly theclauftrum virginale ; and in French But ten de rofe' or rof'e bud ; becuife it refembles the bud of a roi'e, expanded, of a conve gilly flower. From hence is deriv- ed the word deflower, And hence taking away virginity is called deflowering a vir- gin. Moft being of opinion that the vir- ginity i" altogether loft .when this duplies ( 47 ) tibn is fractured and diftipated by violence ; and when it is found perfect and entire, no * penetration has been : and it is the opinion of fome learned phyficians that there is not .., . Nowthis Chuftrum orVirgmale.or flow- er', is cOmpofed of four carbuncles or little bud > like myrtle berries, which in virgins are full and plump, but in women'flag, ancx hang loofe ; and thefe are placed in the four angles of the Sinus Pudoris, joined together by little membranes and ligatures like fibres, each ol them fituated in the tefticles of fp'aces between each carbuncle, with -which," in a manner,' they'are proportionably diftended ; which membranes being? once delaeerated de- note de'virgination ; and many inquifinve and yet ingnoraut perfonS finding their wive? defective herein, the firft nightof their mar- riage, have thereupon fufpected their chafti- ty. Now to undeceive-fuch, I do'affirm, that fuch fractures happen divers accidental ways, as well as by copulation wuh men, viz. violent ftranings coughing, fneezirig. ftoppin of urin, and violent motions of the veffels, forcibly fending down the humours which preffmg for pailage, breaks the iiga- rures or membrane ; fo that the fracture of that* which is commonly ta!c-n fo: their D 2, (" 4# ) . maiden-head, is no abfolute flgn of difhoiv city ; though certain it is, that it is broke in copulation rather than any other means. I have heard, that at anaftize held at Rut. Hand, a young man was tried for a rape, in ifbrcing a virgin : when, after divers quef- tions being afked, and the maid fwearing. -pofitively to the matter, nameing the time, ' "place and manner of-the action ; it was, up- ^an mature deliberation refolved, that fhe ■ .rfhould be fearched by a fkillful furgeon and - * -two midwives, who were to make their* re- port upon.oath ; which, after due examina-- <-ionT they accordingly did, affirming ihat ther-^ membranes were entire, and not dcUcerated ; ^and that it was their opinion, for that reafon, that her body had not - been penetrated.— /Which fo far wrought with the jury, that v the prifoner was acquitted; and the maid <• afterwards confeffed, fhe fwore againft him *out of revenge, he having,promifed to mar- ixy her, afterwards declined it. And this much {hall fuffi'ce-to be fpoken ^concerning. virginity. 1 fhall now proceed to fay fom.ethi-ng of •nature's operation, in mutation of fexes in the womb. This point is pf much necefTTty by reafdn • Mif the different opinions of men relating to • it ; therefore before anything pofitively can "ae afferted,, it will be proper to recite what has been delivered/.as well in the negative as ("49 Y* affirmative. And firft Sevcrus PI inus, whoj argues for the negative, writes thus: The genital parts of both fexes are fo unlike each' other in fubftance; compoiition, fituation, figure, action and ufe, that nothing is more unlike, and by how much more all parts of' the body, the Wafts excepted, which in wo- men vfwell more, becaufs nature ordained them for fuckling the infant, hare exact re- fembfance ; fo much .more do the genital ; parts of one fex.compared with the other differ ; and if their figure be thus different*. much more their ufe The venerial appe- tite alfo proceeds from different caufes ; for-1 in man it proceeds from a defire of emiff- ion, and in Woman from-a defire of recep-^ tion : in women alfo, the criiefof thofe parts are concave, and apt to receivet but in men they are mere pours.. Tbefe things being: confidered, I cannot but wonder, fays he, how any one can imagine, that the genital members, of the female births fhould be changed into thofe that belong to males fince by thofe parts only the diftinCtionof fexes is- made, nor can 1 well impute, the reafon of this vulvar error to any thing, but the mis- take of unexpert midwives, who have been . deceived by the evil conformation, of'The- parts,, which in fome male births way have happened to have fcme^fmall potruhons, not to havebetn decerned .; as appears by •lie example of a child chriftened at Paris, (• 3<5 <" by the name of Joan, as a girl, who after wards pioved a boy ; and, on the contrary, the over far exrention of the Clytoris in its male births, may have occafiorred"the like miftakes. Thus far Pliny proceeds in the negative : and yet notwithftandiRg what he hathfaid, there are divers learned phyficians that have afFerted the affirmative, of which number Galen is one.' A'man, faith he, is different from a woman in nothing elfe but having, his genital members without his body, whereas a woman hath' them within. And this is certain, that if nature haying' formed a male, mould convert him info a female; fhe hath no other tafk to perform, but to turn his genital members inward ; • and fo turn a woman into a man by the con* , trary operation. But this is to be underftood ; of "the child when it is in the womb, and notf perfectly formed." • For oftentimes nature hath made a female child, and it hath To ' remained in the womb of the mother for a month or two, and after plenty'of heat in- creafing in the genital members, they have iffued forth, and the chiy has become a male; yet retainnig fome certain geftiires tin-' befitting the malculine fex, as f emale actions * afhriil voice, and a more effeminate temper' than ordinary ; contra wife,' nature havingr often made a male, and cold humours flow-, ing to it, the genital have been inverted, yet' itill retaining a mafculine air, both m MY9ice - (' 5> ) and geftures. Now though both thefe opim ions are fupported by feveral reafons, yet. I.. efteem the latter more agreeably-to truth, : for there is not that vaft difference between tly^enitals of the two fexes, as Pliny would ^ have us believe there is, for the woman has in a manner the fame members with the man, though they appear not outward, but - are inverted for the conveniency of genera- tion : the chief difference being that the one is folid, and the other porus, and that, the principal reafon for changing fexes is, and muft be.attributed to heat or cold fuddenly or {lowly contracted, which operates accor- ding to its greater or leffer force. BircBions and cautions for midwhes : and firfty h-ow a midwife oi-gbt to be qualified. A midwife that would acquit herfelf well imher employment, ought by no means to enterupon it rafhly-or unadvifedly? but with all imaginable caution confidering that fhe is accountable far all the mifchief that befalls through her wilful ignorance or neglect— Therefore let none take upon the office bare- ly upon pretence of maturity of years and child-bearing, for in fuch, for the moft part, there are divers things wanting, that ought to be obferved, which is the occafion of fo many women and children being loft, Now for a midwife, in relation to her per - ( 5^ ) fon, thefe things ought to be obferved, viz.", fhe muft neither be too old nor too young, ; neither very fdt "nor" weakened by leannefs, but in a good habit of'bddy; not fubject to difeafes, fear, nor fudden frights ; her body well fhaped, and near in her attire : her hands fmooth and frnall, her nails' paired 1 Ihort, not fuffering any rings to be upon her ' fingers during the time fhe is doing he?* office, nor any thing that may obftruct. And to thefe ou^htto be* added activity and a con- venient ftrength, with much caution and dil- fgeatvnot fuhject to drowfirre{s, nor apt ro- be impatient. . Ac. tor her manners, fhe ought to be cor- teous, affable, fober, chaft and not fubject to ' paffion, bountiful and compaffionate to the poor, and not covetous when fhe attends up- on the rich. Her tern per chearful an 1 pleafaht, that fhe may the better comfort her patient in the dolorous labors : nor muft file at any time make too much hafte, though her ""bufinefs • fliould require her in another cafe, left ihe thereby endangeT the mother or the child. She ought alfd to be wary;- prudent and' i cunning ; but above alf, the fear of God1! ought to have the attendance in her foul, • which will give her both knowledge arid * difcretiort. ( "53 ) Tun her direBions for midwives, teaching them what they ought to do and what to avoid. Since the office of a midwife has fo great an influence on the well or ill doing of wo- men and children, in the firft place let her be diligent to acquire whatever knowledge may be advantageous to her practice, nevei thinking herfelf fo perfect, but that the may add to her knowledge by ftudy and experi- ence ; yet never let her make any experi- mental her patient's coft nor apply any ex- periments, in that c<\(c, unlefs ihe has tried -them, or. knows they will do no harm, practifing neither upon poor nor rich, but fpeaking freely what'{he knows ; and by no means prescribing fuch medicines as will , caufe abortion, though defired ; which is a high degree of wickednefs, and may be ter- med murder. If fhe be fent for to them fhe knows not, let her be very cautious ere fhe goes, left by laying an infectious woman the endanger the fpoiling of others. , In laying of women, if the birth-happen to be large and difficult, fhe muft not feem , to be concerned, but muft cheer up the wo- man, and do what fhe can to make her la- bor eafy. -She muft never think of any thing but doing weK, caufing all things to be in read^- inefs that are proper for the work, and the ifrengthening of the woman, and receiving of ( 54 ) , 1 the child ; and above all, let her take careltyl :-keep the woman "^uiet when her throws are * coming on, left fhe endanger her own life and the child's. She muft alfo take care fhe be not too haft'y 'in her bufinefs, but wait God's leifure for the birth, left, through fear, if things fhould go well, it fhould make her incapable of giving that affiftancfe which the labouring woman ftands in need of; for when we are moft at a . lofs? then there is moft need of prudence to fet things right. .And now, becaufe me can never be a fkill- ful midwife, that knows nothing but \\ hat is to be feen outwardly ; I fhall not think it a- mifs, but on the contrary highly! neceffary, with modefty, to deferibe the generative parts ' of women, as they have been anatomifedby -the learned, and fhew the ufe of fuch veffeH as contribute to generation. Of the genitals of women, external and inter- nal to the veJJ'els of the womb, If it were not for public benefit, efpecially of the practioners and profeffors'of the artof.j -midwifery, I would forbear to treat of the fecrcts of nature, becaufe they may beturnedf by fome lacivious and. le'*'d perfons into <; redicule; but they being abfolutely neceffary to-be know, in order to public good, I will not omit them. Thefe parts that offer ( 55 ) themfelves to view at the bottom of the belly, are Fiffura-magna, or the great chink„ with its Labia or lips* the Mons Veneris, and the hair; thefe are called by the general name Pudenda, from fhamefacednefs becaufe when they are bare, they bring fhame upon a woman. The Fiffura-magna reaches from the lower part oftheos pubis, to with- in an inch of the anus, but it is leffer and clofer in maids than in thofe that bear chil- dren ; and has two lips, which toward the pubis grow thicker and more full ; and mee- ting upon the middle of the os pubis, makes that rinng hill that is called Mons Veneris, or the hill of Venus The next things that offer, are the Nym- pha and Clytoris ; the former of which is of a membrany and flamy fabftance, fpungy, loft and partly flefhy, of a red colour, in the fhape or wings, two in number, though from their rife they are joined in an accute angle, producing there a flefhy fubftance, which clothe the Clytoris; and fometimes they (pread fo far, that incifion is required to make way for the man's inftrument of gen- eration. ' The Clytoris is a fubftance in the upper part of the divifion where the two wings con- cur, and it is the feat of venerial pftafure, being like a yard in fituation, fubftance, compofition and erection ; growing fome- times out of the body two inches, hut that ( 56 ) never happens unlefs through extreme lull, or-extraordinary. accidents. This Clytoris c.onfuts of two fpongy*and fkinny bodies, •containing a diftinct organ, from the Gs, Pubis, the head of it *>being .covered with a tender flcin, having a hole or paffage like the Penis, or ten ufed copulation, they are extinguished ; fo that in the inner fide of the womb's neck, it appears fmooth, but in old women it ap- pears more hard and grifly.- 3tit though this channel be at times withered and crook- ed, finking down ; yet in the time of copu** laTion, labor, or the monthly purgation, it is • erected and extended, which overtenfion oc- cafion the p:\ins-afchild birtfh The Hymen, or Chiuftrum V^irginale, fo that which clofes the neck of the womb being, as 1 have fore cited in the chapter, relating to virginity, broken in firft copula- ting, its ufe being rather to ftay the untime- ly courfes. in virgins thaA to-any other end ; and commonly when broken in copulation, or by other accident, a frnall quantity of blood flows from it, attended with'fome lit«- tle pain.* From whence fome obferve, that between the duplicity cR the two tunicles, which conftitute the neck cf the womb ; there are many veins and arteries running a - long and ariftng from the veffels on both fides of the thigh, and fo palling into the neck of the womb; being very large : and the reafon tfereof is; that the neck of the bladder requires to be filled with abundance of ■•fpirits; thereby to be dilated (07 its better taking hold of the Penis there being great heat required in . fuch motions, which con-- (.5« ) fumes a ronfiderable quantify of mofture, in the fupply of which large xeffds are altoge- ther neceffary. Another caufe of the longnefs of thefe veffels is, by reafon the menfes mak£ the way through them, which often occafion women with child to continue their pur- gation, for though the womb be fhut up, yet the neck in the paffage of the womb through which thefe veffels pafs are open ; in this cafe there is further to be obftfrved, that as foon as you penetrate the pudendum, there appear two little pits of holes, wherein is contained an humour, which being expun- ged in time of copulation, greately delights the woman. A chfcnption gf the womb's fabric, the pre- paring veffels and tefticles in women. As alfo of the' difference and ejaculatory veffels. In the lower part of the hypogaftum where the lips aie wideft and broad eft, they being greater and broader there about than thofe of men, for which reafon they have likewife broader buttocks than men : the womb is joined to its neck, and is placed be- tween the bladder & ftrait gut, which keeps it from fwayingorrowling, yet gives it lib- erty to ftretch'& dilate itfelf again to con- tract, nature in that cafe difpofing. it. Its ( & ) figure ism a manner round, and not unlike*"" a guard, lelll-ning a tittle and growing more" accute towards one end, being knit together by its proper ligaments ; its neck likewife is joined £y its own fubftance and certain membranes;that fallen unto the Os Sacrem, and the mare^bone, vAs' to its1 largencft, that verv much differs in*women, efpecially the difference is great between thofe who l^we borne children, and thofe that have born none : in fubftance itisfothich that it exceeds thimble-breadth, which after copu- lation is' fo far from decreafifig that'it aug- ' ments to a greater proportion; and the mare to ftrengthen it, it is interwoven with fibers overthwart, which are ftrait and winding :*• and its proper veffels are veins, series, and- nerves ; and among thofe there are two lar- ger from the hypoftratie which touch both the bottom and the neck* the mouth of thefe veins piercing as far as the'inward con.'* cavity.- The womb hath two arteries on both fides the fpermatic veffels and the hypoftiat-ic, which will accompany the veins ; and bc- fides there are many little nerves, that arc knit and twined in the form of a net, which are alfo extended throughout, even from the bottom of the pudenda themfcVs, bein* placed chiefly for fenfe and plealure, mov- ing in fym pat by between the head and th- wombr E'3- /. ( 60 ) '-* Now it is to be further noted, that by rea- fon of the two ligaments on each fide the womb, from the fliare bone, piercing though the peritoneum, and joined to the bone it- felf; the womb is movable upon fundry oc- cafions, often falling low or riling .high, As to the neck of the womb ir is often of an exquifit feeling, fo that if it be troubled with a fchirrofity, over fatnefs moifture, or relaxation, the womb is fubjected thereby to barrnnefs ; in thofe that are with child there frequently ftays a glutinous enterance to facilitate the birth ; for at the time "of deli- ^ very, the mouth of the womb is opened to r fuch a widenefsas is conformable to the big- * nefs of the child, fufferingan equal dilation from the bottom to the top. As the preparatory or fpermatic veffeh in women, they confift of two veins and two arteries, not differing from thofe of men, but only of their leargenefs and manner of infer- tion : for the number of veins and arteries is the fame as in men, the right vein iffuing from the trunk of the hallow vein defcend- ing : and on the fide of them are two arter- ies, which grow from the lorta. As the length and breadth of thefe veffels, they are narrower and fhorterin women than in men ; unly obferve they are mors wreath- ed, and comforted than in men, as ihrin- feing together by reafon of their fhortnefs, that thw.y may by their loofnefs be better ( 61 } ft reached out when occafion requires ir ; and thofe veffels in women are carried with an indirect cotirfe through the leffer guts, the^ tefticles, but are in midway divided into two branches, the greater goes to the ftones, conftituting a various of winding body, and wonderfully inofculating ; the leffer branch ending in the womb, in the infide of which it difperfeth itfelf and efpecially at the high- er part of the bottom of the womb for its nourifhment, and that part of the couifes may purge through the veffels : and feeing the Tefticles of women are feated near the womb, for that caufe thefe fall not from the peritoneum, neither make they much paf- Jage, as in men, nor extending themfelves in the fhare-bone. The ftones in women commonly called Tefticles, perform not the lame action as in men, they are alfo different in their location, bignefs, temperature, fubftance, form and covering. As for the place or their feat, it is in the hallownefs of the abdomen ; neither are they pendulous, but reft upon the mui- cles of the loins, fo that they may, by con- tracting the greater heat, be more fruitful, their office being to contain the ova, or eggs, one of which being impregnated by the man's feed engenders man, yet they differ from thofe of men in figure, by reafon of their flatnefs at each end, not being io round or oyal. The external fuperfices being like- ( «' 5 wife more'unequal/appearing like the cc-tru pofition ofa great many knobs and kernata mixed together. There^is a difference alfov ■fn theirfubftanee, they being' much more foft and pliable, ioofeand not fo we!! com- pacted . Their bignefs and temprement are likewife different," for they are much cpldtf^ and leffer than thofe in men. As for their covering or inclofure,* it dif- fers- extremely: as man's are wrapped in divers tunicles^by reafon they are extremely pcdulous, and fubjecx to divers injuries, un- tefs fo fenced by nature; fo woman's ftones being internal, and lefs fttbject to cafualty; aptoprietiea attribir- ted to it. As firft, Retention oft he fcecun- dated egg, and this is properly called con*-j ception. Secondly, to eheriftr and nourifft it till nature has framed the child, and bro't it to perfection and then.it ftrongly operates i in. fending forth the-birth, wherv the time ofr its remaining there is expired, dilating itfelf in a wonderful, manner, ?aid fo aptly remov* ed from ihe i'enfes, that nothing of • injury can proceed from thence, retaining itfelf w power and ftrength to ope rat* and caft. forth* ( «5 ) the birth,unlefs by accident it be rendered de- . ficient ; and then to ftrengthen and enabley it, remedies muft- be applied by fkillfuT hands, directions for applying of which ihall be given in the fecond part. The ufe of the preparing- veffel is this, the arte'ries convey the blood of the tefticles; part whereof is. put in the nourrffament of them, and the production of thpfelittle blad- ders fin all things refembling eggs) through which the pafs prepareria run, and are ob- literated in them; and as for the veins, their office is-to bring back* what blood re- mains from the ufe aforefaid. The veffels of this kind, are much fhorter in -women than in men, by reafor. of their ncarnefs to the ftones, which defects are yet made good bv the many intricate winds to which thofe vdfels are fubject. For in the middle way thev divide themfelves into two branches, though different in magnitude, for one be- ing greater than the other, .paffes tp< the ftones. The ftones in women are very ufeful, for where they are defective, generation work is at an end. For although thefe'bladders which are on th< ir outward fuperfices, con- tain nothing of teed,-as the followers of -Ga- 4cn andHypocrates did'erroneoufly i-magir.e, yet they contain feveral eggs, generally 'twenty in each tefticle ; one of which being impregnated by the ipiritous part of iks .( <6 ) man's feed in the act of coion, defcends through the eviducts in the womb, and from hence in the proccfs of time becomes a liv- ing child. Of the Organs ofGeneration in Man. Having given you a difcription of the or- gans of generation in women, with the anat- omy of the fabric of the womb : I fhall now (to complete the firft part of this trea- tife) defcribe the„ organs of generation in men, and how they are fitted to the ufe for which nature defigned them. The inftrument of generation in man(com- monly called the Yard : and in latin Penis a Pudenda, becaufe it hangs without the bel- ly) is an organical part which confifts of {kin, tendous, veins, arteries, finews and great ligaments ; and is long, and round, and on the upper fide flattifh, feated under the Os Pubis, and ordained by nature, partly by evacuation of urine, and partly for con- veying the feed into the matrix. For which J end it is full of frnall pores, through which | the feed paffes into, it through the Veficula Seminalis, and alfo the neck of the veficula Urinals, which pours out the Urine when , they make water, befides the common parts, viz. the two nervous bodies, the Septum,the Urethera, the glans, four mufcles and the veffel, The nervous bodies, (fo called) are ( 67 •) furrourvded with a thick white previous " membraftce, but their inmoft fubftance is fpungy, confifting chiefly of veins, arteries, and nervous fibers interwoven together like a net. And when the nerves are filled with an animal foirit and the arteries with hot and fpiritous blood, then the Penis is dif~ tended and becomes erect. But when the"" influx of dead fpirits ceafe, then the blood and remaining fpirits are abforbed by the veins, and fo the Penis fpirits are limber and flaggv« Below thefe nervous bodies is the Urethera, and Whenever the nervous bodies fwell, it fwells alfo. The mufcles of the Penis are four,too fhorter, arifing from the Coxendix, and ferving its erection, and for that reafon are called Erectores. Two lar- ger proceeding from the fpinctet of the Anus, and ferve to dilate the Urethera ejac- ulation of feed, and are called dilatantes, or winding. At the end of the Penis is the glands^ covered with a very thin membrane by means of which and its nervous fubitatice, it becomes moft exfyuifitely fenfible^and is the principal feat of pleafure in copulation. The outmoft covering of the glar.ds is called Proeputium or perputando, from being cut off, it being that which the Jews cut off in circumcifion, and it is tied by the lower parts of it to the glans of the foetus. The Penis is alfo ftocked with veins, arteries, and nerves. F ( 68 ))..-; ; 1 The tefticles or ftones fo called, becaufe % teftifying one to be a man elaborate the blood brought to .them by the fpcrmatic arteries into feed. They have coats of two forts, proper and common; the common are two, and inveft both the teftes. The a outermoft of the common coat confift of tl>eK; cuticula, or true {kin ; and . is called the fcrotum, hanging out of the abdomen like a purfc, the innermeft is the membrane car- nofa. The proper coats are alfo, two, the { outer called Clitorodes^or Virgina-Ics, the in- ' ner Albugidia. Into the outer is inferted the Crernafter. To the upper part of the Tef- tes is fixed Epimedes, or Pollata, from whence nrife the Eafa differentia or ejacula- toria, which when they come near the neck of the bladder, depofit the feed into the vefi- culae feminales, thefe veficulae feminales are two, each like a bunch of grapes, and emit the feed into the urethera, in the act of cop- ulation. Near them are the noftratae, about the bignefs of a walnut, and join to trie neck of the bladder. Authors do not agree about . the ufe of them, but moft are of opinion, that they afford an oily floppy, and fat hu- mor, to befmear the Urethera, whereby to defend the fame from acrimony of the feed and urine. But the veffels which convey the - blood to the teftes, out of which the feed is made, are arteriae fpermatices, and are alfo two. The veins which carry out the re- ( 6? ) framing blood are two, and have the name of Vcna^^permuicae* ■i A u ord of advice to both fexes ; being feveral directions rcfpecli'ig the a B^f copulation. Sincit nature has implanted in every crea- ture a mutual defire of copulation, for the increife and . propagation of its kind ; and more efpecially in man, ;he Lord of the creuion, and nm tier-piece of nature, that fo noble a piece of Devihe workmanfhip might not peri lb, fomething ought to be fjid con- cerning that, it being the foundation of all that we have hitherto been treating of: lince without copulation there can be no generation. Seeing there fore fo much depends upon it, I thought it neceffary, before 1 con- cluded the firft part, to give fuch directions to both fexes, for the performing of that act, as may appear etKcacious to the end for which nature defigned it. But it will be done with that caution, as not to offmd the chafteft ear,, nor put the fair fex, to the trouble of a bhilh in reading it. Firft there- fore, when a married couple, from a df'ire of having children are about to mike ufe of thofe means thu nature ordained to that purpofe, it would be very proper to cherifh the body with generous teftoraives, that fo it may be brifk and vigorous ; and if their imigioations were charmed with f.vcet and ( t? y. melodious airs, and caress and thoughts of j bufinefs drowned in a glafs of racy wine, that their fpirits may- beraifed to the higheft pitch of ardour and joy, it would not be amifs. For any thing of fadnefs, trouble and forrow, ^er enemies to the delights of Venus. And if at any-fuch time of coition, there fhould be conception, it would have a malevolent effect upon children. But though generous reftortlves may be ufed for invigorating nature, yet all excefs is to be carfully avoided for it will allay the brifknefs of the fpirits and render them dull and languid, and alfo hinder .digeftipn, and -j fo muft needs be an enemy to copulation. For it is food moderately taken, that is well di'geftcd, creates good, fpirits, and enables a man with vigour andaclivity to perform the dictates of nature. It is alfo highly neceffa- ry* that in their mutual embraces, they meet each other-with an equal ardour. For if the fpirits flag on ekher part, they will fall fhort of what nature requires, and the wo- men either mifs of, conception,„or the child- ren prove weak in their bodies, or defective in their underftanding, And therefore I do advifethem, before they begin their, conjug- al embraces, to invigorate their mutual de- fires, and make their flames burn with a fierce ardour, by thofe endearing ways that ?ove can better teach than I can write. And when they have done what nature I 71 I requires, a man muft have a care W does not part too foon from the embraces of his wife, left fomtf, hidden interpofing cold ftiould ftrik^fnto the womb, and occafion amifcar- riage, and thereby depriv-cthem of the fruit of their labour. And when after fome Convenient rime, the man hath wirhdrawahimfelf, let the woman gently betake herfelf to reft, with aft imagi- nable fercnity andcompofure of mind, from all anxious and difturbing thoughts, or any other kind of perturbation whatfoever. And let her as much as fhe can, forbear turning herfelf from that fide on which fhe firft re- pofed. And by all means let her avoid coughing & fneezing, which by its violent concuflion of the 'body, is a great enemy to conception, if it happens foon after tne act of coition. f %■ *&*. A PRIVATE LOOKING GLASS,..- FOR the FEMALE SEX. PART THE SECOND. Treating of several Maladies incident to the womb, and proper remedies for the+cure of each Of the womb m general. '.- Although in ihe Firft Part I have fpo- ken fomethingof the fabric of the womb, yet being, the Second Part to treat more particularly thereof, and of .the variousdif- tempers and maladies it is fubject to * I fhall oot think it tantology to give you by way of inftruction, a general defcriptipn both of itsiituation and extent, but rather think that •itcan by nojneans be omitted, efpecially, jfinee In it I am to fpeak of the quain- tly of the menftrous blood. Firfl, Touching the womb. By the Gre- - ciahs.it is called Metfa, the mother. Adol- ohos faith Pnfcian, becaufe it makes us all brothers. I 74 ) It is placed in the hypograftrum, or lower part of the body, in the cavity called Pelvis, having the ftrait gut on one fide, to keep it from the other fide of the back-bone, and ., the bladder on the other fide to defend it from blows. In form or figure it is like a verile * member-,-only thus excepted, the manhood , is outward and womanhood inward. It is divided into the neck and body.— The neck confifts of a hard flafliy fubftance much like a cartilage, at the end thereof there is a membrane traverfly placed, called hy- men or engiori, near into the neck there is a prdminaWt pinnacie. which is called of Mon- tanus, the door of the womb, becaufe it pre- \ ferveth the matrix from-cold and duft. By the Grecians it is called clytoris, by theLat- inslprepatium mulebre, becaufe the Jewifh women did not abufe thofe parts to their mu- tual lulls, as St, Paul fpeaks, Rom. i, 26. The body of the womb is that part where- in the child is conceived. And this is not altoghether round, but dilates itfelf into two angles,the outward part of it is nervous and full of finews, which are the caufe of its * motion, but inwardly it is flefhy. K is fabuloufly reported, that in the cavity of the } womb there are fevendivided cells, or recep- tacles for human feed. But thofe that ha.ve feen anatomies, do know there are but two. And likewife that thefe two are not divided '" bv a partition, but only by a line, or future ( 75 ) running through the midft of it. Tn the right fide of the cavity, by reafon of the heat of the liver, males are conceived. In the left fide, by the coldhels of the fpleen, females are begotten. And this domoftofour moderns hold for an infallible truth, yet Hypocrates holds.it but in the general. For in whom, faith he, the fpermatie veffels on the right fide come from the reins, and the fpermrtic veffels on the left fide from the hollow vein, in them, males are conceived in the left fide and fe- males in the right. We therefore may conclude with the faying of Empedocles. Such fometimes is the power of the feed, that a male may beconeeived in the left fide as well as in the right. In the bottom of tfec cavity, there are little holes called the cof- iledones, which are the ends of certain veins.. and "arteries, ferving in breedings women to convey the fubftance to the child ; which is received by the umbilical veins ; and others to carry the courfes into the matrix. Now touching the menftruals, they are defined to be a monthly flux of excremen- tious and unprofitable blood. In which we are to note, that the . matter flowing forth is excrematious. Which is to be underftood of the fcruplea or redundance of it. For it is an excrement in quality, its quanity being pure and uncorrupt, like unto the blood in the veins. , ( 76 ) And that the menftrous'blood is pure and fubtileof itfelf, all in one quality with that in the veins, is proved two ways, Firft, from r#^JXtne final caufe of the blood, which is the* propogation and cOnverfition of mankind, that man might be conceived, and being be- gotten, he might be conferred and preferved both in the womb and out of the womb. And all- will grant it for a truth, that a chiid while it is in the matrix, is nourifhed with tire blood. And'it is true, that-being out of the womb, ir is ftiUnouiifhed withthe fame, for the milk is nothing but rhe menftrous blood made white in the breaft. And, lam fure woman's milk is not thought to be ven- emous, but of a nutritive quality, anfwera- fele to the tender nature of the infant. Sec- ondly, it is proved to be true from the gener- ation of it, it being the fuperfluity of the laft aliment ofthe flefhy parts. It may be objected, if the blood be not of a hurtful quality, how can it caufe fuch ven- omous effects ? As if the fame falls upon trees and herbs, it maket-b the one barren and mortifieth the other. Avernes writes, that if a man accompany with any menftrous woman, if fhe conceive fhe fhall bring forth • a leaper. I anfwer,- This malignity is con- tracted in the womb ; for that wanting H-ative heat to digeft this fuperfluity,fends it to the matrix : Where feating itfelf, until the. mouth of the womb be dilated : it be^. ( 77. f comes corrupt and venemous, which may • cafiiy he, confidering the heat and moifture of the place. The blood therefore being out ■of its veffels, it, offends in quality. In this fenfe let us underftand Pliny, Cornilius Florus, and the reft of that torrent. But if frigidity be the caufe why women cannot digeft all their laft .nourishment, and confe- quently that they" have thefe purgations.it remains to give a reafon why they hre offo cold a conftttution more then man which is this. The natural end of man and woman's being, is to propogate. And this injunction was impeded upon-them by God at their firft creation, and again after the Deluge. Now, in the act of conception there mufloe an agent and parent, for if they be both every way of one confti lotion, they cannot propogate : man therefore is hot and dry, woman cold and moift, he is the agent, fhe is the parent, or weaker veffel that fhe mould be fubject to the office of the man. It is neceffary the woman fhould be of a cold con ft i tut ion, becaufe in her is required a re- dundancy of nature for the infant depending on her ; for other wife, if there were not a fur plus of nourifhment for the child, than is convenient for the mother, then would the infant detract and weaken the principal parts of the mother and like unto the viper, the generation of the infant would be the de(- truction of the parent. ■( 78 .) The monthly purgations continue from the 15th year to the 50 or 56th. Yet often there happens a fuppreffion, which is either "^natural or moibij^Caf, ihey are naturally fup- preft in breeding women, and fuch as fuck. The morbifical fuppreffion falls now into our method to be fpoken of. Of the retention of the Courfes. The fuppreffion of the terms is an ; inter- ception of that accirftomary evacuation of Mood, which* every month fhould come from the matrix, proceeding from the in- ftrument or matter vitiated. The part af- fected isthe womb, and that of-itfelf or by • confent. -Caufe.] The caufe of this fuppreffion is either extrnalor internal. The external caufe may be heat or drynefs of the air, im- moderate watching, great labor vehement motion/&c. whereby the matter is fo con- fumed, that the body is exhaufted, that there is not afurplus remaining to be expel- led, as is recorded1 of the Amazons, who be- 1 irig active, and always in motion, had their .* Auctions very little, or not at all. Or it may becaufedby cold, which is moft frequent, making the blood various and grofs, con- densing and binding up'the paffages that-it cannot flow forth. ( 79 ) Of the overflowing of the Courfes. The learned fay, that by comparing con- tries, truth is made mifeft Having there- fore fpoken of the fupprcflion of terms, or- der requires now that it fhould infill on the overflowing of them an effect no lefs danger- ous than the former, and this immoderate flux of the mouth is defined to be a fanguin- ious excrement proceeding from the womb, exceeding both in quantity and time.— Frift, It is faid to be ianguinous, the mat- ter of the flux being only blood, wherein it differs from that which is commonly called the falfe courfes or whites ; of which I fhall fpeak hereafter. Secondly it is faid to pro- cede from the womb, for there two ways by which the blood flows forth, the one is by internal veins in the body of the womb, and thi* is properly called the monthly flux ;— the other is by thofe veins which are termi- nated in the neck of the matrix : and this is called of JEtius, the hemorrhoids of the womb. Laftly, it is faid to exceed both in quantity and time. In quantity, faith Hy- pocrates, when they flow about eighteen ounces; in time when they flow about three days ; but we take this for a certain charac- ter of their inordinate flowing, when the faculties of the body thereby are weakened. In bodies abounding with grofs humours, this immoderate flux fometimes unburdens G *- ( :8g j nature of her load, and ought not to be ftaid without the com? lei of a phyfician. Caufe.] The caufe of this affair, is inter- nal or external. The internal caufe is threefold. In the matter, inftrument or fac- ulty. The matter which is the blood may be vicious two ways. Firft, by the heat of conftitution, climate or feafon, heating the blood, whereby the paffage are dilated, and the faculty weakened, that it cannot retain the blood. Secondly, by falls, blows, viol- ent mot-ion, breaking of the veins, &c. Of the Weeping of the Womb. The weeping of the womb is a flux of blood, unnatural, coming from thence by drops, after the manner of tecrs, caufing violent pains in the fame, keeping neither period nor time. By fome it is referred un- to the immoderate evacuation of the courfe, vet they are diilinguifhed in the quantity and manner of overflowing, in that they flow copioufly and free. This is continual rhoiHitw little and little, and that with greafpain and difficulty ; wherefore it is lik- ened unto the ft-ranguary. . m The caufe is in the faculty, inftrument or matter. In the faculty, by being enfeebled that it cannot expel the blood; and tic blood rcftfng there, makes the part of the \vrnb «r>-.* hard>.ftretches the voids ami ( 8' ) from whence proceeds the pain of the womb, in the inftrument, by the narrowncfs of the paffa it flows not above two J hours before the birth : motion will-likewife 1 caufe the womb to open and dilate itfelf, 1 when being-long, in bed will be uneafy. J Yet if ihe be very weak ihe rmy take fome 1 gentle'cordial "to refrefh- herfelf 'if her pain \ Will permit. If her travail be tedious, ihe may- revive her fpirits with taking chicken or-mutton 1 broth, or flie may take a porched egg, bus 4 muft take heed of eating to excefs. . • As forlhe poftures women are dliyered in^ -\ theyare many, fome laying in their beds,. .% fome fitting in a chair, fupported and held r1 by others- orreftmg upon the bed or chair ; fome again upon their knees bein.a f up ported upon their arms ; but the moft fafe and : : commodious way is in bed, and the midwife ought to mind the following rules. Let lit* lay the woman upon her back, her- head a little raifed by the help of a*pifI.ow-having. the like help to fu-pport her reins and but-- rock, and that tier rump may lay-high, for • ^ if fhe lies low fhe cannot be well delivered..- $ Then let her keep her knees aad thighsas fir *$ diftantas fhe can, her legs bowed together- '/ to her buttocks, the foals of her feet and J heels being fixed upon a little log of timber - for that purpofe, that i\uz rmy ft rain the* ftronger ; and in cafe her back be very vveak,r a fwathing band muft be cat under it,the* ( ioi ) band being four times double, and about two inches broad ; and this muft be held by two perfons, who with ftcady hand and equal motion, muft raiic her up at the time her pains happen ; and if they be not exact in ♦motion, it isbetterto let it alone. And at the fame time, let two* women hold her moulders, that fhe may then ftrain out the I birth with more advantage : and then to l facilitate it let a woman ftroak or prefs the : -tipper part of her belly gentle and by de- grees. Nor muft the woman herfelf be faint hearted, but of good courage, forcing herfelf by --{training and holding her breath. Jn cafes of extremity* what ought .to be obferv- ed ; efpecially-to Women,.who in their tiav- ail y are attended with a flux of blood, con- vu/fions, and fits of the wind. If the woman's labour be hard and diff- icult, greater regard muft be had then, mora; than at any other times. And firft of all the -fituation of the womb, and poflure of lying -muft beacrofs the bed, being held by ftrong perfons to prevent her flipping down or moving herfelf in the operation of the chir- ugeon ; her thighs muft be put afunder, as -far diftant as rmy be, and fo held ; whilfl her head muft lean upon a bolfter, and the •reins of her back be fupported after the fame *n*mner, her rump and buttocks being lifted ( ite ) up, obferving to cover her .'-ftomach, belly and thighs with warm linnen, to keep it from the cold. The woman being in this pofture, let the operator put up his hand, if he finds the neck of the worrtb dilated, and'remove the cbntracted blood, that obftruels the paffage i of the birth : and having by degrees gently made way, let him tenderly move the infant, his hand being firft annointed with fweet butter or harmlefs pomatum. And if the water be not come down, then without dif- ficulty may they be let forth : when, if the infant fhould, attempt to break out with its head foremoft, or crofs, he may gentle turn it to find the ieet ; which having done, let him draw forth the one, and fatten it to a ribbond,-thenput it up again, and by de- grees find the other, bringing them as dole and even as may be, ? and between whiles, -let the woman breathe, urging her to ftram in helping nature to perfect the birth, that he may draw it forth ; and the readier to do it, that his hold may be the furer, he muft wrap a linen cloth about the child s thmhs, obfervingto bring it into the world face downwards. , r In cafe of a flax of blood, if the neck of the womb be open, it muft be coniiaered whether the infant or fecundme comes nrlt, which the latter fometimes happening to do, flops the mouth of the womb, and hinders ( «3 ) 'the birth; endangering both the woman* and child ; but in this cafe the fecundities muft be removed by a fwift turn ; and in-* deed they hzva by fo comingdown deceived many, who feeling their foftnefs, fuppofed the womb was not dilated, and by this means the woman and child, or at leaf! the latter has been loft. The fecundmes mo- ved, the child muft be fought for, and drawn forth, as has been directed : and if in fuch a case the woman or child die the midwife or furgeon is blamelefs,' becaufe they did their true endeavor. * Firft, the manner of the fecundines advan- cing, whether it be much or little : if the former, arid the head of the child appear ? firft, it may be-guided and directed towards the neck or the womb, as in cafe of natural birth ; but if there appear any difficulty in the delivery, the belt way is to fenrch for the feet, and thereby draw it forth : but if the latter, the feaindine may be put back with a gentle hand, and the child firft taken forth. 'But if the fecundine be far advanced, fo that it cannot be put back, and the child fol- ♦ low it close, then aie the secundires brcugt forth with much care, as fwift as may be, and laid eafy without cutting the entrail that is'fattened to them ; for thereby-you may be' guided'to the infant, which, whether alive or dead, muft be drawn forth by the feet in ~*U haft : though it is not to be acted unlefs ( *Q4 ) in cafe of great neceftity,for in other cafes the fecundities ought to come laft. And in drawing forth a dead child, let thefe directions be carefully obferved by the furgcon, viz. If the child be found dead, its head foremoft, the delivery will be more difficult, for it is an apparent fign the wo- man's ftrength begins to fail her, and that the child being dead, and wanting; to be de- livered, wherefore the moft certain and fafe way for the furgeon, is to put up his left hand, Aiding it as hollow in the palm as he can, into the neck of the womb, and into the lower part thereof towards the feet, and then between the head of the infant and the neck of the matrix, when having a hook in the right hand, couch it clofe, and flip it up above the left hand, between the head of the child and the flat of the hand, fixing it in the bars of the temple towards the eye ; for want of a convenient coming at thefe in the ocipucal bonet obferve ftill to keep the left hand in its place, and with it gently moving' and {lining the head, and fo with the right hand a hook draw the child forward, admon- ifhing the woman to put forth her utmoft ftrength, ftill drawing when the woman s oangs are upon her ; the head being drawn out, with all fpeed he rhuft flip his hand up under the arm holes of the child, and take it quite out; giving thefe things to the woman. viz. A toaftof fine wheaten bread in a quar^ terof a^pintoflpocras wine. ( 'oS ) Nowthe former application failing, when a woman is in her bed, let her receive the following portion hot, and reft till fhe feels the opperation, Take feven blue figs, cut them to pieces, add to them fenugreek, motherwort and feed of rue, of each five drams ; water of penny- royal, and motherwort, of each fix ounces.; boil them till one half be con fumed, and having {trained them again, add trochifksof myrrh one dram, and faffron three grains : fweeten the liquor with loaf fugar, and fpice it with cinnamon. , Having refted upon this, let her labour a- gain as much as may be, and if fhe be not fuceefsful, make a fumigation caftor, apop- anax, fulphur, and aftafcetida, of each halt a dTam ; beating them into powder, and wet- ting them with the juice of rue, fo that the fmoke or fume may only come to the matrix and no further. If thefe effect your defire, then this plaifter is now to be applied viz. t\.ke of galbanum an ounce and a half : colocynteis without grains two drams ; the juice of motherwort and rue, of each halt ^n ounce, add feven ounces virgin bees-wax bru-iie & melt them together, fpleading them on a fcearcloth, to reach from the navel to the.Os Pubis, fpread- ing alfo to the Flanks, at thejame time ma- king a convenient peffiry of woo J, clolingit in a bag.of ride, and dipping it in a decoc- ( *o6 ) tion of round birthwood, favin, colocymhia; with grains : ftavefcarce, black hellebore, j of each one dram, &c. and a little fprig.uf r-ue. . But thefe things not having, the defired lu;Ccefs, and the woman's danger ftill increa- ! fing, let the furgeon ufe his.inftruments to dilate and widen the womb; to which and the woman muft be. fet in a chair, fo that the may turn her.cruppei as much from its back as is convenient, dfcwing likewife her legs up as clofe as ihe can. fpreading hcr.thighs as wide as may be ; or if fhe be very weak, it may be more convenient that fhe be laid on the bed with her head downward, andi I her buttocks raifed. and both legs drawn up as much as maybe ; at that time the furgeon with his ageculum matricis, or his fpertory may dilate the womb, and draw out the child and fecundines together, if it be pofli- ble ; the which being done, the womb mull be well wafhed and annointed, and the wo- man laid in her bed, and fo comforted, with fpices and cordial, This courfe muft be ta- ken in the delivery of. all dead children, j Likewife with moles, fecundines, and falie ; births, that will nor of themfelves come • forth in feafon : or if the iniliument afore- , faid will not fufficiently widen the \yomb, then other inftruments, as drake's bill and long pincers ought to be ufed. If it fo happen that aoy*inrlamatiop,fwcU t W ) nng; or congealed blood be contracted' in The matrix, under the film of thofe tum- ours, either before or after the birth, where the matter appears thinner, then let the mid*» wife with a pen knife, orinciflon inftrument, lance it and prefs out the corruption^healing; it with peffary dipped in oil of red rofes. I fat any time through cold, or fome vio- ence, the child happens to be {'welled in any part, or hath contracted n watery humour; If it remain alive fuch means muft be ufed as are leaf! injurious to the child or mother: but if it be dead, that humour muft be let out by incifion to faccilitate the birth. If, as it often happens that the childcomes with its feet froemost, and the hands dila- ting themselves from the hips ; in such cases the midwife must be provided with necessary instruments tO'Stroak and annoint the infant with, to help its comeing forth, let it turn again into the womb, holding at the same time both the armes of the in- fani close to the hips, that so it may issue forth after its manner, but if it piove too big the womb muft be wejl annointed.. The wo- man muft alfo take fneezing powder to make*her (train : thofe who attend may gen- tly ftroak her belly, to make the birth de- fcend, and keep the birth from retiring back. And fometimes it fails out, that the child being with the feet foiemoft, has its arms extended above its head ; but the midwife 1 %. r io8-.; muft not receive it fo, but. put it back inu, the womb, unlefs the paffagesbe extraordin- ary wide, and then fhe muft annoint botfi the child and the womb, nor is it fafe to. draw it forth, maybe done., after this man- ner : The woman muft be laid on her back, witk her head depreffed, and her buttocks , railed ; and then the midwife, with a gentie hand, muft comprefs the belly of the wo- man towards the midwife, by that means to . put back the infant, obferve to turn the face of the child towards the back of its mother,. railing up its thighs and buttocks towards. her naval, that the birth may be more natur- al. • If a child happens to come forth with one foot, the arm being extended along the fide; and the other foot turned, backward then-, mufTthe woman be inftantly brought to her bed, and laid in the pofture above defcri- bed at which time the midwife muft care- fully put back the foot (o appearing, and • the woman rocking herfelf from one fide to the other till fhe finds the child is turned, but muffnot alter her pofture, nor turn upon > her face, after which fhe may expect her pains,and muft have great afliftancc and cor- idials to revive and to fupport her fpiri/s. I-ND. OF THE SECOND PART. THE* ' FAMILY PHTSICIdS B.EING CHOICE AND APPOVED REMEDIES i For feveral diftempers incident to human bodies-% For Apoplexy. Take a man's fkull preprared, powder • of the roots of male peony; of each an ounce and a half; contrayerva, baftard dittany^ angelica, zedoaiy.; of each two drams, mix- and make a powder ; add thereto too oun- ces of candied orange and iemmon peel, beat all to gether to a powder, whereof you may take half a dram or a dram. A Powder for theEpilepfy or Falling Sirtnefs. Take of apopanax, crude antimony, drag- on's blood ; caftor, poenyrfeeds, of each an tqual quantity ; make.a fubtile powder, the dofe from half a dram in black cherry. wai- ter. Before you take. it,, the ftomach much , be cleanfed with fome proper vomit, as that.; of Mynfichs' emetic tartar, from four gains to fix ; if for children,, fait of vjtrpi^ from a furple to a.half a dram. For a Head ache of long flan ding. Take the juice of powder, or diftilled wa-. ter of pog;lice, and continue the ulc.of.it, ( ."O ) For Spitting of Blood. Take conferve of comfrey, and of hipps, of each an ounte and a half ; conferve of red' rofes, three ounces, dragon's blood a dram ; fpecies of hyacinths, two feruples ; red co- ral, a dram ; mix, and with fyrrup of red popies make a {oft electuary ;. take the quantity of a walnut night and morning. For a Loofenefs. Tafle of Venice-treacle and difcordium.rff each half a dram in warm ale, water-gruel,. \ or what you beft like, at night on going to bed. For the Bloody Flux. Firft take a dram of powder of rhubarb in a fufficient quantity of conferve of red rofes, in the morning early ; then at night take of torrified or roafted rhubarb half a dram ;: diafcordium a dram and a half ; liquid lau- danum cydoniated, a fcruple ; mix and make a bolus. For an Inftamation of the Lungs'. Take charious water ten ounces, water of red popies, three ounces ; fyrrup of poppies- an ounce ; bear prepared, a dram ; make a julep, and take fix ipoonfuls every fourth a hour. 1 An Ointment for the Pie unify. Take oil of violets or fweet almonds ; of ( 111 )■- each an ounce; withwaxand a little faffron, make an ointment, warm it, and bath upon the part affected. An Ointment for the Itch. Take fulphur vive in powder, half an ounce; oil of tartar per delinqum, a fuffi- cient quantity ; ointment of tofes, four oun- ces ; make a lineament, towhich add a fcru- ple of ryhodium to aromatize, and rub the parrs aflected with it. For a running Scab, Take two pounds of tar, incorporate it into a thick mafs, with good fijted aibes : boil the mafs in fountaini-water, adding leaves of grcund-ivy, whitehorehound, um- itory roots, fharp pointed dock.and of flecan pan, of each four handfuls ; make a bath, to be ufed with care of taking cold. For Worms in Children. Take worm-feed, half a dram ; flour of- fulphur, a dram : fait prunejle, half a dram; mix, and make a powder. Give as much as will lay on a {i-lyer threepence, night and morning in grocers treacle or honey, or for people grown up, you may add a fufhcient quantity of aloes, rofat, and fo make them up into pills, three or four thereof may bt taken every morning. For FeaVi rs in Children. 'Take crab's eves, a dram ; cream of tar- 'f "2 ) far, half a dram ;. white fugar candy, fmcfy- powdered ; the weight of both : mix all well together, and give as much as will lay on a fiiver three-pence in a. fpoonful ot barly- water, or fack.whey. , A quieting nigbt draught, when the Cough iv ' t - violent. * Take water of green wheat, fix ounces j1 fyrrup of difcordium, three ounces; take] two or three fpoonfuls going to bed everyJ night, or every.other night. - An EleBuary for the Dropfy. Take choice rhubard one dram, gum lac prepared^two drams, zyloalods, cinnamon,! longbith Worth, of each half an ounce ; uV beft Englifli faffron, half a fcruple, with^. fvrrup of chychory and rhubarb an electuary, j | Take the qantity of nutmeg, or a fmallj} walnut every morning failing. For the Tympany Dropfy. Take roots of chervi, and cangled crimen ( roots, of each an ounce; roots of butchery broom, two ounces ; gres-roots, three oun- ces ; {havings of ivory and hartihprn, or each, two drams and- a halt; burdock ieeJs, three drams; boilthemin three pounds or fpring water or two. While the {framed li- quor is hot, pour it upon the leaves of water crefTes and goofe grafs bruifed, of each a handful ;. adding an pint of rhcnifli wine j ( "3 ) make a clofe infufion for two hours, then (train out the liquor again, and add to it three .ounces of magiftral. water and earth worms, 'and an ounce and a half of the fyrrup of the five opening roots ; makqanapovem, where of take four ounces twice a day. For an inward Bleeding. Take the leaves of plantain, and flinging lettles, of each three handfuls : bruife them »jfery well, and pour on them fix ounces of 'plantain-water, afterwards, make a ftrong ixpreffion and drink the whole 'off. Proba- umeft. For an Ague. lr" Take thecommon bitter drink, without .he purgatives 2 quarts, fait of wormwood 'i ounces, faffron a dram. AftCr a vomit or onvenient purge, take half a pint of this hree times a day, in the morning faffing, mid-day and at night. For the Cholic. Take annifeed, fweet fennel, coriander, arraway feeds, 2 drams each, cummin feed 1 dram, rafed ginger a frnall quantity ; bruife ' all in a mortar and put them into a quart ot Nantz brandy to infufe 3 days fhaking the bottle 3 or 4 times a day, then ftrain it ; take v'i or 3 Ipoonfuls in the fir. Purging Pills for the Scurvey. Take rofinof julep twenty grains, aromat- ( »4 ) . . icpills with gum, two grains,-vitrolited tar- tar, twenty fix grains, oil of juniper ten grains, with a fumcient- quantity of gum ar. moniac diffolved in vinegar of fquils. Take*j four at a time early in the morning, faffing two hours after. You may take them once a week. ■General Obferavtions worthy of Notice. When you find a red man to be faithful; a tall man to be wife, a fat man to be fwift of foot; a lean man to be a fool ; a hand- Tome man not to-he proud ra poor man not to be envious ; a knave to be no liar ; an upright man not too bold and hearty to his own lofs; one that drawls "when he fpeeks, not too crafty and circumventing ; one that winks on another with his eyes, not to be f^ie and deceitful ; a Tailor and a hangman to be pitiful; a poor man to build "churches; a quack doctor to have a good con*cienc^a blaiff not to be a mercilefs villain ; an hoftefs not to over-reckon you ; and an uturer to be charitable, THEN SAY You have found a prodigy--^en a