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       ARISTOTLE'S
   Complete .masterpiece,
           .IN TWO PARTS ;
DISPLAYING THE SECRETS OF NATURE IN THE
   GENERATION OF MAN:
REGULARLY DIGESTED INTO CHAPTERS, RENDE..iNf'
    IT FAR MORE USEFUL VMD EASY THAN
          ANY YET EXTANT.

           TO fTRlCB IS ADDED


  A. TREASURE OF  HEALTH t
      i        OR THE

     FAMILY PHMCIAN:


5SING CHOICE AND APPOVED REMEDIES FOR ALL
    Ttid. SEVSRiL. DUrifiViPiiRi INCIDENT
        TO VH& HUvlAN BODY.
TUB SEVENTH NEVT-ENGCAND EDITION,
          NSW ENGL/iND:
PRlN^O, AND SOLI> BY ALL THE PRINCIPAL

              iv'5* 
t -" 

T                    INTRODUCTION.


 o      IF one of the meanest capacity were asked, what was
 f1   the wonder of the world ? I think the most  proper  en«
      iwer would be  man ; he being the little world, to whom
 ^    all things are subordinate ; agreeing in the genius with
 ^    sensitive things,  all  being animals,hut differing id  the
      species :for man  alone  is endowed with reason.   And
      therefore the Deity,  at man's  creation, as  the inspired
      penman telle us,  said, " Let us  make man in our own
      image, after our own likeness.*'   As if the Lord had said,
      let us make man  in  cur image, that  he may be, as a
      creature, like us ; and the same in his likeness, may  b«
      our image.  Some of the fathers do distinguish, as if
      by the image the Lord doth plant the reasonable powers
      of the soul, reason, will and memory ; and by  likeness,
      the qualities of the mind, charity, justice, patience, &c.
      But Moses confounded this distinction,  if you  compare
      these texts of scripture, Gen. i. 17 and v.  1. Colos. x.
      Eph. v. 14.  And the apostle, where he saith, " He was
      created, after  the   image of God, knowledge, and the
      same in righteousness and holiness."
        The Greeks represent him  as one turning his eyes up-
      wards, toward him  whose image and superscription  he
      bears.
           See ho-w the heaven's high Architect
►            Hath framed him in this wise,
           To stand, to go, to look erect,
             With body face and eyes.
        And Cicero  fays,  like Moses, Al! creatures were made
      *to rot on the earth except man, to whom was given  aa 
 Hprigrht f^ime, to contemplate  hi.« Maker,  BDd  be*hdlfl
 the hi B'ton prepared for him above.
    Now, to the end that so noble and glorious a cieature
 might not qaite perish, it pleased the  Creator  to  give
 unto woman the field of generation* for the reception
 of human seed ; whereby the natural aod vegita*ble srul
 which lies potentially in the seed, may  by the  plastick
 power, be reduced into act; that man, who is a  mortal
 creature, by lea-ving his offspring behind  him, may  be-
 come immortal,  -and survive in his posterity.  And be«
 cause of this generation, the womb, is the place where this
 excellent creature is formed, and in so wonderful a man-
 ner, that  the royal Psalmist, having meditated thereon,
 cries out as one ic extacy, "I am fearfully ard wonder-
 fully  made !" It will be necessary to treat largely there*
 on in thtg  book, which is divided into two part?.
   The first part treats  of fhe manner and parts of gene-
 ration in both sexes: for  from  the  mutual desire they
 have to each other, which nature has implanted in them
 to that end, that delight which they take  in   the act of
 copalation, does the whole race of traokind proceed;
 and a particular account of what things are  previous to
 thAt act, and also what are consequential of it; and how
 each  member concerned, it is adapted and fitted to  that
 work for which nature has designed it.
   The secccd part cfthia  Treatise  is wholly designed
 for the lemale sex,-and treats not only of the distempers
 of the womb, and the various ca ire?, but also gives you
 proper remedies for them.   For such is the ignorance of
 most woman,that when by any dutemper those parts are
 pfflietfd, they know net frcm whence itproceedsner hew
 to apply a remedy ;acd juch is their modesty also,  that
 they are unwilling to ask, that they mav be  informed 2
*a«S for the  helpof«uch if thisdesjgeed," 
ARISTOTLES  MASTER  flECE.

                 PART FIRST,
                     CHAP. 1.

Vf marriage and at what age young men and virgins
   are capable of it: and why they so much  desire it.
   Also how long men and women are capable of Tiav-
   ing children.
   THERE are very few, except some profest debauch"
es, but what will readily agree,  that  marriage is  hon*
orable to all, being ordained by  heaven, and  without
which, no man or woman can be  in a capacity honest-
ly to yield obedience to the  first law  of  creation, " In*
crease and multiply."  And  since  it is natural in  young
people to desire these mutual embracer,  proper  to  the
marriage bed, it behoves perents to look after their chil-
dren, and   when they find them inclined to many,  not
to restrain their  affections^  which  instead of allaying
them, makes them the more impetuous, but  rather pro-
vide  such suitable matches for them, as may make their
lives comfortable, lest the crossing of their  inclinations
should precipitate them to commit those follies that may
bring an indeliable  stain upon their families.
   The  inclination of maids to marriage, may be known
by many symptoms : For when thtj  arnvt at putertyj
which is about the 14th or 15th year of their age,  then
their natural purgations  begin to flow and  the  blood
which is no longer taken to augment their bodies, a-
bounding,  stirs   up their  minds   to venery.   External
causes also may excite them to a  ;for tbtir spirits being
brisk and inflamed, when they arrive at this age, it they
eat hard salt things aad spices, the body becomes  more
                          A2 
                            12
 rui mere heated, whereby the desire toveceral embra-
 ces is very great, and sometimes  almost insupportable.
 And the use of this so  nruch  desired enjoyment  being
 denied to virgins, many times is followed by dumai con-
 sequence?, as a green wesel color, short breathing, trem-
 bling of the  heart, &c«   But  when  they  are married,
 end their ven- real  desires satisfied by the enjoyment of
 their husbands, those distempers vanish, and they become
 more gay and lively  than  before.  Also  their  eager
 staring at men, and affecting their company, shews that
 nature  pushes  them   tpon  coition ; and their parents
 neglecting to get them  husbands, they break through
 modesty to satisfy  themselves in unlawful embraces.  It
 is the same with brisk widows, who cannot be satisfied
 without  the benevolence their husbands used to  give
them.
  At the age of 14, the menses in  virgins begin to flow
 when they are capable cf conceiving, and contirue gen.
 erally to 44, when they cease bearing, unless their  bod!
 ies are strong  and  healthful, which scmetirres enables
 to bear at 55.   But  mary  times the  menses  proceed
 fum violence  offered to Lature, or some morbific mat-
ter, which often proves fatal  to the  party.  Therefore
those men desirous of issue, must marry a woman with-
in the a#e aforesaid, or blame  themftlves if they  meet
 with disappointment : though if an old man not  worn
 cut with diseases and iccoherency, marry a  briek, live'y
lass, there is hopes  of his having   children  to  70,  nav
somf times till 80.                                 Jt
  Hippocrates holds, that a youth at  15,  or between
that and  17, having much vital  strength is capable of
gettmg children; and also, that the force of r recreating
rn.tter iCcrease8tiil45,50and55,and  then  begins tS
flag, the seed by degrees becoming unfruitful, the natur-
 al spirit  being extinguished, and the humors dried  up.
Thus in general, tho' it often  falls out  otherw^-r   Nav
it is reported by a credible author, that in Sweden^ a man 
                         IS
was married at 100 to a bride  of 36  ye»T8,  and h&<!
many children  by her :  But  his  countenance was  so
fiesh, that those who knew him  not,  took  him not to
exce. d 50.  And in Campania, where the air is clear and
ten perate, men of 80 rrarry young virgins,  and have
children fcy^them; shewing that age  in them  binders
liot procieation, unless they be exhausted in their youth,
 and iheir vale's shriveled tp.
   If any would know why a woman is sooner barren
 than a man, they may be assured that the natural  heat,
 which is the cause of generation, is more  predominant
 in the latter than in the former : For since a  woman is
 truly more moist than a man, as her monthly purgations
 demonstrate,as also the  softness of her b<dy, it is also
 apparent, that he doth not  exceed her in natural  heat,
 which  is the same thing that concccks the  hurrours into
 proper aliment •, which  the woman wanting ^rows fat;
 when a man,  through his native heat, melts his fat by
 degrees, and  hishumcurs are dissolved, acd t\ the ben-
 efit hereof are elaborated into seed.  And this may  also
 be added, that women  generally are ret to  strcrg as
 men, nor so wise or prudent ; nor have so  much reason
 and ingenuity in  ordering  affairs;  which  ?hows  that
 thereby their  faculties are hindered in operations.
                    CHAP. 2.
How to get a male cr female child: ar.d of the eirbryo
  and perfect birth : and thejittcst time  Jtr copula
                         tion.
  When a young couple are married, they  naturally
desire children, and therefore use th* the means that na-
ture has appointed lor that end.   But  notwithstanding
their endeavor?, they must know the fuccess of all de-
pends on the  blessings of the Lord ; not only so, but the
«x, whetfcer male or female, is from his disposal  also I 
                          14
 though it cannot be denied, but  secondary causes hav*e
 influence therein,especially two; First, the genitel hu-
 mour, which is brought by the arteria preparantes to the
 testes, in form of blood, and there elaborated  into seed*
 by the seminifical faculty  residing in them :  To which
 maybe added, the desire of coition, which  fire, the im-
 agination with unusal fancies, and  by the sight of  brisk
charming beauty, may soon enflame  the appetite.   But
 if nature be enfeebled,  such meats must be eaten as will
conduce to the affording such aliment as makes the seed
 abound, and restores the decays of nature, that  the facul-
 ties may freely operate and remove the impediments ob-
 structing the procieation of chidren.
  Then since diet alters the evil state of the body to a bet-
 ter, those who are  subject to barrenness must  eat  such
 meats as are of good juice, and that  nourish well,  ma-
king the body lively and full  of sap; of which faculty
are all hot moist meats.  For, according to Galen, seed
is made of pure concocted and windy superfluity of blood;
we may therefore  conclude there is a power  in  many
things to accumulate seed, and other things to  cause
erectioc; as hens eggs chesants, wood-cocks, ghat snap-
pers, thrushers, black.biro% young  pigeons,  sparrows,
patridge;,—all strong wines taken spariDgly,  especially
those  made of the grapt s of Italy.  But erection n chiefly
caused by scuraum, enngces, cresses, ciysmcn, parsnips,
artichoks, tun.ip», vtparagus,  canded  giLger, galings,
8com8 bruised to pewder, drunk in   muscadel, scallion,
Bea  shell.fi.-h, &c.   But tl.es-e must have time to perform
their operatiOL, and  nustuse  them  for a considerable
 time or ycu w.l rt.p bi.t little benefit by them.
  The act ofcojtiou bi-inj? < ver, let the woman  repose
 r.cieelf ti. \ < r right tide, v li her lead  Iving  low, and
 her Ud\ cec.i:r>>rp  tl ai ty suepitg  n. that  poster,  the
 c«-v i  (r, tl e nj:hi  sire  u  the  matrix mav prove  the
 pia-1 d cm i 'eption, for ti ttein  is the greatest  genera-
 tive htat, v\htch is the chief procuring cause of mate 
                         n
cri^'Vpn, and rarely fails tlu expectation oT^om*  •♦>>■*£
tX|:>  t. <tr r>, e«pecia ly if tbi y do but keep w;ir:  w  ri-
out n uih m< tioo, leaning 'o'he  i»»ht,  ai;d  (.nnkiiig  a
1;  '= »pir i o   hfron and  juice of hvsop  id a  g'.ast* uf
■1'ala a cr  Ahcaoi, <vhti<  they  lie dtv\L  £>nd  arue,
\\j  iLtspsceofa  week.
   For a ferralt  child, let a woman lie on the  left  side,
strongly fancyir-g a fenr>a!? in  the time  of  procreation,
cnr.k.tg the d< coction of  ferrale  mercury  four day?,
frcrr the first cay oi purgation ; the m»le  rrercury  has
tht liVe  cperation in c*sr of  a male ; for  this concoc-
tiot, purges the right ard left side of the  womb, opens
the  receptacles, and  makes  way  for  the seminary of
generation.
   The best time to beget a  female  is, when the moon is
In the wane,  in Libra  or Ajuarius.   Advicene  says,
 when the menses are speDt,  and  the womb  cleansed,
 which is commonly in 5 or  7 days at most, if a man lie
 with his wile from the first day she is  purged to the 5th
 she will conceive a rr ale; but from the 5h to the 8th a
 female; aDd from the 8th  to  the 12th, a  male again.
 But after that, perhaps reither distinctly,  hut both in a
 hermaphrodite.   In a word, they that would  be happy
 in the fruits of their labour, nust observe to use copula*
 tion in the due  distance of time, not too often nor too
 seldom, for both are alke hurtful ; and  to use  it imme-
 diately, weakens and wastes the spirits, and spoils the
 seed.   Thus much for the first particular.  The second
 is to let the reader know how the child is formed in the
 womb, what accidents it is liable tothere, and how nour-
 ished and  brought forth.  There  are  various opinions
 concerning this matter, therefore I shall shew what the
 learned  say about it.
   Man consists of an egg, whicU is impregnated in the
 testicles of the  weman, by  the more  subtle  part of the
 man's seed ; but tbe forming faculty  and virtue  in  the
 seed,, U a divine gilt, it being  abundantly ecdusd with
I 
m vital spirit, which g'wes sap and form to tlie embrio;  j
bo  hat ah parts *ud bulk of the body, which is made up
in a few months, and gradually formed into  the lovely ^
figure oTa man, do consist in, and are abumberated there*

   Physicians have remarked  four  different  times, in
which a  man is framed and  perfected in tbe womb:—*
The first moon after coition, being perfected the first
Wetk, if no flux happens, which is sometimes the case,
through the slipperness of the head  of tbe matrix, that
ehifts over like a rose-bud, and opens on a  sudden. The
Hd  time of forming is assigned to be, when nature makes  [
manifest mutation  in the conception, so that all the sub-  \
stance seems congealed flesh and  happens  12 or  14
days after copulation.   And though  thi* fleshy mass a-
bcunds with inflamed  blood, yet it remains  undistin*
guishahle  without  form or figure, and may be called
an embrio, and compared to seed  sown  in the ground,
which thro' heat and moisteure, grows by degrees into
a perfect form, either »n plant or grain.  The 3d time isy
when the principal parts shew themselves  plain ; as the
heart,  whence  proceed the arteries ; the  brain, from
which the uerves, like  small threads, run thro' the whole
body ; and the liver, that divides  the  chyle  from the
blood, brought to it by  the Vennal Porta.  The two first
are fountains of life, that nourish every part of the body;
in framing which, the  faculty of the womb  is  buried,
from trie conception to the 8th day of the first month.
The 4th and last, about the 30th day, the outward parts  I
are seen  nicely  wrought, and distinguished by joints  1
when the child begins  to grow.   From which time,  by
reason the limbs are divided, and the whole  frame is per-
fect, it is no longer an  embrio, but a perfect child.        Jg
  Most males are  perfect by  the 30th day, but  females^^
seldom to the 42d or~5th day, because the heat is grea-
ter  in producing the male  than  the female.  For the
eaaae reason, a woman going with a male child, quick- 
                         If
ess th 3 months ;1>«* woing with a ferml<», rarefy untfer
4: it which tine »•■•• hair ant nails  come forth, and the
chili begins to stir,ki k and move in the womb; and
fben the woman is troubled with a loathing of her meal,
find longing for thing'contrary to nutriment,  as coals,
ch-iik, &c. which deoire  often  occs^hns  abortion and
miscarriage.   Some women have been so extravagant
as to long for hob-nails, leather, nmn'*  flesh, and  other
unnatural as well  as  unwholesome  food i for want of
■which things, they have either miscarried,  or the  child
f)a» continued dead  in  the womb  many days.   Bu' I
shall now proceed to shew by what real means the child
is sustained in the womb, and what  posture it  there  re.
mains in.
   Various are the opinions about  nourishing the foetus
in the womb.  Some say by blood  only, from  the um-
bilical vein ; others by chyle taken  in by  the  mouthv
but it is nourished diversely,   according to the several
degrees of perfection and an egg passes from a concep-
tion to a foetus ready for birth.  1st, Let as explain the
foetus,  there are two principles active and passive ; the
active is the man's seed, elaborated in tbe testicles, out
of the arterial blood and animal spirits ; the passive is an
egg,  impregnated by the man's seed.  The nature  of
conception is  thus; The most spirltous pait of man's
seed, in the act of generation,  reaching up to  the testi-
cle, of the woman, wmch  containing divers  eggs* im-
pregnates one of them ; and being conveyed by the ovu
duct* to trie  botom  f the  womb,  presently begins  to
swell bigger and bigger, and drinks  in the  moisture that
ii plentifully sent thither, asseeds suck  moisture from
tbn ground, to make them  sprout.   When the  parts  of
the embryo begin to be a little more perfect, end that at
the same time, the cbonn is so thick, that thehqtior can-
no* soak thro' it  the umbilical vessels begin to be formed,
and to extend  the *< *e  f th«» amnion, vhtoh they pnss
tfuo' and also thro' the aliautreides and ehoiin,  and ar© 
                          18                          4
 implanted in the placenta,  which  gathering  upon  the
 chorin, joins upon  the uterus.   Aud now the  arteries
 that before sent  out the nourishment into the cavity of
 the womb, open by the orifice into the placenta, where
 they deposit the said juice, which is  draQk  up by the
 umbilical vein, and conveyed by it to  tbe liver of the   j
 foetus, and then  to the heart,  where its more  thin and
 spiritous part is turoed into  Mood, while the groser part
 of it,deceodmg by the aorta, enters the  umbilical arter.   ,
 ie» and  is discharged into its cavity, by  those branches
 that run through the amnion.                           '
 •  As soon a» the mouth, stomach, gullet, &c.  are form-
 ed so perfectly, that the foetus can swallow, it  sticks in
 some of the grosser nutricious juice, ttiat is deposited in
 the amnion by the umbilical arteries, which descending"
 into the stomach and intestines, is received by the lact^
 eal veins, as in adult persons.
  The foetus being perfected, in  all its  pirtsj  it  lies  e-
 qually ballanced  in the womb, as tbe centre on his bead,.
end being long turned over, so that the  head a  tittle in-   \
Cliaes, end it lays its chkj on its breast, its heels and  an-
cles on  its buttocks, its hanis on its cheeks,   and  its
thumbs to its eyes; but its legs and thighs are  carried
 Upwards, with its hams bendiog, so that they touch the
 bottom  of its belly, the former, and that part of the  bo--
 dy which is over against us, as the forehead,  nose, and
 face, are towards the mother'* back, and the head incli-
 ning downwards, towards the rump bone, that joins  to*
 the Os Sac'uii ;  which bone, together   with   the  Or
 Pubis, in the time of birth, part is losed;
The reason why children are bke tht'r parents,  and
.  that the  motntr's ima inafion contributes thereto;
  and whether r/.-? man.or woman is the  cause of the
  male orfetna- f chdd
  In  "e.cit'ise  i fs> nilitude, nothing is  more powerful
than the UAa{t4.*uou of tbe  mother: for it  she  lasien. 
                         19
her eyes upon any obj *ct, and imprint  it on  her mind,
it oft times so happens that the  child, in  some  part dc
other of its body, has a representation  thereof.  And if,
in the act of copulation,the woman earnestly look  u;j jo
the man,  a jJ fix her miad upon him  the child  will re-
gemble its father.  Nay, if a woman, in unlawful  copu.
laiion, fix her mind ou her hupbaol, the child will re?-m-
ble-him, though he did not bo get  it.   The  same  effect
hath  imagination in occasioning wars, strains,  mr-lth
Bpats, and dastes ;  though indeed they sometimes  hap-
pen thr u^i  fngnts, or  extravagant longing.   Many
women, being  with child, seeing  a  hare cro?s tbe  r  ad
before them, will,  through the  force of imagination,
bring fjrth a child witn a hairy lip.  Some children are
born w-.th flat nos*-s and wry mouths, blubber  lips, and
 ill shaded b odi^s ; and mu*t be ascribed to the  imagina-
 tion  of th<: mother, who hath cast her eyes  and  mind up-
 on some  ill shaped  creitur<-8.  It therefore  behoves  all
 women with child, if possible to avoid such sights, or   at
 least not to regard them.   Altho igh the mother's ima-
 gination  may contribute much to  the features  of  the
 child, yet in manuer.*, wit and pr pension of the mind,
 experience tells uh, that  children ate com m n!y of the
 condition with tlieir parents, and sme tempers.  But
 the vigour or disablny of persons in the act of  copula-
 tion many times causes it to be  otherwise ; for children
 got through heat aud strength uf desire mu^t needs par-
 take mor of the nature and inclination of their parents,
 thin thv)?e b gotten with desires more weak ;and there-
 fore the  children begotten by t se men in their old  age,
 are g nerally  weaker than those b gotten by  them  in
 their youvh.   As to the share whici  r*ch of the parent's
-h^s in begetti-ig  the child, we will give  the  opinion of
 the  ancitots <*bout it.
    Though it is» aooarent, say th*y, that the  nam's  seed
  is the coief caa sent b'eginin; of  le   -ecm-i, mit;on and
  generation , v*t  tuat the v >:mu affjrds aeed and  ef. 
                         20
ffectually contributes in that point to  the  procreation of
the child, is evinced by strong reasons.  In the 1st place
geminary vessels had been given her in vain, and geoi-
ta! testicles inverted, if the woman wanted seminal ex-
cresence, for nature does nothing in vain; and therefore
we must grant, they are rnadf for the  use of 8e*»d   and
procreation, and placed in their  proper  part9 both the
testicles  and th^ recepticles of seed, whose  nature is to
operate aod «ff *rd  virtue  to the  seed.   And to  prove
thin, there  needs no stronger argument, say they,  than
that if a  woman do not  usp copulation, to eject her seed,
she often falls into strange diseases, as appears by young
wpidi'd and vi-gins.  A second rpason they urge is, that
although a  society of a lawful bed consists not altogether
in these things, yet it is apparent^the  female  sex are
never be' er pleased, nor appear more blyth and jocund,
than when they are satisfied this way ; which is an in-
du-cmen*  to believe, they ha*e more pleasure and  titu*
htion  »bt rein than men. For,  since nature causes much
delight toaccompan} <jrcnon, by tb* breaking forth of
the swelling "p^rits, and the swiftness of the  nerves ; in
which ca*e tbe operation on the woman's part is  double,.
she having an enjoyment both  b   ejection and reception,
by which she is more delighted in the act.
   Hence it is, say they, that the child  more  frequently
resembles  the mother than the father, because the moth-
er contributes the mo3t  towards it.   And ihey think, it
m?y be further instanced, from  tbe  endeared affection
they bear  them ;.fb', that besides their contributing sem-
inal matter, they feed and nourish  the child  with  the
purest fountain of blood,.uotil  its birth.   Which opinion
Galen affirms, by allowing that children  participate most-
oi the  mother ; and ascribes the  difference    of sex  to
tbe operation of the mensirual blood; but the reason  of.
the likeness, he refers to the power of the seed ; For, aa
 the plants  receive more  nourishment from  fruitful
, ground, than from the industry of the  husbandmen .  *o 
                          21
the infant receives more abundance from the mother than
the father.   For, 1st,"the  seed  of both is cherished  in
the womb, and there grows to perfection, being nourish-
ed with blood.   And for this reason, say they, that chil-
dren, for the most part, love their mother best, because
they receive most of their subsistence from their moth-
er : For about nine  months  she nourished her child  in
the womb, with her purest  blood, the  love   towards it
newly born, and its likeness do clearly shew,  that  the
woman afforded food,and contributes more towards ma-
king tbe child than the  man.
   But in all this, the ancients were  very erroneous, for
the testicles, so called in women, afflrd not any  seed?,
but are two eggs, like these of  fowl*, and other crea-
tures ; neither have they any  office, as those of men,
but are indeed ovaria,  wherein  the  eggs are nourished
by the sanguinary vessels dispersed through  them,  and
from thence   one or more,  as they  are  foecundated by
the man's seed, is separated  and conveyed into ihe wemb
by the cveducts.  The truth of this  is plain, for   if you
boil them, their liquor will be the same colour, taste and
consistency, with the taste of bird eggs.
   If auy object, that they have no shells; that signifies
nothing :  For the eggs of fowls, while   they are in the
ovary, nay, after they are fasteded into the metus, have
no shell.   And  tbcuph, when they  are laid, they  have
one. yet that is  no more than a  defence wnich  nature
has provided them against  any outward  injury, while
they are hatched without  the body ;  whereas  those of
woman being hatched  within the' body,  need no other
fence than the womb, by which they are  sufficiently se-
cured.  And  this is enough, I hope, for  the  clearing of
this point.
   As to the third thing proposed, as whence  grow the
kind,  and whether the man or woman  is the cause ot
the male or female  infant.  The primary cause we must
ascribe to God,  as is most justly bis due, who is the ru- 
                         22
ler and disposer of all things: yt t he suffers m«my things
to piocetd according to the ruU:s cf nature, by ibeir in-
bred motions, according to usual and  naiural  courses,
without variation ; though indeed  by  favour  from  on
rii;i>, Sarah  conceived Isaac, Hannah, Samuel, and  Eli-
zabeth, John the Baptist ; but these were   all  very   ex-
traordinary  thing?, broifght to pass by a  divine   power,
above the course of nature ; nor have such  instances
been wanting  in latter  d^ys:  Therefore  1 shall wave
them, and proceed to speak of things natural.
  The ancient phys-icians  and philosophers siy. That
since there are two principles,  out of which the body of
the man is made, aud which render the child  like   the
parent?, and by one or the other sex, viz. seed common
to both stxes, and menstrual blood proper to the woman
only, the similitude, say  they, must needs  consist in\'ie
force and virtue offhe male or female ; \n that it proves
like the oneor other,  according to the quaiiiy  afforded
by eifher : But that  the difference of  the stx  is not  re-
ferred  to the seed, but to the menstrual blood, which \a
proper, to the woman,  is apparent:  For were that force
altogether retained in the seed  the  male seed   being of
the hottest quality, male children  would   abound,  and
few of the female be  propagated : Wherefore the ?tx is
attributed to the  temperment   of the active   qualities,
which consist in heat and cold, and the i:iture of the mat-
ter under  them ; that is, the flowing of  the  menstrous
blood : but now the seed, say they,  r ftVds both force to
oroceate and form the child, and matter  for its genera-
tion ; and  in  the menstrous blood there  is both matter and
force ; for as the seed most helps the  material principle,
v.o also does the menstrual blood the potential seed; which
is, says Galer, blood well concocted  by the vessels  that
contain t\  So that blood is not only the  matter of gen-
erating the child, but also seed, it being impossible  that
meostrul  blood hath  both principles.
   Tic ancients also say, The  seed is  the   stronger effi- 
                          23
 eient, the matter of it being very little in quantity,  bu?
 the  potential quality of it is very strong; wherefore if
 the principles of generation, according  to which the sex
 is made,  were only in the menstrual blood, then would
 the children be mostly females; as,  were the  efficien*
 force in the seed,they would be all males: but since both
 have operation in mensJrul blood, matter  predominates
 in quantity, and  in the seed force and virtue.  And there-
 fore Galen thinks tbe child receives its sex  rather  from
 the mother than from the  father," for  though  his seed
 contributes a little to the  material  principle, yet  it is
 more weakly.  But for likeness it is referred  rather to
 the father than to the mother.   Yet the woman's seed
 receiving from the menstrual blood, for the space ofnine
 months, overpowers the man's, as to that particular! for
 tVe menstrual blood flowing in vessels,  rather cherishes
 the  one  than  the other; from which it is plain, the  wo-
 man affords both matter to make, and force and  virtue
 to perfect the conception ; though the  female's «eed be
 fit nutriment  for the male's by  reason of the thinness of
 it, being more adapted to make up conception  tbeieby.
   But with all imaginable deference to the wisdom of our
 fathers,  give me leave to say,  that their  ignorance  in
 the anatomy of man's body, hath led them into the paths
 of error, and run them into great mistake? ; fonheir hy-
 pothesis of tbe formation of embryo, being  wholly  fal3e
 their opinion in this case  must bo so likewise.
  I shill therefore conclude this  chapter by observiag,
 that although a strong imagination Of the  rmthtr may
 often determine the sex yet the main agent iu this case,
 is the plastic or formative principle, which is the (ffiwient,
in giving .orm to the child, which gives it this or  that
sex, accordmg to those laws and rules  given to us   by
the  wise Creator of all things.
Of Monsters, and monstrous births : and the
                reasons thereof~%
                     82 
                         24
   By the ancient8r monsters are  ascribed to  depraved
conceptions, and are said to  be excursions  of nature,
which are vicious one of these four ways ; eithey in fig-
ure, magnitude, situation or  number.
   I proceed to the  cau*e of  their generation, which is
either divine or  natural.  The divine  cause proceeds
from God's permissive will, suffering parents to  bring
forth abominations  for their filthy and corrupt affections
which are let loose unto wickedness, like brute beasts
that have no understanding.   Wherefore it was enact-
ed among the 8ncientKomans that those  who were de-
formed should not be admitted  info religious  houses.
And St. Jerome was grieved in his time, to see   the de-
formed and lame offered up to God in re ligious  houses.
And Keckerman by way of inlerence,excludeth all that
are ill shaped from this Presbyterian function in the church.
And that which is  of more force than all, God  himself
commanded Moses not to receive such to offer  sacrifice
among his people ; and he  renders the reason, Lev. xxii.
28. •'  Lest he pollute my   sanctuaries."  Because the
outward deformity of the body, is often a  sign of the
pollution of the  heart, as a curse laid upon the child for
the inconticency of the parents.  Yet it is not always sc;
Jet us therefore  duly examine, and search cut the natur.
al cause of their generation ; which is either in the mat.
ter, or in the agent, in t,be seed, or in the womb.
   The matter may be in default  two ways, by defect,
cr by excess ; by defect, when the child  hath but one
arm ; but excess, when it hath three hands, or two head«.
Some monsters  are begot by women unnaturally  lying
with beasts, as in the year  1603, there was a  monster
 begotten by a woman  generating with  a  dog; which
 monster, from the naval upwards, had the perfect resem-
 blence  of its mother ;  but from its naval downwards, it
   "tihled a dog,   as you  may see by  the  following 
25
  The agent or womb, may be in fault three ways: 1st,
in the formative faculty, which may be too  strong or
too weak, by which is procured a depraved figure. 2dly?
In the instrument or place of conception ; the evil con.
formation or disposition whereof, will cause a monstrous
birth.  3dly, In tbe imaginative power, at  the  time of
conception ; which  is  of such a force, that it stamps  the
character of the thing imagined on  the  child.   And I
have heard of a women, who, at the time of conception,
beholding the picture  of a   blackamore,   conceived and
brought forth an Ethiopian.  I will not trouble you with
more human testimonies, but conclude with a stronger
warrant.  We read, Gen, xxx. 31 how Jacob ha* ing a-
greed with Laban, to have all the spotted sheep for kee-
ping his flock, to augment his wages, took  hazel  rods,
and pealed white streaks on then, and laid them before
the sheep when they  came to drink, and coupled  to-
gether three, whilst  they  beheld the  rods, conceived
and crougu't forth spotted young. 
                        26
   Another monster rfp»esenting an hairy child : It was
covertd wi h hair like a beast.   Tl.at which rendered it
mere frightful was, that itgnavaiwas in the place where
his nose should stand, and his  eyes placed  where  his
mouth should havt beec» and its m uth w a« in the  chin.
It  was cf the maie kind, and was born in Fiance in the
year 1507.
  There way a monster ui in.*  kiud born ai Nazara, in
the year 1530,   It had four arms, and four legs, as you
see here. 
27

   Heav'n in cur first formation d<d prcvide
   Two arms two legs ; 6ut ts/rof 70  Aatr beside
   Renders us monstrcus  and u;shapen  toot
   Nor have we any xvorkfor them to do.
   Two arms,  two legs, are all ti at we ran.-use,
   And to have more there1 s no xtist man wdl chcose.
                              "■■<■■•<& simf-'
   Likewise, in the time of HpmyM there was a wo-
man delivered  ©f a child, having two heads & four arms,
and the bodies were joined  at the backside : the heads
were so placed, that they  Ice I; d crntrary ways ;  each
had two  distinct arms  and  h^nds ; trey would  be 'h
laugh,  both .*peak and bothcry  and be hungry together,
sometimes the one would speak, aud the  ether w id
keep silence, and sometimes both sptpk together. Ti-ey
lived several years, but one outlived the ether 3 years,
carrying the dead one, for there was no parting them,
till the  other fainted with the burthen, and more  with
the stink of the  carcase. 
28
f i immmi
■4MM«PflM«^MBM|*MMBW»i
   The imagination also works on the child after concep-
 tion, for which w:e have a pregnant instance.
   A worthy gentlewoman in Suffolk,  being with child,
 passing by a butcher killing his meat, a drop  of  blood
sprung on her face ; whereupon she said, htr child would
have a blemish on  its face ;  and at the birth, it  was
found marked with*« red spot.
   And iti3 certain, that monstrous births often happen
by means of undue copulation : For.some there are, who
having been long absent from each  other, and having
an eager desire for enjoyment,  consider  not  as  they
ought^ to do as their  circumstances require.   And if  it
happen that they come together, when  she  woman's
menses are flwing, and  proceed to the  act  of copula-
tion, the issue of such copulation does often prove mon-
strous, as a just punishment for doing what  nature for-
bids.  And therefore  though men should be ever so ea-
ger, yet women knowirg their own condition, should at
such'times deny them.   And though 8Ucn copulations do
not always produce monstrous births* ?et tQe  cnildren 
                         20
then begotten, are generally heavy, dull and  sluggish^
and defective in their understanding, wanting the viva-
city and liveliness which children got in proper seasons,
are endued with.
  By the following figure you may see, that though some
of the members may be malting, yet they are  supplied
by other members.
   It remains that I now make so.m  e qu y,  whether
 those thar are bora monsters have reasonable  soul, and
 are capable of resurrection.  And here both divinei and
 physicians are generally  of opinion, those  who, accor-
 ding to the order of generation, deduced from  our  first
 parents, proceed by natuial  means  from  either  sex,,
 though their outward shape may  be def rmed  aad  mon-
 strous, have notwithstanding a reasonable sou , and con-
 sequtntly  their bodies are caoabteof a  resurrection : hut
 those monsters that are aot bogotten by men,butare the
 product  of womans' unnatural lust, 10  copulation  witii
•other creature*, shall perish l»*e the  brme   beasts, by 
                         30
w^m +h»v w"ra ^qrr^en, not having a req&on^ble soul,
oi ary breath of the 'ilm;»htv hifuse.i  into  them.  And
the same is also true of imperfect and abortive births.
 Th° opinion of the learned rone^rneug children concriv-
   el  n I bnm wthin srvrn months : with a^gume -ts
   0" the *ubj  et  to pr^v >i' suspicion of  tie  tncon-
   s:.-i  at a  ! bner cm'rs's on that account  To which
   a-   adi'd rut  s tiiknwtue disposition of  Man's
   b^:lyby the  gemtol pa: ts

    'M/nybitt;;'  q-inr^'- happen between  men and
 their wive-,  i.-poi, th m.nNsusoicion that his ch li coitus
 t  seen, aid ct y  i.± q , rrt  that  he is  not il.t  fatht r ;
 whereas it is- thrill^; v an' of ,j d' rstanding the secrets
of nature  v^ich br-;gs the rm:o  into  th  t  error; and
'•vhbhifk.  sv  , mig»»t nav  cured him of his  susp^ioa
a^' j alou«-v.
   To rem.: v w< irh,  I *r:.'! endr-vor to prove,  that it
Sepo-?ible, a <f) -as been f.»qn< > tly k.. v.vo, t'rv children
h v.-e been bon- ^  f  en j-•vmh?.   Cises of thi* i ature
h  vt made wo  I ?;•,?'lawv-s, wtio  havt lelt  it t  "t e
r. .yiiciann to jiKge. by jewing the child, whether A be
f: chUd in ftvt-r,t••} \\-. or nine moot•■■■«.  r*..!  the coun-
8-Vor has this pa ?ii^e id >he  lfiih  book  >t pleading? viz
u Ilia  now a received  m.th  » ,ru a perfect  child   miry
bt oorn'•■ tl  e st v, • :r, mor;hvby  iu- authority   of>he
1  .md rL[.ocrate. ; and  trur^e we -'.usibelieve tr ?,t
a c!mM ^>m  ac the  rod ,iF 'he < v...-.th msnth,  in lawful
E- ■rimouy,may be lawfully begotren."
   ^ iim is of opiuioL,  iha? there  is no certain time set
f;  beaT.rg  of r'rild?. o  ; and  h■»» from Phu^s  au'or, y,
v ro m»k.8  mer'.i. ; of a  woman  thet  went thlr i--n
n  o;hs v. \h  chid  } bu> as to  what concerns the seventh
r.it>t:Th,a learned author says, " I  know ■■ v^ral married
pet pi-  in Holland, tf)if> hid twins  x-u in   !he s:-v».n'h
n^mh, who  lived  w old &ge, having lusty   bodies  dud 
                          31
 lively  'ivaii.   WrH'-tfore rhsre o'pi.ito-1 .3 vrv.r-J, v/ao
 assert, that a child at sev3n mouthi  ciunot  L »  oerfe**
 and lon:> lived; aad  that it cannot  in all parf j 'j i p^rfe -i
 till the 9th month."  Tliereupaa this author proceeds t.
 to tell a passage from his own knowledge, viz.   *f Op-
 iate there happened a great disturbance among us  which
 ended not without bloodshed ; aad was occasioned by  t
 virgin, whose  chastity had been violated, d>*p.ceading o*
 a noble family  of unspotted fame.   Several charged the
 the  fact to the judge, who was president of  a  city  in
 Flanders who  stiffly denied it, saying  he was ready ti
 give bis'oath  that he never had any  carnal  copulation
 with her: and  further argued, that he  verily  believed
 that it was a child born in seven months, himself  being
 many miles distant from the mother of it,  when  it wae
 conceived.   Whereupon the judges decreed,  that  the
 child should be  viewed by able physicians and experier.
 ced  women,  and that they should  make their  report
 They  having made diligent enquiry, all of them,  with
 one  mind, concluded the child, was born within the spac*
 of seven months, aud that it was carried in the  womb
 but 27 w^eks and odd days ; but if she  should h*ve  gone
 fu'.l nme months the child'* puts and limbs would  have
 been more firm and strong,and the structure of the body
 more compicf,  for the skin was very  loose,  and  the-
 breast  bone that defends the  heart, and the  gristle thai
 lay over the stomach, lay higher  than  naturally  they
 should b^; not pinn, bu  crocked and  sharp  riged, or
 pointed like tho?e of a yrjng ch;c'.en,  hatched  in the-
 begining of spring.   Aadl bHng-a female infant, it wan-
 ted nails upon the joints of the  fingers ;upoa  which,    ;
 from the masculou^ cartilaginous  matter  of tbe  skin^
 na Is that are very smooth to  come,  and  by degrses
 hardened, she had instead of nails a thin skin   or  film.
 As for  her tots,  there was no sign of nails  upon  them,
 wanting the heat  which was expanded to ^he finders,,.   {
from tue nearness of the  heart.  All this being  cjtwid.
                         G 
                         *2
 ered, and above ali, one gentlewoman of quality  thsl
 assisted, affirming that she had been the mother of nine
 teen children, and that divers of them  had  been  born
 and lived at seven months; they, without favor to  any
 party, made their report, that the infant was a child of
 seven months, tho' within the seventh  month.   For  in
 such cases, the revolution of the moon  ought to be  ob-
 served, which perfects itself in fcur  weeks, or somewhat
 less than 28 days; in which space of the revolution, the
 blood being agitated by  the force of the moon, the cour-
 ses of the woman flow from them,  which being  sp nt,
 and the matrix being cleansed from the menstrous blood
 which happens on the 4th day ; then if a man on the 7th
 day lie with his wife, the  copulation is  most natural,
 and then is the conception best; and a child thus  begot-
 ten may be born in  the 7th  month,  and  prove very
 healthy.  So that upon this report,., the supposed  father
 was pronounced innocent, upon proof that he  was one
 hundred miles distant all that month in which the child
 was begotten.  And as for the mother, she strongly de-
 nied that she knew the father, being forced in the dark #
 and so  through fear and surprise was left in ignorance.*1
   As for coition, it ought not to  be used, unless the  par-
 ties be in health,  lest it turn to the disadvantage  of the
 children so begotten, creating in them,  through   the
 abundance of ill humors, divers  languishing   diseases;
 wherefore health is bo way better to be discerned  than
 by tbe genitels of the man.   For  which  teason  mid-
 wives, aud other skillful women, were formerly wont to
 see the testicles of children,thereby  to conjecture their
 temperature and sUte of body ;  and young  men  may
know thereby the signs or symptoms of death; for if the
 eases of the  testicles be loose and feeble,  and the ccrda
fail down, it denotes that the  vital  spirits, which  are
the props of life,  are fallen ; but if the secret parts be
wrinkled and raised up, it is a sign all  is well; but  that
the event may exactly aauwet  tbe  prediction, it is n*- 
                        3$
cesmy to consider what part  of the  body the disease
po?e*seth ;  for if it chance to be the upper  part that is
afflicted, as  the head or  stomach, then it  will not so
well appear  by  the members,  which  are  unconcerned
with such grievances; but the lower  part  of the body
exactly uympathvrng with them, their liveliners on the
contrary makes itapparent; for nature's force, and  the
spirits that have their intercourse, first manifest them*
selves therein, which occasions  midwives  to  feel the
children, to know in what part the grief is residing, and
whether life or death be protended  thereby  the symp-
toms being strongly communicated by the  vessels, that
have their intercourse with the principal seat of life.
Of the greensickness in  virgins, with  its  causes,
                  signs, and cures.            t
   The greensickness  is so common a distemper in vir,
^ios, especially those cf a phtegmatic compaction, that
it is easily  decerned, shewing itselfby  discolouring the
face, making it look green, pale, and of a dusty colour ;
proceeding from  raw  and  indigested humours; nor
doth it only appear to the eye but sensibly  afflicts the
person with difficulty of breathing,  pains  in the head,
palpitations of the  heart, with unusual beatings and small
thrcbbings of the arteries  in the temples, neck and back,
which often casts  them into leavers, when the humour
b over vicious ; also the distention of the hyp'ocondican
part, by reason of the inordinate effluction of ihe  men-
gtrous blood to the greater vessels ;  and from the abun-
dance of humours, the whole body is troubled with swel-
lings,  or at least the thighs, legs  and  ancles, all above
the heels; there is also a great weariness  of Very.
   The Galenical  physicians affirm, that this  distemper
proceeds from  the womb ;  occasioned by  the groos, vi-
cious  and  rudehumours  arising   from several  inwara
 causes; but there are also outward causes, whicti nave 
                         34
 « share in the ptoou  lion of it ; ae  taking  cold in  the
 feet, drinkiDg wait., iuterr,per*uce of diet, cat!  g things
 contrary to nature, v z. raw . r burnt fi   h, ash-^, coal^
 old shoes, cnr-lk, wax, nut shell?, moriar, i me, oa t-meal
 tobacco pipe.*, &c, which  occasion both  a puporesson of
 the menses and obstructions through the  whole body,
 therefore tie fust thing necessary is rr.atrimoni-I  ecu.
junction, as such copulation  as may p.rcve   satusfaifc.y
 to her that is afflicted ;  for then the mentis will btgn
 to flow according to their naiural  and  due course, and
 the humours being dispersed, v,Ji eoon waste tht.  mselves,
 »-d then no more matter being admitted  to   iucrease
 them,  they will vanish, and a  good  t^mprtmet of body
 wiii return ; but in case this best remedy cannot be bad
 soon enough, then blood her in  ihe atcles;  and if she be
 about the age of sixteen, you may likewise do it   in  the
 arm,   but  let  her  bleed  but  sparirgly, especially,
 if the blood be good.   If  the disease be  of any   continu-
 ance, then it is to be eradicated by purging, preparation
 of the humor first  considered, which may be  done by
 tha virgin's drinking the decoct of Guiacum, with ditta-
 ny of Greete ; but the best purge in this case ought to
 be made  of aloes,  egrie,  senna,  rhubarb;  and for
 strengfhetWg the  bowels, and  opening  obstructions,
chalybear medicines  are  chiefly to  b<  used.  The  diet
 must be moderate, and sharp things by  ail meane avoid*
 ed.  For finding the  huirours, take  prepared steel,  be-
 z.oar stone, the root  of scotzonera,  cyl of  chrystal in
small wine, and let the diet  be roo<Jerate,  but in  no
wise let vinegar be used  threwith.   In  observing  this
 the humors will be dilated and disperst, whereby  the
 complexion  will return, acd tbe body be- lively and  full
of vigor. 
                        35

y^gimUjy what it is, in what it consists, -and how vi-
  tiated ; together with the opinion of the learned  a-
  b'Mt the mutation of the sex in  the womb,  during
  the opperation of nature in framing the body.

  There are  many  ignorant people who beast of their
fkill m the knowledge of vnginity, and some virgins have
undergone hard censures through their ignorant   deter-
minations ; I therefore thought it  highly  necessary  to
clear  this point that the towering imaginations of con-
ceited ignorance may be brought down, and the fair sex
may be freed from tbe calumnies and  detractions of ig-
norance and envy ; and so their honors may  continue
as unspotted, as they have kept their persons uncontam-
ined, and free of defilement.
   Virginity in a strict sense, does signify the prime, the
chief, the beat of any thing  ; which make  men so  de
sirous of marrying virgins, imagining some secret  plea-
sure to be enjoyed in their embraces, more than in those
"ol widows; though not many years ago, a very  great
person was of another  mind, and to me  his  own ex-
pressions, " That the getting of a maidenhead was puch
a piece of drudgery, as was more  proper for a  poiter
than  a prince.'*   But this was  only his opinion, for most
men, i am sure, have  other  sentiments.  But  to our
purpose.
   The curious enquirers into natun *$ secrets have ob-
served, that in young maids in the Sinu Pudoris^  or  in
that place which is  called  the neck of the womb, is that
ponduouj production, vulgarly  called  the  Hymen, but
more rightly the claus rum  virginale ; and  in  French
Butten de rose, or rose bud; because it  resemble* the
bud of a rose expanded, of a conve gill* fl wer.   From
hence is derived the word deflower.   And hence taking
away virginity is called deflowering a Virgin, Most be-
ing of opinion that the virginity is altogether lost whea
Ifcis duplication»fractured ard diss.patedny violence;
                           to 
 and when it is found perfect and entire,  no penetration
 has been: and it 1* tue opinion of some learned phyfi-
 cians that there is not  either flymen or tkiu expanded,
 containii.g blood in it,  which divers think in the first co-
 pulation flows from the fractured expanse.
   Now tbi*Clau*trumor Virgmale, or flower* is compo-
 sed of four carbuncles or little buds like  myrtle  berrie*,
 which in virgins are full and plump, but in wcmeB  fl<*gj
 and hang loose; and these are  placed ra the  four  an-
 gles  of the Sinus  Pudoris,    joined  together by lit-
 tle membranes and ligatures like fibies,  each of  them
 situate in the testicles of spaces between each carbuncle,
 with which, in a manner, they  are proportionably  dis-
 tended; which membranes being once delacerated  de'
 note devirgination  ; and many inquisitive 8nd ytt  igno-
 rant persons fiudng thtir wives  defective  htrem, the
 first night of their marriage, have thereupon suspected
 their chastity.   Now to undeceive such, I  do  faffirrrij
 that such fractures happen divers accidental  ways, as
 well as by copulation with men, viz.  violent  straniugs
 coughing  8netzing, stoppm of uriog,and violent moticus
 of the vessels, forcibly sending down the  humours which
 pressing for passage, break the iigatures or  membrane ;
 £0 that the fracture of that w hich is cemmonly taken for
 their maiden head, is no absolute sign  of dithcuesty ;
 though ccitain it is, that it is broke in copulation  rather
 than by any other means.
   I have heard, that at an assize held  at  Rutland,  a
 young man was tried for a rape, in   forcing a   virgin ;
 when after divers questions being asked,  and the  maid
 eweanng positively to  tbe matter,  naming the  time,
 place and manner of the action ;  t was, upon   mature
deliberation resolved, that she should be  searched  by a
 skillful surgeon  aud two midwives, who  were   to make
 their report upon oath ;  which, after due examination,
 they accordingly did affirming that the membranes were
 entire, and not delacerated ; and that it was their opin* 
                         37
 ton, for that reason, that her body had not been  per.*"
 etrated.  Which so far wrought with  the  jury,  that
 the prisoner was acquitted ; and the  maid  aftei wards
 confessed, she swore against him  out of  revenge,  he
 having promised to marry  her, afterwards  declined it.
 And this much  shall suffice to be  spoken  concerning
 virginity.
   I shall now proceed to say something of nature's ope-
 ration, in mutation of sexes in the womb.
   This point is of much necessity by reason of the diffe-
 rent opinions of men relating to it;  therefore before any
 thing  positively can be asserted, U will  be proper to re-
 cite  what has been delivered, as well in the negative as
 affirmative. And fiast Severus Plinus, who argues  for
 the negative, writes thus : The genital parts of both sex-
 es are so unlike  each other in  substance, composition,
 situation, figure, action and use,  that  nothing is  more
 unhke, and  by how much more all  parts  of the body
 the breasts  excepted, which in women swell mere, be.
 cause  nature ordained them for suckling the infant, have
 exact  resemblance ; to much more do  the genital parts
 of one sex con pared with the other differ; and if their
 figure be thus different, much more  tLeir  use.   The ve-
 nerial  appetite also proceeds from different causes ; for
 in man it  proceeds from a  desire cf emission,  and is
 woman from a desire of reception :  in women also, the
 chief of those parts are concave, and apt  to receive, but
 in men they are mere pours.   These things being  con-
 sidered, I cannot but wonder,  says   he, how  any one
 can imagine, that the genital members  of the  female
 blrtha should be changed into those that  belong to males
 since by those parts only the distinction ol  sexes is made,
 nor can 1 well  impute the reason of tbie vulgar error to
any thing, but the mistake of unexpert midwives,  v.ho
have been deceived by the  evil  conformation  of the
parts, which in some male births may have happened to
have eome smailjjotiugions, not to have been discerned: 
as appearsby the example of a child christened at P arfefc
by the name of Joan, as e girl, who  afterwards  proved
a boy ; and, on the contraty, the over far  extention of
the Clytoris in female  births,  may   have occasioned
the like  mistakes.    Thus  far  Pliny   proceeds   in
the negative :  and yet  notwithstanding what he  hath
said,there are divers learned physicians that have asserted
the affirmative, of  which number Galen is one.  A man,
saith he, is different from a woman in nothing else  but
'having his genital members without his body,  whereas
a woman hath them within.  And this is certain, that
if nature having formed a  male, should convert him  in-
4o a female, she hath no other task to  perform,  but to
turn his genital members inwardj and  so  to  turn a
woman into a man by  the contrary operation.   But this
is t" be understood of the child when it it in the  momb,
and not perfecly formed.   For oftentimes nature  hath
made a female chiM3 and  it hath so  remained   in  the
womb of the mother for a month  or   two, and  after
plenty of heat increasing in the  genital members,  they
have issued forth, and the child  has become a male, yet
retaining some certain gestures unbefiting the  mascu-
line sex, as female action  a shrill voice, and a more ef-
feminate temper than ordinary 3 tontrarywiee,  nature
havmg rften made a male, and eold  iiumcurs  flowingf
to i», the genital* have  been ii Verted, yet still retaining
a masculine air, both in voice and gestures.   Now the*
both these opin onsare  supported by several reasons, yet
I esteem the latter more agreeably to truth, for thete is
not that vast difference between the genitals of tbe two
Sixes, as Piny w( uld have us belu ve there is, for  the
woman has in a manner the same  members  with  the
man, though they  appear not outward, but are inverted
for the coiveoitucy of generation : the chief d Ifsrence
being that the one  is solid, and the other  poru»,  and
that the  principal reason   fjr changing  sexjs is, and
Brunt be  attributed  tu heat or Gold suddenly  or  eiowljr 
contracted, v.btch cperates afcir'ii'g to it«  greater  or
lesser force.
 Directions and cautions jir traicwhes : and first, kevs
           a  midwife ought to be qualified.
   A midlife f-hst wruld a« q^i  :,er:u!f well in her em-
 ployment, cug' i hy no rr-  ve ' - euter upon it ra?hly or
 ur-auvisediy, but with ali imaginable caution consider-
 i; g that she is accountable fjr ail the mischef  that  be-
 fits thrcuah her w.iful igc ranee or neglect. Therefore
 let r.one toke up en the . ffire barely t pon   pretence  of
 maturity of years and chiio bearing, for in such, for  the
 most part, there are d vers things  watng, th&t  cugt  to
 be cbacived, which is the the ccca&ion of so many wo-
 men and chidren being lost.
   Now for a midwife, in relation  to her person,  these
 things ou^ht to be obpened, viz. she  n u?t reither  be
 toe old nor too young, neither very fat nor weskered
 by leauness, but in a good habit of tody ; cot subject to
 diseases, fear, c«»  eudaen fr-ghts ; her body well khaped,
 and  neat in ber attire : her hstds t n.ooth and small, her
 tjails paired short, net suffnirg any rirgs to be upon her
 fingers duiing the time she is do ng her effice, tor any
 thing that may obstruct.  And to  ihe.e cught to be ad-
 ded activity and a convenient ttrtegth, with much cau-
 tion  and diligence, not subject  to  drowsiness,  ccr apt
 to be impatient.
   As for her manners, she ought to be corteous, sffable,
 sober, chaste and not subject to passion,  bcuntiful aid
 compassionate to the poor, and not  covetous when she
attends upon the rich.
   Her  temper chearful and pleasant, that she may the
belter comfort her patient in the   dolorous labors : nor
inu,t she at any time make too much haste, though her
busi»ess should require her in another  case, lest  shu
thereby endanger the moiher cf the child. 
                        40
   Fhe cughts also to be vvrty, prudent  end  cunning ;
but afccyt  all, tbe fear cf God < u^\ t to have the  ascend-
ance in her soul, which will give her both knowledge
aad discretion.


Further directions for midwifes, teaching ^hem what
        they cught to do and what to  avoid.

   Since the office of a midwife has so great an irfluence
en the well or ill doing of women and children, in the
first place let her be diligent to acquire whatever knowl-
edge may be advantageous to her practice, nev*r  thin-
king heree If so perfect,  but  that she  may add  to her
knowledge by study and experience; yet never let her
make  any experiment at her patient's  cost ncr apply
any experiments in that case, unless she has tried them,
or knows they will do no harm, practising neither  upon
poor nor rich, but speaking freely what she knows ; and
by no means prescribing such medicines as will cause  a-
bortion, thongb desired ; which is a  high degree   of
wickedness, and  may  be termed  murder.   If she be
Bent for to them she knows not, let her be very cautious
ere she goes, lest by laying an infectious  woman she
endanger the spoiling of others.
   Inlaying of women,  if the birth  happen to be  large
and difficult, she must not seem  to be  concerned, but
must cheer up the woman, and do  what  she  can   to
make  her  labor easy.
   She must never think of any thing but  doing  well,
causing all things to be in readiness that are  proper for
tbe wcrk, and  the strsngtening of the woman, and  re-
ceiving of the child ;   and above all, let her fake care  to
keep the woman  quiet when  her throws are coming on,
lest she endanger her own life and the child's.
   She must also  take care she be not too hasty  in ber
busineis, but wait God's leisure for the birth,  lest, tbrb»
fear, if things should go well, it should make  ber inca- 
                        41
pahle of giving  that  aas'sunce whieh  the  labouring
woman stands in need of; for when we are most  at a
loss, then there  is most need of prudence to set  things
right.
   And now,because she can never be a skillful midwife,
that knows nothing but what is to be seen outwardly ;
I shall not think it amiss, but on the the contrary highly
necessary, with modesty, to  describe  the generative
parts of women, as they have been anatomised by  the
learned, and  shew the use of such vessels as  contribute
to generation.
                  Ruaanraa

Of the genitals of women, external and internal to the
                vessels of the yoomb*
   It? "<t were  not for public benefit, especially  of  the
practioners and professors of the art  of   midwifery,  I
would  forbear to treat of the secrets of nature,  because
they may bs  turned by some laclvious and lewd persons
intoredicule ; but they being absolutely necessary to be
known, in order to public good, t  will not omit  them.
These parts that oWet themselves to view at the bottom,
of the belly,are  Fisaura-magna, or the great ch.nfr, with
its Labia or lips, the IVlons Veneris, and the hair ; these
are called by th ? general name Pudenda, from  shame*
facedness  because when they are bare, they  bring
shame upv>n a  woman;  The Fissura-magna reaches
fVom the lower part of the 0$ pubis, to within an inch of
the anus, but it is lesser and   closer in  maids  than  in
those thit borne children ; and his two lips,  which to-
ward the pubis-grow thick *r and-more fj'l ; and  mee-
ting upon tbe middle of the os pubis, makes  that  risiog
hill that is called M <na Veneris, or the hill of Venus.
   The next  things that  offer, are the  Nymp-<a  and
Clytoris ; the farmer of w >ioh is of a  »embra<:y  and
fl*my substance, sp-iogy, soft  aod partly flashy, of a  ied
tolour, in tlw thane of wings, two  in nivnober^  though 
                          42
 from their ris? they are joioed in an accute  angle, pro-
 ducing there a fleshy substance, which clothe the Clyto-
 ris; and sometime* they spread so far, that  incision is
 required to make way for the man's instrument of gen*
 eration.
   The clytoris is a substance in the upper part  of  the
 division where the two wings concur, and it is the  seat
 of veneral pleasure, beinglike a yard in  situation,  sub.
 stance, composition and erection; growing sometimes
 out of the body two inches, but that never  happens  un-
 less through extreme hist, or extraordinary  accidents.
 This Clytoris consists of two spongy and  skinny bodies,
 containing a distinct organ, from the Os, Pubis, the head
 of it being covered with a tender skin, having a hole  or
 passage like the Penis, or Yard of a  man,   though  not
 quite through, in which, and the bigaess, it only  differ*
 from it.
   The next things are the fleshy knobs,  and the  great
 neck of the womb ;  and these knobs  are behind  the
 wings, being four in  number, and resemble myrtle ber-
 ries, being placed quadrangular one against the other,
 and in this place is inserted to the orifice of the bladder
 which opens itself into tbe fissures, to evacuate the  u-
 rine ; for secureing of which from cold, or the   like in-
 co iveniency, one of these knobs is placed  before it, and  ' |
 shuts up the passage.
   The lipa of the womb tha* next appear, being, separa-  I
ted, disclose the neek thereof; and in themselves,  anf
the hymen, but more properly the Ciauntrum Virginale,   "i
 which  I h<we before dmc cursed.  By the  neck  of tbe
 w>mb  is to be understood the  channel that  is   between  *4
the aforesaid k:job« anl th*-  inn?-r bone of  the   womb,  ^
which  rectives the Peni«  .ko  a sheath ; and that it may   |
thi' hotter be dilated froir he pleasure  of   procreation,    ;
the sub unce of it issinewy, and a little spongy, and  in    '
this   o  v*y a j n<v< r-" fohV or obicular plaits, made
by tuu.cita vvnuk..Q nke an expanded rose,  in virgins 
                         43
fhey plainly atpear, but io w >men that have often used
copulation, they are extinguished ; so  that in  the inaer
side of the womb'*  neck, it appaars smooth, but  in  old
women  it appears more harl a^-d .grisly.  BA  though
this cha-iiid be at times withered aa-J crocked,  sinking
down ;  yet ia th?  tirr. r of  c >pulation,  la&or,  ot  tha
monthly purga;ion, it is erected  and extended,   which
ov^rtenstonocaasionthe pains of child  birth.
  The Hymen, or  Ciaqstrum Virginale, is  that  vrhich
closea the neck of the womb being, a3 I have  fore citel
in tbe chapter, relating to virginity, broken in first  co.
pulatmg, itsuse being rather to stay the untimely courses
in virgins than to  any othei end ; and com. m only when
broken in copulation, or by any other accident, a  small
quantity of blood flows from it, attended with come littis
pain.   Prom whence soma observe, that  between the
duplicity of tbe two tumcles, which constitute the nech
of the womb ; there are many veins and arteries  run-
ning along and arising from the vessels on both  sides of
the thigh, and so passing into the neck  of the womb, be*'
jog very large ;and the reason thereof is, that the ueci
of the bladder requires to bt filled  with  abundance of
spirits, threby to be dilated for its better taking hold  of
the Peoi3th?re being great heat  required m!  sush mo
lions} which becomes more intent by the acta of  frlctiorj5
and consumes a considerable quantity of mosture, in the
supply of which large vessels are  altogether   necessary.
  Another cause of the longness of these vessels  is, by
reason the menses make the way through them, which
often occasion women with child  to coatinut?  their  pUr-
gation > for though the womb be shut  up, yet the neck
in the passage of the womb through which these vessels
pass, are open ; in this case there is further to b-» obser*
ved, that a* soon as you penetrate the  pudendum, there
appear two little pits or hoses, wherein is contained an
hu nour, which beiag expunged in time of  copulation*
greately delights the woman.; 
                        44
rA description of the womb's fabric, the preparing ves.
   gels and testicles in women.  As also of the differ-
   ence and ejaculatory vessels.
   In the lower part of the bypogastum, where  the lips
are widest and broadest, they being greater aud broader
there about than those of men, for which reason  they
have likewise broader buttocks than men ; the womb is
joined to its ne ck, and is placed between the bladder and
strait gut, which beeps it from swaying or rowliog, yet
gives it liberty to strech and dilate itself again to con-
tract, nature in that case disposing it.  Its figure is in a
mannner round, and not unlike a goard, lessening a lit-
tle and growing more accute towards one   end, being
knit together by its proper ligaments ; its neck likewise
is joined by its own substance and certain  membranes
that fasten unto the Os Sacrem, and the share bone.  As
 to its largeness, that very much differs in women,  espe-
cially the difference  is great between those who have
 borne children, and those that have borne none: in sub-
 stance it is so thick that it  exceeds  thimble  breadth,
 which after copulation is so far from decreasing that it
 augments  to a greater proportion ; and  the  more  to
 strengthen it, it is interwoven with  fibers  overthwart,
 which are strait and winding: and its  proper vessels
 are veins, arteries, and nerves ; and among those there
 ore two larger from the hypostatic which touch  both
 tbe bottom and tbe neck, the  mouth  of  these  vema
 piercing as far as the inward concavity.
    The womb hath two arteries on both sides  the sper-
 matic vessels and the by postratic, which will accompany
 the veins; and besides there are  many little nerves, that
 •re  knit and twined in the form of a net, which are also
 trended throughout, even   from the  bottom  of the
 pudenda themselves, being placed chu fly for sense and
 pleasure, moving in sympathy  between tbe  bead and
 the womb* 
                          to
  Now it is to be further noted, that by reason  of the
two ligaments on each side the womb, from the  share
bone, pierciog through the peritoneum, and joined  to
the bone itself;  the womb is movable upon sundry oc-
casions, often falling low or risiug high.   As to the neek
of the womb it is often Of an exquislt feeling, so thai if it
be at any time out of order, being trobled  at any time
with a schirrosity, ever fatness, moisture, or relaxatioa,
the womb is subjected thereby to barrenness ; in  those
that are  with  child  there frequently  stays a glutinous
enterance to facilitate the birth  ; for at the time of de-
livery, the mouth of the womb is opened to such a wide-
ness as \a conformable to the  bigaess of the child,  suff-
ering an equal dilation from the bottom to  the top.
   As the preparatory or spermatic vessels  in women,
they coueiet of two veins and  two arteries, not differing
from those of roeo,but ouly of their leargenes* aud man-
ner of insertion : for the number of veins and arteries is
the same as'in men, the right vein  issuing from the
trunk of the hallow  vein descending : and on the side of
them are two arteries, which grow from tha aorta.
   As the length and breadth  of these vessels, they are
rirrower and shorter in women than in men ; only ob,
setve they are more  wreathed,  and comforted than  in
men, as shrinking together by reason of their shortness,
that they may by their loosness be better streached out
when occasion requires  it; and those vessels 10 women
are carried  with an  indirect course through the  lesser
cuts  the testicles, but are in midway  divided into twa
brandes th" greater gees to the stoces, constituting a
v "ous or w  ndiug body, and wonderfully inosculating;
,be lesser branch ending in the  wopb n. **»>*>£
which it disperse* itself and especially « the   higher
Tart of the bottom of the womb for its nourishment, and
Eat part of the courses  may  purge through the vessels:
 and seeing the Testicles of women ■"■«**»«" £
 womb  foTtbat cause toe resseli fall cot from  the 
                         4S
 peritotteu'r, neither make they much pfffef£ge, as in m<?n*
 nor extending themselves in the share-boic
   The stones in women commonly called Testicles, per-
 form not the hamc action as in men, they are also d ffer«
 ent in their location, bigness,  temperature,  substance,
 form and covering.  As for  the place of their seat, ii is
 in the hallowcese of the  abdomen; neither are  they
 pendulous, but reet upon the muscles of the loins, so that
 they may, by contracting the greater  heat, be  more
 fruitful, their office being to coctain the ova, or  eggs,
 one of which being impregnated by the mr.n's  seed en-
 genders man, yet they differ from those  of men in  fig-
 ure, by reason of their flatness at each end, not  being so
 round or cval.   The external supeifices being  likewise
 more unequal, appearing like the composition of a gr?at
 many knobs end kernals mixed together.   There  ie  a
 difference also in their substance, they being much more
 soft and pliable, loose and not so well compacted.  Their
 bigness and temprement are likewise different, for  they
 are much colder and lesser than those in  men.
   As for their  covering or inclosure, it diftera extreme-
 ly : as  man's  are wrapped in divers tunicies, by reason
 they are extremely  pendulous, and subject  to divers in-
juries, unless so fenced by nature ; so  woman's stones
 being internal, and less subject  to casualty, ere covered
 with one tunical or membrane, which though it closely
 cleave to them, yet they are likewise half covered with
 the peritoneum.
   The ejaculatory vessels are two obscure passages, one
 one each side, nothing differing fiom the spermatic veins
 in substance/  They rise on one part from the  bottom
 of the womb, not reaching from the  otber   extremity,
 either to the «toncs, or to any other part but shut up and
 utpassable, adhering to the wemb, as the colon does to
 the blind gut, and winding half way about through  the
 testicle8 are remote  totbem,and  touch  them   not,
 vet tbey are tied to them by certain   membranes,   re- 
                        47
eembling the winga ofa bat,  through  tthich  certain
veins and arteries passing through the end of tbe lestu
ties, may be turned here to have their passaged  procee-
ding from the corner of the womb to the testicles,  and
are accounted proper ligament*, by which  the  testicles
and womb are united  and strongly knit  together :  and
these ligaments in women are tbecremasters in men ;
of which i shall speak mote largely, when I  come to
describe the masculine parts conducing to generation.


A description of the use and action of several parl$ oj
           Women appointed in generation.
  The externals, commonly  callad the  pudenda,  are
designed to cover the  great orifice, and they are to re-
ceive the Penis or Yard, in the act of coition, and  give
passage to the birth and urine.  The use   of the wings
and knobs hhe mynle  berries, are  for the security of the
internal parts, shutting the orifice aad neck of the blad-
der, and by their swelling up, cause titulation  and  de-
light in those parts, and also to obstruct the involuntary
passage of the urine.
  The action of the Clytoris in women is like that  of a
Penis in man, viz. the erection ;  and its cuter end is like
the gland of tbe  Penis, and has the same name.  And rb
the glands of men is the teat of the greatest pleasure iu
conception, so is this in women.
  Tbe action and use of tbe  neck of the womb is equal
with that of the Penis, viz. erection, occasioned  divers
ways.  First, in copulat on,  it is erected and made strait
for the passage of the Peinis in the  womb.  Secondly,
whilst the passage isrtpleted with spirit andvitai blood
it becomes more strait for embracing the  Perns: and as
for the conveniency of erection, it is two-fold, first, bo-
Cause if tbe neck of the womb was not erected, the yard
could ha e uo convenient passage to the womb; second.
!y, it hmdew any hurt  or damage  that  might  ensue 
                         4»
 through tbe violent concussion of the yard  in the  time
 of copulation.
    As for the veins that pass through  the  neck  of the
 wcmb, their use is to replenish it wilh blood ard  spirit,
 that still as the moisture consumes by the heat contract-
 ed in copuIalicE, it may by  tbefe vetsels  be renewed ;
 but their chief business is to convey  nutriment to  the
 womb.
   The  wcmb has many properties attributed to it.  Aa
 Cm, Retention of the foecundated egg, and this is proper-
 ly called conception.   Secondly, to cherish  and ueuri*h
 it till nature has framed  the child, aud  brcught  it  to
 perfection, and then it strongly ope rates in sending forth
 the birth, when the time cf its remaining there is expi-
 »ed, dilating itself in a wonderful manner, and so   aptly
 removed from  the senses, that  nothing of  irjury  can
 proceed from  thence, retaining itself  a  power  and
 strength to operate and cast forth the birth,   unless  by
 accident it be rendered deficient ;  and  then to strength-
 en and  enable it, remedies must be   applied by  skillful
 hands, directions for applying of which shall be  given in
 tbe second part.
  The use of the preparing vessel is this,  the  arteries
 convey  the blood of the testicles ;  part whereof is  put
 in the nourishment of them, and the production of those
 little bladders (in all things resembliig  egg*)  through
 which the v»8s preparetia run,  and  are  obliterated in
 them ; and as for the veins, their office is to  bring  back
 what blood remains from tbe ui<e aforesaid. The  vessels
of thia kind, are much shorter in women  than in  men, -
 by reason of their nearness to the stouet which  defects
 are yet  made good by the many intricate   windings  to
which those vessels are subject.  For in tbe middle way
 they divide themselves iuto two branches,  though diff-
 erent in magnitude, for one  being  greater  than  the
 other, pusses to the stones.
  The fctcats in women are  very useful, far where they 
                        4&
are defective, generation woik is at  en  end.   For al-
though these bladders which are en their outward  su-
perfices, contain notbmg of seed, as  the followers of
Galen and Hypocrate.* did enoi.eeusly imagine, >et they
contain  seveveral eggs, generally twenty in  each tes-
ticle ; one of which b> tug.mpregnated by the st in;cu9
part of the man'* seed in the act of  coition,  descends
through  ihe oviducts in the womb,aud  and from  htcce
in the process of time btcomes a living child.
       Of the Organs &f Generation in Man,
  Having given you a description/of the organs of gen-
eration  in women,  with the  anatomy of the fabric of
the womb ;  1 shall now {to  compl-te tbe first part of
this treatise] describe the organs of generation  in men,
and how they are fitted to the use for which nature de-
signed them.
  The instrument of generation in man (comonly  called
the Yard : and in L%tin, Penis a Pudendo,  because it
haugs without the belly) is an  organical  part  which
consists of skin, tendons,  veins,   arteiies,  sinews  and
great ligaments: and is long and round, and en tbe up-
per side fl <t!ish-f seated under  the O.- Pubis, and ordain-
ed by nature, partly by evacuation cf urine, and  partly
for conveying the seed into the matrix.  For which end
it is full of small pores, through  which the  seed  passes
into it, through the Vesicula SemiBalis,aud also the neck
of the Vesicula Urinals, which  pours  out tbe  Urine
when they make water ; besides the common parts, vt.
the two uervoue bodies, the Sepium, tie Urttheia,  the
glans, four muscles and the vessel.  The nervous bodies
(so called) are surrounded with  a thich white  previous
membranee, but their inmost substance is spungy,  con.
listing chiefly cf veins, arterier, and  ctivcus  fibers  in-
terwoveu  ogether like a net.  Ar.d when the  nerves
t.'e filled with and animal spirit  and the artsne«wKhhot
< 
                          50
 and spiritous 4>lood, then the Penins i«  distended  and
 becomes erect.   But when the mflux   of  dead  spirits
 oease, then the blood and remaining spirits are absorbed
 by the veins, and so the Penis spirits are  limber  and
 flaggy.   Below  these nervous bodies is the  Urethera,
 »ni whenever the iietvous bodies swell, it  swells also.
 Tbe   muscle* of the Penis are four, too shorter,  arising
 from  the Coxe-adix, and serving its erection, aad for that
 reason are called Erectores.  Two larger  proceeding
 from  the spinier of the Anus, and serve to  dilate  the
 (be Urethera ejaculation of seed, and are called dilatan-
 teg, or winding.   At the end of the Penis is the glands,
 covered witn a,very thin membrane by means of which
 and itsnerv us substance, it becomes most  exquisitely
 sensible, and is the principal seat of pleasure in  copula-
 tion.   Th« outmost covering  of  the  glands is  called
 Proepjtium or p*-rpuundo, from being cut off, it  being
 that which tne Jews cut off in circumcision, and it is  ti-
 ed by the lower parts of it to tbe glans of  the  foetus.
 The Penis also stocked with vein*, arteries, and nerves,
   Tbe testicles or stones so called, because  testifying
 cue to be a man elaborate the blood brought to them  by
 the spermatic arteries luto seed.   They have  coats  of
 two *OTt«, proper and common ; the common are two,
 aud iuvest both the testes.   The outermost of the com-
 mo., coat consist  of the cuticuia, or true  skin ; aad is
 called the scrotum,  hangisg out of the abdomen  like a
 purge, the innermost is (he membrane  carnosa.    The
 p o er coats are aUo  two, the outer called  Cliotrodei
 or Virgu.ales,  the inner  Alhugidia.   Into the outer is in-
 serted the Cremaster.   To tht upper part of tha Testes
 ib fixed Epidimedes, or Pollaia, frum whence arise  the
 Eaxa  c.rT e^t-.a or ejuculatoria, which when they coma
near the j ^k of the bladder, deposit the seed into the vesi-
 cula*  8emmairs<,  these vesicuiae seminales are two, each
 like a bunch cf grapes, and emit the seed into the  ure-
 thera, in the act of copulation.  Near them arc the n^os- 
                        St
trarae, about the bigness of a  wale tit, and join  to tie
 ne> koftbe bltidder.  Auihors do not a^rte  about the
 hie cf tttrc,but mott ere of  optcion, that  they afford
 an oily  slcpiy, und fat humor, to besmear the Urethera,
 whereby to defend the san,e from \ ctmony oi the  seed
 and urine,   but the ve«tis whicli colvey the bleed  to
 the testes, out of which the feed is made,  are  arteria^
 epermaticae, and are also two.   The veins which carry
 cut the remaining blood are two, nud fc&ve the utine o*
 Venae  Spermaticae,
jiwcrdcf advice to both sexes ; being several direc*
       tions respecting the act of copulation.
   Since nature has implanted in every creature a mutu-
al desire of ccpulaton, for the iuciease aid  prcpagnt.on
of ih kind ; and more especially in man,  the  Lord of
the creat;oi), and master-piece of nature, that so noble a
piece cf Divine workmanship might not   perish, some-
thing ought to be said concerning  that,   it  being   tbe
foundation of all that we have hitherto been treating of,;
since without copulation thefe can  be  no  generation
Seeing therefore so much depends  upon it,  1  thought it
necessary, before  I concluded the  first   part,  to  give
such directions to both sexes, f^r the performing of that
act, as may appear efficeci  us to the end for which na-
ture designed it.   But it will be -done with that caution,
as not to offend the chastest  eai, nor put'the fair sex, to
the trouble of a blush in  reading  it.  First  therefore,
when a married ccuple, from a desire of having children
are abhut to make use of those means  that nature  or-
dained to that purpose,  it would be vdy  proper 10 cher-
ish the body with generous  restoratives, tb*t so it  may
be brisk and vigorous;  and  il their  imaginations were
charmed with sweet and melodious aire, and  cares  and
thoughts of business drowned in a glass of  racy  wine,
that their spirits may be raised to  the  highest pitch of 
                         62
 arAotir aDdi^VpIf would not be amiss.   For ary  thing
 «fsttdue8i',tJC'*ible and *crrtw,nre 11 emies tothe delights
 «f Venus. And if at ary such time of ccition,there should
 be conception,  it would have a m.iievelent effect upon
 children.
   But t-hough generous restortives may be used for  in.
 aigorating nature, yet at! t xceas is to be carefully avoid-
 ed, for it will allay tbe briskness of the spirits and  ren-
 der them  dull aud languid, and zho  hinder  digestion,
 and«o  must seeds be anenerry to  copulation.  For it
 it food moderately taken* that is well digested,  createi
 good fpirits, and enables a man with vigour and  ectivi-
 ty to peifcrm the dictates of nature.   It it  also  highly
 necessary, that in'he;r  rru'u=»l e n traces,  they  meet
 each  other wiih ?n eq'i^I ardour.   For if the fp.rits flag
 On i-iiher part, »hey will fall short of what  nature  re-
 tires, and the women either miss of conception,  or the
 children prove welkin their bodie*, or defective in their
 u^riei'.tanding.   Aud  therefore  I do advwe them, before
 th*y  begin their conjugal embraces, to invigorate  their
 mutual dee'res, and make  their flames burn  with  a
 fierce ardour, by tho«e «ttdearing ways  that  love  can
better teach than I can write.
  And when they have done what  nature requires, a
 man must have n care he does not part tea soaa from
 the embraces of his  wife, lest some sudden  interposing
 cold should strike into the womb, and occasion a  mis-
carriage, and thereby deprive them of ihe fruit of their
labour.
  And when after some convenient time, the man hath
 withdrawn himself, let the woman gently betake her-
self to rest, with ail imaginable serenity and composure
of mind, from all anxious and  disturbing  thoughts,  or
any other  kind of perturbation whatsoever.   And  let
her as much as she  can,  forbear turning  herself  frora
that side on which she first reposed.   And by all means
let her avoid coughing and sneezing, which by its  vio-
lent concussion  of the  body, is a great enemy to concep-
tion, if it happens soon after tbe act of coition* 
A PAlfATE LOOKING GLASS,
              FOR THE

  FEMALE  SEX-
PART THE SECOND.
Treating of several Maladies incident  to the wovio,
    and proper remedies for the cure of each.
             Of the womb in general.
   ALTHOUGH  in the First Part 1 have  spoken some-
thing of the fabric of the womb,yet being in the Second
Part t-t treat more particularly thereof, and of the  vari-
ous distempers aad maladies it subjected to ; I shall  not
think it tautology to g'.vf you by way of iosructioc,*
general description both of its situation and ex'eut, bul
rather  think that it can by no means be omitted, espe-
cially,  since ia it 1 am to speak of the  quail,ty  of  tbe
m?n8trou* blood.
   Frst, Touching the womb.  By the Grecians it is cal-
led Metfa, th? mother.  Adelphos saith  Priscian,   be-
cause it makes U3 all brothers.
   It is  placed in the bypogaatrum, or lower part of the
body, in the cavity caller Pelvis, having the strait  gut
ob one  side, to keep it from the other side of the  back-
bone, and the bladder on the other side to defend it from
blows.   Trie form or figure of it is like a verile  mem-
ber, only thus excepted, tbe manhood is outward,   and
vvemanhood inward.
  it is d vided into the  neck and body.  The neck  con-
sists of a hard fleshy substance, much l.ke a cartilage,
at the end thereof tnere is a membrand traversly placed,
called hymen or engion, near into the  ceck there is a 
 srdttiinanf piooacie,' which m called  of  itfontanur, fin-
 door of the womb, because it  prenflrveth  the  matrix
 from cold and curt.  By the Grecie. .8it is called clytoris,
 by the  the L<ititsa preputium mulebre, because  the Jew-
 ish worneu did abuse those ptrts to their  mutual  lust?;
 as St, Pau« specie*, Rom.  1,26.
   The body ofthe womb ts that part wherein the  child
 is conceived-   And  this is not altogether round, but di-
 lutes itself into two angles, the outward part of it is ner-
 vous and full of sinews, which are the cause of its  mo-
 tion, but inwardly it is fbsby,   ft is fabulously reported,.
 that ia  the c?vity of the wowb there are «sve? divided
 cells, or recepticles for human  seed.  But  those that
 have seen anatomies, do know there  are but two.   And
 likewise that these two are not  dividel  by a  partition,
 but only by a line, or future running  through the  midst
 of it, In the right side of the cavity, by reason  of  the
 heat ofthe liver, males are conceived.  In th? left side,
 by the coldness ofthe spleen, females ate begotten-
   Ani this do most of our moderns held' for an infallible
 truth, yet Hypocrates holds it but in tbe general.  For
 in whom, saith he, the spermatic vessels on  the  right
 side  come from the reins, and the spermatic  vessels on
 the left  sile from the hollow vein, in them,  males  are
 conceived in the left  side and femalesin the right.   We
 therefore may I conclude  with the saying of Empedoc-
 ies.   Such sometimes is tbe power of the   seed, that a
 male may be conceived in the left side as well as ia  the
 right.   In the bottom ofthe cavity, there are little hole*
called the cotiledonea, which are the ends ofcertaia veins
 and arteries, serving  in breeding women to  convey  the
 substance  to the child ; which is received by  th«  um-
 bilical veins ; and others to carry the courses  into the
 matrix.
   Now touching the menstruate,  they are  defined ttf
be a  monthly flax of excrenventitiovs«  and  .unprofitable
 blood. 
                        59
  In which we are to note, that the  matter,  fbwing
forth i* excrematioa8.  Winch T3 to be  understood  of
the scruples or redundance of it.  Fjrit  is  aa  excre-
ment in q ality, iti qiantity being pure aad  uncorrupt,
like unto the blood in the veins.
   Aad that the menstrous blood is pure and  subtile  of
it8tif, all in one q lality with that in the veioa, is proved
two wayc, Firgt,from the final cause of the blood, which
i*, th^ propagation and conversation, of mankind, that
nun might be conceived, and being begotten, he might
be consorted and preserved both in the womb and  out
of the womb.  And all will grant it for a truth,  that a
child while it is in the  matrix", is  nourished  with the
blood;   And it is true, that bemg out ofthe womb, it h
still nourished with the same, for the  miik  is  nothing
but ths monstrous blood  made white in the  breast. And
 I am sure woman's milk is not thought to be venemous,
 but of a nutritive quanity, answerable to the tsnder na-
 ture of the infant.   Secondly, it is proved  to  be  true
 from the generation of it, it being the superfluity ofthe
 last aliment of the fisshy parts.
   It may be objected, if the blood be not  of a  hurtful
 quality, how can it cause such venomous effects ?  As
 it the same falls upon trees and herbs, it   maketh  the
 one barren and mortifieth the other.   Averues  writes^
  that if a man accompany with any menstrous woman, if
 she conceive she shall bring forth  a leaper.  I answer,
 This malignity  is contracted ia the  womb ;  for  that
  wanting native heat to digest thissuperflity, sends it to
 the matrix i Where seating itself, until the mouth ofthe
  womb be dilated : it becomes corrupt  and  venemous,,
  which may easily be, considering the heat and moisture
  of the place.  The blood therefore benig out of its  ves-
  sel*, it oirenda in quality.   Io this sense  let  us  under-
  stand Piiay, Camilla Fioru.*, and th? rest of that  tor-
  rent.   But if frigidity be the cause  why women caanot
  digert all their last nourishments, ani consequently tha? 
                         50
 fhey have these purgations, it remains to give a  reason
 why they are of so cold a constitution more than man
 Which is this.
   The natural end of man aad woman's  being, is   to
propogate.  And this injunction was imposed upon them
by God, at their first creation, and again after the Del-
uge, Now, in the act of conception there must be an   a*
gent and patent, for tf they be both every way of one
constitution, they cannot propogate :  man  therefore it
hot and dry, woman cold and moist, he is the agent, she
is tbe parent, or weaker vessel,  that she should be sub.
ject to the office ofthe man.  It is necessary the wo-
man should be of a cold constitution, because in  her   is
required  a redundancy of nature for the infant  depend-
iog on her ;  for otherwise, if there were  not a  surplus
of nourishment 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 geaeration of the»infant would be tbe destruction of
the parent.
  The monthly purgations continue from the 15th year
to the 46th or 50ih.  Yet often there  happens a sup-
pression, which is either natural or mrobifical, they are
naturally supprest in breeding women, and such as suck.
Tbe morbifical suppression falls now into our method  to
be spoken of*
           Of the retention of the Courses-
  Tbe suppression of the terms is an interception of that
accustomary  evacuation of blood, which every  month
should come from tbe matrix, proceeding from the  in-
strument or matter vitiated.  The part affected  is  the
womb, and that of itself or by consent.
  Cause.} The  cause of this suppression is either exter-
nal  or internal.   The external  cause  may be  heat  or
dryness 6f tbe air, immoderate watching,  great labor 
                           57
   vi-hemerit motion, &a. whereby the matter is so  consu-
   med, that the body is exhausted, that there is not a sur-
   plus remaining to be expelled,  as is  recorded  of the
   A ma zoos, who being active, and always in motion, had
   then Auctions very  little, or not at all.  Or it  may  be
   caused by cold, which is most  frequent,  making  the
   blood vicious aud gross, condensing and binding up tbe
   passages that it cannot flow forth.


            Ofthe overflowing ofthe Courses,

     The learned say,  that by ■comparing contraries,  truth
   is -made manifest.   Having therefore spoken of the sup-
   pression of term?, order requires now that it should  in-
   sist on the  oveiflowing of them , an effect no less dan-
   gerous than the  former, and this immoderate flux ofthe
   month is defined to be a sanguinious  excrement proceed-
   ing from the womb, exceeding both  in quantity and
   time.  First, It is said to be sanguineus, the matter of
   the flux being only blood, wherein it differs  from  that
   which is commonly called the false courses or whites ;
   of which I  shall speak hereafter.  Secondly it is said  to
   proceed from the womb,  for there are  two  ways  by
   which the  blood flows forth, the one is by the  internal
   veins in the "body of 'he womb, and this is properly call-
)  cd  the monthly  flux ;  th>-other is by those veins  which
I   are terminated in the neck ofxhe^matrix: a'cd  this   is
   called of iEtius, the hemorrhoids of th* womb.   Lastly,
   it is said to exceed both in quantity and time?  In quan-
   tity, aaith Hypocrates,  when they flow about  eighteen
f* ounces ; in time when they flow about three days; but
-  we take this for a certain character of their  inordinate
   flowing, when  the faculties of the  body thereby  are
   weakened. NIn  bodies abounding  with gross  humouis,
   this immoderate flux sometimes uuburdeus nature' of he-
   load, and ought not to be staid without tb«   ~-vrvtl  of
    a ohvii-'-r- 
                       58
 Cause.] The cause cf this affair, is interns! or  exter-
nal.   The- internal cau^e is tiretfcld.  In the  master,
instrument or faculty.  The matter which is tae  blood
ir.ay be vicious two ways.   First, by the heat of consti-
tution, ci:n,3?e or season, heating  the  blood,  wl  erety
the passages  are diluted, and  the  faculty  weaken-•.:,
that it cannot retail;  she blood.  Secondly,  1-y  [A'.*4
biow«, violent motion, breaking c*f the vein.*, &c



           Ofthe Weeping of the lfom!bt

  The weeping of the womb is a flux of bloac*, usnat-
ural, ccm;n^ from thence by drops, after the manner  cf
teers,  causing violent pains  in the game, keeping neither
period nor time.  By some it is referred unto  the  im-
moderate evacuation of the course,  yet they are distin-
guished in the quantity and manner of  outflowing, in
that they flow copiously and  free.  Tuis is  continual
though by little and little, and that  with great pain  and
difficulty ; wherefore it is likened unto the stranguary.
   The csi?5s ;.i ia the faculty, instrument or matter.  In
V-.e faculty, by being enfeebled  that it cannot expel  the
blood; and the  blood resting there, makes the  part of
the wcmb grow hard, stretches the  vesgejs  and  from
whence proceeds the pain of the vyomb,  in  the  instru-
ment, by the narrowness of  ii^  passages.   Lastly, it
may  be the matter of tUt blood, which  may  offend in
too greet a quantUy, or in  an evil quality, its  being so
 gross and 'Anck, that it cannot flow forth as  it  ought to
 do. tut by drops.  The sign will best appear by the  re-
 lation of the patient; Hereupon will issue psins   in the
 head, stomach, and back ; with inflamations, suffoca-
 tions, and excoriations of the matrix.   If the  strength
 of the patient w ill permit, first open a v&in  in the arm,
 rub the upper parts, and fei her arm be corded, that the
 force of the  blood may be carried backwards ; then ap- 
                        59
ply such things as may laxate and molify the atrengttfe
ening of the womb, and assuage the  sharpness of the
blood ; as cataplasms made of brand, lihtseed, senngreek,
meulot, mallows, mercury,  and artiplex : If the  blood
be virion? and gross, add  thereto  mug wort, calamint,
dictam and betony ; and let her take of Venice-treacle,
the quantity of a nutmeg, the syrup of mugwort  ever
morning,  make an injection ofthe decoctions of  ma!,
lows mercury, lintseed, ground sel,  mugwort,  senu*
greek, with oil of swet almonds.
   Sometimes it is caused by wind,and then phlebotomy
is to be omitted, and in the  Stead thereof, take  syrup of
feverfew  one ounce ;  roses, syrup  of roses, syrup of fla-
chu?, of each half an ounce.   Water of calamint, mug-
wort, bttony hysop, of each one ounce ;  make, a julep,
if the pain continues, take this purgation.   Take  spec.
bierae, one diam, diacatholicon half  an  ounctf ; syrup
of roses, laxative  one ounce ; with  the  decoction  of
mugwortb, and the four cordial flowers make*a portion*
If it comes through the weakaet* of the faculty* let that
be corroborated.  If through the grossneas  and  sharp-
 nes ofthe blood, let the quality of it be altered, at I have
 Bhewn m the foregoing chapter   Lastly, if the  excre-
 ment ofthe guts be retained, provoke them  by  glyster
 of the decocsioos of c&mmomile, betony, ftverfew, mal-
 lews, lintseed, juniper berries common ?eed, anniseed,
 melilot, adding thereto of diacatholicon, half an ounce ;
 biera picra,  two drams , honey,  oil, of each one ouuc*;
 salt nitre, a dram and a half.  The patient must  abstain
 from salt, sharp and windy meats.

           Of the False Courccs of Whites*

    From  the womb proceeds hot  only rcenstrous blood
  bht accidentally many other excrements, which by  the
  Bncients are comprehended under the title of rebus gun-
  A&ois;  which is a distillation of  a variety of corrupt  hti-
                        fe2 
                         60
ieouts through the womb, flowing from the whole body,
or part of the samt, keeping neither course nor  colour,
but varying in both.
   Cause.] The cause is  either  promiscuously  in  the
whole body, by a cacochimia, or weakness of tbe same,
oria some of the parts; as in the  liver, which  by  the
inability ofthe sanguiflcative faculty, causetb a genera-
tion of corrupt blooc; and then  the matter  is reddish ;
sometimes the gall being siuggich in its (flfice, not draw-
ing away those cholerick superfluities ingendered in the
liver ; and the matter is yellowish  sometimes  in  the
spleen, not deflciating and cleansing the blood  cf  the
dregs and excrementitious parts.  And then the matter
flowing forth is blackish; it may also come  from  the
catarrhs in the  bead, cr from any other putrified or cor-
rupted member : but if the matter ofthe flux be white,
the cause is  ^iiher in the  stomach   or reins.   In the
stomach by a phlegmatical and  crude matter there con-
tracted  and variated, through grief,  melancholy,  and
other distempers: for otherwise, if the matter were only
petcical, crude, flegm, and no ways corrupt, being  ta-
ken into the liver, it might be converted into blood ;  fcr
flegm in the ventricle is calkd nourshment half digest-
ed :  but beiug  corrupt, though sent into the liver, yet it
cannot  be turned into nutriment; for the second  decoc-
tion cannot correct that winch the first hath corrupted  ;
and  therefore the liver  sei ds it to the womb, which can
neither  digegt nor repel it, and so it is voided out with
the same colour it bad  in the ventricle.   The cause  also
may be in the reins, being  overheated ; whereby   the
speimatical matter by reason cf its thiencs flows forth.
The external causes may be moistness ofthe air, eating
of corrupt meats, anger, giief,fioutbfulness, immoderate
flet ping, coit.veness in the body.
   The feigns are exturbation of the body, shcttrees  snd
 sticking of  the  breath,  loathing  of meat,  pain  ia
the ht*d, twilling ofthe eyee and feet, and melancholy, 
                            61
   humidity  flows  from  the womb, of divers colours, at)
   red, black, green, yellow and white.  It differs from the
   flowing and overflowing ofthe courses, in that it  keeps
   no certain period, and is of many  colours,  all which do
   generate from blood.



              Ofthe Suffocation ofthe Mother.
.     This effect, which, if simply considered,  is  nothing
I  but the cau?e of an  erf ct, is called in English, the suffo.
'  cation of tbe mother, not because the wcmb is  Strang.
   led, but for that it causeth the  womb to be choaked.  It
   is a retraction of the womb towards  the  midr.ff aud
   stomach, which presseth and crusbeth up the same, tint
   tbe instrumental cause of respiration, the midriff is suffo
   cated ; and consenting with the  brain, causing  tbe  ani-
   mating faculty, the efficient cause of respiration also to
   be intercepted, whete  the body being refrigerated,  and
   the actiotfTJepiaved, she falls to the ground as  one  be-
   ing dead.
      In these hysterical passions   some  continue  longer,
   some shorter.   Rabbi Moses writes of some, who lay in
   the paroxism of the fit  for  two  days.   Bufus   m kes
    mention of one, who continued in the samepassion three
   days and three nights f  and at the three  days  end she
   revived.   That we may learn by other men's barms to
    beware, 1 will tell ycu an  example ; Paroetus  w riteth
   of a woman in  Spain, who suddenly fell into an uterine
    suffocation, and appeared to men's judgment as  dead ;
 v. her friends wondering at thi» her sudden  change,   for
!•£ their bettersati^factiou, sent for a surgeon to have  her
    dissected ; who beginning to  make an incmon, the wo-
    man began to move, ai:d with fcieat thmcur retured to
    herself again, to the hcrror ana sCmiraticn  of all the
   spectators.
      To '.he end thel  ycu neay distingufek the  living from
 
                        OS
the dead,the tneientg prescribe three experiments; The
first is to lay a light feather to the  mouth, and  by  its
motion  you rr ay judge whether the patient bt living or
dead.   The second is, to place a glass of water  on  tbe
breast, and if you perceive it to move, it betokeneth life.
The third is, to bold a pure looking glass to the  mouth
and nose ;  and if the glass appears thick,  with a  little
dew upon it,it betokeneth life, aud these three   experi-
ments are good, yet with this caution, that yon ought not
to depend upon them too much ,*  for though the  feather
and tbe water do not move, and the glass continue pure
and clear, yet it is not a necessary consequence that she
is destitute  of life.   For the motion of  the  lungs,  by
which the respiration is made, m*y be taken away that
she cannot breathe,yet the internal trampiration of the
heat may remain ;  which is not manifest by tbe motion
ef tbe breast or lungs, but lie occult in tbe heart  and  in-
ward arteries : examples whereof We have in the fly and
swallow, which in tbe cold Winter, to  occular  aspect
seem dead, inanimate, and breathe not  at all; yet  they
Ihe by  the transpiration of that heat which is reserved
in the heart and inward arteries; therefore  when the
cummer approacheth, the internal beat  being rtvocated
to the outward parts* they are then revived out of  their
sh f py < X'acy.
   3t<se women therefore who seem  to die suddetly,
end upon no evident cause, let them not be  committed
unto  the earth until tbe end of three days, lest the  living
be buried for the dead.


        Of  descending or falling of the Mother
   Tbe falling down of 'be w on,b is a relaxation of  the
 ligature, wl.tr< by  the n.*trix is carried tatkward, and
 in son. e hr.ngs ou: in *! i  bigness of an egs ;of this there
 are iw  kind?  dist jp\  i id by the descct omg and pre-
 clusion.  The deecetduigoltfie womb is, when   it 
                         63
shifts down to the entrance cf tl.e piivates, and  appears
to the eye either net at all, or very little.  Ihe pitcjp.
lion is, when the  wcmb like a purse is turret! inside out-
ward, and hangs betwixt the thighs in the bigneEscf a
cupping glass.
   Ceitee.]  The cause if fx'ernal or  internal; the  ex-
ternal ceuse 18 difficult child birth, violent pulling  away
cf the secund'r-e, ra*hress sud inexperience in  drawing
away  the child,  violent  ccughiig, sceez;i g, fall?, t!ow«
aud  carrying heavy burdens.  The inttrual   cause  in
general te over much humidity flowing into these  parts,
hindering tbe cperat.Ofs  ofthe womb, whereby the liga-
ments  by which  the wcmb u.supported is relaxed.
   The  cause in particular is referred to be in the  reten-
 tion ofthe seed,  or in the suppression  cl  th*   monthly
 courses.
   Signs.]  The arse gu%  and bladder,  effentimes  are so
 crushed, ih&t the passage cfbefh  the excrements   are
 hundred ; if the urine flows forth white and  thick,  and
 l',e  midriff is molested, the loins are grieved,  ajid   pri-
 ces paiLed, aud the womb sinks down to  thrf.*rivate
 parts ;  or else comes clean out.              "  ;
   Prognostic^*.] This grief possessing an old  woman,
 is cured with great difficulty ;  because it weakens  the
 faculties  of the womb, and therefore  though it be  redu-
 ced into its proper place, yet upon every little illness or
 indisposition it ia subject to return ; and so it also iswith
 the younger sort,  if the disease  be inveterate.   If it be
  rained by  a putrifaction in  thenerve?, it is incurable.
   Cure.] The wcmb bring  naturally  placed between
  the suait gut and the bladder, and cow  fallen  down,
  ought not to be put up again, until the faculty both of
  the gut nnd t-ladder be  stirred up ;  naturebemg unload-
  ed  of  her burden, let the woman be laid on he bach m
  such sort, that her legs may be bifeher than her head ;
  let her feet te drawn up to het hinc'tr parts,  with  her
  knees spread aboad 4 then aoiltfy the swelling with oil 
                         «4
 oTlillies atd sweet  almendi, or with the  decoction ©f
 mallows, beets set ugreek, and lintsecd : when the ii fia-
 n<mation is disrated, let the midwife anoint her  Land
 with oil of mastick, ard reduce the womb into its place,
 Tbe matrix beicg up, the situation of the patient must be
 changed, let her leg* be put out at length, and  laid to-
 gether ;  fix cupping gksses to her breasts and  naval ;
 bcii mugwort, feverfew, red roses and eomfrcy  in  red
 wine; make suffumigations for the matrix,  and move
 tweet odours to her no?e, and at her corf ming  out of
 the bath  give her cf syrup cf feverfew one ounce,  with
 a dram of mithridate.  Takelaudani  mastic, of each
 three dram', make a planter of it for the naval ; then
 m..ke pessaries-of-assafoetida,  saffron, comfrey,  and
 mastic, adding thereto a little castor.
   Thi Practice cf Pariue in this case, was to make them
 only of cork, m figure like a little egg, covering  them
 over with wax  & mastic dissolved together,  fastening
 it to a thread, and so put it into the  womb.
   The present danger being how taken away, and  the
 matrix stated in tbe natural abode, the  remote  cause
 must be removed ; if the body  be  plethoric,  open a
vein ;  prepare with syrup of betony, calamint,  hysop
 and feverfew.   Purge with pil. hierac, agaric, pii. de
 coiocin.   If the stomach be opprest with crudities, un-
 burden it by vomiting, sudonfical  decoctions  of lignum
 sanctum,  end sassafras taken twenty days together ; dry
 up the superfluous moisture, and  consequently suppress
 the cause of the disease.
   Let the & r be hot and dry, your diet hot and attenua-
 ting ;  abstau frcm dancmg, leaping, tqueezing,  end
 from all motion both of body and  mind, eat  sparingly,
 drink not much, sleep moderately.


           Of the ipflamation of the  Womb.
   Thepblegom, or kflamaation of the matrix,  in an 
                           00
humour possessing the whole womb, accompanied with
uooaturai heat, by obstruction and gathering   together
of corrupt blood,
   Cause.]  The cause of this effect is suppression of  the
menses, repletion ofthe whole body,  immoderate  use
of Venus, too often handling the genitals difficult child-
birth, vehement agitation of the body,  falls,  blows ; to
which ako may be added, the use  of  sharp  pessaries,
whereby, not seldom the  womb is  influmed,  cupping
glasses also fattened to the pubis andhy pogastriuro, draw
the humours from the womb.


     Of the Schirresity or hardness ofthe Womb.
   Of pelegmon neglected or not  perfectly  cured,,  it
generated a schirtus of the  matrix : which  is  a  bard
unnatural swelling, inseasibly hindering the  operations
of the womb, and disposing the whole body to  slothful-
nesa.
   Cause.] One cause of this disease may be ascribed to
waatof judgment in the physician ; as many empiricka
administering to an  infhmation ofthe womb, do  over-
much refrigerate and affnge the humour, that it can  nei-
ther pass forward or backward; hence toe matter being
condensed, degenerates into a lapidious hard  substance^
Other causes maybe suppression ofthe menstrous reten*
tion of the lochia, commonly called  the after purgms,
eating of corrupt meats, as in the  disordinate  longing
called pica, to which breeding women are so often sub-
ject.   It may proceed also from obstructions and  ulcers
in the  matrix, or from evil effects  in  the  liver  and
spleen*
                    (O----O—- O)

            .Ofthe Dropsy of the Womb.
   The uterine dropsy is an unnatural swelling  elevated
by the gathering together of wind or fkgm in  the cavi-- 
                        66                           I
fy, nn^mbraneB of 8ubsi8tanctf of the womb, By n»a;on  of  Y
the  debility of the native heat and alimeat received, and   I
so it turns into an excrement.                           1
  The causes ate over much cold  or moietness of the
milt and liver, immoderate drinking, eating of  crude
meats : all which causing a repletion, do  suffjcate the
natural heat.  It may be caused likewise  by the over-
flowing of the courses, or any other immoderate evac-
uation  To these may  be added abortive,  phlegmons «»J
and schirrosities  of the womb.                       ^|


          Of Moles and  False Conceptions*.
  This disease is called by the Greeks, Mole r and the
eeuse of this denomination is  takea from the load  ©r
heavy weight of it, it  being  a mole, or great lump  of
hard flesh burdening the womb.
  It is defiued to be aa inarticulate piece of flesh, with*
out form,  begotten irr the matrix,  as if it were a true
conception.  Ia  which definition  we are to note two
things/ First ia that a mole is said  to be inarticulate,
and without form : It differs from monsters, which are
both formate and articulate.  Secondly,  it is said to  be
as it were a true coaception, which puts a  difference
 between  a true conception and a mole;  which differ-  v
ence holds good three ways :  1st, in-the genius,  ia that
a mole,cannot be   said  to be an animal.   21y,  lathe   <
species,, because it hath no human figure,  and bares not
the character of a man.  31y la the  iadividuum,  for
it hath no affinity with  the parent,  either in the whole
body or any particular part of the same.                 <3
   CaUSS ] About  the cause  of this  effect, amongst  .\
learned authors. I flid variety of judgments.  Some  are
ot  opinion.  Taat if the woman's  seed  goes into  thB
womb, aad not the nun**, thereby is the raoie produced.
Others there be that affirm,  it  is engendered   of  the
meajtruous- blood*  But if these two are  granted, then 
   BiVids by*havirig  their  courses, or'through £'ctenioj
   pollutions, might  be subject  to the eame, never yet any'
   were.  The cause  of this fleshy mile,  proceeds  both
   from the man and from the  woman ; from  corrupt and
   barren seed in men. and from the menstrua:?  blood in
   the woman, both emitted together  in the canty of th?
   womb, where nature finding^ herself weak,  yet desiring
   to maintain the perpetuity of her rpcciejy  labours  to
   bring forth a vicicu* conception, rather than none : and
   so instead of a hViug creature, generates a, lump of flesh;■


                Of the Signs of Conception.
     Ignorance makes women  become  murderers  ofthe'
   fruit of their own bodies, many having* conceived, and
   thereupon finding themselves'  Out of order,  and  net
   knowing rightly the cause, do either run to  the shop of
   their own conceit, and take what they think fit, or eher
   (as the custom is) they send  to the physician for a cure 3:
   end he net perceHog the cause of their giief,  feeling
   that no certain judgment can be givfen  by the  urine,,
   prescribes wnat'he thinks best,  perhap3  some  strong
   diuretic portion, whereby the conception is   destroyed.
   Wherefore Htppocrates says:  There is a n?cessity. that
   women should be instructed in the  knowledge of  con-;
   cep'lion, :hat the  parent as well as the child  might be
'   saved from danger.   I will therefore  give  yoa   soms
   instructionr/by which every one may know  whether
   she be with child or oof.  The signa of conception shall
   be taken from  the woman, from  the urine, from the in'
'   fant, and  from experiment,
     Siges taken from the woman  are  these.  The fir3?
   day' after the conception she feels a light  quivering  or
   ehiilnese running  through the whole body ;  a tickling ia
-  the womb,  a-litt.le pain in the lower'parts ofthe  beiJy.
   Ten or twelve days after the head is affected  with gid-
   dsnet8,.the eyes with  dimness of sight ; then fell3w red-
                          F 
jfiiifple* jjr'lhV face* with a blufc  circle about'the  eyesy
the breasts swell and grow hard, with  some  pain and'
pricking in them, the belly soon sinketh,  and  riseth a-
gain by degrees, with a hardness about the naval.  The
nipples cf the breast grow red, the heart  beats inordi-
nately, the natural appetite is dejected ; yet she hath a
longing desire after starnge meats; the  neck of  the
womb is retracted, thai it can  hardly be felt  with  the'
linger being put up ; and this is an  infalliable  tign»-
She is suddenly merry, and as  soon  melincholy ;: the
monthly courses are stayed, without any evident  cause,
the excremeets of the guts art unaccustomedly retained
by tbe womb pressing the great guts, and her desire  to
Venus is abated.
   The* surest sign is taken from tbe infant,which begins'
to move in the womb the  third or  fouth   month ;  and
that not in the manner of a male, from one side to  an*
other, rushing like a stone, but so  softly as may be  per-
ceived by  applying the hand hot upon the belly.
   Signs taken from the urine.]  The- best writers do af-
Arm, that the urine of a woman with child is white,and
hath  little mites, like those in the  sun beams, ascending
end decendiog ia it, a cloud swimming aloft, of an  opal
colour, the sediments being divided by shaking of  tho
urine, appears like carded wool.   In the  middle of  her
time the urine turneth yellow, next red and lastly black,
with  a  red cloud.
v
   Signs taken from experience.}   At  night  going to
Ijed,  let her drink  water  and  honey •  afterwards if she'
feels  a beating pain in her belly, and about her  naval she
hath  conceived.   Or let her take  the  juice of   carduns,
 and if she vomiteth it tip, it is  a sign of conception. Cast
a clean needle into a woman's urine, put it in a bason,
ht it  stand all night, and in the momirjg if it be coloured
 with red spots, she hath conceived?, but if blacker rusty,
•he hath  cot.
   Signs taken from the tefe to shew whether  it be male 
'or'female.-}  Being With child of a male, tfcei.gVfterebrt
 swell* first, the right eye is more lively  than  the left,,
 her face well coloured, because such as the Wood  is the
'colour ; and the male is conceived, butif they be white,
 a female.   Put the  woman's urine which is with child
 into a glass bottle, let  it stand close stoped three  daysy
 then strain it through a fine  cloth, and yon shall find
 little living creature*.   If they be red,  it ia a male,  if
 white, it is a  ferrule,
    To conclude, the  most certain sign to give credit un-
 to, U the motion  of  the infant; for the male  moves  in
 the  third month, and tbe female in the fourth.
                Of Untimely Births.
  When tbe fruit ofthe womb comes  forth  before the
seventh month, (that is, before it comes to  maturity) it
is said to be abortive, and in  effect the children  prove
abortive (I mean not *o live) if it be born  in  the  eight
month.   And why children born in the seventh or ninth
month, may live, and not in  tbe  eighth  month may
seem strange, yet it is  true.  Tbe  cause  thereof, by
come is afciibed  unto the planet under which the child
is born.   For every month.from the  conception  to  the
nirth, is governed by its proper  planet.   And  in  the
eighth month Saturn doth predominate, which is  cold
and dry  ; and coldness being an utter enemy to  life,de-*
stroys the nature ofthe child.  Hippocrates gives a bet-
ter reason vis.   The infant bieng every  way  perfect
and complete in the seventh month, desires more air and
nutriment than it had before ; and  because it  cannot
obtain these, it labours for a passage to go  out  ; and ft
 its spirits become weafc and faint, and have not strength
sufficient to treakthe membranes and come forth, as is
decreed by nature, that it should continue in the womb
till the ninth month, and in that time its weared spirits
might again be  strengthened and refreshed ; but  if it
returns to strive against the eighth month, and  be born 
                         73
1t ttnuot iirr, because-the day of its birth is'ei'her  p^gt
 or tacpme,  F^rin the .eighth month (iaith Aven) he is
 weak and  infirm; and therefore then beiug   cast  into
the cold air, his spirits cannot be supported.
 •  Cure]   Untimely births may be caused by cold, for
 as it make'h the fruit ofthe tree wither and to fill down
before it be ripe, so doth it nip the fruit  of  the  wcmb
before it comes'tofull perfection, and makea it to be  a-
fcortive; sometimes by humidity, weakening the faculty
that the fruit cannot be restrained  till  the  due  time.
]$y dryness or empticess, defrauding the  child  of its
nourishment.  By one of these alcine fluxes, by phlebot-
omy, and other evacuations ; by  itflimmation of  the
womb,  and other  sharp diseases.   SonJetirnes  it is cans.
^d-hy joy, laughter, anger, and  especially  fear; for in
that the heat forsakes the womb, and runs to the  heart
for help there, and so the cold strikes  in  the  matrix,
■whereby the  ligaments are reUxed,   and  so   abortion
follows; wherefore Plato, in hi? time,commanded that
the women should shun ail temptation   of immoderate
joy and pleasure,  and likewise aviod all occasions of fear
and grief.  Abortion also may be caused by the corrup-
tion ^of the  air, by filthy odours, and  especially  by the
smell ef a snuff of a candle; also by fulls, blows, violent
exercise, leaping, dancing, &c.
   Signs.]  Signs  of future abortion are extenuation of
the breasts, with  a flux of watery  nii'k, pain in  the
 womb, heaviness in  the head, uaumal weariness in the
hips and thighp, flowing of the courses.  Signs  foretel-
ling the fruit to be dead in the womb, are boilownees ia
the eyes, paia in the head, anguish, horrors, paleness of
 the f.ice and lips,  gnawing of the stomach, no motion of
 tbe infant, coldness and l-ooseness ofthe mouth  cf tbe
 womb, and thickness of the  belly, as  above   is  fallen
down,  watery and bloody exciements ccme  from  the 
                        Sfl
          Directions?/dr Breading Wefnea.
  The prevention of untimely births consist  in  taking;
away the fore-mentioned causes,, which must be effect-
ed before and after the conception.
  Before conception, if the body  be over hot, cold, dry
or moist, correct it with tbe contraries; ifcacochimical>
purge it: if plethorical, open the liver vein : if too gross,
extenuate it t All diseases cf the womb must be remov-
ed, as I have shewed.
  After conception let the air be temperate,  sleep  not
Over much, avoid watching, exercise of body, passions
ofthe mind, loud clamours and filthy smells; sweet o-
dours also are to be rejected of those that are hysterical.
Abstain from all things which provoke either  the urine
or the courses,  also from salt, sharp and windy meats  %
a moderate diet should be observed.


Directions to be observed by  Women at  "the time cf
   their falling in Labour, in order for their safe de-
   livery, with directions for Midwivei.
   Having given necessary directions for child bearing
women, how to govern themselves,  dUriog the time of
their pregnancy, I shall add what  is  necessary for them
to observe, in order to their delivery.
   The time of birth drawing near, be sure let the woman
send for a skilful midwife, and that rather tco soon than
too late ; and  against  which time,  let her  prepare a
pailet, bed,  or  couch, and  place it  near  the  fire, that
the midwife and ber assistant cpay pass round, and help
on every side,  as occasion requires, having a  change of
linnen ready, and a small stool to rest her feet against*
she having more force when they are bowed, than whert
they are otherwise.
   Having thus provided, when  the   woman  feels bet
pain come,  and the weather not cold, let htr  wafr *- 
                           72
  hteA tv.:£ room, resting herself by It*in upon  the  bed,
  end so expect the cqu ing dr„wn  of hor water, which is
  one of the outward   njt mbrances,   and  n-^ws *thence
  M'hfoit is br A  by the st.rug!ing of tho child, there being
  mo direct t me. fixed  hr the tfiVix, though generally  it
  flaws dc: above two hours before the birth: motion will
  iikowiao cruse the womb to open arid dilate itself, when
  fx-ing Ion* in bod will be uneasy.   Yet if she  be very
  wtfck, she  may take some gentle cordial  to refresh her-
  self, ;f her pain  will permit,
     Ti ber travail be tedious, she may revive  her Spirits
  \» :th taking chicken or rout ten broth, or she may U.he a
  j: --. rched r c< >, but must take heed of eating to excess.
     As for the postures women are dlivered in*  they are
  r^siiy, some laying in their,   beds,  some  sitting  in a
  chair, supported and  held  by others, or resting upon the
  ted or chair ; fame c-^sin upon their knee?, being  sup-
  ported upon their arms; but the most safe and commo-
  dious way is in  bed, and the  midwife ought to mind the
  following rules.  Let her lay the woman  upon her back,
  her he%d a little raised by the help of  a pillow   having
  the like help to support her reins and buttocks, and  that
  her rump may lay high, for if she lies low  she cannot be
  well delivered.   Then let  her keep her knees and thighs
  F.8 far distant as she can, her legs bowed  together  to
  her buttocks, the soalii of her feet and  heels being fixed
  upon a little log of timber for thqt purpose, that she  may
  strain  the stronger ;  end in case her back be very weak,
  a fwa;Liir;y bard pus* be  cast under it, the band being
£ four times dcutle, apd rbout two  inches  broad ; and
*4 *h;s s-iui-t be  held ty t1"»  persons,  who   with   steady
  h.iod and equal motion, must raise her up at  tbe  time
  her pains b^pi-en ; and if they be cot ex«ct in their mo-
  X'we, it is better to let it alone.  And at the same time,
  Tot two women held her shoulders, that she  rm.y  then
  strf.ia cut  the birth with mo:e advantage ;  and  then  to
  facilitate if, let  a woman stratk or press the uppel  part 
                         73
 of her belly gently aad by  degrees.  Nor  mu«t  the
 womaa herself be faint hearted, but of  good  courage,
 forcing herself by straining aad holding her breath.



 In cases of Extremity, what  ought to be  observed ;
   especially to H'omem,  who in iheir  travail, are at-
   tended  with a flux of blood, convulsions, and fits of
   the iv:nd.
   If the woman's labour be hard aud difficult,   greater
 T*gard must be had then, more than at any other times.
 Aod first of all the situation ofthe womb  and  po?ture
 cf lying must be  across the bed, being held  by  strong
 persons to prevent ber slipping down or moving herrelf
 in the operation of the chirurgeoa ; herthighs must be
 put asunder* as far distant as may  be,  and so  held ; ,
 whilst her head must lean upon a bolster,  and the  reiD*
 of her back be supported after the  same  manner, her
 rump and buttocks being lifted up, obsetvicgto cover her
 6tomacb, belly aad thighs with  warm lianen, to  keep
 from the cold.
    Tbe woman being  in this posture, let the operator put
 rp his band, if he finds the, neck of the womb   -dilated,
 and remove the contracted blood, that obstructs the pas-
 sage ofthe birth : and having by degrees gently  made
 way, iet him tenderly movs the infant, his hand  being
 flret annotated with sweet butter or harmeless pomatum,
 And it the waters be aot come  dowr, then without dif-
 ficulty may they be let forth : when, if the infant should
 attempt to breakout  with its head foremost, or cross, he
' may gently turn it to  find  tbe  feet;  which having
 done, let him di aw forth the one, a&d fasten it to a rib-
 bond, then put it up again, and by degrees find the other,
 bringing the-n as close and even aa may   be,   and be-
 tween whiles, let the woman  breathe, .  urging her to
 8tra:a in helping nature to perfect tbe birth, that b; may 
                         94
draw it forth; and the readier to doit,  that  his bold"
may be the surer,   he must wrap a linnen cloth about
the child's thighs, observing to bring it into the  world
with its face downwards.
   In case of a flux of blood, if the neck of tbe  womb be
open, it must  be considered whether the infaat  or   se,,
auadine comes first, which the latter  sometimes  hap
pening to do, stops the mouth of the womb, and  hinders
the birth; endangering both ths vomen and child ; but
in this case tbe secundices must be removed by a swift
turn; and indeed they have by their so  coming  down
deceived  many, who feeJinfc  their  softness,  supposed
the womb was not dilated, and by this means  the wo-
man and child, or at  least the latter has been lost.  The
recundines moved, the child must be sought   for,  and
drawn forth, as has been directed : and if in such a case
the woman or child die,  the   midwife  or surgeon is
blumeless, because they did their true endeavor.
   If it appears upon inquiry that the  secundines  come
first, let the woman be delivered  with  all  convenient
expedition, because a great flux blood will  follow ; for
tbe veins are  opened, and upon this account two things
are to be considered.

   First, the  manner  of  the secundines  advancing,
whether it be  much or little : if the farmer, and the head
of the child appear first, it may be guided and  directed
towards  the neck of the womb, as in the  case of  natural
birth; but if there appear any difficulty in the  delivery,
the best way is to Search for the feet, and thereby draw
it forth -.  but if the latter, the  secundine  may  be put
back with a gentle hand, and  the child first taken forth.
   But if the secundine be far advanced, so that it canijot
be put bat k, and the  child  follow it close, then are  the
fcecundines te be reken forth with much  care, as swift
as may be, and laid easy without cutting  the eolrail
that is fastened to them ; for thereby you may  be guid-
ed to the infant, which, whether alive or dead, mn«t $* 
                          75
'fh'V.vn fcrih by the feet in all haste : though it is not io
be acted unless in case cf great ct'ce?£ity, for  ia othT
cases the secundines ought to  ccme last.
  Aad. in drawing fonh a deid c'oi'd, I-. t the;e directions
be carefully observed by the surgeon, v z.  li ;'.e  child,
be found dead, its head foremost, the ieiivgiy  will  be
more difficult, for it is  sr> apparent »«gn  the  wcmss't
strength begins to fail her, and  that  the  c'eali being
dead, and wanting its natural force, Can be no ways  as-
sisting to its delivery, wherefore the mogt  certain  and
sife  way for the surgeon, is.tb^put up his  left  han1>  sli-:_
dind it as hollow ia the palm as ht can, into the  nc ok of
the womb, and intothe lower part thereof towards  th?..
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 close, and  slip it up above  the left hand,
between the head of the  child and the flit of the band,
fixing it ro the bars cf the temple towards the eye :  Tor
want of a convenient coming at thj£«e in  the  ocipi.Cdl
honet observe still to keep the left hand in ita place, ami
with it gently  moving and stirring the head, aad so with
the right hand a hook draw the child  forward,   adm'on-,,
ishiag the woman to put  forth her utmost strength, si'l
drawing when tbe woman's pangs are upon her ;  the
head being drawn  out, with ail speed he must  slip  his
hand up under the armholes  of the child, and   take  it
quite out ; giving rhese things tn the  woman,  viz,  A
toast of fine wheaten bread in a quarter  of a   pint  of
Ipocras wine.
   Now the former application failing*, when a woman
is ia her bed, let ber receive the following  portion hot,
and  rest till she ff els the  opperation.
   Take seven blue figs, cut them to pieces, add to them
senugreck, motherwort aad seed of rue,:  of  each  five
drams ;  water of penx>yroyal,.'and motherwort,  of eaeh
«jx ounces; boil  them till one half be  consumed,  and
having strained them again,  ai>i  trochisks of myrrh
/ 
 cue dram,and saffron three grains: sweeten the  liquor
 with loaf sugar, and spice it with cinnamon.
   Having rested upon thi«, let her labour again as much
 as may be, and rf she be not successfal, make a fumiga-
tion castor, apopanax, sulphur, and aesafoetida, of each
half a dram ; beating them into powder,  and  wetting
them with the juice of rue, so that the smoke "or   fume
may only come to the matrix and no further.
   If these effect notycur desire, ^ben thtsplaislerisnow
to be applied, viz.   Ti.ke of galbanum an ouoce  and a
half: colocynteis without grains two  drams; the j jice
cf motherwort and rue, of each  half  an  ounce,  add
seven ounces of virgin bees-wax, bruise  and melt   them
together, spreading th«m on a icearcloth, to reach from
tbe narel to the Os Pubis, spreading also to the Flank*,
at the same time making a convenient pessary of wood,
biasing  it in a h.igof silk, and dipping  it in a decoction of
round birtbwcod, savin, colocynthia  with grains : 8tav«
escarce, black hellebore* of each one dram, &c.  and  a
 l:ttle sprig  of rue.
   But these things not having the desired  success, and
the woman's danger still encreasiog, let the surgeon use
his instruments to dilate  and widen the'womb; to which
and the woman must be set in a a chair,  so   that  she
 may turn her crupper as much from its  back as is  con-
venient, drawing likewise her legs up as close  as  «he
 can, spreading her thighs as wide as may be ;  or if she
be,very weak,  it may lie more convenient that she  be
, laid on  tbe bed with her head  downwards,  and  heir
 buttocks raised, and both legs drawn up as much as may
he ; at that time the surgeon with his  sgeculum  ma-
 tricis, or h'rs ap'ertory may dilate rhe  Womb, and  draw
 out the child and secundines together, if it be  possible ■;
 the which being done, the womb must  be well wa»hed
 and annotated, and .the  woman laid in  her bed, and so
 comforted with spices and cordial.  This course must he
 token in the deli very of all  dead  children.  Likewise 
with stole?, see\mdine8,and false birth?, that will aoi cf
themselves come forth in season :  or  ifthe  instrument
aforesaid will not sufficiently widen  the  womb,  then
other instruments, as drafct'4 bill and long pincers ought
to be Used.
   If it so happen that any infiamation, swelling, or con-
  tealed blood be contracted in the  matrix,  under  the
  Im of those tumonrs, either before or after'  the  birth,
where the matter appears thinner, then let the midwife
With a pen knife, or incision instrument, lance it and
press out the corruption, healing it with pessary dipped
in oil of red roses,
   If at any time through cold, or   some  Violence,   the
child happens to be swelled  in any part, or  hath  con-
tracted a watery humour; if it remain alive such meane
must be  used as are least injurious to the child er moth-
er : but  if it be dead, that humour must be let out by in-
 cision to facilitate the birth,
   If, as  it often  happens  that the child comet with it?
feet foremost, and the hands dilating themselves  from
the hips ; in such cases the midwife must be be provided
 with necessary instruments to stroak  and  annoint the
infant with, to help its coming forth, let it  turn again
into the  womb,  holding at the same time both the' arms
ofthe infant close to  the hips, that so it may time forth
 after its manner, but if it proves too big the womb must
 be well  annotated!   The womau must also  take sneez.
 Log powder to make her strain : those who  attend may
>gently stroak her belly, to make the birth  descend, and
keep the birth from retiring back.'
    And sometimes if fallsr out, that the child coming with
 the feet foremost, has its arms extended above its head ;-
 hut the  midwife must not receive it so, but put  it  back
 into the  womb,  unless the passages  be extraordinary
 wide, and then  she must anoint both the child and  the
 womb,  nor is it safe to diaw it forth, which mvs be done
 after tttii manner ; The  woman  tnUit be laid op  her 
 back, with her head depressed, aad tier buttocks rai*ed*;:
 and thea the midwife, with a gentle hand,  must  com-
 press the helly of the woman towards the  midwife, bv
 that mepns to put back the iufaut,  observe to  turn the
 face ofthe child towards the b%ck of its mother, raisin*
 up its thighs and buttocks Towards her nival,-  that  the
 birth may be more natural.
   If a child happens to come forthwith   one foot,  the
 arm being  extended along the side, aad the other foot
 turned backward,tben must the woman  be  instantly
 brought to her bed,  aad laid  in the posture abova descri-
 bed at which time the midwife must carefully put  back
 the foot so appeariDg^aud the woman rocking  herself
 from one side to the other till »\<i fiindg the child is  tun>
 ed, but must not alter the posure, nor  turn   upon her
 flee.   Aftei which she may expect her pains, and  mu?t
have great  assistance and cordials to revive and to  supv
 port ber spirits.

           END OF THE SECOND PART* 
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