Honour-dishonourable ways The propension and inclination of Maids to marriage is to be discovered by many Symtoms For when they arrive to Pubertyâ— which is usually about the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Year of their Age according to their respective Habits or Constitutions then their Menses or Natural Purgations begin to flow And the Blood which is no longer taken to augment their Bodies abounding incites their Minds and Imaginations to Venery External Causes also may promote and incite them to it for the Spirits being brisk and in a manner inflam'd when they arrive at this Age if they eat salt sharp things Spices c. whereby the Body becomes still more and more heated than the irration and proneness to Veneral Embroces is very great nay sometimes almost insuparable And a due use of these Enjoyments being deny'd to Virgins very often produces very dismal Effects as Green and Weasel-Colour short Breathings Tremblings of the Heaâ—t c. But if they happen to be married to their own Content those Afflictions vanish and their native Beauty returns more gay than before Nor is their eager gazing and desiring to associate themselves with Men a lesser sign that Nature prompts them to desire what she ordained their due of which being sometimes by obdurate Parents debarr'd in a lawful way they break the bounds of Modesty rather than endure such violent Agitations and Conflicts within themselves and so satiate their desires in unlawful Love The same may in all particulars be observed in young brisk Widows whom Death that Enemy of sweet Conjugal Love has separated from the Bosom of their Husbands At Fourteen years of age commonly the Menses in Virgins begin to flow and then they are capable of conceiving and so continue generally to Forty-four at what time for the most part they are no longer capable of Generation unless such as are exceeding healthful strong of Body and have used themselves to Temperance who have appear'd to be deliver'd of Children till Fifty five years but such Prodigies rarely happen altho' the Menses continue longer in some Women than in others but many times such Eflux proceeds not from any natural cause but by reason of some violent straining or other violence and doth oft endanger the Life of the Party And therefore young Men that Marry Women surmounting the Age aforesaid if they expect Children unless by Miracle must labour against the Wind Though if an old Man that is not worn out by Diseases and Incontinency Marry a brisk lively Lass there is hopes even to Threescore and Ten and some that are extraordinary lusty till Fourscore Hypocrates that Famous and Learned Physician is of Opinion that a Youth at Sixteen years or between that and Seventeen having much vital strength may be capable of getting Children and that force and heat of procreating matter continually increases till 45,50 and 55. And at the end of the latter begins to â—lag the Seed by little and little becoming unfruitful the natural Spirits being extinguished and the humours dried up and in general most Physicians at this day do observe-it but as to particulars as I have before mentioned it often happeneth otherwise nay 't is reported by a credible Author that in the Reign of Erecus King of Sweedland a Man was married at an Hundred years old to a Bride of Thirty and had many Children by her but looked so freshâ— that such as knew him not took him not to exceed half that Age. In Campania where the Air is temperate serene and calm Men of 8â— Years usually Marry young Virgins and have Children by them which argues that Age in Men hinders not Procreation unless they be exhausted in their Youth and their Members shrivelled up If any ask why a Woman is sooner Barren than a Man I answer The Cause is the natural Heat which is more predominant in the latter than in the former for since a Woman is more moist than a Man as her Monthly Purgations do most evidently demonstrate as also the softness of her Body 't is also apparent that he doth exceed her in Native heat and as for that heat it is the chief thing that concocts the Humours into good and proper Aliment which the Woman wanting grows fat when a Man by reason of that heat melts his fat by degrees and his Humours are dissolved but by the benefit thereof they are elaborated into Seed And this may for the better Confirmation of what I proposed be added That the Woman generally is not so strong as a Man nor so wise and prudent nor hath so much reason nor is so ingenious in contriving her Affairs whereby the Faculties are hindred in their Operation And so I conclude my Assertion CHAP. II. General and Particular Rules laid down by Learned Physicians how to proceed in getting a Male or Femalâ— Child and of the Embryo and perfect Birth and the fittest Season for Copulation WHen a young likely Couple have enter'd the holy state of Wedlock and are desirous of mutual Enjoyment for Generation sake which is the chief end for which Wedlock was ordained and rather covet to be bless'd by one Sex than another let them know first for certain that the success of such things depends upon Divine Providence tho'secondary Causes must be active instrumental therein and those are especially two First the Genital Humour which is brought by the Arteriae Preparantes to the Testes in the form of Blood and there Elaborated into Seed by the Seminifical Faculty resident in them To which may be added the Appetite and Desire to Copulation which fires the Imagination with unusual Fancies or by the sight of a brisk charming Beauty whose wit and liveliness may much incite and more inflame the Courage But if Nature be enfeebled then are there fit Artificial Remedies to restore it viz. Such Meats as most conduce to the affording such Aliment as proves to make Seed abound and restore the Decays of Nature that the Faculties may freely operate For as dung and good manuring restores ground that is worn out and heartless even so seasonable and proper Diet operates to the restoâ—ing the faint heart weak Spirit coldness and driness of the Genital Parts and reduceth the weakness of the Nerves to their Temperament and removes Impediments obstructing the Procreation of Children Then since Diet may and will alter the evil state of the Body to a better it iâ— necessary that such as are subject to Barrenness should eat such Meats only as tend to render them fruitful and among such things as are inducing and stirring up thereto are all Meats of good Juice that nourish well make the Body lively and full of Sap of which faculty are all hot moist Meats for according to Galen the substance of Seed is made of the pure concocted and windy superfluity of Blood from whence we may conclude there is in many things a poweâ— to accumulate or heap up Seed as also to aâ—gment it and other things of force to
of Man consisteth in the Soul the which although subject to Passion by reason of the gross composture of the Body in which it has a temporary confinement yet it is immortalâ— and cannot in it self corrupt or suffer change it being a spark of the Divine Mind and a blast of Almighty Breath that distinguishes Man from other Creatures and renders him Immortal and that every Man has a peculiar Soul it plainly appears by the vast difference between the Wit Judgment Opinion Manners Affections c. in Men. And this David observes when he says God hath in particular fashioned the Hearts and Minds of all Men and has given to every one it s own Being and a Soul of its own Nature Hence Solomon rejoyced that God had given him a happy Soul and Body agreeable and suitable to it It has caused many disputes amongst the Learned especially Philosophers in what part of the Body the Soul chooses to reside and some have given their Opinion that its residence is in the middle of the Heart and from thence communicates its self to every part which Solomon in the Fourth of his Proverbs seems to assert when he says Keep thy Heart with all thy diligence because Life proceedeth there from but many curious Physicians searching the Works of Nature in Man's Aâ—atomy c. do give it as their Opinion that its chief Seat is in the Brain from whence proceed the Senses Faculties and Actions diffusing the operation of the Soul through all parts of the Body whereby it is enlivened with heat and force but it doth communicate particular force to the Heart by Arterieâ— Carotides or sleepy Arteries that part upon the Throat the which if they happen â—o be broke or cut cause Barrenness and if stopped an Apoplexy for there must necessarily be some ways thro' which the Spirits Animal and Vital may have intercourse and convey Native Heat from the Soul For although the Soul is said to reside in one place it operates in every paâ—t exercising every Member which are the Souls Instruments by which she manifesteth her power but if it so happen that any of the Organical parts are out of Tune the work is confused as it may appear in case of Idiots Mad-men c. Though in some of them the Soul by forcibly working recovers her supernatural vigour and they become right after a long dispondency of Mind and in some it is lost in this Life For as Fire under Ashes nor the Sun obscured from our sight by thick Clouds afford not their full lustre so the Soul overwhelmed in moist or faulty matter is darkned and Reason thereby overclouded and altho' Reason shines less in Children than in those that are arrived to maturity yet no Man must imagine that the Soul is an Infant and grows up with the Child for then would it again decay but it suits it self to the weakness of Nature and the imbecility of Body wherein it is placed that it may the better operate And as the Body is more and more capable of receiving its influence so it shews its self in its proper lustre having force and endowments at the time it enters the former Child in the Womb for the substance of it can receive nothing less and thus much to prove that the Soul comes not from the Parents but is infused by God And the next thing now to be handled is its Immortality and thereby I shall demonstrate the certainty of its Resurrection That the Soul of Man is a Divine Ray infused by God I have already made apparent and now come to shew you that whatever immediately proceeds from him must participate of his Nature and from thence consequently be as immortal as its Original for although all other Creatures are indued with Life and Motion yet want they a reasonable Soul and from thence 't is concluded that Life is in their Blood and that being corruptible they perish and after their expiring are no more But Man being indued with a reasonable Soul and stamped with the Divine Image is of a different nature and though his Body be corruptible yet his Soul cannot perish but must when it is expelled its Earthly Tabernacle return to God that gave it either to receive reward or punishment now that the Body can sin of it self it is impossible because wanting the Soul it cannot act nor proceed to any thing either good or evil for could it do so additional Sins might be accumulated even in the Grave but 't is plain that after Death there is a cessation fox as Death leaves us so Iudgment finds us And St. Iohn in the Fifth Chapter of his Gospel tells us That the hour shall come that all that are in the Grave shall hear his Voice and they that have done well shall come forth to the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil to the Resurrection of Condemnation And Holy Iob in the 14 and 19 Chapter speaking to the same purposes says For I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And though after my Skin Worms destroy this Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and mine Eyes shall beâ—old and not another though my Reins be consumed within me By this 't is plainly proved that the Soul is made of immortal Essence incapable of Death having a place assigned it after its separation from the Body till the day of the general Resurrection not in the Grave but in a Mansionâ— prepared by the Almighty for its Reception and that through the mighty working of him that is able to subdue all things to himself it shall again enter the same Body that was laid down tho' the dust thereof be scattered to the â—our Winds of Heaven nay such force and vigour shall it have that it shall as it were take up the Body for Iob positively says I shall rise out of the Earth at the last day c. Which being applicable to the future Tense may be meant two waysâ— I shall or will rise plainly foreseeing the Reâ—urrection he claimed it as the promise of his Creator Nay so far were the Heathens by the Light of Nature from doubting the Immortality of the Soul thaâ— Plato in his Phaedro thus reasons viz. Whaâ— consists out of Elements says he is Immortal and can never dye The Soul is not made oâ— Elements nor of created matter but came froâ— God and therefore it cannot dye c. Theâ— may it be without difficulty granted thaâ— the Body which has been a long Companion of the Souls will once again enjoy it never more to be separated for the Bodâ— at the Resurrection shall be incorruptible and so as far from a capacity of perishing any more as the Soul made so by him that first created it For St. Paul speaking of the Resurrection saith He shall change our vile Bodies and make them like his glorious Body The consideration of which makes
to the force of the Seed for as Plants receive more from fruitful Ground than from the industry of the Husband-man so the Infant in more abundance receives from the Mother than the Father for first the Seed of both is heaped and fostered in the Womb and there grows to perfection being nourished with Blood And hence they will have it that Children for the most part effect their Mothers best for it proceeds from the nearness of Nature by a natural instinct because the Mothers forces were most employed about ' em For 9 Months and sometimes 10 she nourisheth the Child with her purest Blood then her love towards it newly born and the likeliness do clearly demonstrate that the Woman affordeth Seed and that Women do contribute more towards making the Child than Men. But in all this the Ancients were very much in an Error for the Testicles so called in Women do not afford any Seed but are true Eggs anulogous to those of Fowls and other Creatures neither have they any such Office as those of Men but are indeed Ovarium wherein these Eggs are nourished by the Sanguinary Vessels dispersed through them and from whence one or more as they are secundated by the Man's Seed separated and are convey'd into the Womb by the Ovi duces The truth of this is plain for if you boil them their Liquor will have the same colour Taste and Consistency with the white of Birds Eggs to say that they want shells is nothing at all for the Eggs of Fowls while â—hey are in the Ovary nay after they have fallen down into the Uterus have no shell And though when they are laid they have one yet that is more than a Fence which Nature has provided them against outward Injuries while they are hatched without the Body whereas those of Women being hatched within the body need no other fence than the womb by which they are sufficiently guarded And thus much for the clearing of this point also and now to the third thing proposed viz. Whence grows the kind and whether the Man or the Woman is the cause of the Male or Female Infant The primal cause is as is justly due in this and all other Causes we must ascribe to God the Ruler and Disposer of all things yet many things by his high Sufferance proceed in regular order by the Rules of Nature and are carried by their in-bred motion according to their usual and natural Course without variation tho' indeed by favour from on high Sarah conceived Isaac Hannah Samuel and Elizabeth Iohn the Baptist but these were to fulfil the Almighty's Decree nor since those times have the Prayers of the righteous been unsuccessful in obtaining Children but passing over such Supernatural and Extraordinary causes that have their peculiar effects I shall proceed to speak of things natural and common The Antient Physicians and Philosophers say that since there are two Principles out of which the Body of Man is made and which render the Child like the Progenitors and to be of one of the other Sex viz. Seed common to both Sex and menstrual Blood proper to the Woman only The Similitude say they must needs consist in the force of the Male or Female Seedâ— so that it pgoves like to the one or the other as more or less plenty is afforded by either but that the difference of Sex is not refered to the Seed but to the menstrual Blood which is proper to the Woman for were that force say they altogether retained in the Seed the Mans Seed being of a hotter quality than the Womans Male Children would be superabundant and none of the other Sex or very rarely would be propagated whereof the kind of the Creature is attributed to the temperament of the active qualities which consist in heat and cold and to the substance or nature of the matter under them that is to the flowing of the menstrual Blood Now the Seed say they affords both force to procreate and form the Child and matter for its Generation and that in the menstrual Blood there is both matter and force for as the Seed most helps the material Principles so likewise the menstrual Blood the potential Seed is saith Galen Blood well concocted by the Vessels that contain it so that Blood is not only the matter of generating the Child but also Seed in possibility that menstrual Blood hath both principles as matter and faculty of offering The Ancients say further that the Seed is the strongest efficient the matter of it being very little in quantity but that the potential or efficient faculty of it is very feeble wherefore if the material part or principle of Generation according to which the Sex is made were only say they in the menstrual Blood then would the Children be all or mostly Females as if the efficient force was in the Seed they would be all Males but that since both have operation in menstrual Blood Matter predominates in quantity and in the Seed Force and Vertue Deservedly saith Galâ—n the Child receives its Sex rather from the Mother than from the Father although his Seed do contribute something to the material Principles though more weakly But as for similitude although Imagination say the Ancients be of extraordinary force it is referred rather to the Father than the Mother as to the quality of the Seed at or for a short time after Copulation but continues not long so to do for that the Woman's Seed receiving faculty from the menstrual Blood for the space of Nine Months over-powers the Man's as to that particular because the menstrual Blood flowing into the Vessels rather cherishes and augments the one than the other from which it may be more easily conjectured that the Woman not only affords Matter to make the Child but force and vertue to perfect the Conception though the Womans Seed be fit Nutriment for the Man's by reason of the moisture and thinness of it being more fit to frame and make up Conception thereby for as soft Wax and moist Clay the Work-man can frame what he intends so say they the Man's Seed mixing with the Woman's as also with the menstrual Blood helps effectually to make the form and perfect part of Man but with all the respect deferance imaginable to the Wisdom of the Ancients we must needs say that their Ignorance in Anatomy has led them into many and great mistakes and their Hypothesis of the formation of the Embryo from a Commixture of Seeds and the Nutrition of it from the menstruous Blood being altogether false their Opinion in this case must needs be false also Therefore to conclude this Chapter we say that although a strong Imagination of the Mother may sometimes determine the Sex that is make it Male or Female according as her imagination is yet the main Agent in this case is the Plastick or formative Principle which is the Efficient in forming the Child that gives it this or that Sex according to those
wrinkled and raised up it is a sign all will be well But that the Event may exactly answer the Prediction it is necessary to consider what part of the Body the Disease possesseth for if it chance tâ— be the upper part that is afflicted as the Hend or Stomach then will it not so well appear by the Members which frequently are unconcerned with such Grievances but the lower part of the Body exactly sympathizing with them their liveliness on the contrary makes it apparent for Natures force and the Spiâ—it that have their intercourse first manifest themselves therein which occasions Midwifeâ— to feel the Genitals of Chilâ—â—en to know in what part the Grief is resident and whether Life or Death be portended thereby the Symptom being strongly communicated by the Vessels that have their intercourse with the principal Seats of Life CHAP. IX The cause of the Green-sickness in Virgins with its Symptoms and Directions for its cure Together with the chiefest occasion of Barrenness in Women and by what means to remove the Cause and render them fruitful THE former of these ill conveniences is too apparent in Virgins especially such as are of a Flegmatick Complexion evidently shewing it self by discolouring the Face in making it look green pale or of a dusky yellow which proceeds from raw undigested Humours nor only doth it appear to the Eye but sensibly afflicts such as it possesses with difficulty of breathing pains in the Head Palpitation of the Heart unusual beatings and small throbings of the Arteries in the Temples Neck and Back many times casting them into Fevers if the humour be very vitious also loathing of Meat and the distension of the Hypocondriack part by reason of the inordinate Efflux of Menstrual Blood to the greater Vessels and by reason of the abundance of humour the whole Body is often trouble with Swelling or if not at least the Thighs Legs and Ankles all above the Heels And also there is a weariness of the whole Body without any reason at all for it The Galenists say that this Distemper proceeds chiefly from the obstruction of those Vessels that are about the Womb occasioned by the abundance of gross viscid and crude Humours arising from the several inward causes but there are also outward causes which have a share in the production of it as taking cold on the Feet drinking of Water Intemperance in Diet and also the eating of things which are wholly contrary to Nature viz. raw or burnt Flesh Ashes Coals old Shoes Chalk Wax Nut-shells Mortar Lime Oat meal Tobacco-Pipes which occasion not only a Suppression of the Menses but likewise obstructions thro' the whole Body Therefore the first thing necessary to eradicate the Cause is Matrimonial Conjunction and such Copulation that may prove to the satisfaction of her that is afflicted for by that means the Menses will begin to flow according to their natural and due course and the Humourt being diffused and dispersed will soon waste themselves and then no more matter being administred to increase them they will vanish and a good temperament of Body will return but in case such a Conjunction cannot be had so soon as necessity requires then let the Damsel Blood in the Ankle and if she be about 16 you may do it likewise in the Arm though suffer her not to bleed overmuch especially if the Blood be good If the Diseases be of any continuance then it is to be eradicated by purgation preparation of the humour being first considered which may be done by the Virgins drinking Decoction of Guaicum with Dittany of Creet but the best Purge in this case ought to be made of Aloes Agrick Senna Rhubard And then for strengthning the Bowels and open obstructions Chalybeet Medicines are chiefly to be used The Diet must be moderate and sharp things as Vinegar c. be by all means avoided Aâ—d for the unobstructing of the Humour take prepaâ—ed Steel Bezoar-stoâ—e the Root of Scorzonera and Oyl of Chrystal in small Wine and let the Diet be moderate but in no wise let Vinegar be used therewith nor upon any other occasion And in so oâ—serving the Humours will be dilated dissipated and transfused by which means the Complexion will return and the Body be lively and full of Vigour And now since Barrenness daily occasions discontent and that Discontent creates Difference between Man and Wife or by immoderate Grief frequently casts the Woman into one or other violent Distemper I shall somewhat largely treat thereof Sterility proceeds from divers Causes but most commonly from some defect in the Organs of Generation Upon the Womans part it most commonly happens from the strict closure of the Mouth of the Womb which will not admit the Seed and sometimes from the straitness of the Share-Bone which denies entrance to the Penis Sometimes also from Ulcers or Excrescencies in the Neck of the Womb. To these may be added too much Fatness which sâ—raitens the passage of the Matrix Most of the Antients are of opinion that â—â—nception is hindred commonly by the Humidity and moisture of the Womb when by reason thereof it cannot retain the Seed or by bad Humours heaped up there and â—urrupting it or strange defect of the Menstrâ—oâ—s Blood But certain it is that it preceeds either from some Tumour Ulcer Excâ—escence or by some fault or other of the Womb Ovaria or Ovi-Ducts For if the Eggs are not impregnated with the Aura Virilis or Seminal Spirit there can be no Conception the Testicles of Women having no such Office as those of Men but containing Eggs analogous to those of Fowls and other Creatures Now if the Orâ—fice of the Womb be closed that the Seed cannot enter or rather the two Wings or Nymphae so â—ar that â—he Penis cannot pass the Neck of the Womb it must be opened by an Instrument and subject to this defect in Natâ—re are many Women especially in hot Countrys but most of all in Egypt where the Chirurgeons are forced with Silver Instruments to make way for the Instrument of Generation a thiug not altogether unpracticable in England In case the Neck of the Womb be so strait that the Yard cannot enter then is the case to be inquired into whether it be naturally so or proceed from some swelling or Schirrus either within or without and if such things appears it is for the most part incurable but if it be a natural straitness then sâ—pple it with a Tent dipped in Oyl of Roses and the white of Eggs and drink Camomile Posset sweetned with Sugar-Candy Morning and Evening and by the proportion thereof the Womb will in all parts distend or if it so happen in a young Woman Nature will increase the passage and time produce things fitting to their mutual Satisfaction but let no Man by violence endeavour to force the Passage lest he break the Vessels nay endanger the Bladder it self which has been broke with such violent Intrusion and so coft the Woman her Life If the