Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	body_n	part_n	soul_n	20,019	5	5.7069	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A75579	Aristotle's master-piece compleated in two parts: the first containing the secrets of generation, in all the parts thereof. Treating, of the benefit of marriage, and the prejudice of unequal matches, signs of insufficiency in men or women; of the infusion of the soul; of the likeness of children to parents; of monstrous births; the cause and cure of the green-sickness: a discourse of virginity. Directions and cautions for mid-wives. Of the organs of generation in women, and the fabrick of the womb. The use and action of the genitals. Signs of conception, and whether of a male or female. With a word of advice to both sexes in the act of copulation. And the pictures of several monstrous births, &c. The second part, being a private looking-glass for the female sex. Treating of the various maladies of the womb; and of all other distempers incident to women of all ages, with proper remedies for the cure of each. The whole being more correct, than any thing of this kind hitherto published.; Aristotle's Masterpiece.	Aristotle, attributed name.; Salmon, William, 1644-1713.	1697 (1697)	Wing A3697kA; ESTC R230121	84,412	197

the Rules of Nature which are carried by their inbred motion according to usual and natural Course without Variation Tho' indeed by Favour from on high Sarah conceived Isaac Hannah Samuel and Elizabeth John the Baptist But these were extraordinary things brought to pass by a Divine Power above the Course of Nature nor have such instances been wanting in latter Days And therefore passing over such Supernatural Causes that have their peculiar Effects I shall proceed to speak of things natural The Ancient 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 Parents and to be of one or the other Sex viz. Seed common to both Sexes and Menstrual Blood proper to the Woman only The Similitude say they must needs consist in the force and virtue of the Male or Female Seed so that it proves like one or other according to the plenty afforded by either but that the difference of Sex is not referr'd to the Seed but to the Menstrual Blood which is 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 would be propagated Wherefore the Sex is attributed to the Temperament of the Active Qualities which consist in Heat and Cold and to the Nature of the matter under them that is to the flowings of the Menstrual Blood Now the Seed say they affords both force to procreate and form the Child and matter for its Generation and in the Menstrual Blood there is both matter and force for as the Seed most helps the material Principles so also does the Menstrual Blood the potential Seed which is saith Galen Blood well concocted by 〈◊〉 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 The Ancients further say That the Seed is the strongest Efficient the matter of it being very little in quantity but the potential quality of it is very strong Wherefore if the 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 And therefore Galen thinks the Child receives its Sex rather from the Mother than from the Father for altho ' his Seed contribute something to the material Principle yet it is more weakly But as for Likeness it is referred rather to the Father than the Mother Yet the Womans Seed receiving strength from the Menstrual Blood for the space of Nine Months over-powers the Man's as to that particu'ar for the Menstrual Blood howing into the Vessels rather cherishes the one than the other from which it is plain the Woman affords both matter to make and force and vertue to ●●●fect the Conception tho' the Female's 〈…〉 fit Nutriment for the Male's by reason of the thinness of it being more adapted to make up Conception thereby for as of soft Wax and moist Clay the Workman can frame what he intends so say they the Man's Seed mixing with the Woman's and also with the menstrual Blood helps to make the form and perfect part of Man But with all imaginable Deference to the Wisdom of the Ancients give me leave to say That their Ignorance in the Anatomy of Mans Body has bewilder'd 'em in the Paths of Error and led them into great mistakes For their Hypothesis of the Formation of the Embryo from a Commixture of Seeds and the Nourishment of it from the menstruous Blood being wholly false their Opinion in this case must needs be so also I shall therefore conclude this Chapter and only say That altho a strong Imagination of the Mother may sometimes determine the Sex yet the main Agent in this case is the Plastic or Formative Principle which is the Efficient in giving Form to the Child that gives it this or that Sex according to those Laws and Rules that are given to it by the wise Creator of all things who both maketh and fashioneth it and therein determines the Sex according to the Counsel of his own Will CHAP. IV. A Discourse of the Soul of Man That it is not Propogated from the Parents but is Infused by it's Creator and can neither Die nor Corrupt and at what time it is Infused Of the Immortality thereof and certainty of the Resurrection MAN's Soul is of so Divine a Nature and Excellency that Man himself cannot in any wise comprehend it it being the infused Breath of the Almighty of an Immortal Nature and not to be comprehended but by him that gave it For Moses by Holy Inspiration relating the Original of Man tells us That God breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life and he became a living Soul Now as for all other Creatures at his Word they were made and had Life but the Creature that God hath appointed to set over his Works was the peculiar Workmanship of the Almighty Forming him out of the Dust of the Earth and condescending to breathe into his Nostrils the Breath of Life which seems to Denote more Care and if we may so term it Labour used about Man than about all other Creatures he only partaking and participating with the Divine Nature bearing the Image of God in Innocence and Purity whilst he stood firm and when by his Fall that lively Image was defaced yet such was the Love of his Creator towards him that he found out a way to Restore him the only begotten Son of the Eternal Father coming into the World to destroy the works of the Devil and to raise up Man from that low Condition to which his Sin and Fall had reduc'd him to a State above that of the Angels If therefore Man would understand the Excellency of his Soul let him turn his Eyes inward and look into himself and search diligently his own Mind and there he shall find so many admirable Gifts and excellent Ornaments that it must needs strike him with Wonder and Amazement as Reason Understanding Freedom of Will Memory and divers other Faculties that plainly shew the Soul to be descended from an Heavenly Original and that therefore it is of an infinite Duration and not subject to Annihilation Yet by reason of its many Offices and Operations whilst in the Body it goes under sundry Denominations For when it enlivens the Body it is called the Soul when it gives it Knowledge the Judgment or the Mind when it recalls things past the Memory whilst it discourseth and discerneth Reason whilst it contemplates the Spirit whilst it is in the Sensitive parts the Senses And these are the princip●● Offices whereby the Soul declares its Pow●● and

performs its Actions For being placed in the highest part of the Body it diffuseth its Force into every Member not propagated from the Parents nor mixed with gross Matter but the infused ●reath of the Al●ighty immediately proceeding from him not passing from one to another as we the Opinion of Pythagoras who held a Transmigration of the Soul But that the Soul is given to every Infant by Infusion is the most generally received and Orthodox Opinion and the Learned do likewise agree that this is done when the Infant is perfected in the Womb which happens about the 45th day after Conception especially for Males that are generally born at the end of Nine Months but in Females who are not so soon formed and perfected thro' the defect of heat not till the 50th day And altho' this day in all cases cannot be perfectly set down yet Hipocrates has given his Opinion when the Child has its perfect form when it begins to move and when born if in due season for in his Book of the Nature of Infants he affirmeth That if it be a Male and he be perfect on the 30th day and move at the 60th he will be Born at the seventh Month but if he be perfectly formed on the 35th day he will move one 70th and be born in the 8th Month. Again if he be perfectly formed on the 45th day he will move on the 90th and be born in the Ninth Month. Now from these passing of Days and Months it plainly appears That the day of Forming being doubled makes up the day of moving and that day three times reckoned makes up the day of Birth As for Example where 35 perfect the Form if you double it it makes 70 the day of motion and three times 70 amounts to 210 Days which allowing 30 Days to a Month makes seven Months and so you must consider the rest But as to a Female the Case is different for it is longer perfecting in the Womb the Mother ever goes longer with a Boy than a Girl so that the Accompt differs for a Female formed in 30 Days moves not till the 70th day and is born in the 7th Month when she is formed in the 40th day she moves not till the 80th day and is born in the 8th Month but if she be perfectly formed on the 55th day she moves on the 90th and is born on the 9th Month but she that is formed on the 50th day moves on the 100th day and then will she be born in the 10th Month. And I have more largely treated hereof that the Reader may know the reasonable Soul is not Propagated by the Parents but is Infused by the Almighty when the Child hath its perfect Form and is exactly distinguished in its Lineaments Now as the life of every other Creature as Moses shews is in the Blood so the life of Man consisteth in the Soul which although subject to Passion by reason of the gross 〈…〉 posure of the Body in which it has a 〈…〉 ●●●●rary Confinement yet it is immortal and cannot in it self corrupt or suffer change it being a spark of the Divine Mind and renders him Immortal and that every Mans has a peculiar Soul 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 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 a Body agreeable to it It has been disputed amongst the Learned especially Philosophers in what part of the Body the Soul resides and some are of 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 Diligence because Life proceedeth therefrom But many curious Physicians searching the works of Nature in Man's Anatomy c. do affirm That it 's chief Seat is in the Brain from whence proceeds 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 Arteries Carotides or sleepy Arteries that part upon the Throat the which if they happen to be 〈◊〉 ●●e or cut cause Barrenness and if stopped an Apoplexey for there must necessarily be some ways through which the Spirits Animal and Vital may have intercourse and convey Native Heat from the Soul For tho' the Soul has its chief seat in one place it operates in every part exercising every Member which are the Soul's Instruments by which she shews her power but if it happen that any of the Organical parts are out of Tune the work is confused as appears in Idiots Mad-men c. Tho' in some of them the Soul by a vigorous erecting of it's Power recover its innate Strength and they become right after a long dispondency of Mind But in others it is not recover'd again in this Life For as Fire under Ashes or the Sun obscured from our sight by thick Clouds afford not their full Lustre so the Soul over-whelm'd in moist or morbifick matter is darkened and Reason thereby overclouded and altho' Reason shines less in Children than in such as 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 the Body wherein it is placed that it may better operate And as the Body is more and more capable of receiving it's influence so the Soul does more and more exert its faculties having force and endowments at the time it enters the form of the Child in the VVomb 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 I shall next prove its Immortality and thereby de●on●●rate the certainty of its Resurrection That the Soul of Man is a Divine Ray infused by the Sovereign Creator I have already prov'd and now come to shew That whatever immediately proceeds from him and participates of his Nature must be as immortal as its Original for altho' all other Cretures are indewed with Life and Motion yet want they a reasonable Soul and from thence 't is concluded That their Life is in their Blood and that being Corruptible they Perish and are no more But Man being indewed with a reasonable Soul and stamped with the Divine Image is of a different nature and tho' his Body be Corruptible yet his Soul being of an immortal Nature cannot Perish but must at the dissolution of its Body return to God that gave it either to receive Reward or Punishment Now that the Body can sin of

and that from the Authority of Pliny who makes mention of a Woman that went thirteen Months with Child But as to what concerns the 7th month a Learned Author saith I know several married People in Holland that had Twins born in the 7th month who lived to old Age having lusty Bodies and lively minds wherefore their Opinion is foolish and of no moment who assert That at seven months a Child cannot be perfect and long lived and that he cannot in all parts be perfect till the 9th month and thereupon this Author proceeds to tell a passage from his own knowledge as follows Of late saith he there happened a great divers disturbance amongst us which ended not without Blood-shed and was occasioned by a Virgin whose Chastity had been violated descending of a Noble Family of unspotted Fame Now several there were who charged the Fact upon a Judge who was President of a City in Flanders who strongly denyed the Fact saying that he was ready to swear that he never had Carnal Copulation with her and that he would not father a Child that was none of his and further alledged that he verily believed that it was a Child born in seven months himself being many miles distance from the mother of it when it was Conceived whereupon the Judges before whom the hearing was decreed That the Child should be viewed by able Physicians and Experienced Women and that they should make their report who having made diligent inquiry all of them with one accord concluded the Child without respecting who was the Father was a Child Born within the space of seven months that it was carried in the mothers Womb but 27 weeks and odd Days but if she would have gone full 9 Months the Childs Parts and Limbs would have been more firm and strong and the Structure of the Body more compact for the Skin was very loose and the B●e●st-bone that defends the Heart and the Gristle that lies over the Stomach were higher than naturally they should be not plain but crooked and sharp ridged or pointed like those of young Chickens hatched at the begining of the Spring And being a Female Infant it wanted its Nails upon her Fingers and the outmost Joints of her Fingers upon which from the Musculous or Cartilaginous matter of the Skin Nails that are very smooth do come and by degrees harden she had instead of Nails a thin Skin or Film as for her Toes there was no appearance of Nails about them for they wanted the heat that was communicated to the Fingers from the nearness of the Heart These things being considered and above all one Gentlewoman of Quality that assisted affirming that she had been the Mother of 19 Children and that divers of them had been born and liv'd at 7 months they without favour to any party made their report that the Infant was a Child of 7 months tho' born within the seventh Month for in such cases the revolution of the Moon ought to be observed which perfects it self in 4 bare weeks or somewhat less than 28 Days in which space of her revolution the Blood being agitated by the force of the Moon the Courses of the Women flow from them which being spent and the Matrix cleansed from the Menstrual Blood which happens on the 5th Day then if on the 7th Day a Man lie with his Wife the Copulation is the most natural and then is the Conception best and a Child then gotten may be born in the 7th Month and prove very healthful So that upon this report the supposed Father was pronounced Innocent upon Proof that he was 100 miles distance all that month in which the Child was begot And as for the mother she strongly denied that she knew the Father being forced in the dark and so thro' fear and surprize was left in Ignorance As for Coition it ought not to be had unless the Parties be in Health lest it turn to the disadvantage of the Children so be gotten creating in them through the abundant ill Humours divers languishing Diseases wherefore Health is no where better to be discerned than by the Genitals of the Man for which reason Midwives and other skilful Women were formerly wont to see the Testicles of Children thereby to conjecture at their temperature and state of Body and Young-men may know thereby the signs or symptoms of Life and Death for if the Cases of the Testicles be loose and feeble and the Cods fall do ●n it denotes that the vital Spirits which are the props of Life are fallen But if the secret Part be wrinkled and raised up it is a Sign all is 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 to be the upper part that is afflicted as the Head or Stomach then will it not so well appear by the Members which 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 Spirits that have their intercourse first manifest themselves therein which occasions Midwifes to feel the Genitals of Children 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 Of the Green-sickness in Virgins with its Causes Prognosticks and cure Together with the chiefest occasion of Barrenness in Women and by what means to remove the Cause and render them fruitful THe Green Sickness is so common a Distemper in Virgins especially such as are of a Flegmatick Complexion that 't is easily discern'd shewing it self by discolouring the Face making it look green pale and of a dusky yellow which p●oceeds 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 menstruous Blood to the greater Vessels and of the abundance of Humours the whole Body is often troubled with Swelling or if not at least the Th●ghs Legs and Anckles all above the Heels And also there is a Weariness of the whole Body without any reason for it The Galennical Physitians affirm that this Distemper proceeds chiefly from the Obstruction of those Vessels that are about the Womb occasion'd by the abundance of gross viscous and and crude Humours arising from 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 contrary to

Convulsions Epilepsies Appoplexies Palseys Hectick Fevers Dropsies Malignant Ulcers c. And to be short there is no Disease so bad but may proceed from the evil Quality of it How necessary therefore the Knowledge of these things are let every Vnprejud●ced Reader Judge For that many Women labour under them thro' their own Ignorance and Modesty as I said before woful Experience makes manifest Here therefore as in a Mirror they may be acquainted with their own Distempers and have suitable Remedies without applying themselves to a Physitian against which they have so great a Reluctance ARISTOTLE's MASTER-PIECE COMPLEATED PART I. OF THE Secrets of Generation In all the PARTS thereof CHAP. I. Of Marriage and at what Age Young Men and Virgins are capable of the Marriage-Bed and why they so much desire it Also how long Men and Women are capable of having Children THERE are very few except some profess'd Debauchees but what will readily agree That Marriage is Honourable being Ordain'd by Heaven in Paradise and without which no Man or Woman can be in a Capacity honestly to yield obedience to the first Law of the Creation Increase and multiply And since it is Natural in young People to desire those mutual Embraces proper to the Marriage-Bed it behoves Parents to look after their Children and when they find them inclinable to Marriage not violently to restrain their Affections and oppose their Inclinations which instead of allaying them makes 'em but the more impetuous but rather provide 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 indelible stain upon their Families The Inclination of Maids to Marriage is to be known by many Symptoms For when they arrive to Puberty which is about the Fourteenth or Fifteenth year of their Age then their Natural Purgations begin to flow And the Blood which is no longer taken to augment their Bodies abounding stirs up their Minds to Venery External Causes also may incite them to it for the Spirits being brisk and inflam'd when they arrive at this Age if they eat sharp salt things and Spices the Body becomes more and more heated whereby the Desire to Venereal Embraces is very great and at some times almost insuperable And the use of these so much desir'd Enjoyments being deny'd to Virgins is many times follow'd by dismal Consequents as a green Weasel-colour short Breathings Trembling of the Heart c. But when they are married and their Venereal Desires satisfied by the Enjoyment of their Husbands those Distempers vanish and their former Beauty returns more gay and lively than before Also their eager gazing at Men and affecting their company sufficiently demonstrates that Nature prompts them to desire Coition which their Parents often neglecting or refusing to provide by procuring them Husbands they break the Bounds of Modesty and satisfie themselves in unlawful Embraces The same may be observed in young brisk Widows who cannot be satified without that Due Benevolence which they were wont to receive from their Husbands At Fourteen Years of Age commonly the Menses in Virgins begin to flow at which time they are capable of Conceiving and so continue generally to Forty-four at which time for the most part they cease bearing unless they be very healthful and strong of Body and have always been addicted to Temperance such indeed have born Children till Fifty-five years but this rarely happens altho' the Menses flow a longer time in some Women than in others but many times such Efflux proceeds not from a natural Cause but by reason of some violence offer'd to Nature or some other Morbifick matter which often proves of fatal consequence to the Party And therefore those Men that are desirous of Isue must marry Women within the Age aforesaid or blame themselves if they meet with disappointments Tho' if an old Man not worn out by Diseases and Incontinency marry a brisk lively Lass there is hopes of his having Children to Threescore and Ten nay if extraordinary lusty even till Fourscore Hipocrates is of Opinion that a Youth at Sixteen years or between that and Seventeen having much vital strength may be capable of getting Chi'dren and also that the Force and Heat of Procreating Matter constantly increases till Forty-five Fifty and Sixty-five and then begins to flag the Seed by degrees becoming unfruitful the natural Spirits being extinguished and the Humours dried up Thus it is in general but as to particulars as I have before mentioned it often happens otherwise Nay it is reported by a credible Author That in Sweedland a Man was married at a hundred years old to a Bride of Thirty and had many Children by●●r but looked so fresh that such as knew him not took him not to exceed half that Age. I Campania where the air is clear and temperate men of Fourscore years old usually marry young Virgins and have Children by them which shews that age in men hinders not Procreation unless they be exhausted in their Youth and their Yard shrivel'd up If any would know why a Woman is sooner Barren than a Man they may understand 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 more moist than a Man as her Monthly Purgations demonstrate as also the softness of her Body it is also apparent that he doth exceed her in her Native Heat which is the chief thing that concocts the Humours into proper Aliment which the Woman wanting grows fat when a Man through his Native Heat melts his fat by degrees and his Humours are dissolved and by the benefit thereof they are elaborated into Seed And this may be also added That Women generally are not so strong as Men nor so wise and prudent nor have so much Reason and Ingenuity in ordering of Affairs which shews that thereby the Faculties are hindred in their operation CHAP. II. How to get a Male or Female Child and of the Embryo and Perfect Birth with the fittest time for Copulation WHEN a young Couple are married they naturally desire Children and therefore make use of those means that Nature has appointed to that end But notwithstanding their Endeavours they must know the Success of all depends on a Blessing from on high for Children are the Blessing of the Lord and not only so but the Sex whether Male or Female is from his disposal also tho' it cannot be deny'd but secondary Causes have an influence therein 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 desire to Coition which fires the Imagination with unusual Fancies and by the sight of a brisk charming Beauty may much inflame the Appetite But if Nature be enfeebled there are fit

Nature viz. raw or burnt Flesh Ashes Coals Old shoes Chalk Wax Nut-shels Mortar Lime Oat-meal Tobacco Pipes c. which occasion not only a Suppression of the Menses but likewise obstructions through 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 Humours being 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 this best Remedy cannot be had so soon as necessity requries then let her be let Blood in the Ankle and if she be about 16 you may likewise do it in the Arm but let her bleed but sparingly especially if the Blood be good If the Disease be of any continuance then is it to be eradicated by Purging Preparation of the humour being first consider'd 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 Agarick Senna Rhubarb And for strengthing the Bowels and opening Obstructions Chalibiat Medicines are chiefly to be used The Diet must be moderate and sharp things be by all means avoided And for the freeing of the Humour take Prepared Steel Bezoar Stone the Root of Scorzonera 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 observing the Humours will be dilated and dissipated 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 in the next place treat thereof Of Barrenness In times past before Women came to the marriage Bed they were first searched by the Midwife and those only which she allowed of as fruitful were admitted I hope therefore it will be thought a needless labour to shew how they may prove themselves and turn the stony ground into a fruitful soil Barrenness is a deprivation of life and power which ought to be in the seed to procreate and propagate for which end both man and woman were made Causes of Barrenness It is caused by overmuch heat or cold that drying up the seed and making it corrupt this extinguishing the life of the seed making it watrish and unfit for Generation It may be caused also by the not flowing or over-flowing of the Courses by Swellings Ulcers and Inflammations of the Womb by an excrescence of flesh growing about the mouth of the Matrix by the mouth of the Womb being turned unto the back or side by the grossness and fatness of the body whereby the mouth of the matrix is closed up by being prest with the Omentum or Caule and the matter of the seed is converted into fatness Or if she be of a lean and exhaust body to the World she proves Barren because though she doth conceive yet the fruit of the Womb will wither before it comes to perfection for want of nourishment Aetius and Sylvius ascribe one main cause of Barrenness to compel'd copulation as when parents enforce their daughters to have Husbands contrary to their liking therein marrying their Bodies but not their Hearts and where there is a want of Love there for the most part is no Conception as appears in Women which are deflowred against their will Another main cause of Barrenness is attributed to the want of a convenient moderating quality which the Woman ought to have with the Man as if he be hot she must be cold If he be dry she must be moist But if they be both dry or both moist of constitution they cannot propagate and yet simply considered of themselves they are not Barren for he or she which before was as the Barren fig-tree being now joined with an apt constitution becomes as the fruitful Vine And that Man and Woman being every way of a like constitution cannot Procreate I will bring Nature it self for a testimony who hath made Man of a hotter Constitution than Woman that the quality of the one may moderate the quality of the other Signs of Barrenness If Barrenness does proceed from overmuch heat she is of a dry body subject to anger she hath black Hair quick pulse her purgations flow but little and that with pain she Loves to play in the courts of Venus But if it comes by cold then are the signs contrary to those even now recited If through an evil quality in the Womb Make a suffumigation of red Storax Myrrh Cassia wood Nutmeg Cinnamon and let her receive the fume of it into the Womb covering her very close and if the odour so received passeth through the Body up into the Mouth and Nostrils of her self she is fruitful But if she feels not the fume in her Mouth and Nose it argues Barrenness one of these ways that the Spirit of the seed is either through cold extinguisht or through heat dissipated If any Woman be suspected to be unfruitful cast natural Brimstone such as is digged out of the Mine into her Urin and ●f Worms breed therein of herself she is not barren Prognosticks Barrenness maketh Women look young because they are free from those pains and sorrows which other Women are accustomed to bring forth withall Yet they have not that full perfection of health which fruitful Women do injoy because they are not rightly p●rged of the menstruous blood and superfluous seed the retaining of which two are the principal cause of most Uterine Diseases Cure First the cause must be removed and then the Womb strengthened and the Spirits of the seed enlived If the Womb be over-hot Take Syrrup of Succory with Rhubarb Syrrup of Violets Endive Roses Cassia Purslain Take of Endive water Lillies Borage flowers of each a handful Rhubarb Myrobolans of each 3 Drams with water make a Decoction add to the straning of the Syrup Laxative of Violets one ounce Syrup of Cassia half an Ounce Manna 3 drams make a potion Take of the Syrup of Mugwort one ounce Syrup of Maiden hair 2 ounces water of Succory Borage Fennel of each 3 ounces Pulv. Elect Triasand one dram make a Julep Take Pru. Solut. Elect. Ros Mesuae of each 3 drams Rhubarb one Scruple and make a Bolus Apply to the reins and privities fomentations of the juice of Lettice Violets Roses Mallows Vineleaves and Night-shade Anoint the secret parts with the cooling unguent of Galen If the power of the seed be extinguisht by cold Take every Morning two spoonfuls of Cinnamon water with one Scruple of Mahridate Take Syrup of Calamint Mugwort Bettony of each one ounce water of

operates according to its greater or lesser force CHAP. XI Directions and Cautions for Midwives and first How a Midwife ought to be qualified A Midwife that would acquit her self well in her Employment ought by no means to enter upon it rashly or unadvisedly but with all imaginable caution considering that she is accountable for all the mischief that befalls thro' her wilful ignorance or neglect therefore let none take upon them this Office barely upon pretence of their maturity of Years and Child-bearing for in such for the most part there are divers things wanting that ought to be observed which is the occasion so many Women and Children are lost Now as for a Midwife in relation to her Person these things ought to be observed viz. She must neither be too old nor too young neither extraordinary fat nor weakned by leanness but in a good habit of Body not subject to Diseases Fears nor sudden Frights her Body well shaped and neat in her Attire her Hands smooth and small her Nails ever pared short not suffering any Rings to be upon her Fingers during the time she is doing her Office nor any thing upon her Wrists that may obstruct and to these ought to be added Activity and a convenient Strength with much caution and diligence not subject to Drowsiness nor apt to be Impatient As for her Manners she ought to be courteous affable sober chaste and not subject to passion bountiful and compassionate to the Poor and not covetous when she attends upon the Rich. Her Temper chearful and pleasant that she may the better comfort her patients in their dolorous Labour nor must she at any time make over-much haste tho' her Business should require her in another place lest she do thereby endanger the Mother or the Child Of Spirit she ought to be wary prudent and cunning But above all the fear of God ought to have the Ascendant in her Soul which will give her both Knowledge and Discretion as the wise man tells us CHAP. XII Further Directions to Midwives teaching them what they ought to do and what to avoid SInce the Office of a Midwife has so great an influence upon the well or ill doing of Women and Children In the first place let her be diligent to acquire whatever Knowledge may be advantagious to her Practice never thinking herself so perfect but that she may add to her Knowledge by Study and Experience yet never let her make any Experiments at her Patients cost nor apply any Remedies in that case unless she has either try'd them or knows that they 'll 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 Abortion tho' desired which is a high degree of wickedness and may be termed Murder If she be sent for by them she knows not let her be very cautious ere she goes lest by laying an Infectious Woman she endanger the spoiling of others as sometimes happens Neither must she make her House a Receptacle for great belly'd Women to discharge their Burdens in lest her House get an ill Name and she thereby lose her Practice In laying of Women if the Birth happen to be hard and difficult she must not seem to be concern'd but must chear up the Woman and do what she can to make the labour easie for which she may find Directions in the Second Part of this Book She must never think of any thing but doing well causing all things to be in a readiness that are proper for the Work and the strengthening of the Woman and receiving of the Child And above all let her take care to keep the woman from being unruly when her throes are coming upon her lest she thereby endanger her own Life and the Childs She must also take care she be not too hasty in her business but wait Gods leisure for the Birth And by no means let her suffer herself to be disorder'd by fear though things should not go well lest it should make her uncapable of giving that assistance which 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 skilful Midwife that knows nothing but what is to be seen outwardly I shall not think it amiss but on the contrary highly necessary with modesty to describe the Generative Parts of Woman as they have been Anatomized by the Learned and shew the use of such Vessels as are contributing to Generation CHAP. XIII Of the Genitals of Woman External and Internal to the Vessels of the Womb. IF it were not for Publick Benefit especially of the Practitioners and Professors of the Art of Midwifery I should forbear to treat of these Secrets of Nature because they may be turned by some lascivious and lewd Persons into Ridicule but they being absolutely necessary to be known in order to a publick Good I will not omit them because some may make a wrong use of them Those parts that offer themselves to view at the bottom of the Belly are the Fissura Magna or the Great Chink with its Labia or Lips the Mons Veneris and the Hair These are called by the general Name of Pudenda from Shamefac'dness because when they are bared they bring Pudor or shame upon a woman The Fissura magna reaches from the lower part of the Os Pubis to within an Inch of the Anus But it is less and closer in Maids than in those that have born Children and has two Lips which towards the Pubes grow thicker and more full and meeting upon the middle of the Os Pubis make that rising Hill that is called Mons Veneris or the Hill of Venus The next thing that offers are the Nymphae and Clytoris the former of which is of a membrany and filmy Substance spongy soft and partly fleshy of a red colour in the shape of wings two in number tho' from their rise they are joyned in an acute Angle producing there a fleshy Substance which cloaths the Clytoris and sometimes they spread so far that Incision is required to make way for the Mans Instrument of Generation The Clytoris is a substance in the upper part of the Division where the two wings concur and is the Seat of Venereal Pleasure being like a Yard in Situation Substance Composition and Erection growing sometimes out of the Body two inches but that never happens unless through extream lust or extraordinary accident This Clytoris consists of two spongy and skinny Bodies containing a distinct Original 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 tho' not quite through in which and the bigness it only differs from it The next thing in course are the fleshy Knobs and the great Neck of the Womb And these Knobs are behind the

now to compleat the first part of this Treatise give you also the Anatomy of the Organs of Generation in Man and how they are fitted to the use for which Nature design'd ' em The Instrument of Generation in Man commonly called The Yard and in the Latin Penis a pedendo because it hangeth without the Belly is an Organical Part which consists of Skin Tendons Veins Arteries Sinews and great Ligaments and is long and round and on the upper side flattish seated under the Oss● Pubis and ordain'd by Nature partly for Evacuation of 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 ●t from the V●siculae Seminalis and also the Neck of the Vesica Vrinaria which pours out ●he Urine when they make Water Besides the common parts as the Cuticle the Skin and ●he Membrana Carnosa it hath these proper ●r internal parts viz. the two Nervous Bodies ●he Septum the Vrethra the Glans Four Mus●es and the Vessels The Nervous Body so ●●lled are surrounded with a thick white ner●ous Membrane but their inmost substance is ●ongy consisting chiefly of Veins Arteries ●nd nervous Fibres interwoven together like a ●et And when the Nerves are fille●●●●th ●nimal Spirits and the Arteries with hot and ●irituous Blood then the Penis is distended ●●d becomes Erect but when the Influx of the ●●irits ceases then the Blood and remaining ●●irits are absorded by the Veins and so the ●●nis becomes Limber and flaggy Below these ●ervous Bodies is the Vrethra and whenever ●●e Nervous Bodies swell it swells also The Muscles of the Penis are four two shorter arising from the Coxendix and serving its Erection and for that reason are called Erectores two larger proceeding from the Spincter of the Anus and serve to dilate the Vrethra for Ejaculation of the Seed and are called Dilatantes or Wideness At the end of the Penis is the Glans covered with a very thin Membrane by means of which and its Nervous Substance it becomes most exquisitely sensible and is the principal Seat of Pleasure in Copulation The outmost Covering of the Glans is called Praeputium a praeputando from being cut off it being that which the Jews cut off in Circumcision and it is tied in the lower part of it to the Glans by the Froenum or Bridle The Penis is also stocked with Veins Arteries and Nerves The Testiculi or Stones so called because testifying one to be a Man elaborate the Blood brought to them by the Spermatick Arteries into Seed They have Coats of two sorts proper and common the common are two and invest both the Testes The outermost of the common Coats consists of the Cuticula or tru● Skin and is called the Scrotum hanging out o● the Abdomen like a Purse The innermos● is the Membrana Carnosa The proper Coat● are also two the outer called Eliotroides o● Viginales the inner Albuginea into the oute● are inserted the Cremasters to the upper part of the Testes are fixed the Epididymedes o● Pastata from whence arise the vasa Differentia or Ejaculatoria which when they come near the neck of the Bladder deposite the Seed into the vesiculae Seminales These vesiculae Seminales are two each like a bunch of Grapes and emit the Seed into the Vrethra in the act of Copulation Near them are the Prostatae about the bigness of a Wallnut and joyns to the neck of the Bladder Authors cannot agree about the use of them but most are of opinion that they afford an oily slippery and fat humour to besmear the Vrethra whereby to defend the same from the Acrimony of the Seed and Urine But the vessels which convey the Blood to the Testes out of which the Seed is made are the Arteriae Spermaticae and are also two The veins which carry out the remaining Blood are two and have the name of venae Spermaticae CHAP. XVII A Word of Advice to both Sexes being several Directions respecting the Act of Copulation SINCE Nature has implanted in every Creature a natural Desire of Copulation or the increase and propagation of its kind and more especially in Man the Lord of the Creation and Master-Piece of Nature that so noble a Piece of the Divine Workmanship might not perish something ought to be said concerning that it being the Foundation of al● that we have hitherto been treating of sin●● without Compulation there can be no Generation Seeing therefore there depends so much upon it I thought it necessary before I concluded this first Part to give such Direction● to both Sexes for the performing of that Act● as may make it efficacious to the end for which Nature design'd it But it shall be done with that caution as not to offend the chastest Ear● nor put the Fair Sex to the trouble of a Blush● in reading it First therefore when a married Couple from a desire of having Children are about to make use of those means that Nature has o●dain'd to that purpose it would be very proper to cherish the Body with Generous Restoratives that so it may be brisk and vigorous● And if their Imaginations were charm'd wit● sweet and melodious Airs and all Cares and Thoughts of Business drown'd in a Glass of ra●cy Wine that their Spirits might be rais'd t● the highest pitch of Ardour and Joy it would not be amiss For any thing of Sadness Trouble and Sorrow are Enemies to the Delights o●● Venus and if at such times of Coition ther● should be Conception it would have a malevolent effect upon the Children But tho' Generous Restoratives may be us'd for the invigorating Nature yet all Excess is carefully to be avoided for it will allay the briskness of the Spirits and render 'em dull and languid and also hinders digestion and so must needs be an Enemy to Copulation For it is Food moderately taken that is well digested and what is well digested creates good Blood and good Blood makes good Spirits and enables a Man without vigor and activity to perform the Dictates of Nature It is also highly necessary that in their mutual Embraces they meet each other with an equal Ardour For if their Spirits flag on either part they will fall short of what Nature requires and the Woman either miss of Conception or else the Children prove weak in their Bodies or defective in their Understandings And therefore I do advise 'em before they begin their Conjugal Embraces to invogorate their mutual Desires and make their Flames burn with a fiercer Ardour by those endearing ways that Love can better teach than I can write And when they 've done what Nature does require the Man must have a Care he does not part too soon from the Embraces of his Wife lest some sudden interposing Cold should strike into the Womb and occasion a Miscarriage and thereby deprive them of the Fruit of their Labours And when after some small convenient time