must be cut on both sides which is very hazardous in regord that upon the least wound of the Abdomen and especially of the small Gut penetrating the Abdomen the Guts presently burst forth Which wounds in this case must be of a good bigness for the fingers to be thrust in the Guts to be remov'd to the end the Stones may be found and brought forth Besides upon the cutting off the Stone the Spermatic Vessels are also cut away from whence it would be very hard to stop the flux of Blood into the lower Belly which appears from hence that it is a hard matter to stop the blood in men whose Vessels may however be much more conveniently bound or cauteriz'd For tho' as Galen testifies Sows might be spay'd in Cappaâ—…ocia and Asia and the same thing be practis'd among the Germans and Westphalians though Bitches in the same manner may be spay'd yet the cutting out of womens Stones is not to be attempted with like security for Mankind is not to be expos'd to the same dangers with brute Beasts among which many of the Females dye when spay'd And therefore I wonder that Platerus a man of great Judgment should think that women might be spay'd as easily as brute Beasts not considering the difficulty and cruelty of the Operation accompanied with a thousand hazards which enjoyn all men especially Christians to abhor such a wicked piece of Villany Tho' Histories assure us that it was a Cruelty most barbarously and ignominiously practis'd upon women in former Ages The Creophagi a People so call'd in Arabia as Alexander ab Alexandro testifies not only gelt their men but castrated their women according to the Example of the Egyptians who were wont to spay their women in that manner Xanthus cited by Athenaeus relates that Adramytes King of the Lybians spay'd his women and made use of 'em instead of Eunuchs and Hesychius and Suidas accuse Gyges of the same Crime XLIII Wierus makes mention of the other sort of Castration by cutting out a womans womb by which she is made unfit for Conception which he relates fell out very successfully to a certain Sowgelder who suspecting his Daughter to be guilty of Adultery spay'd her by cutting out her womb But this way of Castration is no less hazardous than the other CHAP. XXV Of the Womb and its Motion HAving explain'd the Parts that serve for the making and evacuation oâ—… the Eggs and Female Seed we come now to those where Conception is finish'd that is to say the womb and its several parts I. The Womb which is also call'd Matrix and Vulva by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an organic part serving for Generation seated in the middle of the Hypogastrium between the Bladder and the right Gut in the strong Pelvis form'd out of the Os Ilium the Hip-bone the Share and Os Sacrum Which Pelvis is larger in women than in men And in time of Labour the strong Ligaments about the Os Sacrum and Os Puâ—…is being loosen'd and the Cocâ—…yx or last portion of the Back-bone giving way may yet be further stretch'd to release the Birth out of the straits of the Uterine Prison II. The Substance of it in Virgins is white nervous thick and compacted in women with Child somewhat spungy and soft III. It has two Membranes The outermost doubled and strong from the Peritonaeum smooth and smear'd over with a watery Humour by means of which Membrane it is fasten'd to the Intestinum Rectum the Bladder and the adjacent lateral parts The innermost which is proper to it is fibrous and more porous rising from the inner substance of the womb and firmly fasten'd to it rough in the larger Cavity about the Neck full of wrinkles or surrows and full of little Pores IV. Between these Membranes is found a fleshie and fibrous Contexture which in Big-belly'd women by reason of the great quantity of Nutritive Humours flowing to it swells together with the said Membranes so that the more the Birth grows and increases the more fleshie fibrous and thicker the womb grows which in the last Months of a womans Time equals the thickness of a Thumb and sometimes of two fingers Neither does this thickness proceed from the Humours penetrating into the Porosities of the womb as many believe but is a real thick flesh which afterwards like Muscles serves for the expulsion of the Birth Such a sort of fleshie Substance of the womb in Novemb. 1653. I publickly shewed in our Anatomy Theatre in the body of a woman dying in Childbed twelve hours after her decease and not long after in another woman that dy'd in Labour together with the Child But this same increas'd flesh after the birth is deliver'd the blood and humours flowing out presently with the Birth or afterwards drys up again and so the womb returns to its pristine shape and bigness V. The bigness of the womb is not very considerable but varies according to Age and the use of Copulation In Virgins it is about two fingers in breadth but seldom above three fingers in length which bigness is some what extended in those that make use of men and is still bigger in fruitful women that have born many Children How far it increases in Big-bellied women is known to every body VI. Regner de Graef distinguishes its bigness according to the difference of Age by weight In new-born Children says he we have observ'd the womb to have weigh'd a dram and sometimes a dram and a half In old Women and Virgins growing Ripe it is of that bigness as to weigh from an Ounce to an Ounce and an half In stronger Women that have had many Children and use frequent Copulation it seldom exceeds two Ounces But a most monstrous and diseas'd womb was that which Regner de Graef in the same place tells us took up the whole Concavity of the Abdomen and weighed at least forty pounds VII The shape of it resembles a Pear or rather a Surgeons â—…ucurbit in Virgins somewhat flat before and behind in such as have had Children more round VIII The hollowness of it is but small as being no more than in women not with Child especially in Virgins and will contain a good big Bean but after Conception increases and dilates it self with the whole womb This is not distinguish'd with any Cells as in most brute Beasts that bring forth living Conceptions but only by a future or rather certain Line extended in length and drawn along only in the inner part of the fleshie Tunicle and so by it is divided into the right and left part like the Line which appears in the outside of the Scrotum in men Which Concavity however is so order'd that it is not equal and altogether round but toward the right and left side As it were extended into a Horn being somewhat longer
Naples ten years after she was married With several other Examples brought Duval Merula Donatus and others which seem to confirm the Affirmative part But if we consider the thing more narrowly it is sufficiently apparent that all Historians that wrote those Stories gave too much credit to Vulgar Report without inquiring as they ought to have done into the truth of the Matter LI. 1. We read that it has so fall'n out that some Males tho' very rarely have had their Yards that have lain latent within the Abdomen as we our selves have seen the Stones lye hid in the Groyns more than once and hence the Midwives and Women finding the Yard as it were laid up in a Cleft took the Infant that was born to be a Girl and took care that it should be baptiz'd as a Girl but afterwards Youth and Puberty coming on the latent Pintle swelling in the heat of Lust broke loose from its narrow Consinement But such Men were not Women before tho' so adjudg'd by ignorant Women and Men altogether as idle till their Genitals making way in the heat and fury of libidinous desires they were thought to be chang'd out of Women into Men and such were all the Accidents mention'd in Pliny and Volaterrane in which Examples there is no more to be observ'd but that the Yard broke forth upon the Nuptial day when loose Desires and amorous Flames had warm'd and heated all the Body 2. As we have already observ'd in some Women of full Age the Clitoris sometimes grows to the bigness of a Man's Yard insomuch that they are able to lye with others of their own Sex and when that happens what wonder is it if the ignorant Vulgar perswade themselves that such Women are changed into Men and such as these seem to be the Accidents related by Pontanus 3. Many times it happens especially among Persons of great Quality that the Mothers apprehensive of some danger either from Enemies or loss of Inheritance warily and prudently conceal the Male Sex dissemble a Boy to be a Girl and to that purpose all the time of their Childhood put the Boy into Girls apparel but at length the Sons contemning their Female habit have put on Man's clothes which might cause a report among the Vulgar that the Girls were chang'd into Boys Thus in the time of Ferdinand the first King of Naples Carola and Francisca the two Daughters of Lewis Guerna were said to have chang'd Sex at fifteen years of Age. I should rather have said had chang'd their Apparel For no question but to conceal their Sex so long they went in Womens Apparel which at fifteen years of Age they threw off fearing otherwise to be betray'd by their Voices and the budding forth of their Beards whatever Fulgosus invents to the contrary 4. Sometimes it happens that some are born Hermaphrodites and because it is counted an abominable thing to partake of both Sexes their Mothers make it their business to hide that defect from their very Cradles and to bring up such Children in Womens habit but then if at any time appinted their Beards begin to grow they are forc'd to change their habit and so are said to be chang'd from Men to Women 5. Sometimes it happens through an extraordinary change of Temper that some Women come to have Beards and deep Voices which is the reason the Common People think 'em to be chang'd out of Women into Men. Thus Hippocrates l. 6. tells us of two Women Phaetusa the Wife of Pythias and Larissa the Wife of Gorippus who by reason of the suppression of their monthly Flowers became deep voiced and bearded like Men. LII And thus most certain it is that never any Woman chang'd her Sex or can change it but that whatever Historians have written concerning these Metamorphoses are all idle and ridiculous Fables while they being over-credulous were deceiv'd by Vulgar report and not examining the Truth as they ought to have done contrary to what they intended obtruded Falsities upon their Readers Lastly we shall add this That if Women at any time were ever chang'd into Men without doubt Men were sometimes chang'd into Women Which nevertheless was never heard of and the reason is Because the Yard being hid up in a Chink resembling the Female Cleft may swell and break forth in the heat of Youth and so the Person thought to be a woman becomes chang'd into a Man but being once pendant without can never be drawn back to form a Woman's Privity CHAP. XXVII Of the Constitution and Frame of the Female Genital Parts in Women with Child THo' the Generative Parts of Women are so constituted as we have describ'd yet of necessity there is something more to be added how they are alter'd in Women with Child and to shew the difference between empty Women and Women with Child I. The Womb in empty Women is about the bigness of a Wallnut or a good Pigeons Egg of a fleshie nervous solid and somewhat hard Substance the Concavity within being very small which Form and Constitution it still retains in the beginning of Conception when first it clasps it self about the Seed retain'd II. The Birth encreasing this Substance becomes more soft and spungy and by degrees as the birth grows bigger so the Substance enlarges it self and the Womb grows thicker And so the Birth and its Habitation encreases together to that degree so that at length about the upper part of the bottom it comes to be as thick as a Man's thumb or the breadth of two fingers III. By that time a Woman is half gone the Breasts begin to swell and the Teats being squeez'd the Milk comes forth at first more watery afterwards thicker At the same time the place above the Paps enlarges circularly and the Teats before contracted grow more loose and tumid the Lips also of the Privity swell out fuller and rounder IV. The Orifice of the Womb within is clos'd up and so continues exactly clos'd all the time the woman goes with child being damm'd up with a kind of viscous Slime so that nothing can flow out of the womb nor any thing be admitted into it unless by chance in a very lustful Copulation happening to gape somewhat wider than ordinary it receives the Male Seed which occasions a Superfoetation The same Orifice in the first Months of Child-bearing is hard but afterwards hard and pulpous V. The womb increasing in bigness the small Guts separate themselves to the sides of it If the Birth incline more to the right side the Guts are driven to the left side and so quite the contrary and hence it is that women believe they have Twins At the same time the Caul is forc'd upward concerning which Riolanus observes that if it wrap it self about the Stomach the woman has no Appetite to her Victuals all the time VI. The Stones which in empty women are rounder and looser and rest upon the upper part of
the most part to the Birth contained in the womb if she be an admirer of herself and of the outward Shape and Form of her own Body the Child will be like her But if she be a Person that is altogether taken with the Shape and Features of her Husband and often imprint his Image into her Imagination the Child will be like the Father But that this Resemblance does not proceed from the Quality or Quantity of the Seed of the Man and Woman is hence apparent for that a bigg-bellied Woman strongly conceiving in her Imagination the external Features of any other Man with whom she never had any Familiarity the Child shall be like to him Nay and many times by beholding monstrous Forms and Shapes imprints and stamps 'em many times upon the Births For wonderful is the Force of Imagination especially in Bigg-bellied Women of which Thomas Fienus has written an excellent Tractate Thus far concerning the Mans Seed Now particularly in a few words concerning the Seed of women the use and necessity of it XXXIX Here presently we meet a Question at the very Threshold whether Women have Seed or no Aristotle affirms that women have no Seed but that their Flowers supply the place of the Seed For which they who follow this same Prince of Philosophers give these Reasons 1. Because there is no way through which the Seed can pass from the Stones to the Womb. 2. Because the womans Seed can contribute nothing to Generation and for that it has been found that Women have many times conceived without being sensible of any Pleasure in Coition and therefore without any emission of Seed 3. Because the same Accidents do not befall women at that time that Seed is said to be generated in them as happen to Men at that age that is to say their Voices do not change their Nerves are not stronger their Body is not dry'd neither are they more perfect in the Gifts of the Mind c. 4. Because by the Testimony of Harvey the Testicles of women in the Act of Generation do not swell nor vary from their wonted Constitution either before or after Coition Neither is there any sign or mark of their Use or Necessity either in Coition or Generation 5. Because that by reason of the injection of the womans Seed into the womb in bigg-bellied women frequent Abortion happens after Copulation For that Seed must either be corrupted in the womb and so bring various Mischiefs and at length Death upon the inclosed Birth or else it must slip out of the womb and so the Orifice of the womb being opened Abortion must follow And hence they conclude that women have no Seed and so that their Stones are only given for Ornament like the Paps of Men. XL. But this Opinion long suspected at length has been deservedly rejected by most men it being sufficiently apparent that women have Seed from hence that they have Stones spermatic Arteries and Veins and deferent Vessels as Tubes and Prostates which Parts not being given 'em in vain no question serve for the Generation of Seed Moreover in the Stones themselves the Eggs are conspicuously to be seen containing a transparent White well deserving the Name of Seed which being matur'd and bedew'd and impregnated with the male Seed are conveighed through the deferent Vessels or Tubes and so carried to the womb Lastly Women in Coition emit a certain seminal Matter out of the Prostates with great Pleasure and after Coition suffer the same Symptomes as happen to Men sadness lassitude conturbation in their Countenances numness and cessation from Desire Thus both the First and Second Reason of the Aristotelians falls to the Ground For that the Seed of women included in the Eggs is altogether necessary for Generation is apparent from hence that nothing is begot by the Male Seed unless the Spirituous Part of it light into the Liquor resembling the white of an Egg as into the sole Matter proper for its use And for that women never conceive that have no Eggs in their Ovaries as in elderly women or at least none that are impregnated and carried out of their Ovaries to the womb As neither do they Conceive who never emit with Pleasure any seminal Liquor out of their Prostates And therefore there is no Credit to be given to those that cry they were ravished by Force and conceived without Pleasure Lastly Because that among Brutes Bitches Sowes and other female Creatures being spay'd become Barren as being depriv'd of the Organs generating Seed-bearing Eggs. To which we may add that the Holy Scripture makes mention of the Seed of the Woman as most necessary to Generation The Third Reason of the Aristotelians is of no Value For that at the time that Seed is generated their Voices do not change nor their Nerves grow stronger c. The Reason of that is because the whole Temperament of their Bodies is much colder and moister than Mens and therefore the Seed included in their Eggs is much more crude and moist than the Seed of Man nor does it diffuse such a hot and sharp Fermentaceous Expiration through the whole Body as a Mans Seed No less vain is the Fourth Argument for that the Constitution of the Stones was observed by Harvey not to vary either before or after Copulation that was so imagin'd by Harvey because that in a Beast killed before Copulation he could neither discern nor know what was the difference of the Constitution in the Copulation itself and in another killed after Copulation he could not find what was the Constitution in the Coition For if perhaps the Stones did swell in Coition the swelling of the Genital Parts most certainly fell through the terror of Death and Death ensuing and so return'd to their former lank Constitution in like manner as a Mans Yard tho' stiff with Lust flaggs upon the least Fear or apprehension of Death Furthermore neither in Coition nor after Coition does any manifest Difference outwardly appear to the Eye neither in the Stones of Men or Women only that they are drawn upward in Men yet whether or no there happens any pleasing Alteration in the Stones of Females in the venereal Act when the Eggs are impregnated with the due of the Male Seed this tho' Brute Animals cannot discover in Words yet their Gesticulation sufficiently declares it And therefore rational Women confess it that they feel an extraordinary Pleasure in their Wombs and all the adjacent parts among which are the Stones adhering to the Sides of the Womb. The Fifth Argument proves nothing for they who at the time of Ingravidation from the Eggs injected into the womb by Coition are afraid of Dammage to the Birth and future Abortions they are mistaken in that to think that in the Copulations of bigbellied women any Seed bearing Eggs fall anew into the Cavity of the womb not knowing that those Passages after Conception remain clos'd up till the Delivery As also the
there can be but one form of one thing so the Principle containing that Form can be but one Therefore the Seed of Man is but one For being simple and indivisible in its Form it cannot be composed of two which it would be if it should proceed from the Male and the Female Subtil Exercit. 268. Several other Arguments he adds in the same place by which he does not only deny all forming Power in the female Seed but refuses to acknowledg the Seed it self nor will he seem to allow it any ministerial Function Scaliger's Arguments are very weighty so that I easily agree with him that the form and act of Formation proceeds only from the Seed of the Man and that the womans Seed contributes no forming effective Cause to the shaping and delineation of the Birth Yet I cannot with Scaliger wholly renounce the womans Seed for I have both asserted and prov'd it to be very necessary for Generation And being necessary yet not having a forming Power it cannot otherwise be necessary but only in respect of that Matter without which the Power of the mans Seed cannot be waken'd and rowsed into Act. Now that it is not endu'd with a forming Power appears from hence that a woman cannot conceive of herself without the help of male Copulation Tho' it may be very probable that in her nocturnal Pollutions which happen to women as well as men besides the seminal Matter breaking forth out of the Prostates into the Vagina many times the Eggs slip out and evacuate through the Tubes into the Womb. Which nevertheless if the Seed included in the Eggs contained two Principles of Generation Active and Passive seeing she has both Place Time and Nourishment convenient within her own Body could not choose but conceive of herself Besides Nature has so provided that there shall be only one Agent to produce a natural Effect by the Testimony of Aristotle but if the Seed of the woman participated of the formal and efficient Cause then there would be two active Principles the Seed of the woman and the Seed of the man which is repugnant to the Order of Nature Again if both Sexes contributed an active Power the Male would produce either the same with the Woman or another quite contrary If the same then one would superabound if different then Twins would always be begot or Hermaphrodites which rarely happens Lastly our Opinion is confirm'd by the Natural Instinct of Mankind for the Children are not denominated from the Mother but generally from the Father as from him who being their Efficient Principle contributed to their being form'd LVIII Hence it is apparent that the Seed of the Woman does not contain in it self any forming Power in reference to the Birth nor is any Efficient Cause thereof nor as the first matter contributes to the first matter of the Birth that is to be form'd but that it is only necessary as a matter gently receiving the generative Principle of the Male Seed dissolving and fomenting it and setting at liberty the forming spirit inherent in the generative Principle and disposing it to act and to form all the first Lineaments of the Body out of it self and nourishing the Embryo when reduced into shape LIX Hippocrates does not seem to favour this Opinion of ours who writes thus Lib. 1. de Genitur In Man there is both the Male and Female Seed and so likewise it is in Woman but the Male Seed is the stronger and Generation must of necessity be accomplish'd by the stronger In which words Hippocrates seems to intimate that Womens seed partakes no less of the Efficient Cause than the Man's I answer That in Generation the strength of the Seeds consists partly in the Efficient Cause partly in the Material preparing for Formation And both Causes being taken separately may be called eitheir strong or weak or to use Hippocrates's phrase either Virile or Female When the Efficient Cause of Formation which is in the Male Seed is strong or virile and the material cherishing and nourishing Cause which is the Female Seed is likewise strong or virile then of both together comes a Male Child If either Cause be weak yet one stronger than the other then from the Cause that prevails proceeds a Boy or a Girl So that it cannot be concluded from the words of Hippocrates himself that he allowed the Female Seed an Efficient Power but that he has plac'd that same strength of which he speaks no less in the Material preparing Cause than in the Efficient and that by strength in the Male Seed he understood a strong and robust efficient Power of Forming in the Womans Seed an excellent temper of preparing and nourishing Matter and an aptitude to set at liberty the efficient principle latent in the Virile Seed LX. Veslingius fancied quite another Opinion of the Womans Seed for he acknowledges therein a double substance one Corporeal requisite for the forming of the Birth and another more watery which loosens the parts of the Womb cherishes and preserves the Birth and which he says flows continually into the Womb after Conception The Portion saith he of Spermatic Moisture which slows from the Stones to the bottom of the Womb is of a more noble use after Conception For upon this swims the rude little Body of the Embryo at the beginning of its conformation and so not only hinders the more intense heat of the Womb from making any irregular dissolution of any thing but gently sustains the Birth it self in the strong shogs of the Mothers Body and secures the Umbilical Vessels at that time as thin as a hair from danger of a Rupture Veslingius has done well to consider two parts in the Seed of the Woman but in that he was greatly deceived according to the ancient Opinion that the Man and the Womans Seed were mix'd together in the Womb and so thought the Birth to be form'd out of that Mixture and that he also believed that the Milky Juice which in Big-bellied Women flows to the Womb for the nourishment of the Child to be the more watery part of the Womans Seed Concerning which Juice see Chap. 31. LXI At this day according to the Opinion of Harvey many people assert that the Womens Seed after Conception together with the Man's Seed flows out again from the Womb as being altogether of no use Yet tho' the vanity of that Opinion be apparent from what has been said we shall examin it however more at large in the next Chapter After this Explanation made both of the Man's and Womans Seed two things remain to be inquired into in general concerning the Seed First At what Age the Seed is generated and Secondly Why Eunuchs and gelt Animals become fatter and more languid LXII As to the first The Seed is not generated till the habit of the Body becomes dryer and stronger and when the Body is come to its full growth And hence it is that because
some sooner according as Nature has use for ' em XVI Whence it is that the Heart manifestly acts sanguifies and beats first of all because the perfection and action of it is of all others the first and most chiefly necessary And still the Braâ—…n appears like a thicker sort of puddle Water when all the rest of the Parts are upon their growth And tho' afterwards it contribute somewhat beneficial to Nourishment yet in the beginning when all the slender Delineaments are but just form'd contain a kind of fermentaceous Quality in themselves and neither require nor can endure a strong Fermentation there is no need of its Assistance Beside the brain also many other Parts do but very slightly appear till some time after the first Foundations are laid and some Parts not till after the birth of the Infant as the Teeth tho' they were all delineated at the beginning For as Nature the Parts being already delineated presently acts by their assistance as her â—…eed requires so does she perfect the Organs not by growth but as the necessity of Use requires their Perfection And as we may collect what parts are form'd by their Action tho' they cannot be discern'd by the Eye so we may collect that those Parts are of special Use which are first finished among which are the Heart XVII And thus it is apparent that the Embryo is generated out of the prolific Principle contained in the Bubble that it is afterwards nourished first by the Seed of the woman and the melted remainder of the mans afterwards with that seminal Nourishment and Blood and lastly with Blood alone XVIII This Opinion of ours is contrary to theirs who alledg that man is produc'd and form'd out of the specific Principle alone that is out of the spirituous and efficacious part of the Seed but that the whole Mass of the Seed beside is altogether unprofitable and therefore flows out again after Conception True it is that the first Lineaments or Threads of the whole Body are form'd out of the Egg alone infused into the womans Egg and collected in the Bubble but it is as great a mistake that after the separation of the prolific Principle and the real Conception that the rest of the Seed flows out as unprofitable as being repugnant 1. to Reason 2. To the Authorities of the best Physicians 3. To Experience 1. Reason Because that when the Seed is received into the Womb and once Conception happens the Orifice of the Womb is so exactly closed that nothing can flow out again 2. Authorities For Hippocrates expresly declares That if a Woman after Copulation does not conceive the Seed of both Sexes flows out again But if she conceive the Seed never flâ—…ws out again For that being once cordially embraced the Womb is closed up the Orifice being contracted by reason of its Moisture and as well the womans as the mans Seed are mixed together So that if a woman has had Children and observes when the Seed first began to stay in her Body she shall know the day she conceiv'd The same Hippocrates in his Treatise de Natura Puâ—…ri has these words If the Geniture of both Parents stays in the womans Womb then first because the woman is seldom at rest it is mingled condens'd and thickens with heat The words of Galen are If the Seed remains in the Matrix the woman will conceive And in another place I have read all the Physicians that have writ of this Matter which I find to affirm the same thing that if a woman will conceive of necessity the mans Seed must remain in her Body In like manner Macroâ—…ius The Seed says he that after Injection does not come forth again in seven Hours may be pronounc'd to stay in order to Conception Which most of the Ancients both Greeks and Arabians in all their Writings assert as having learn'd it from manifold Observation Among the Moderns Fernelius Ludovicus Mercatus and several others maintain the same Doctrine 3. Experience For Galen writes that he has often been told by Persons experienced in those Affairs that Mares Bitches Asses Cows Goats and Sheep manifestly retain the Seed in their Wombs as also that he himself has frequently made tryal of it and always observ'd in all Creatures that retain'd their Seed after Conception and became impregnated that the Seed was still found in the Womb upon Dissection Which if Galen found to be always true in brute Animals why not in Women But use confirms the same for women certainly know themselves to be with child if they observe their Privities to continue dry after Copulation and that none of the Seed comes away from them Ask a hundred women one after another and they will unanimously confess that to be a certain sign of their Conceiving and being with Child and they should certainly know by that sign when they conceived but that after Copulation in the Night they fall asleep or after Copulation in the day time taken up with other business they never take exact Notice whether the Seed comes from them or no. Which not being diligently observed by 'em they seldom know certainly when they conceiv'd and begin their Reckoning from the time they miss'd their Flowers and so are frequently mistaken in their Accompt XIX But neither the foresaid Reason nor the Authorities of the most famous Physicians nor the Acknowledgments of the Women themselves could prevail so far but that Harvey will still maintain that the Seed contributes nothing to the Growth and forming of the Parts and for that reason asserts that the Seed either does not enter the Womb or being entered flows out again without Prejudice to Conception Into which Error he has also drawn Regius and several other Philosophers The Reasons that confirm him in his Opinion he takes from Ocular Testimony as having dissected several Doâ—…s Hinds and many other brute Creatures yet never found any Seed in their wombs tho' he believes several of those Creatures to have been with young In Bitches Conies and several other Animals saith he I have made tryal that there is nothing to be found in the womb for several days after Coition that I am convinced that the Birth does not proceed from the Seed either of Male or Female injected into the womb in Coition nor from the menstruous Blood as the Matter according to Aristotle neither that there is any Conception presently after Coition and that therefore it cannot be true that in a prolific Coition there is any Matter prepared in the womb which the Virtue of the male Seed coagulates like Rennet for there is nothing at all to be seen therein for several days And in another Place Exercit. 17. In the Cavity of the womb saith he I never could find any Seed of the Male nor any thing else that render'd toward Conception And yet the Males every day copulated with the Females and I dissected several of those Females and this I have always found to
Chorion grows thicker like Leather steep'd in Water and being very much dilated constitute these two Membranes the Chorion and the Amnion And as the outward Shell of a Hen or other Birds Egg before it be laid sticks with a little Branch to the Ovary so also in a woman these Membranes by means of a Caruncle sticking to the Chorion adhere not to the Ovary but to the Womb it self at the very beginning as appears in the Abortions describ'd c. 29. and perhaps in that very part where the Egg descends out of the Tube into the Womb and embrace the whole dissolv'd Matter together with the Crystalline Bubble collected therein and so within their Walls through the benigne Cherishing of the Uterine Heat the Architectonic Spirit latent in the Bubble is set at Liberty and roused into Action As for those slender small Vasa Sanguisera which from the beginning are seen dispersed through the Chorion as we have observed in the forecited Abortions I have observed them to be produced not from the Birth then not as yet form'd or from the Crystalline Bubble furnished as yet with no blood or blood-bearing Vessels but from that fleshy spungy and plainly rubicund Particle which at the upper part stuck to the Chorion and seem'd to be endamag'd without-side and as it were torn from the Womb so that it might appear that the Chorion stuck to the Womb by means of it which seem'd to receive those little Vessels from the Vessels of the Womb by Continuation and so send them to the Chorion X. Besides the foresaid Membranes there is in Brutes that bring forth living Conceptions a third Membrane found in form of a Bagg very thin and furnish'd with no visible Vessels This by Galen and the ancient Physicians is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a kind of Pudding like the Gut wherein Puddings use to be made For according to Suidas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Gut Hence the Latins call it the Farciminal or Pudding Membrane and sometimes the Intestinal or Gut Membrane tho' it does not in all Creatures retain the shape of a Pudding or Gut but in many resembles a broad Swath XI It is a most thin Membrane smooth hollow soft and yet thick without any Vessels conspicuous to the Eye by no means enfolding the whole Birth extended to the utmost extremity from one Horn of the Womb to the other waxing slender at the extream Parts that enter the Horns of the Womb till it end in a Point XII It rises with a narrow Beginning where the Urachus or Passage of the Urine continuous to it opens into its Hollowness and presently dilates it self XIII It is seated between the Chorion and the Amnion from which it may be easily separated XIV It s Use is to collect the Urine of the Embryo flowing out of the Bladder through the Urachus and to preserve it till the time of Delivery From which use of it Needham calls it in all Creatures which have a Placenta the Urinary Membrane XV. Its Bigness and Figure varies according to the Difference of Creatures For in some it resembles a Gut in shape and bigness in others a broad Swath and is much larger as in a Cow much more in a Mare in which Creature it is every way fastened to the Chorion and enfolds the whole Birth together with the Amnion But as for its bigness and shape in Sows Coneys Doggs and some other Creatures Gualter Needham exactly describes upon View l. de format Foet And in the same place adds the whole discourse concerning it and the manner of finding it out in Brutes XVI Now seeing that Urine abounds in the Conceptions of all Creatures that bring forth living Births while they remain in the Womb and that there is a necessity for the same to be discharged out of the Womb and reserv'd somewhere till the time of Delivery the Question is whether this Membrane Alantois be in all Creatures especially in Women Aquapendens says that Women Cats and Bitches are destitute of this Membrane as also are all other Creatures that have Teeth in both Jaws And that the Urine of their Conceptions is collected in no peculiar Vessel but flows out of the Urachus between the Chorion and the Amnion and is there reserv'd till the time of Delivery But our modern more quicksighted Anatomists have found it now in many of those Creatures who were deny'd it before Yet do these very much question whether it be in Women Harvey who overlook'd it in Brutes denies any such thing in Women On the other side Highmore not only allows it to Brutes but admits it in Women and assigns it in them the same Use which it is vulgarly said to have in Brutes That is to receive the Urine of the Embryo through the Urachus and reserve it till the time of Delivery And agreeing with Vesalius says it is easy to be found if in a bigg-bellied Woman the Dissection should be begun from the Placenta otherwise by reason of its extream Slenderness it is easy to be broken But here Needham well observes that Vesalius at the time that he wrote had never dissected any woman with Child as he confesses himself in the same place and therefore made a Judgment of women by what he observ'd in doggs And describ'd a human Embryo wrap'd in the Secundines of a Whelp But afterwards when he had dissected a woman with Child he changed his Opinion and number'd but two Membranes in a woman that is to say the Amnion and Alantois reaching the Chorion not under the name of a Membrane but of the whole Conception In this Obscurity the Quicksighted Needham gave us great Light who describes not any Farciminal or Pudding-like Membrane such as the Alantois in many beasts but a bagg quite of another Fashion wherein the Urine of the Conception is collected and reserved till the time of Delivery The Secundines says he being received by the Midwife let 'em be laid in their proper Posture as well as may be Then taking a small Packthread follow it as far as the Amnion This is fastened to the Packthread a little below the Placenta the rest hangs free If the Amnion be fresh you shall find the little Veins of it otherwise they vanisht the Blood being run out and the Membrane cold This being left about the Packthread go to the next Membrane which if you prick withoutside about the Placenta or tear the extream Edges with your Fingers you shall find to be easily divided into two of which the outermost is porous and spungy and full of little Veins the innermost very slippery and extreamly transparent but void of Veins and Arteries That I take for the Chorion this for the Urinary Tunicle It cannot be call'd a folding or facing of the former because of the dissimilitude of the Substance but whether we look upon the Situation Figure or Substance
mistaken her Reckoning Petrus Aponensis otherwise called the Conciliator by the Report of Cardan asserts himself to have been born in the eleventh Month as if he had kept his Mother's reckoning in her Womb. Homer makes mention of one born in the twelfth Month. Pliny speaks of a certain Woman that was brought to bed in her thirteenth Month and Avicen of another that was brought to bed in her fourteenth Of which we have another Example in Alexander Benedict I omit other Women that went two and twenty Months nay some that went two three four whole years of which Iohn Schenkius quotes Examples I fear me too fictitious out of several Authors VI. But indeed these are all idle Stories without any grounds and prov'd by no certain Experience but taken up from the discourses of tatling Gossips to whom some overcredulous Learned Men have given too much Credit to the end they might underprop these Vanities with some supports of probability For as I believe it to be most certain that the time of delivery may be for certain causes delay'd some few days beyond the Term of nine Months so I believe it impossible that it should be put off one much less many Months seeing that in whatsoever Constitution of a Woman the Increase of heat becomes so great in the Infant that it requires Ventilation by Respiration and for that cause the Birth must seek relief without the narrow straits of the Womb. So that it is manifest those serious maintainers of that Opinion drew too hasty a Conclusion from the false Relations of silly Women For if we narrowly prie into the Matter there lies a Snake in the Grass either wickedness in the Woman or simple Error in the Reckoning Wickedness in the Woman Who if she have no Children upon the death of her Husband that she may enjoy her Estate leagues her self with another Man and being by him got with Child pretends to be delivered Eleven twelve thirteen Months after the death of her Husband that so she may lay the Child to him in his Life-time which is a sort of wickedness so frequent that the Courts are full of these Contentions Which is the reason that these lateward Births seldom happen but among such kind of Widows rarely among Women that live with their Husbands There may be also a simple Error in the Reckoning for that Women generally compute their Reckoning form the first suppression of their Flowers though it may happen from other causes that their Flowers may cease three or four Months before Conception So that if a Woman begin her Reckoning from the first Suppression she must of necessity mistake and through that Mistake the Child shall be said to be born in the eleventh or twelfth Month that came at the appointed time of the end of the Ninth Aristotle believes that Error may proceed from the swelling of the VVomb Women says he are ignorant of the Time of their Conception if when the Womb was swelled before as it often happens they afterwards lye with their Husbands and conceive for they believe this to be the beginning of their Conception because it gave such a Signal VII Through the same Error in Reckoning Children are said to be born in the fifth or sixth Month which nevertheless are not born till the Ninth For that some VVomen for the first two or three Months of their being with Child have their Flowers upon them still at the set times but afterwards they stop and so they begin their Reckoning from that Suppression wherein they greatly err beginning their account from thence when they are three or four Months gone and so a Child shall be said to come in the sixth Month that was duly born in the ninth and this Error is apparent from the just proportion of the Child and the strength of its parts VIII When a Woman draws near her time the Birth turns it self and the Head declining plants it self before the Privity distending upwards the rest of the Body Which turning happens a week or two before the delivery Then the Orifice of the VVomb like a blowing Rose begins to open and dilate it self and to prepare a passage for the Birth that is about to come forth moreover the Infant kicking and sprawling to and fro breaks the Membranes wherein it is infolded and so the humours included therein flow forth which loosen the Privy parts and render the Passages slippery to make the passage easie for the Birth to pass thorough For it rarely happens that the Child is born and comes into the VVorld with the Membranes whole and entire which once I saw in an Infant that was very weak IX This sprawling is painful to the Womb and this pain communicated to the mind in the Brain presently the Animal Spirits are sent in great Quantity through the Nerves to the pursing Fibers of the Womb and the Muscles of the Abdomen which being contracted together cause a strong Expulsion of the Birth X. The Infant comes forth with the Head formost according to Nature says Hippocrates Lib. de nat puer XI Whatever other manner it offers it self to come forth in that Birth cannot be said to be Natural and the more hazardous it is by how much the posture of the Child is more unusual For if it offers one Thigh or one Arm it makes a stop unless that Member be thrust back and the Birth turn'd If two Thighs be offered together the delivery may go forward but with great difficulty if the Buttocks offer themselves first the delivery goes not forward unless very seldom sometimes the Birth comes forth doubled but with great difficulty and great danger If the Sides or Belly offer themselves first the Delivery is impossible How the mature and large Birth should be able to pass through the Straits of the Bones of the Pelvis stuft with Muscles and other parts Galen admires but dares not explain But it is done by reason that the Bones of the Share the Os Sacrum and the Hip-Bone their Cartilages being loosen'd separate a little one from another as we shall shew more at large L. â—… c. 16. XII However it be or at whatever time the Delivery happens Nature expels the Birth out of the Womb through the Uterine Sheath or at least endeavours to do it and that is the only passage appointed for the Expulsion of the Birth I say or at least endeavours to do it for sometimes it happens that that same passage being stopt the Child cannot be expell'd by Nature but must be drawn forth by the skill of the Surgeon and that through the passage already mentioned by the hand either of the Midwife or Surgeon or by the Assistance of Hooks which we have tryed with success in many Women or else by Section made in the Womb and Abdomen which is called the Caesarian Delivery concerning which Francis Rousset has written a famous Treatise But it is rarely seen that Nature her self attempts
manifest Cause as Menstruous suppression refrigeration corruption of the Seed or the like OBSERVATION LIX Loss of Appetite Mr. Hare an English Gentleman about Thirty Years of Age having for several days together contrary to his custom fed excessively hard and by that means disturbed the Functions of his Stomach and collected many crudities therein lost his Stomach to that degree that for a fortnight together he could scarce eat any thing at all at length by my advice he took this Vomit â„ž Green-leaves of Asara-Bacca Ê’iij bruise them and press out the juice with â„¥ ij s. of the Decoction of Radish add to the expression Oxymel with Agaric â„¥ j. mix them for a Draught This caused him to Vomit stoutly afterwards I ordered him to eat three or four Mouthfuls of candied Elecampane Root three or four times a day to observe a warm Diet to abstain from Immoderate eating to drink generous Wine but in a less quantity and after Dinner and Supper because his Stomach was very moist to eat a bit or two of a raw Salt Herring and by this means he recovered his Stomach again within a few days ANNOTATIONS LOss of Appetite sometimes proceeds from a hot Cause as a hot Distemper of the Stomach a Fever abundance of Choler and then it is cured with Choler purging and Refrigerating Medicines Sometimes it proceeds from a cold disposition of the Stomach which happens either through weakness of the innate Heat as in old Men or through bad Dyet and thence Crudities collected in the Stomach or else by reason of cold humors flowing from the Head or other Parts to the Stomach Now in every cold Disposition of the Stomach by reason of the weakness of the Concoctive faculty mary crude flegmatic moist and cold humors are collected in the Stomach which weaken the heat of the Stomach and dissolve the strength of it and blunt the Sense of Attraction and Suction In the Cure of this Distemper tâ—…â—…lear the Stomach from the filth of Crudities Vomits are mainly necessary But if other Purgatives are to be made use of Hiera Pills are chiefly commanded by Galen Then a Dyet is to be observed upon things of good juice and easie of Digestion hot and dry not fat or oily which take away the Sence of Suction The use also of most hot things Gaâ—…gale Calamus Aromaticus Rosemary Marjoram Hysop Sage Lawrel-berries hot Seeds all Spices and the like all generous Wines and moâ—…e â—…pecally Wormwod Wine Spirit oâ—… Wine is commended by all either simple or distilled off with Juniper-berries Seeds of Anise Caraways Fennel Cinnamon or Cloves all Hippocras and Cinnamon Water sublimated out of Wine Matthiolus extols his own Aqua Vitae which is used by many Physitians Levinus Lemni above all extols Ginger either dry or condited to help Concoction restore the Appetite dispel Wind and consume Crudities Others are for swallowing some few Pepper-corns either whole or cut into three or four pieces I have observed in my Practise that the Roots of Elecampane alone so condited that they still retain their bitterness are more effectual than all the rest by the 〈◊〉 of which I have made those who have lost their Stomachs in a short time in a few days very hungry I also used to give them pulverized with strong Wine and have found them answer Expectation For they warm the Stomach yet not too much consume Crudities promote Concoction corroborate open dry and dispel Salt meats also very much excite the Appetite So that I have observed that the eating of a third or fourth Part of a Pickled Herring after Dinner or Supper has recovered a lost Stomach if the Person be not very old for it extreamly drys and corroborates the Stomach For though a Herring be hard of Digestion when it is boyl'd or broyl'd yet taken out of the Pickle and eaten raw it is easie of digestion OBSERVATION LX. A Superfoetation THE Wife of Dionysius N. a Souldier living at Nimeghen in October 1637. was brought to Bed of a Boy lusty and at the full time which she Nursed her self after she was Delivered her Terms came down in due order and she was indifferent well all the time of her lying in like other Women after her Month was out she went about her business as before but the seventh Month after her delivering being at Church she felt such a suddain alteration that she was forced to return home where a Midwife being sent for her Waters came down accompanied with the throws of Delivery and while the Women were all admiring what the matter should be she was brought to Bed of another lusty sound Child which she Nursed with the former and may be alive still for ought I know ANNOTATIONS SAys the Great Hippocrates the mouth of the Womb of such Women as are with Child is compressed And Galen observes that if the Mouth of the Womb be shut 't is a sign of Conception and he says it is then so close shut that it will not admit the point of the smallest Bodkin But granting all this yet we must not conclude from hence that there can be no Superfoetation though it rarely happen For says Aristotle if after Conception there be Copulation there may be a Superfoetation though rarely for that the Womb though very rarely closes it self till delivery Thus Hippocrates those Women have Superfoetations whose Wombs are not exactly closed after the first Conception He also gives us an Example of Superfoetation in the Wife of Gorgias who Conceived a Girl and when she was near the time of her delivery Conceiv'd again I knew a Woman says Albucasis that was again impregnated when she had a dead Birth in her Womb. Says Cardan Superfoetation is rare yet seen at Millan in our time Says Dodonaeus Superfoetation is very rare yet there has been an Example of it in the Wife of a very honest Man And Plater gives us two Examples of Superfoetation But now granting Superfoetation the Question is how the Superfoetation can be brought to perfection Aristotle says that if after the first Conception a Woman Conceive again the Superfoetation may be nourish'd but if the first Conception be grown then the second proves Abortive Which is the Opinion of Hippocrates Plinie Dodonaeus Bauhinus and others Reason also seems to agree with Experience which teaches us that the first Conceiv'd and first increas'd draws the chiefest part of the Nourishment to its self by which means the latter Conception must be depriv'd of Nourishment and consequently dye and be expell'd as an Abortion But if the last Conception draws sufficient Nourishment and be sufficiently perfected and do not prove Abortive it is impossible it should be ready so soon for delivery as the former and yet it will be delivered in time as we find by this Example by me recited for the ratities sake Yet Nicholas tells ye a greater Wonder I knew says he the Wiâ—…e of Zachary de Scarparia who brought forth a Male Child and three Months
Albugâ—…eous Tunicle E. The Albugineous Tunicle FIGURE VI. A. The Body of the Testicle the Albugineous Tunicle being taken off BB. The Albugineous Tunicle inverted CCC The Portions of the preparing Vessels preforating this Tunicle cut away D. The Albugineous Tunicle sticking close to the back of the Testicle by reason of the Membranes of the Testicle there meeting FIGURE VII A. The substance of the Testicle separated from the Albugineous Tunicle BBB The Solutions of the substance by which it appears not to be a Glandulous body as at first sight it seems to be but a Body compos'd of Vessels C. The Albugineous Tunicle stretch'd upward FIGURE VIII AAA The Seminary Vessels of the Testicles placed in a certain order between the thin Membranes BB. The Seminary Vessels running out through the Membranous substance sticking to the back of the Testicle C. Certain small Portions of the Seminary Vessels perforating the Albugineous Tunicle cut off DDDD The Albugineous Tunicle opened and drawn to the sides Tab IV FIGURE IX A. The Testicle cut athwart BBB The Disposition of the Seminary Vessels C. The Concourse of the Membranes detaining the Seminary Vessels least they should be jumbled together sticking close to the Back of the Testicle FIGURE X. The Prostate or Glandulous Body AA The Glandulous Body opened in the Fore-part B. The Ureter opened in the upper Part. C. The Passages of the Glandulous Body laid bare O. The Place of the Caruncle through which the Seed breaks forth into the Ureter FIGURE XI The Vessel of the Testicle of a Dormouse A. The Spermatic Artery descending to the Testicle BB. The whole Testicle with admirable Dexterity cleared so as to shew the Vessels The EXPLANATION of the Fourth TABLE In Fol. 154. This Table shews the Yard with the Seminary Vessels and other Parts annexed to it exactly delineated by Regner de Graef FIGURE I. The hinder Part of the Yard A. The Urinary Vessel BB. Portions of the Ureters CC. Portions of the Vessels carrying the Seed DD. The deferent Vessels dilated like little Boxes EE The Vessels running forth to the Seminary Vessels FFFF The Seminary Vessels distended with Wind. GG The Hinder Prospect of the Prostatae H. The Ureter I. The Meeting of the deferent Vessels with the Seminary Vessels K. The Muscle dilating the Ureter L. The same Muscle drawn back to the Side M. The Spungy Part of the Yard under the Ureter NN. The Ureter OO The Spungy Bodies of the Yard P. The Nut. qq The Muscles extending the Yard FIGURE II. The Forepart of the Genital Parts A. The Urinary Bladder B. The Neck of the Bladder CC. Portions of the Ureters DD. Portions of the Vessels carrying the Seed EE Vessels running forth to the Seminary Vessels FF The Seminary Vessels GG The Prostatae H. The Ureter adjoyning to its Spongy Part. II. The Spungy Part of the Ureter KK The Muscles erecting the Yard LL. The Beginning of the Nervous Bodies separated from the Share-Bones MM. The Skin of the Yard drawn to the Sides NN. The Doubling of the Skin which constitutes the Preputium OO The Skin which was annexed behind the Nut. P. The Back of the Yard Q. The Nut of the Yard R. The Urinary Passage SS The Nerve running forth above the Back of the Yard V. The Nervous Bodies meeting together WW Two Veins meeting together and running along the Back of the Yard with one remarkable Branch X. The Vein opened to shew the Valves FIGURE III. The Yard divided to the Ureter AA The Nut of the Yard together with the Nervous Bodies divided through the Middle BB. The Membranes of the Nervous Body of the Yard divided one from the other CC. An Artery creeping through the Spungy Substance of the Nervous Body DD. The Spungy Substance of the Yard EE The intervening Fence FF The Fibrous Shoots of the Intervening Fences ascending like a Comb. G. The Ureter cut off about the Glandulous Body H. The Middle of the Ureter I. The End of the Ureter perforating the Nut. KK The Spungy Substance of the Ureter LL. The Beginnings of the Nervous Bodies dilated like little Bellows MM. The Muscles erecting the Yard FIGURE IV. The Yard opened at the Side AA The Nut laid bare B. The Bridle CC. A Portion of the Skin from which the other Part covering the Yard is separated DD. The Ureter lying under the Nervous Bodies EE The Membranes of the Nervous Bodies of the Yard divided FF An Artery shooting out through the Spungy Substance of the Nervous Body GG The Spungy Substance of the Nervous Body HH The Orifices of the Arteries cut off I. The Ureter K. The Spungy Substance of the Ureter LL. The intervening Fence of the Nervous Bodies FIGURE V. The Yard dissected athwart AA The Spungy Substance of the Nervous Bodies BB. Two Arteries perambulating the Nervous Bodies C. The Urinary Passage of the Ureter D. The Spungy Substance of the Ureter E. The Intervening Fence FF The strongest Membrane of the Nervous Bodies G. The thinnest Membrane containing the Spungy Substance of the Ureter A. A remarkable Vein creeping along the Back of the Ureter Tab. V. FIGURE VI. The Communication of the different Vessels with the Seminary Vessels in the Body of Man AA The thick Parts of the different Vessels endued with Substance and a small Cavity BB. The Parts of the different Vessels endued with a thin Substance and a large Cavity CC. The Extremities of the Different Vessels streightned again together and gaping with a small Hole into the Neck of the Seminary Vessels DD. The Neck of the Seminary Vessels divided into two Parts by means of a certain intervening Membrane to the end the Seed of the one side should not mix with the Seed of the other before it comes to the Ureter EE The Seminary Vesicles distended with Wind. FF The Vessels running through them GGG The Membranes by which the Vesicles and different Vessels are detained in their Situation HH The Blood-bearing Vessels runing out to the sides of the different Vessels and embracing them with their small Branches I. The Caruncle through the Pores of which the Seed bursts forth into the Ureter KK The Channels of the Glandulous Body gaping into the Ureter at the sides of the Caruncle LL. The Glandulous Body divided in the Fore-part MM. The Ureter opened FIGURE VII The same Letters with those of the preceding Figure as the one shewed the External so these shew the Internal Substance of the Seminal Vessels The EXPLANATION of the Fifth TABLE In Folio 174. This Table shews the Constitution of the Womb and the Female Privities and the Parts adjoyning as well in Women with Child as in empty Women FIGURE I. The Womb containing an Embryo almost two Months gone A. THE Womb. B. The greatest Vein among those which are in the Superficies of the Womb. CC. The Pendulous Testicles DDDD The Membrane of the Womb to which the Shootings forth of the Vessels adhere E. The Nympha FF The Hair of the
Privities GG The Horns of the Womb in the Superficies of which appear little Veins according to the Delineation of Aquapendens But these we do not reckon to be the true Horns H. The Urinary Passage II. The Privity KK The Wings FIGURE II. The Entrance of the VVomb divided according to its Length A. The Orifice of the Womb. B. The Neck of the Womb. C. The Orifice of the Bladder D. The Neck or Sheath Divided FIGURE III The Substance of the VVomb of a VVoman with Child divided to shew the Cheescake AAAA The four Triangular Parts of the Womb reflexed outward BBB The Cheescake of a tuberous and unequal Form C. The Membranous Substance of the Cheescake thicker than the other Membranes which is annexed to the Womb but here torn off to shew the Chorion a. The Chorion D. The Neck of the Womb divided FIGURE IV. The Genital Parts of an Empty VVoman A. The Right Kidney Kernel B. The Left Kidney Kernel CC. The Kidneys on both sides DD. The Right Emulgent Veins EE The Right Emulgent Arteries FF The Trunk of the Hollow Vein divided into two Iliac Branches the Right and Left G. The Left Emulgent Vein HH The Left Emulgent Arteries II. The Right Spermatic Vein K. The Right Spermatic Artery L. The Left Spermatic Arterie M. The Left Spermatic Vein NN. The Trunk of the Great Artery divided into the Right and Left Iliac Branch OO The Female Testicles PP A Portion of the broad Ligament QQQQ The Tubes of the Womb on each side R. The Bottom of the Womb. SS The round Ligaments of the Womb cut off below T. The Neck of the Womb. V. The Hypogastric Vein on the Right Side V. The Hypogastric Artery on the Left Side X. The Hypogastric Artery on the Right Side X. The Hypogastric Vein in the Left Side extended to the Womb. Y. The Sheath of the Womb. Z. The Urinary Bladder depressed above the Privity aa A Portion of the Ureters cut off about the Bladder bb A Portion of the Ureters cut off about the Kidneys cc. The Vessels preparing the Seed dilated about the Testicles c. d. The Channel of the Testicles or the different Vessel FIGURE V. A. The Right Testicle BB. The Right Tube depressed C. The Left Testicle DD. The Left Tube of the Womb. E. The Bottom of the Womb. FF The round Ligaments of the Womb. G. The Urinary Bladder inserted into the Sheath of the Womb. HH Portions of the Ureters II. The two musculous Supporters of the Clitoris K. The Body of the Clitoris it self FIGURE VI. AA The bottom of the Womb dissected athwart TABULA VI. BB. The Cavity of the Bottom C. The Neck of the Womb. D. The little Mouth in the Neck of a Womans Womb which has born a Child EE The wrinkl'd Prospect of the Sheath of the Womb dissected FF The round Ligaments of the Womb cut off underneath FIGURE VII The Womans Yard A. The Nut of the Yard B. The Prepuce CC. The two Supporters D. The Chink not manifestly pervious FIGURE VIII AA The two spongie Bodys of the Yard dissected athwart B. The Nut of the Yard C. The Prepuce DD. The two Supporters FIGURE IX A. The Head of the Clitoris prominent under the Skin BB. The outward Lips of the Privity sundred one from the other CC. The Nymphae sundred also D. The Caruncle plac'd about the Urinary passage a EE Two Myrtle-shap'd fleshy Productions FF Two Membranous expansions containing the Chink FIGURE X. A. Membrane spread athwart the Privity taken for the Hymen FIGURE XI This shews the Privities of a Female Infant where the the Parts are the same as in Fig. 9. The EXPLANATION of the Sixth TABLE in Fol. 186. This shews the Genitals of Women taken out of the Body and placed in their natural Situation accurately delineated by Regner de Graef AA THE Trunk of the great Artery BB. The Trunk of the hollow Vein C. The Right Emulgent Vein D. The Left Emulgent Vein E. The Right Emulgent Artery F. The Left Emulgent Artery GG The Kidneys HHH The Ureters cut off I. The right Spermatic Artery K. The left Spermatic Artery L. The right Spermatic Vein M. The left Spermatic Vein NN. The Iliac Arteries OO The Iliac Veins PP The Internal Branches of the Iliac Artery QQ The External Branches of the Iliac Artery RR. The Internal Branches of the Iliac Vein SS The External Branches of the Iliac Vein TT The Hypogastric Arteries carried to the Womb and Sheath VV. The Hypogastric Veins accompaning the said Arteries XX. Branches of the Hypogastric Artery shooting to the Piss-bladder YY Branches of the Hypogastric Vein carry'd to the Bladder ZZ Portions of the Umbilical Arteries a The bottom of the Womb wrapt about with its common Tunicle bb The round Ligaments of the Womb as they are joyn'd to the bottom of it cc. The Follopian Tubes in their natural Situation dd The rims of the Tubes ee The holes of the Tubes ff The Stones in their natural places g. A portion of the right Gut h. The Neck of the Womb the common Tunicle taken off to shew the Vessels more conspicuously i. The Fore-part of the Sheath freed from the Piss-bladder k. The Piss-bladder contracted ll Bloody Vessels running through the Bladder mm. The Sphincter Muscle girding the Neck of the Bladder n. The Clitoris oo The Nymphae p. The Urinary Passage qq The Lips of the Privity r. The Orifice of the Sheath The EXPLANATION of the Seventh TABLE In Fol. 245. This Table shews the Secondines with the Umbilical Vessels in a human Embryo and the Parts differing from those of ripe Age exactly describ'd by Casp. Bauhinus Bartholine and H. Fab. ab Aquapendente FIGURE I. AAAA THE Flesh of the Cheescake or the Uterine Liver BB. The Amnios Membrane C. The Umbilical Vessels D. The Umbilical Vein and the two Umbilical Arteries FIGURE II. AAA The Amnios Membrane B. The Umbilical Vein and two Umbilical Arteries CC. The Chorion Membrane DD. The branches of the Veins and Arteries dispeirs'd through the Chorion E. The Conjunction of the Vessels of the Navel as they are wrapt about with a little Tunicle resembling a little Gut FIGURE III. The Skeleton of a dissected Birth differing in many things from a Man of grown years as may be seen in the Text. FIGURE IV. Shews the length of the Umbilical Vessels from the Cheesecake to the Liver of the Infant and the progress of the Umbilical Vein from the Navel to the Liver also the Liver of the Birth and the Gall-bladder A. The Cheesecake wrapt about with the Chorion BBBB The Umbilical Vessels TABULA VII CC. The Liver of the Infant DD. The two larger Branches of the Umbilical Vein sâ—…itting themselves into lesser EE The Branches of the Umbilical Arteries G. The Trunk of the hollow Vein ascending to the gibbious part of the Liver H. The Gate-veine I. The Umbilical Vein boaring the Porta and the hollow Vein K. The Gall-bladder LLLL The Vessels of the Chorion or
could scarce reach to the top of her head with his fingers ends Neer Schoonhoven in the Village Leckerkerck a few years agone there lived a Country fellow a Fisher commonly called the great Clown a very strong man I have often seen him when he stretched out his arm the tallest of ordinary men might go under it and not touch it Anno 1665. at Utrecht-Fair in the Month of Iuly I saw a very strong man and very tall and witty enough which is a rarity in such great bodies above eight feet and an half high all his Limbs were proportionable and he was married to a very little woman whom when he Travelled he could without any trouble carry in a Pouch along with him he was born at Schoonhoven of Parents of an ordinary size At the same time a Country wench was shewn Eighteen years of age who was nigh as tall as the said man her whole body was well shaped but she was of a dull capacity Yet these rare instances of a vast stature which I have seen like unto which Platerus Observat. l. 3. describes four more are nothing compared with some which are described by Historians The body of Orestes which by command of the Oracle was dug out of the Earth is said to have been seven Cubits long which Cubits according to Aulus Gellius among the Romans amounted to twelve feet and a quarter William Schouten in his Journal reports that in the Port called Desire neer the Straits of Magellan he found men of ten and eleven Cubits Fazellus decad 1. lib. 1. cap. 6. mentions several bodies found in divers places some of which were seventeen others eighteen others twenty others two and twenty Cubits long and one of their Teeth weighed five ounces Pliny writes that in Crete a Mountain was broke by an Earthquake and on that occasion a body of forty seven Cubits was found which some thought Orion's others Oetius's So likewise Camerarius relates divers stories of such Giants Meditat. Histor. cent 1. cap. 82. And on the other hand likewise sometimes men are â—…ound of a very low stature viz. three or four feet long We call such Dwarfs Formerly I have seen three or four of them Platerus Observ. l. 3. in principio describes three such which he saw Aristotle lib. 8. histor animal cap. 12. writes for a certain truth that Pigmies dwell about those place where the Nile runs into Egypt and they are such short dwergens that they are not above an ell high But this People could never yet be found by the modern Seamen who have sailed the World over perhaps because they could not get with their Ships to that peoples Country and therefore one might very well question the truth of the story had not Aristotle who ought to be trusted a great way writ it Nevertheless Spigelius does not believe Aristotle but reckons his story of the Pigmies a fable being so perswaded 1. From the authority of Strabo lib. 1. Geograph 2. From the experience of Francis Alvarez a Portugueze who himself Travelled those parts whereabout Aristotle writes the Pigmies are namely where the Nile runs into Egypt yet he could no where see or find that little Nation but says that those parts were inhabited by middle statured people The difference of colour is great according to the difference of Countries For in Europe and Christendom people are white in Aethiopia and Brasile black in divers parts of India tawny in some places almost red in others brown in others whitish IV. A humane body considered particularly or according to each part affords for consideration the neat figure of each part the most convenient connexion the admirable structure the necessary action and lastly the great yet harmonous diversity of all and each function and use V. The part of the Body is any bodily Substance joyned to the whole in continuity having its own proper circumscription and with other parts making up the whole is fitted for some function or use This is an exquisite definition For First the part of a humane body must be a bodily substance and such as is joyned to the whole in continuity a thing is said to be continued whose least particles stick one to another in rest not in contiguity For contiguous bodies must of necessity be diverse and one may be separated from the other without hurting either both remaining entire For as Wine contained in a vessel cannot be called a part of the vessel nor the vessel a part of the wine because there is no continuity between them two so likewise blood contained in an Artery cannot he called a part of the Artery nor of a humane body since it is not joyned thereto in any continuity Secondly A part must with others make up the whole for whatever things are above the complement are not reckoned parts of one body but are bodies subsisting by themselves which often adhere to the whole that they may be nourished by the whole Thus a child or mole in the womb are not parts of a womans body but subsist by themselves and yet by means of the placenta uterina and umbilical vessels they are joyned to the womb that they may receive nourishment from it nevertheless the woman when she is delivered remains entire So likewise Sarcomata or fleshy excrescences and such things are not reckoned among the parts of a humane body because they neither make up the complement of the whole nor are designed for requisite functions and uses but adhere to the whole that thereby they may be nourished VI. Thirdly A part must be made for some function or use VII A Function or Action is a certain effective motion made by an Organ through its own proper disposition to it This is either private whereby the parts provide for themselves or publick whereby the whole is provided for for instance The stomach by a private action or coction converts the blood brought to it by the Arteries into a substance like it self and so is nourished But it performs another action besides whereby it provides for the whole Animal to wit chylification VIII The use of a part is a certain aptiude to some proper intention of nature to wit Such as not only turns to the benefit of the part whence it proceeds but also respects the good of some other part or of the whole It is doubly distinguished from action First because action is only competible to parts that operate but use is often competible to things that do nothing at all that is to such as help an acting part so that it may act better Thus the cuticle acts nothing but its use is to moderate the sense of the skin to cover it and the extremities of the vessels and to defend it from external injuries Fat acts nothing it only cherishes and moistens the parts and makes their motion easier Hair acts nothing but its use is to cover and adorn the head and to defend it from external cold
meeting of several Insertions that is below of the Pectoral Ductus an Error for that never passes beyond the Subclavial Vein from the side of the Axillary Vessels above of the Lymphatical Iugular Vessels and Vessels arising out of the Thymus which is one of the Iugular Glandules but seldom any passing of one into another XVIII This Description the same Author in a new Plate annex'd apparently demonstrates and in the same seventh Chapter adds the way to find out the Iugular Lymphatics But tho' the foresaid Doctor Paulus wittily enough derides Bilsius's Circle yet is it not probable that Bilsius at his dissection should delude so many Learned Men that were present into that Blindness and Madness as to testifie in a Public Writing that they saw such a Circle clearly by him demonstrated which was not really there to be seen Could they be all so blind Besides we our selves and several others have seen this Circle tho' we could not always find it Which we the rather believe may happen through the Sport of Nature in regard that in some Dogs the Circle is found to be perfect in others only a disorderly Concourse of Lymphatic Vessels about the Throat To conclude then I assert this in the mean time That this Circle is no Production of the Thoracical Ductus Chyliferus as Bilsius erroneously avers and delineates and that as has been said it receives no Chylus from it nor carries any Chylus but is a Chanel into which the Lymphatic Juice being carried from the Circumjacent Glandules and other parts and to be conveigh'd into the neighbouring Veins and other parts is collected together Now whether the Chylus and Lymphatic Humour be one and the same thing or whether distinct Juices See Chap. 13. following XIX The use of the Chyliferous or Great Lymphatic Pectoral Ductus is to conveigh the Lymphatic Iuice continually and the Chylus at certain Intervals being forc'd out of the Milkie Mesaraic Vessels and attenuated therein by the mixture of the Lymphatic Iuice to the Subclavial Vein to the end the Lymphatic Iuice may prepare the Blood to cause an Effervescency in the heart and that the Chylus mixed with the Venal Blood and carried together with it through the Vena Cava to the Heart may be chang'd by that into Blood XX. That the Chylus and Lymphatic Iuice ascends upward not only the Situation of the Valves but ocular observation in the very Dissection of Animals sufficiently teach us by means of a string ty'd about this Chanel for presently there will be a swelling between the Knot and the Receptacle and a lankness above the Ligature Which Experiment proves successful in a Dog newly hang'd if when the Knot is ty'd the Guts together with the Mesentery be lightly press'd by the hand and so by that Compression the Chylus be squeez'd out of the Chyliferous Mesaraic Vessels into the Receptacle and out of that into the Pectoral Ductus XXI Now that the Chylus enters the Subclavial Vein together with the Lymphatic Iuice and thence is carried to the Heart through the Vena Cava besides that what has been already said concerning the Holes is obvious to the sight it is also apparent from hence for that a good quantity of Milk being injected into the Ductus Chyliferus it is forthwith carried into the Subclavial Vein hence into the Vena Cava and right Ventricle of the Heart together with the Blood contain'd in the Vena Cava and may be seen to flow out at the Wound made in the Ventricle XXII Now the Cause Impulsive that forces the Chylus together with the Lymphatic Iuice out of the Receptacle into this Ductus Pectoralis and so forward into the Subclavial Vein is the same that forces it out of the Guts into the Milkie Mesaraic Vessels of which in the preceding Chapter that is to say the Motion of the Muscles of the Abdomen mov'd upward and downward with the act of Respiration which causes a soft and gentle Impulsion of the Chylus through all the Milkie Vessels which impulse is conspicuously manifest from hence for that if in a living Creature the Muscles of the Abdomen be open'd and dissected and thereby their Motion be taken away and then the Bowels of the lower Belly be gently squeez'd presently we shall see the Milkie Iuice move forward and croud through all the Milkie Vessels and tho' that Compression has no Operation upon the Pectoral Ductus yet the Chylus forc'd into it by that Compression out of the Receptacle is by that forc'd upward as one Wave pushes forward another XXIII Here now arises a Question Whether the whole Chylus ascend through this Chanel to the Subclavial and whether or no also a great part of it do not enter the Mesaraicks and so ascend to the Liver To which we say that the whole Chylus passes to the Subclavial Vein except that which out of the Chyliferous Bag by an extraordinary Course sometimes tho' very seldom flows to the Urine Bladder of which see more c. 18. or else in Women with Child according to its ordinary course flows to the Womb See c. 30. or in Women that give suck to the Breasts See l. 2. c. 2. But Regius is of another Opinion believing that part of the Chylus is carried to the Spleen out of the Stomach through the Gastric Veins and part through the Mesaraics to the Liver Of which the one is refuted by us in the preceding Chap. 7. and the other L. 7. c. 2. Deusingius smartly maintains that the whole Chylus is not carried to the Subclavial through the Ductus Thoracicus and confirms his Opinion by these Arguments Exercit. de Chylificat Chylimotu 1. Saith he There is no congruous proportion of Nature between the innumerable Milkie Veins scattered through the Mesentery and the Thoracic Ducts which nevertheless are seldom more than one conveighing the Chylus beyond the Axillary Veins 2. How shall the Thoracic Duct be able without prejudice to transmit such a quantity of Chylus carried through so many Milkie Vessels to the Receptacle of the Chylus 3. So very small a portion of the Chylus as is carried through the Ductus Thoracicus to the Axillaries and Vena Cava does not suffice to supply the continual waste of Blood agitated and boyling through the whole Body nor to repair the continual wearing out of all the parts 4. Seeing there is a great quantity of Chyle made and but very little can pass through the streights of the Ductus Thoracicus where shall the rest of the Chylus remain which between every Meal is not able to pass through the small Thoracic Duct 5. That same largest quantity of the Chylus which in time of Breeding and giving Suck is carried to the Womb and Dugs whither is that carried when the time of Breeding and giving Suck is over when it is very probable that it cannot pass through the Ductus Thoracicus 6. If the Ductus Thoracicus of a live Animal be quickly ty'd with a
of the Stone My Wife swallow'd a small Needle that carried an ordinary Thred which in three days came from her again with her Urine August 8. 1665. Nâ—…r did the Needle put her to any pain while it lay in her Body Iulius Alexandrinus has observ'd little pieces of the Roots of Parsly as big as a farthing swallow'd the day before discharg'd again with the Urine Nicholas Florentine reports that a Person who had eat Mushrooms not exactly concocted piss'd out again remarkable Bits of 'em with his Urine Plutarch relates the Story of a Man who after a long difficulty of his Urine at length voided a knotted Barly-stalk George Ierome Velschius Observat. 60. relates another Story of one that was wont to void Grape-stones bits of Lettice and Meat together with his Urine And of another that when he drank the hot Bath-waters frequently voided with his Urine whole pieces of Melon-seeds which he was us'd to eat Pigraeus and Hildan tell ye of some that have piss'd out Aniseeds and Alkekengi All which things it is both said and believ'd by most hitherto do pass through the narrow streights of the Kidneys where the blood cannot make its way How then will the adapted disposition and structure of the Pores aforesaid suffice I hardly believe it For that such hard and large Bodies passing the milkie Vessels should first pass the Vena Cava and â—…igh the Cavity of the Heart thence through the narrow and scarcely visible passages of the Lungs to the left side insensibly without any pain or prejudice and then be conveyed through the Aorta and Emulgent Arteries to the Kidneys and be strain'd through their Urinary Fibres and Papillary Pores and that no blood should go along with 'em surpasses both Belief and Reason nor can be prov'd by any Experience seeing that no Physician or Anatomist ever found Needles Seeds Straws or any such like things swallowed either in the Vena Cava the Ventricles of the Heart the Lungs the Aorta or the Kidneys XXXI These things when formerly I seriously consider'd with my self and withal bethought my self that they who in great quantity drink the Spaw Waters and other sharp and diuretic Waters in half an hours time evacuate forth again three four or more pound of Serum without any alteration of the Heart and that it is very unlikely that so great a quantity of crude and uncoloured Serum should so suddainly pass through the Heart Lungs and Kidneys without any prejudice I began to think that of necessity besides the Veins there must be some other Passages through which the more copious Serum and those hard Substances already mention'd come to the Bladder XXXII And these ways or passages I suspected to be certain milkie Vessels which are carried to the Bladder through occult and hitherto unknown ways and tho' not in all yet in some men are so open toward the Bladder that they are sufficient to transmit the milkie Chylus and plentiful Serum but also solid hard and long Substances And this Conjecture of mine the Observations of Physicians seem to confirm who have sometimes seen the Chylous milkie Matter evacuated with the Urine Nicholas Florentine Serm. 5. Tract 10. c. 21. reports that he knew a young Man about thirty years of Age who every day voided besides a great quantity of Urine without any pain about half a Urinal full of Milk Capellus the Physician by the Testimony of Bauhinus saw a Woman that evacuated half a Cup full of Milk out of her Bladder Andrew Lawrentius has observed several Child-bearing Women to have voided a great Quantity of Milk out of their Wombs and Bladders Whence it is manifestly apparent that some milkie Vessels run forth not only to the Womb but to the Bladder and may discharge themselves into those parts if there be no Obstruction that is if those Vessels are not obstructed compressed or stop'd up by some other means as they seem to be in most men which is thought to be the reason that the milkie Chylus so rarely flows to the Bladder But in regard these Passages are short and not so winding as many others are it may easily happen that other solid Substances besides the Chylus may pass through 'em as Seeds Needles Straws c. But much more easily may a great part of the crude Serum increas'd by much drinking flow through these Passages and be evacuated through the Bladder in regard so large a quantity of blood cannot be so suddainly run through other Vessels and circulate through the Heart And hence it is that such Urine proves of a watery Colour differing much in Colour and Consistence from that Urine which is concocted with the blood which follows well colour'd after the Evacuation of much copious crude Serum and manifestly shews that it pass'd through other parts than the other crude Serum that is through the Lungs Heart and Kidneys and there obtain'd a larger Concoction I also conjectur'd that those Liquors which we drink and whose colour and smell remains in the Urine are carried the same way for should they pass through the Heart they would lose both Actuarius l. 2. de Iud. Urin. c. 20. relates the History of a sick Person to whom he had given a black Medicin who soon after made black water without any prejudice And many times Midwives by the colour and smell of the Excrements that flow from Child-bearing Women know what the Woman with Child has been eating before Saffron being given in drink to a Woman in Labour in a quarter of an hour dy'd the Birth of a yellow Colour and yet the Saffron could not pass through the Heart in so short a time nor from thence be sent to the Womb much less preserve its Colour entire in passing through so many several Chanels Iohn Ferdinand Hertodius fed a Bitch for some days before she whelp'd with Meat dy'd with Saffron and after he had open'd her found the Dissolution or Liquation among the Membranes and the Puppies dy'd of a yellow Colour and yet the Chylus was white in the milkie Vessels not tinctur'd with any other Colour I my self have seen those who have eaten the fat growing to the Kidneys of Lambs rosted and in a short time voided it all again with their Urine Oyl of Turpentine immediately imparts its smell to the Urine And Asparagus provokes Urine crude muddy and retaining their own smell Whereas if such Juices should make a long Circuit through the Heart and other Bowels they could never come to the Bladder so suddainly so raw and yet retaining their own smell Which are certain Indications that there are certain milkie Vessels occult and taking another Course than the rest which extend themselves some to the Womb and some to the Piss-bladder and that Liquors of this nature and other solid Substances may sometimes through those more open Chanels reach those parts Which Vessels tho' hitherto they were never conspicuous to the sight nor demonstrated by
quit the Stones and so thrust forth the Bud which is the first thing form'd in order to the new production And the same thing happens in Pease Beans Wheat Barley Melons Cucumbers whose Seeds are wrapt up in a little Membrane instead of a Stone In like manner Womens Eggs and the Eggs of all Creatures that bring forth living Conceptions as also of Birds in their Ovary by means of the Nourishment brought 'em through the small little Arteries and invisible Nerves acquire a just bigness and such an aptitude that they may be impregnated by the spiritous part of the Male-seed Which Fertility if they acquire by Copulation and so become seal'd with the Seal of Fertility the little Cells wherein they are included in the Ovary grow soft dilate and loosen themselves as the stones of Fruits willing to quit their Seeds for new Production open of their own accords and so when they can no longer be contain'd in those little Cells by reason of their growth and the loosning of the Cells they fall of themselves into the Egg-Chanels or Tubes which are relax'd to that degree by the increase of Heat and Spirits in the Act of Copulation that they afford the ripe Eggs an easie passage toward the Womb which afterwards by the gentle Compression of the Abdomen caus'd by Respiration are gently thrust forward through the Tubes into the Womb it self wherein by reason of the narrow Orifice of the Womb they are stop'd and detain'd there to be cherish'd by its moderate Heat and convenient Moisture and the vivific Spirit latent therein and infus'd with the Male-seed may be freed from its Fetters and proceeding from power to act may begin the delineation of the Infant Structure Of which more Cap. 28 29. XXXIV Here arises a very singular and considerable Question viz. When Birds without the Coition of the Male lay their perfect Eggs which they call Wind-eggs whether mature Virgins and Women depriv'd of Men and without the assistance of Copulation may not be able sometime to bring forth their Eggs 'T is very probable that in Women of cold Tempers and not prone to Venery such Accidents will hardly fall out seeing there is not in them such a copious afflux of hot Blood and Spirits which is much promoted by intent venereal thoughts to the generative Parts that the little Boxes of the Ovary and the Tubes should be sufficiently relax'd and dilated for the exclusion and passage of the Eggs But in hot Women itching with Lust prone to Copulation and continually intent upon venereal thoughts sometimes the Parts may be so relax'd by a copious afflux of Blood and Seed to the Parts that the Eggs when mature may drop of themselves into the Tubes out of the Ovary and through them be carried to the Womb yet not so as to be there long detain'd because of the Orifice of the Womb 's being open as not being exactly shut but when it contains the Man's Seed for Conception or else the Birth But why these same Womens Wind-eggs were never observ'd by any Person before happen'd I suppose from hence for that Women do not inspect what things slip out of their Wombs or know what they are nor will they suffer Men to view those things among which if there should be an Egg sometimes it would not be discern'd by them Besides that by reason of the tender Skin wherewith it is enwrapt it might fall out broken or else be broken among the Linen with which Women dry up their Uterine Excrements and so lose altogether its shape of an Egg which else would be visible to the Eye However in the mean time this has recall'd to my memory what many years since a Woman not of the meanest quality whose Daughter being about four and twenty years of Age wanton enough yet honest was troubled with vehement fits of the Mother related to me that is to say That my Prescriptions which were administred to her nothing availing her Midwife had many times deliver'd her from her present Distemper and imminent danger of Death by thrusting her finger into the sheath of the Womb with which she kept rubbing there so long till she brought down a certain viscous Liquor out of the Womb which was often accompanied with a certain clear transparent little Bubble and so the Person in a Swoon came to her self again This I laugh't at at that time when I never so much as dream't of Womens Eggs but afterwards it came into my mind that that same Bubble was a Wind-egg of which thing I could now give a better Judgment could I meet with such a Bubble that were again to be seen Moreover it is very probable that those Wind-eggs are frequently evacuated by those salacious Women who lying with Men through some distemper of the Seed never conceive For why should their Eggs be less carried out of the Ovary to the Womb than the Eggs of those of others that conceive especially when they themselves have Eggs which are proper for Fertility if they were but bedew'd with a fertile Male-seed which is apparent from this that some Women lying with their Husbands never Conceive but lying with other Men presently prove with Child XXXV This Conjecture of Wind-eggs is yet more confirm'd by that wonderful Story related by Bartholine of a Norway Woman who after eleven kindly Labours at length in the Year 1639. being in Labour with her twelfth Child brought forth two Eggs with extraordinary Pains like to Hen-eggs only that the Shell was not so white Such another sort of Egg it was that the Woman brought forth with the usual pains of Childbirth in the Territory of Vicenza in the Year 1621. by the Report of Iohn Rodias Cent. 3. Observ. 57. Without doubt the Female-seed contain'd in these Eggs was either unfruitful or which is more likely by reason of the unusual thickness of the Exterior Membrane the Male-seed could not penetrate through the over-straitned Pores to the inner parts of the Eggs and consequently not be mix'd with the Womans Seed latent within and by that means could not frame any Embryo out of it self for which reason those Eggs remain'd unfruitful like the Wind-eggs of Fowl living without their Males Now there are three very remarkable things to be observ'd in the Eggs of the said Women 1. That being little as they are and sliding out of the Tubes into the Womb they should stay there so long 2. That they should grow to the bigness of a Hens-egg in the Womb. 3. That the Exterior Membrane should grow so hard as to harden into a Shell which is a thing scarce ever heard of nor ever observ'd by any other Physicians that we read of XXXVI We told ye before that the Egg Chanels or Tubes were so relax'd by the abundani flowing in of the Animal Spirits and hot Blood that through them the spiritous part of the Male-seed might the more easily be able to penetrate to the Ovary and the Eggs
toward the little Orifice or Mouth of it so that it is almost Triangular It is very rarely seen that this Cavity is divided by a middle Separation tho' Riolanus brings two Examples of such a Division In this Cavity there settles for the most part an oily kind of Liquor in empty women defending that secret Shrine of Nature from Drought and preserving it prepar'd for necessary Fruitfulness IX Those parts that seem somewhat to swell from the sides of the bottom are call'd the Horns of the Womb. But these are more manifest in Beasts that bring forth living Conceptions whose Womb being parted into two parts is divided into two apparent and long Horns distinguish'd withinside into little Cells But it is seldom seen that such Horns are found in Women as Silvius found in a certain Maid and of which Schenkius cites the Example out of Bauhinus Observat l. 4. Riolanus refuses to call these Horns the swelling Extremities of the womb but the Tules wherein Van Horn and Swammerdam seem to take his part But what is vulgarly asserted concerning these Horns my opinion is should rather be understood of the womb it self than of the inner Cavity of the womb For a womans womb is not horned but truly round and somewhat flat But its Concavity is extended both to the right and left after the manner of a Horn as is manifest by the Dissection of it X. It is fasten'd to the neighbouring parts by the neck and bottom The neck by means of the Peritonaeum is fasten'd before to the Piss-bladder and the Share-bones behind to the Intestinum Rectum and the Os Sacrum and about the Privity joyns with the Podex loosely adhering at the sides to the Peritonaeum The bottom as to its own Substance is fasten'd above to no part that its extension may be the freer XI At the sides it hangs ty'd with two pair of Ligaments Of which the first which is the uppermost resembling in shape the wings of Bats is strong broad membranous loose soft and being interwoven with fleshie Fibres proceeds from the Peritonaeum doubled in that place whence Vesalius and Archangelus imagine both parts of the sides to be so many Muscles and being fasten'd to the Tubes Stones and Protuberances of the bottom joyns the Matrix to the Ossa Ilii which being immoderately loosen'd or broken by any outward violence the Womb descends into the Cavity and sometimes slides forth at least if the Substance it self of the womb become loose also through any Accident which tho' in perfect health it be thick and compacted in a sickly Constitution of body it relaxes like the Scrotum in men XII Soranus and Aretaeus assert That not the whole womb but its internal fleshie Tunicle only with the primary Substance of the womb slips down to the Groyns the outward membranous Tunicle which is firmly fasten'd to the neighbouring parts remaining whole But because this Opinion presupposes a wonderful dilaceration of the body of the womb into two parts the outermost and innermost which is altogether impossible it is to be held for most certain that the innermost fleshie Membrane of the Womb cannot descend into the Fall but that of necessity the whole body of the womb turn'd upside down slides from its place VIII This falling down of the womb by all Physicians hitherto granted Theodore Kerkringius an eminent Anatomist now strenuously denies and writing upon that Subject bitterly inveighs against Andrew Laurentius Veslingius and Bartholine as if they among others had erroneously judg'd of this matter and says that a certain Relaxation of the Neck which hangs forth without the Privity causes all these idle Mistakes But let the learned Gentleman recant his words for because he never saw a fall'n womb he over-rashly and petulantly derides others that have been eye-witnesses of the thing and most excellent Physicians as to that matter both in Practice and Theory much more skilful and conversant Let him read in Carpus the Story of a woman whose womb did not only slip down without the Privity but was also cut away Let him read in Paraeus the Example of a womb fall'n down and cut off by Paraeus himself Let him also read Hildan's Cent. 4. Observ. 60 61 62. where he will find three Examples of a womb fall'n down related by a Person of exact Credit Let him read Dominic de Marchettis Anat. c. 7. that he himself three times saw a womb fall'n replac'd it and cur'd it Let him read many more such like Examples in Avenzoar Matthew de Gradibus Nicholas Florentinus Benivenias Christopher a Vega Paulus Aegineta Mercurialis Bottâ—…n Liceâ—… Sennâ—…rtus and othees All which Persâ—…ns and many others were not so stupid nor so blind but that they knew a womb when it was fall'n To these let him add my own Testimony who in a certain young woman saw her womb hang out of the Cavity to the breadth of two fingers which I handled with my own hands and with a proper Instrument thrust back into its place and afterwards so well cur'd the Patient that the same part never fell afterwards Besides that all that has been said is yet more confirm'd by the Doctrine of Hippocrates who Lib. 2. de Morb. Mulier and in several other places plainly teaches that the womb does sometimes slip forth and also adds the Causes and the Cure of such a falling down with whom Galen also agrees Reason also confirms the Experience of this thing For if a copious affluency of cold Humours may so relax the little joynt of the Hip that the head of the Thigh-bone shall fall out of its Cavity call'd Acetabulum what wonder is it that an affluency of the like Humours should so relax the womb it self and its Ligaments that not being able to restrain it the womb should fall down Hence we find that the same Accident happens in moist places especially to women that are of a cold and moist Temper and troubled with a redundancy of flegmatic Humours in which the womb sometimes descends to the Orifice of the Privities and sometimes slips down all of it without As to what Kerkringius says That it is not the womb it self but a certain relaxation of the Neck or Sheath I would ask him this Question Whether the womb remaining in its proper place the sheath can be so much extended downward as to hang forth without the Privities And therefore for the future as to those things that he has not seen let him believe those that have XIV Here another Question arises Whether the Womb in the fall be turn'd upside down That it must of necessity be inverted and cannot otherwise slip forth Reason teaches Yet Regner de Graef thinks this impossible in Virgins by reason of the extraordinary narrowness of the Uterine Orifice But that it is possible only in Child-bearing women when the Secundine sticking too close is over-violently pull'd by an unskilful Midwife Indeed I believe it to be true that
the womb rarely falls in Virgins but that it happens to other women at other times than when they bear Children I my self have seen for which I could produce the Examples of many honest women if Modesty would permit me And therefore let the Example by me already alledg'd suffice where the womb hung forth of the womans body inverted XV. The other lower pair of Ligaments round like Worms somewhat ruddy proceed on both sides from the sides of the Womb like Muscles and so descends to the Groyns whence Riolanus thought the Womb to be wrapt about with the Cremaster Muscle and Vesalius calls 'em the Muscles of the Womb then passing through the doubled Production of the Peritonaeum and the Tendons of the oblique Muscles of the Abdomen are presently strengthen'd with fleshie Fibres proceeding from the Os Ilium and being reflex'd above the Share-bones approach the Clitoris and there end Some Anatomists assert That the remaining part of this Pair is extended farther into the fatty interâ—…al Membrane of the Thigh and with that descends to the Knee or according to some descends to the Foot which Riolanus thinks to be the reason why women in the first Months of their Breeding complain of pains within their Thighs But they were deceiv'd in not observing that the said Membrane being extended to the Knee does not proceed from the Lumbrical Ligament nor has any communion with it but that it plainly arises from the Cartilaginous Ligament of the Os Pubis or Share-bone These Ligaments looslâ—… bind the bottom of the womb in the parts before and behind Bauhinus observing loose Pores within 'em and sometimes a kind of viscous Humour in the lower part believ'd that they serv'd for two uses partly to do the office of Ligaments partly to evacuate through those Pores the superfluous Humours of the Genitals Spigelius likewise observing that viscous Humour judg'd it to be the Seed which in women as to some part of it is carried through these Ligaments which he thinks to be the true Vasa Deferentia to the Uterine Sheath and the Clitoris The same viscous Humour aâ—…ter that led me astray into Spigelius's Opinion from which afterwards I revolted for the Reasons mention'd in the foregoing Chapter Veslingius dreamt that beside the Seed something of uncleanness gather'd about the womb and was evacuated through these Ligaments which nevertheless is altogether impossible in regard they have no hollowness capable to traâ—…smit both Seed and such an excrementitious filth â—…either is it probable that those two Substances are ever mix'd or flow together through any other passages seeing that the Seed must of necessity be contaminated and corrupted by that nastiness Erroâ—…eously therefore does Andreas Laurentius assert That these round Ligaments are sometimes so dilated that they cause the Rupture call'd Bâ—…bonocele notwithstanding that they can never be dilated so wide as to receive the Intestine or Caul But the Rupture Bubonocele is occasion'd in women as in men that is when the Gut or Caul slides down into the dilated or broken Production of the Peritonaeum wrapt about these Ligaments and accompanying and embracing 'em without the Abdomen to the Grovns as in men it includes the Spermatic Vessels within it self XVI The Womb is furnished with several Arteries and Veins far more numerous and bigger and more winding than the Sheath Nevertheless the Arteries are much more numerous than the Veins for the Veins are very few in respect of the Arteries and those chiefly dispers'd thorough the outward parts of the womb Whence that of Aristotle that from the greater Vein no Vein is deriv'd to the womb but from the Aorta many and very thick But in these words the Philosopher does not deny but that some Veins run along thorough the Superficies of the womb which every man that has eyes may see but he means that very few or none of those Veins enter the inner Substance of it but many Arteries do it XVII The Arteries that creep through the upper part of it descend from the seminal Vessels before they form the Vasa praeparantia or preparing Vessels But those which disperse themselves through the middle and lower Part proceed from the crural and hypogastric Vessels of the same Artery There is such a Conjunction of these Arteries that they can hardly be distinguished one from another by reason of their Ends gaping into Branches both of the one and the other When the Spermatic or Hypogastric Arteries being fill'd with Breath presently the Arteries of the other side for the most part swell together at least in the same manner as the Arteries of the Sheath XVIII The upper Veins ascend to the Vena Cava and empty themselves into it near the Emulgent the lower enter the Hypogastrics The upper Arteries are vulgarly said to meet together with the upper Veins and the Lower with the lower Veins by various Anastomoses But as yet I could never observe those Anastomoses This only I observ'd that the little Veins arising from the Substance of the womb are intermix'd one among another and mutually open one into the other but that none are conjoyn'd with the Arteries by Anastomoses and so that the Arteries only meet here and there by Anastomoses For the Arteries with their Orifices enter the very Substance of the womb into which they pour their Blood which is every way distributed therein through winding Chanels and little Pipes which some thought to be the Cavities or Glandules called Cotyledons to which in Conception the Placenta or Uterine Liver sticks in which at that time they gape and pour Blood into it to be prepared for the Nourishment of the Birth and also contribute copious alimentary Blood to the very spungy Substance of the womb seated between both Membranes the which causes the womb at that time to swell to a bigger Bulk and so as the Birth grows the womb's Habitation also swells To which end at that time large and turgid Vessels are to be seen by reason of the plenty of Blood which they contain more at that time than before Conception XIX For at such time as women are not with Child the Blood which superabounds every Month at certain Periods is forc'd in great quantity through the Arteries to the womb with a certain kind of Effervescency and when as there are but few Veins in the inner Substance of it through which the Circulation of so much Blood can be conveniently made and the Orifices of the said little Pipes are now soft and smooth hence it comes to pass that the redundant Blood which by reason of its quantity cannot be suddainly circulated as being superfluous and troublesom to Nature through its quantity flows forth through the gaping and open Orifices of the Pipes also through the ends of the Vessels ending in the neck of the womb But in such women wherein those little Pipes are closer shut in them their flowers flow only through the ends of the Vessels ending
in the Neck or Sheath of the womb or else stop if that fermentative quality be not yet come to such a perfection as to raise such an Effervescency in the Blood XX. Now what this Uterine Ferment is and where it is generated which provokes that Effervescency of the Blood at prefix'd monthly periods in empty women but very seldom in women with child has been but little inquired into as yet We shall suspend our Judgment in this particular by reason of the obscurity of the thing and yet we leave it to be consider'd whether the fermentaceous Matter in the Spleen Liver Sweetbread and Glandules and other parts and carried with the Blood through the Arteries to the womb and there some part of it being left and collected together by degrees for you shall always find a viscous slimy Humour in the dissected wombs of empty women gains some peculiar quality from a certain specific property of the womb which provokes that specific fermentation as the same Matter is endu'd with a peculiar quality in the Stomach to extract the Chylus out of the Nourishment by means of which that Humour in healthy People being matur'd to that volatility in a Months space to boyl of it self the whole body of the woman but especially those parts next the womb are put into a Commotion and the superfluous or boyling blood dilating the swelling Orifices of the Vessels is thrust forth and that same quality or just volatility of the said fermentaceous Humour ceasing the menstruous evacuation also ceases as in women with child and women that have lain long sick XXI Aristotle not understanding this ferment of the womb and the thence proceeding effervescency of the Blood asserts that womens flowers are provok'd by the influence and motion of the Moon Which Opinion with his leave stands upon no Foundation or rather is plainly contrary to Reason for according to that Opinion all women would have their flowers at the same time and they would only flow at that certain time wherein the Moon being mov'd to that determin'd point of Heaven caus'd that specific influence whereas during the whole monthly Course of the Moon there is not any day nor any hour wherein here and there over the whole world innumerable women are not troubled with their flowers XXII Vain is also their Opinion who believe the monthly Courses to be mov'd by the redundant blood collected in the Vessels of the womb in regard those Vessels are not able to contain so great a quantity of blood as is evacuated every period Or if they should collect it by degrees and so reserve it for a Month they must be strangely swell'd whereas it is apparent by inspection in dissected Bodies tho' plethoric dying at the very instant of their monthly evacuations or when it began to happen that there appears then no more unusual swelling of the womb than at another time Add to this that in lean women frequently given to fast in whom there is no such redundancy of blood nevertheless the flowers have their usual Course Lastly the continual circulation of the blood does not permit such a stagnation in the Vessels of the womb which if it should happen the blood would there be in danger of a suddain Putrefaction and would afflict the woman long before the time of her Evacuation with most terrible Symptoms and Effects whereas the menstruous blood is not putrid not differs in it self in goodness from the rest of the blood This is confirm'd by the testimony of the fam'd Hippocrates But the blood says he gushes out as from a Sacrifice and is quickly congeal'd if the woman be healthy Which Aristotle also asserts in these words And those which are call'd flowers gush forth which is as it were the blood of a Creature newly kill'd I say of it self because if in some it be vitious sharp noysom to the smell or otherwise corrupted when it is evacuated it has not that imperfection in it self but contracts it from the vitious nastiness bred and remaining in a distemper'd and sickly womb or else at the time of the menstruous Effervescency flowing from other parts to this same Sink together with the blood and vitiating the blood by its mixture And this is the meaning of Hippocrates where he says and it corrodes the Earth like Vinegor and gnaws whereever it touches the woman and exulcerates the womb Certain therefore it is that the monthly Courses are provok'd into motion by the foresaid Effervescency of the blood fermenting in the Vessels of the womb Which Effervescency if sometimes it be occasion'd not by the foresaid Uterine ferment alone but by other Causes then sometimes it happens that the Courses are still in motion beyond the ordinary Period as often happens in the Small Pox malignant and burning Fevers c. XXIII There also belong to the upper parts of the womb small little Nerves rising from the inner Branch of the sixth Pair to the middle and lower parts little Branches proceeding from the Nerves of the Os Sacrum XXIV The office of the womb is to receive the Seed of the man and to preserve and cherish the womans Eggs till the Birth be form'd and being brought to maturity and wanting more Air to thrust it forth into the world Moreover it is ordain'd for another secondary use that is the Purgation of the womans body Which two offices Aretaeus comprehends in three words A womans womb says he is useful for Birth and Purgation XXV The womb is therefore a part necessary for Generation but thence there is no Conclusion to be drawn that it is a part necessarily conducing to the life of a woman seeing that a woman way live without a womb as is apparent in them whose womb slipping out is not only ulcerated and corrupted by the external cold but also cut out and yet upon the growing up of a Cartilaginous Substance consolidating within the hole of the womb cut off the same women have liv'd in health for many years and more than that have lain with their Husbands and almost with the same pleasure as if they had a womb of which there are sundry Examples cited by several Physicians of great Reputation XXVI But seeing that the womb is a part most necessary to Generation wherein the Conception ought to be made and the Birth form'd the Question is Whether by any specific power or faculty the forming of the Birth be there brought to perfection To which I answer Negatively for that the forming power is in the Seed and the womb contributes no more to the Generation of Man than the Earth to the Generation of Plants that is to say it affords a secure Harbour for the Seed and the Eggs temperate and sufficient nourishment XXVII Now tho' it were held for a thing undoubted and unquestionable by all the Ancients without exception that the Office of conceiving wholly belong'd to the womb and that the Birth could not be
conceiv'd any where out of the womb yet in this Age it has been discover'd and observ'd by famous Men tho' it rarely happen that the Birth has been conceiv'd in the Uterine Tubes But that same Story seems incredible related by Philip Salmuth of a certain man that ejected his Seed by a Lip Copulation into his Wives moâ—…th who upon that conceiv'd a Child in her Stomach and afterwards vomited it up as big as ones finger as if a Child could be conceiv'd out of the Seed of the man without the womans Egg and that in the Stomach too full of fermentaceous Juices and Aliments to be concocted I admire that Philip Salmuth a Learned Man should give so much credit to an old Womans Fable as to think it worthy to be inserted among his Observations Nor does that Story of a Child born at Pont a Moâ—…sson conceiv'd and form'd in the middle of the Abdomen and found there after the death of the Mother deserve more credit Which Story was printed by Laurence Strasius at Dormstadt in the Year 1662. with the Judgments of several famous Physicians and Professors upon it Which Story I know not how it can be true unless you will say that perhaps the Egg being before impregnated by the dew of the Male-seed in the Ovary and ready to fall out of the Stones into the Tubes coming by chance to the Borders of the Tubes should slip into the Cavity of the Abdomen before its entrance into the Tube and so by the cherishing heat of that place the Birth should be form'd therein which nevertheless seems very improbable and therefore such Stories as these not without reason are derided and exploded by the Learned Guido Patinus Bartholine and others XXVIII Concerning the motion of the womb there is a famous Question started whether it ascend or tumble to and fro as it is said to do in the Hysteric Passion or Fits of the Mother The affirmative part is defended by Aretaeus Fernelius Laurentius Spigelius and especially by Daniel Sennertus who Prax. l. 4. part 1. sect 2. c. 15. cites and applauds the Opinions of the foresaid Physicians as infallible Oracles and makes a great addition of farther Proof and rejects the contrary Opinion of Galen as altogether repugnant to truth Now the Reasons that perswaded those Learned Men into the affirmative were chiefly these two 1. The Perswasions of idle women who affirm that they not only perceive it within the Globe of the womb as big as a Goos-egg ascend in the Hysteric Passion as high as the Diaphragma but also feel it outwardly with their hands nay some are so confident as to tell you they feel it as high as their Throats Fernelius l. 6. patholog c. 16. writes That he being induc'd by the Complaints and Intreaties of the Women has sometimes felt it with his hand carried up into the Stomach like a little Globe by which it has been strangely oppress'd 2. The Fumes because that in the hysteric Suffocation stinking Smells held to the Nostrils either diminish or take away the Effect but sweet Smells exasperate and bring the fit Of which the first they say proceeds from hence because the womb which is endu'd as it were with a sort of reason flies stinking smells which being held to the Nose it presently descends to avoid ' em The latter because it is delighted with sweet smells and therefore if they be apply'd to the Nostrils it presently ascends to meet ' em And that which seems to confirm this Opinion the more is this because the same sweet things being rubb'd about the inside of the Privity immediately abates the fit because the womb as they say descends to those things with which it is delighted From whence they conclude That the Womb ascends with a spontaneous Motion and may be mov'd any way nor ought that to be wonder'd at say they when its Motion upward in Women with Child and downward in the falling of the Womb is a thing so well known These Reasons were thought to be of so much weight by many that they led men of great repute into the Labyrinth of Error But on the other side That the womb does not ascend upward of its own accord nor is mov'd with a wandring Motion through the lower Belly may be demonstrated by several Reasons 1. The Ligaments prevent it not only the Vermiform those in the shape of a Worm but chiefly the Lateral like to the Wings of Batts which are so strong that they can by no means suffer such a suddain Extension Add to this That the Uterine Sheath is also firmly fastened to the neighbouring parts the Bladder the right Intestine the Privity c. All which parts in the ascent of the womb would be likewise drawn up together toward the upper parts with great pain and trouble and yet we never hear those that are troubled with fits of the Mother ever complain of any such painful Attraction 2. The womb is so small in empty women that it cannot extend it self to the Diaphragma tho' it should be violently dragg'd up by the hand or attenuated by extraordinary Extension into the thinnest Membrane that can be 3. In a Woman with Child tho' it be large yet no rational man will say that in an hysteric Suffocation the womb with the birth included in it is able to ascend to the Diaphragma and the Throat 4. In the dissected Bodies of those that have dy'd of the hysteric Passion of which I have dissected many I have often observ'd that neither the womb was swell'd nor any way remov'd out of his place tho' while they liv'd at the very last gasp they have complain'd extreamly of its ascent to the Diaphragma and their very Throats Nay more in the said Distemper I have rarely met with any fault in the womb but have â—…ound it in one or both Stones XXIX The Globe or Substance which is said to ascend from the lower Belly to the Stomach and higher is not the Womb nor as Riolanus believes the Stones or Tubes of the Womb swelling with putrify'd Seed and violently agitated up and down for those parts are not so loose nor so bigg as to ascend above the Stomach or to be felt as big as a Hen or a Goose-egg but the Intestines or Guts which are struck and torn by some malignant and sharp Vapors ascending from the Womb or the Stones as in the Epilepsie a sharp malignant Vapour arises from the great Toe or some other part to the Head and there by its Vellication causes an unusual and vehement Contraction of the Nerves Now this pain in the Guts being communicated to the Sense in the Head presently to repel the Mischief and exclude the Cause a great number of Animal Spirits are posted into their Fibres by the swelling of which the Guts are contracted and then if there be any wind in the Guts as generally there is they contract themselves about that wind and by compressing and
squeezing it together make that same Globe And thus by the Acrimony of the same Vapour ascending higher the Diaphragma the Muscles of the Throat and Jaws and other parts are contracted by the copious influx of Animal Spirits whence proceeds that Suffocation Nor does the hard binding of a broad Swathe or a long Napkin about the belly avail in such a case to hinder the ascent of that same Substance or Globe which women take to be their womb any otherwise than only because that by means of that hard binding the copious ascent of that sharp malignant Vapour arising from the womb or stones is hinder'd which Vapour being then detain'd below that Ligature is dissipated by the heat of the surrounding parts XXX Here by the way we are to take notice that Francis de le Boe Sylvius with whom Regner de Graef agrees in this Particular does not acknowledg the forementioned cause of the Hysteric Passion but has imagined another quite different that is to say that the Fault of the Pancreatic Iuice is the only cause of the Hysteric Symptomes aforesaid and so most couragiously rejects the Opinions in this case of all the antient and most of the modern Physicians and excuses the Womb and spermatick Parts from being the Occasion of those Symptoms But altho' some Symptoms having as it were some Similitude with some hysteric Effects may sometimes be occasioned by the defects of the Pancreatic Juice which I am unwilling altogether to deny yet by diligent Observation they may be sufficiently distinguished one from the other and I my self have observ'd 'em no less in Men than in Women nevertheless always to accuse the unfortunate Pancreas of this Miscarriage seems a little too hard when the Dissections of Women as well by my self as others many times instructed us that the Sweet-bread had no share many times in those hysteric Affections as being altogether sound and perfect but that the Fault lay in the Stones that were very much swell'd sometimes one and sometimes both half as bigg as a Hens Egg sometimes ill coloured and full of a virulent Liquor and when as also it has been observed that in such a uterine Suffocation that all the Symptomes have ceased upon Copulation or the evacuation of Seed upon the Midwife's digitizing the part affected and that by the use of moderate Coition the return of the Fit has been prevented whereas the same Remedies us'd could no way avail to remove any Distemper of the pancreatic Juice either easily suddainly well or pleasantly XXXI Neither can any thing be concluded from Scents in behalf of the said Opinion touching the Motion of the Womb. For the Womb is not endued with Understanding and consequently is no way affected with this or that good or bad Smell For it has no Nose nor any other Organ of Smelling and therefore makes no Distinction between sweet or stinking Smells neither covets or loves or flies or hates either the one or the other neither is sensible of any Smells as Smells neither is affected by them as they are Smells but by their hot attenuating sharp discussing Quality XXXII Now that stinking Smells held to the Nostrils abate the Hysteric Fit it is not because the Womb avoiding the Stench of stinking Smells descends but because the Sense of smelling being offended by the ill Smells the Brain contracts it self and so not only sends fewer Spirits to the contracting Fibres of the Guts and Nerves of the Mesentery the Diaphragma and the Muscles of the Iaws but also stops the Entrance of the Vapors ascending from the Testicles and Womb into those Parts and expells those that were entered before Which stinking Smells by virtue of their singular discussing Faculty dissipate as well in the Brain as in the Jaws and so the Woman not only recovers herself but upon the Relaxation of the Muscles of the Jaws is freed from her Fit XXXIII On the other side sweet Smells increase the Fit not because the Womb ascends to meet 'em but because while their Fragrancie delights the Sense to the end the woman may the longer enjoy that Pleasure the Brain dilates it self and so not only permits a greater Quantity of Spirits to flow to the Fibres aforesaid and increase the Fit but also admits more plentifully a greater Quantity of noxious Vapours ascending from the Womb through the Pores every way dilated whence the Effects of the Hysterical Passion Anxietie Raving Drowsiness and sometimes Epileptic Convulsions c. But sweet things being rubb'd about the inside of the Privity because they attenuate the thick and malignant Humours they dilate the Pores and powerfully discuss Trincavel Eustachius Rudius Hercules Saxonia and Mercurialis give quite different Reasons for this thing which Daniel Sennertus rejects and refutes Who nevertheless not being well able to get out of this Labyrinth and finding that the Womb is not sensible of Smells nor is affected by 'em as they are Smells flys to a certain hidden Quality affecting the Womb imperceptible to our Senses which he believes to adhere in such a manner to the Odours as not to be separated from ' em But there is no such need in this case of flying to any such occult Quality when the whole thing is plainly to be made out by manifest Qualities and Reasons XXXIV That the Womb in women with Child extends it self every way or slips out in falling down makes nothing to prove its spontaneous Motion For in Women with Child the womb does not simply ascend but grows and swells upward and round about through all its parts For as the Birth grows so its Domicil inlarges it self and the bigger the Child grows the bigger thicker and more fleshy becomes the womb so that near the time of Delivery it comes to be as thick as a Mans Thumb or the breadth of two Fingers Which is not caused by the sole Influence of the Blood and Humours into the Porosities of the womb but by a real firm and fleshy Increment But there is a great Difference between the inlarging of the womb and its spontaneous Motion For the one requires a long time the other is done in a Moment and should and ought to cease In the one the Substance of the womb is enlarged and thicken'd in the other it ought to be extended and attenuated XXXV In the falling down of the Womb the Motion is not Spontaneous for the Ligaments of it being loosened and the Substance of it being affected with a cold and moist Distemper it falls with its own weight as all heavy things and paralytic Members having lost their own spontaneous Motion slip downwards In the same manner as a Man who falls from a high Steeple does not move himself downward of his own accord but is mov'd by his own weight against his will From all which it is apparent that the womb moves neither upward nor downward nor tumbles about the lower Belly with a vagous Motion but sometimes by accident
Virgin which resembled the flat perforated small Ring that is put under the Glass in Prospective Glasses and closes all the rest of the opening of the Tube as this Membrane shuts up the Tube of the Sheath and the outermost Neck of the Womb. XVIII It is question'd by some Whether upon the want of that Membrane it may be well and truly said that such a Maid where such a defect is found has been deflowr'd by another Man Riolanus well observes That the defect of this Membrane is not always a sign of deflowr'd Virginity because most certainly it is not to be found in all Virgins For many times lascivious and wanton Girls break that Membrane unknowingly in their imitation of Coition with their Finger or any other Instrument Besides that in some it is so thin and so soft that easily giving way in the first Act it neither makes any resistance against the Bridegroom nor does it bleed at all Besides that it may be corroded away by the passing thorough of sharp Humours or else broken by a fall or a blow or by the Midwives finger as in the Hysteric Passion Now that it may be so relax'd and soften'd by the Afflux of the Flowers and other Humours as to give free passage to the Yard without pain or trouble and will dilate rather than be dilacerated and consequently never emit any blood in the first Act Pinaeus makes out by two Examples which he cites Lib. 1. de Not. Virgin c. 6. And thus that Text in Deuteronomy is certainly to be expounded that is to say if the red piece of Linnen were shew'd then there was no doubt to be made of the Virginity of the Maid but notwithstanding if it could not be produc'd yet however it was not to be concluded that the Maid had lost her Virginity but before too severe a Sentence be pronounc'd inquiry was to be made why that Efflux of Blood fail'd in the first Coition whether she had been broken up before or whether it might not be an effect of any other of those Natural Causes by me recited But before I leave this place I cannot but add the elegant Verses of Catullus which he writes De slore Virginitatis to wit concerning that Blood which commonly breaks forth upon the Rupture of the Membrane Hymen in the first Coition Ut slos in septis secretis nascitur hortis Ignotus pecori nullo contusus aratro Quem mulcent aurae firmat Sol educat imber Multi illum pueri multae optavere puellae Idem cum tenui carptus defloruit ungue Nulli illum pueri nullae optavere puellae Sic Virgo dum intacta manet tum chara suis sed Cum Castum amisit polluto corpore slorem Nec pueris jucunda manet nec chara puellis Which I render into English thus As Flowers in enclosed Gardens grow Not cropt by Beasts nor bruised by the Plough Whose brighter Glories Solar Beams invest And Fragrancies by gentle Rain increast Invites all Human kind to love and take That same when cropt its Beauty does forsake Those that before ador'd it now despise And slight the once dear Object of their Eyes Such is a Virgin while she so remains While her unspotted Honour she retains But when that 's blasted she 's no more the same Nor to her Virgin Vertues can lay claim But like a wither'd Flower is undon And by all Human kind is pist upon Those that before ador'd her now despise And slight the once dear Object of their Eyes XIX Upon this Membrane rest four Carunculae or little pieces of flesh call'd the Myrtiformes Myrtle shap'd because they resemble the Berries of Myrtle so plac'd that every one possesses an Angle and answer one another in a square One of 'em bigger than the rest and forked belongs to the hole of the Urinary passage which it shuts when the Urine is voided The second stands behind opposite to this the other two are collateral These Carunculae or little pieces of Flesh in some are shorter in some longer thicker or slenderer Which are said to meet together with certain little Membranes in the outermost part leaving a hole in the middle whose closing together some take for the Hymen Membrane XX. They are said to be appointed for Pleasure and Titillation while their being swell'd and puff't up straitens and bewitchingly squeezes the Yard These Caruncles are so describ'd by several Anatomists as if they were to be found in all Women when there is only one to be found in Virgins but all four are to be found in Persons deflowr'd But as for the second Membrane made by the closing of these Caruncles over and above the Hymen I shall believe it when any Body shews it me Riolanus the most accurate Anatomist of his time not without reason suspects those three lesser Tunicles not to be real little pieces of Flesh but little swellings or warts proceeding from the Rupture of the Hymen and the wrinkling the Vagina of the Privity and reports that he has found that wrinkled roughness altogether levell'd for the passages of the Child in Women that have been deliver'd six or seven days which were they true little pieces of Flesh would preserve their shape and substance in the distension of the Neck of the Womb or at least some sign of 'em would remain whereas there is nothing to be seen of 'em but when the Privity is again reduc'd to its accustom'd straitness He adds that these three little Bodies were they real little pieces of Flesh would be a great impediment to Women in Labour for that their roughness and inequality would hinder the Egress of the Infant He proves the truth of this Assertion by Ocular view and experience affirming that in the Dissections of Virgins after he had separated the Nymphs he found a fleshie or circular Membrane perforated with a little hole in the middle big enough for a Pea to go through which Membrane being torn he saw no other Caruncles but one always apply'd to the Orifice of the Bladder but the other three he never found and conjectures the foremention'd Caruncle to be the Extremity of the Sphincter of the Bladder XXI Therefore in regard they only are to be found in married People the Hymen being broken and not in Virgins he strongly infers that those three lesser Caruncles are nothing else than the Angular parts of this broken Membrane pucker'd up into a heap by the wrinkling of the fleshie Vagina And thus has this most excellent Person by his great Experience unfolded those doubts which have hitherto occasion'd so many Disputes among Anatomists concerning the Hymen and the Carunc'es XXII The outward part of the Womb call'd in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latin Pudendum Muliebre Membrum Genitale and Vulva as it were Valva or a Folding Door being clos'd with two Valva's and Nymphs like Folding Doors also Orificium Exterius the Outward Orifice and Cunnus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
the womb in women with child by reason of the enlargement of the womb seem to descend and first to rest upon the middlemost afterwards upon the lowermost sides of the womb Moreover after the sixth Month they became more contracted flatter and somewhat long and the Spermatic Veins are much bigger than the Arteries VII The Neck is drawn upward longer but narrower And two Months before the Birth the inner Orifice of the womb becomes more loose and tumid and by degrees dilates it self as the woman grows nearer her time unfolding it self like a Rose as if Nature were preparing a way for the Birth to grow forth in which work she is not a little assisted by the weight and strong motion of the strugling Infant In the last Month the Lips of the Privity become more soft and more tumid and the neck or sheath of the womb being press'd by the weight of the Infant is so shorten'd that the mouth of the womb may be easily felt by immission of the finger In the last two or three weeks before the woman's time the foresaid Orifice of the womb is moisten'd with a certain glutinous and viscous Humour to render it more loose and apt to gape and be dilated without violence and give the freer passage to the Infant in going forth VIII From the Stones to the Tubes the bottom of the womb and neck the Vessels are bigger and more apparent than usual For Cornelius Gemma observes that Vessels of the womb it self are more distended and tumid after many Labours But that seems too hyperbolical which Bartholine writes that the Vessels of the womb in time of Child-bearing swell with Blood to that degree especially near the time of Delivery that the Emulgents are half as large as the Aorta or Vena cava I have seen 'em very large indeed but never so large But perhaps he wrote this upon the Dissection of some Female Elephant And yet Regner de Graef confirms the same thing In women with child says he I have sometimes seen those Vessels dilated to that degree that I could easily thrust my finger into their hollowness which after the Evacuation of the Secundines are so contracted again that in sixteen days space together with the womb they recover their wonted proportion only that they are more tâ—…isted and contorted in those that have had many Children by reason of their being extended more in length IX The reason why the Vasa Sanguifera are so much dilated in women with child is said to be the necessity of a greater quantity of Blood requisite in that place for the Nourishment of the Infant But in regard the forcing of the Blood through the Arteries is swift enough for the Nourishment of all the Parts and that without any extraordinary dilatation of the Vessels and for the same reason sufficient for the Nourishment of the Birth in the womb therefore there seems to be another quite different Reason of this dilatation that is to say Because that through the increasing of the Substance of the Womb and the weighty bulk of the growing Infant the Veins of the womb being more than usually compress'd will not permit so free a Circulation of the Blood as in empty or free Women And seeing that more flows in through the Arteries than can pass through the compress'd Veins and be remitted back time enough to the heart hence it is that the Blood by reason of its slower Circulation which in the mean time is forc'd through the Arteries with an equal Chanel being there detain'd and collected together in greater quantity more and more distends the Sanguiferous Vessels so that toward the time of Delivery they are more than usually large Which nevertheless after Delivery the said Compression ceasing and the Circulation becoming free within a few days are contracted by the Fibres themselves and return to their first Condition In like manner the same thick Substance of the womb no less than the Vessels presently after Delivery and the Evacuation of the Secundines begins to fall and dry up so that in a few days it recovers its pristine solidity and hardness and this sometimes in six or seven sometimes in fourteen or more days All which things the accurate inspection of many Child-bearing women and women with child hath taught us CHAP. XXVIII Of the Seed HAving examin'd the Parts of Generation Order requires that we should proceed to the History of the Birth contain'd in the womb Which before we begin we shall premise some things concerning the first Foundations and Principles of the Birth Beginning first with Human Seed and discoursing in the next of the Conception and the Forming of the Birth I. The Seed is sometimes call'd Sperm sometimes Geniture And tho' Aristotle seems to make some distinction between Sperm and Geniture as if the one were the Seed of those that copulate the other of those that never engender and tho' others take Geniture for that Seed only which may properly be call d fruitful others for the Seed of man and woman mixt together Nevertheless because the same Philosopher confounds these Names up and down in other places as also Galen and many others do we also intend to make use of these Names for one and the same thing But because in Generation there are two Seeds that come to be consider'd of which neither can produce any thing apart but which being duly mixt together to perfect Generation I think it will be most beneficial to discourse first of the Seed of man and then of the Seed of woman apart and of what proceeds from the mixture of both II. The Seed of man therefore is a frothy white viscous Liquor impregnated with a germinating or blossoming spirit made in the Stones and other Spermatic Vessels of Arterious Blood and Animal Spirits for the Generation of a like Creature We think that Opinion to be rejected as unworthy refutation maintain'd by Aristotle and asserted by his Followers that the Seed is an Excrement of the third Concoction when as it is the most noble Substance of the whole Body as it were a Compendium of the whole Man or at least such a Substance as contaiâ—…s in it self the Compendium of all Mankind In what Parts it is generated we have sufficiently explain'd Cap. 22. and Cap. 24. III. Of the Matter of which Seed is generated and the Parts out of which that matter proceeds various are the Opinions of Philosophers IV. Avicen says That the Seed proceeds from the Brain Heart and Liver Some think it falls from the more solid Parts into the lesser Veins and from those ascends into the greater and like a little Cloud or Settlement swims upon the rest of the Humours and at length is attracted by the power of the Stones The reasons of which Opinions and their Refutations may be seen in Aristotle Fernelius Laurentius and Vallesius V. Many of the Ancients likewise have asserted that the Seed is
us that if a woman with Child continually and strongly think of the maim'd part of any Man from which she took a suddain Fright she brings a maim'd Infant into the World tho' both she and her Husband had their Limbs perfect and quite the contrary if she continually think of a perfect and sound Child she will bring forth a Child perfect in its Limbs tho' perhaps either she or her Husband might want a Limb. In like manner a Man may more easily imprint into the seminal Spirits the Ideas of Parts defective than the Woman through her Imagination can deface alter or deprave those parts And as this is certain of a woman by Experience the same is still more certain of a Man Neither is it to be questioned but that if the Parents think continually and much upon those defective Parts nor by other Imaginations imprint in the seminal Spirit the Ideas of those defective Parts they shall beget Children maim'd in those parts This is apparent from hence in the first part that if the Parents were born maim'd in any part when they have not been able afterwards to imagin any Ideas of the entireness of that part as being that which they never knew perfect in themselves frequently the Children are maim'd in that part But if they were maim'd in any Member long after they were born then easily and strongly imagining the Idea of that part of which they knew the soundness and the use before they may supply that defect in the Seed and its Spirit XXXV But how the said Idea's are imprinted in the Seed by the Imagination of the Parent is not so easily explain'd However thus it seems to happen The Image of the thing often and seriously thought upon is exactly delineated in the Brain and that Picture and its bringing into Shape being imprinted in the Animal Spirits and by them communicated also to the arterious Blood together with these that are to be the matter of the Seed is carried to the Stones and in the making of the Seed supplies therein the defect of those Ideas which could not flow from the parts of which the Parent was destitute and so the Seed with its enlivening Spirit furnished with all the necessary Idea's of the several parts of the whole Body acquires such an Aptitude that all the parts may be form'd out of it even those Parts of which the Parent is destitute That this is thus done in the Seed is no such Wonder seeing that after the same manner sometimes the Idea's of various things are imprinted in the Birth already form'd through the strong Imagination of the Mother Because that the Idea's of things imagined and exactly depainted in the Brain being imprinted in the Animal Spirits by the determination of the Spirits made by the Mind or Will together with the Arterious Blood flow to the womb of which and of the Birth therein contained the great bellied Woman often thinks thence they are carried through the umbilical Vein to the Birth it self which being very tender by reason of the extraordinary softness of its Body easily receives the Idea strongly imprinted into it by the Imagination of the Mother as an Image seen is imprinted into the soft Brain to be shortly offered again to the Memory which is very small at the Beginning but increases more and more as the Child grows in the womb as Letters or Pictures slightly engraven with a Penknife upon the Rinds of a Cucumber or Melon grow by degrees with the Fruit. And thus also the Images of visible things at a great Distance are depainted in the Tunicle of the Eye by the help of the Intermediate Air and Sounds are conveighed through the Air to Places remote XXXVI Swammerdam proposing this Doubt to me in his Miracle of Nature How it comes to pass that Parents maim'd in some Parts beget whole Children as if he would with one Herculean Argument dilucidate the whole Obscurity answers because all the parts are contained in the Egg. But if this be the true Cause how comes it that out of that one Egg containing all the Parts sometimes a Child happens to be born maim'd in some parts and that sometimes when the Parents are sound and perfect in all their Limbs and such as before that have begot and afterwards also beget entire limb'd Children Why should the Foundation of an Arm or a Legg or any other part be more wanting in that Egg than in the Eggs of other women both before and afterwards conveighed to the womb out of which entire Childeren have been conceived If these women's Eggs contain all the parts of the birth in themselves why does Swammerdam himself say that Levi long before he was born lay in the Loyns of his Parents Will he have also some Eggs to be generated in the Loyns of Men 'T is to be fear'd he will shortly bring 'em as well out of the Heads as out of the Loyns of Men and the Stones of Women XXXVII Here another Doubt arises seeing that those spirituous Irradiations equally happen from all parts of the Body in the Body of a Child as well as of one grown to Maturity Why the Office of Generation may not equally be perform'd as well by a Child as by a Person fully grown When as the forming Spirit is equally present in both I answer this falls ouâ—… for two Causes 1. Because that in a Child that Spirit has not yet a Subject wherein to inhabit For the Blood being very Oylie is consumed in the Growth and nourishment of the Body so that there is no superfluous blood out of which the seed can be duly made 2. Because that in a Child there are wanting those requisite Mediums to perfect that Work For besides the extream Oyliness of the Matter and its unaptness the spermatic Vessels are over weak to make Seed In Males the Yard is too short and the Passages are too narrow to conveigh the Seed out of the Stones to the seminary Vessels and thence to the Vrethra In Females the Vessels are two small and straitened and the womb too narrow to receive the Seed XXXVIII From what has been said perhaps some one may raise another Question seeing that the spirituous â—…dea-bearing Irradiations are to be considered only in the Seed of a Man how it comes to pass that the Birth does not always resemble the Male parent in likeness of Feature and Form but frequently the Mother Hippocrates of old gave sundry Reasons for this taken from the various Quality and Quantity of the Seed of a Man and Woman mix'd together Whose Opinion many follow but do not explain it all alike Among whom are Capivaccius and Deusingius whose Opinions because they are grounded upon no solid Foundations we shall omit for Brevities Sake My Opinion is that all this whole Matter depends upon the Imagination of the Mother For a bigg-bellied Woman always thinking this or that when she is awake and converting her Thoughts for
in the Blood of oily Particles dulling the Acrimony of the animal Spirits it happens that they who are naturally fat and gross generate less Seed and slower are less fit for the Sports of Venus and are soon tired Whereas on the other side strong lean People are prone to Venery and hold out longer Because they have more Seed and more quickly replenish'd besides that their animal Spirits are sharper and more copious and their fermenting Power is not so soon abated by the over much Plenty of Oily Moisture But some will say why are not Children fat for the same Reason Because the redundant moist and dew-like Blood is consum'd in the growth and increase of the Body LXX From what has been said it appears wherefore in a Plethory the Body becomes unwieldy slothful and weak and all the animal Actions both the principal and others grow drowsy and the Persons themselves are sleepy and heavy Headed c. because that by reason of the extraordinary Redundancy of the oylie Particles in the Blood the animal Spirits are generated fewer in Quantity less sharp and active Now what that fermenting Power of the animal Spirits so often mentioned is see l. 3. c. 11. CHAP. XXIX Of Conception and the forming of the Embryo I. WHen the fruitful Seed of both Sexes is received into a Womb well dispos'd and is detain'd inclos'd therein it is called Conception II. This Conception is made in the Cavity of the Womb it self and not in any Pores of the inner Membranes in regard that no Quantity of injected Seed can be contain'd in the Pores neither is the prolific Principle being separated from the thicker Mass of the Seed included in the Pores but is carried through the Tubes to the Ovary with which the Eggs being impregnated pass the same way to the Womb where they are detain'd and cherished But as for those who following Harvey assert that the Seed being injected into the Womb soon after flows out again the prolific Principle only remaining within and tell us that the Conception is perfected not in the Cavity of the Womb but in the Pores of the internal Membranes which Regius also affirms how far they are mistaken shall appear by that which follows III. Now it is necessary that the Seed being receiv'd and detain'd that the Orifice of the Womb should be closed and so continue at least for the first Months to the end that Spirit wherein the fruitfulness of the Seed continues should not be dissipated and lost before it slide through the Tubes to the Ovaries which would easily happen were not the Orifice well closed that the Eggs also being impregnated with the said Spirit and so carried from the Ovaries to the Womb should not slip forth nor be corrupted by the entrance of the Air. This Closure of the Womb as Galen affirms and we have seen is so strait and exact that it will not admit the top of a Probe IV. Now I speak of the Seed of both Sexes neither will I be so rash as with Aristotle or with Harvey to question the Womans Seed or to believe that Conception cannot be made without it having prov'd the necessity of it in the former Chapter for tho' it be not the efficient Cause of Formation yet is it such a material Cause as ought necessarily to concur in the Eggs with the prolific Principle of the male Seed to its Dissolution and the Expedition of its Operation and it also constitutes the Matter together with the more watery dissolv'd Parts of the masculine Seed by which the most slender the most tender and smallest Threads of the Members of the Embryo being by this time form'd may first be cherished and then receive its Nourishment from it as likewise its Growth as also for the forming of the Membrane it self the Amnion and the Chorion in like manner as in a Hens Egg we see the Shell and the inner thin Membrane form'd out of the Seed of the Hen before her being trod by the Cock as is apparent in Wind Eggs. Which Shell however together with the foresaid thin Membrane in the Eggs of Hens and other Birds neither grow nor are enlarged after the Eggs are laid because they have acquired their just Capaciousness and Magnitude before the Eggs were laid as being to be hatch'd without the Body of the Birds quite otherwise than in other Creatures that bring forth live Conceptions in which as the Embryo grows those Membranes must of necessity encrease And hence because the womans Seed alone is not sufficient to supply that daily Growth in the Womb First the more watery Parts of the male Seed residing in the Womb and the Blood and other Humours conveighed through the Vasa Sanguifera joyn themselves to its assistance V. Here we think fit to explode the Opinion of those who with Aristotle say that the menstruous Blood concurs in like manner with the Seed to the first forming of the Parts For all the Parts are delineated out of the Seed alone and that by and out of the most subtil and most spirituous part of it Neither does the menstruous Blood nor any other Blood contribute any thing more than Nourishment which causes the Growth of the Parts VI. After Conception the Orifice of the Womb is not only closed but the whole Womb contracts it self about the Seed to the end it may the better detain and embrace it Thus Galen reports that the Women have often told him that after Conception they have felt a certain motion in the Privities that did as it were pull and contract them together VII The Seed being detain'd in the Womb is cherish'd alter'd and melted by the dewie heat of the Womb and so its thicker and more fix'd Particles being dissolv'd by a more firm cleaving and binding together the more spirituous and active parts which lay imprison'd in those thicker Particles being set at liberty presently pass through the Uterine Tubes to the Ovaries to the end they may enter the Eggs that are come to maturity and impregnate them wherein they meet in a small Bubble and like a transparent and crystalline Liquor appear in the Egg carried to the Womb. VIII Now in this small Bubble only is the forming of the whole Embryo perfected For in that same thin and spirituous part of the Seed the Architectonic Faculty lies which by the cherishing of the Uterine heat together with its subject in which it is fix'd that is to say that same thin and spirituous Liquor of the Seed being set at liberty breaks forth into Action For it cannot be free but it must act nor can it be set at liberty unless by an External Cause that is by the heat of the Womb the whole Mass of the Masculine Seed being ejected in Copulation be dissolv'd and melted and by that means the spirituous or prolific Part being separated from it be carried through the Tubes to the Ovaries and then shut up
be true by the Experience of many Years Now when after frequent Tryals I still met with nothing in the Cavity of the Womb I began at first to douâ—…t whether the Seed of the Man could by any manner of way either by injection or attraction enter the Place of Conception And at length often repeated Inspection confirm'd me in the Opinion that nothing of Seed ever reached those Places And from hence at last he concludes that the mans Seed neither contain'd in it self the active Power of Forming nor was the matter out of which the thing was to be form'd nor that it entered the Womb or was therein detain'd And that he might describe the Principle and Subject of Conception he flies to Quality without Matter to Species without Subject and an idle Conception of the Womb without the Brain For saith he because there is nothing sensible to be found in the Womb after Conception and yet there is a necessity that there should be something to infertilize and that cannot be Corporeal it remains that we have Recourse to meer Conception and Conception of Species without Matter that no man may question but that the same thing happens here which happens in the Brain And a little after As we from the Conception of a form or Idea in the Brain produce another like it in our Actions So the Idea or Species of the Parent being in the Womb by the assistance of the forming Faculty begets a Birth resembling it while he imprints upon his Work a Species which he has in himself immortal And so he concludes that Conception is produced in the Womb by the receiving of Species's without and that the Womb it self while it stirs up the forming Faculty according to that Idea conceived in it self is the principal Cause of Formation whereas the whole Formation is accomplish'd in the Egg both in and out of the prolifick Principle of the Seed and the womb affords nothing but a convenient place and cherishing receptacle for the Seed XX. Now tho' Deusingius contradicts Harvey yet he seems to be in a great quandary and shunning Charybdis for fear of falling into Scylla proposes the Question quite otherwise than Harvey but confirms his Opinion with no more solidity at all For he writes that the Seed of the Male being injected into the Privities of the Woman and as it were by infection changes as well the accidental as substantial temper of the womb and whole body and confers such a disposition upon the body and the womb by which it is wrought to the top of maturity and impregnated as Fruits are ripen'd by the Summers heat So that tho' afterwards the whole mass of the Male Seed flow forth of the womb after Coition or tho' the spirituous portion also exhale into nothing yet the spirituous substance of the Womans body receives such an impression from the said temper as the spirituous portion of the Man's Seed first made by vertue of its own proper nature In which words the learned Man seems to ascribe to the Seed of Man in conception no other effect than that it changes the disposition of the Woman and her womb and contributes to it an aptitude to form and find materials but that the Seed of the Man after coition comes away again as altogether useless As if that change of temper and preparation to maturity were to be made in coition so suddainly and as it were at a jump by the only injection of the Male Seed and that the Woman not long before ripe for Man of her self through the increase of her own proper heat and of blood and spirits did not become fit for the generation of eggs and conception and that conception did not in a short time happen after coition but only upon a great and preceding preparation and a long alteration of the Womans whole body caus'd by the frequent injection of the Man's Seed Besides the Comparison is ill that the Seed of the Man should mature the Woman as the Sun ripens the Fruit because a Woman is not matur'd by the Man's Seed but by her own inward heat and so produces such Fruit that is her own Seed included in the Egg to cherish and ferment the prolific Principle separated from the Man's Seed and infus'd into the Egg and to set it at liberty as also for the generating of the Tunicles and Membranes that enfold the Birth and for the most proper and convenient Nourishment of the new-form'd Birth XXI So that Harvey's Inspections into the Conceptions of brute Animals not only deluded himself but Deusingius Regius and several other learned Men who suffered themselves to be led astray before they had throughly examin'd the matter I acknowledge my self to be an admirer of Harvey's Experiments and his extraordinary Ingenuity and Industry in the Dissection of Beasts and give him great Credit and I believe that in most Beasts dissected after Coition he found no Seed in the Womb Now it does not follow from thence what he would infer That the Seed in Coition does not enter the Womb and that it comes away again presently after Coition and yet Conception happens and therefore that the Seed is useless in Conception For that those Inspections of Harvey do not certainly prove that the Seed was not detain'd in the Womb when Conception was over or at the time of conceiving For tho' he never could find any Seed in the wombs of those Creatures which he dissected yet that concludes nothing of certainty nor proves that those Beasts were impregnated or that there would have been a Conception from former Coitions had they been permitted longer life And certainly there are many Arguments that destroy both his Reasons and the Arguments drawn from his Experiments XXII 1. The Seed injected might come away again after Coition either of its own accord as happens in Women that do not conceive or shogg'd out and so there might be no Conception For he himself writes that Does and Hinds do copulate every day for a whole Month together and therefore they many times copulate in vain after which vain Coition the Seed flows again out of the Womb For generally those Creatures conceive upon the last Copulation especially those that bring forth but one at a time because that after Conception they admit the Male no more Now if Harvey in his Dissections did not light upon one of those Does which had not yet admitted the least conceiving Copulation or at least had not as yet conceiv'd 't was no wonder he found no Seed in their Wombs as being shaken out after Coition Thus I remember about ten years ago in the Company of several others I saw a Mare that as soon as the Horse had covered her cast out the Seed again but the Horse continuing to cover her for three or four days together at length the last time she retain'd her Seed and would not admit the Horse to cover her any more So that if the
Bowels seem'd to appear but so confusedly as not to be distinguish'd and for Arteries there were none visible Besides this little Embryo a little crystal Bubble still swam upon the same dissolv'd Juice such as I found in the foregoing Abortments together with the Embryo about the bigness of a small Filbird of a most transparent colour wherein I could not perceive any delineations of the Embryo perhaps out of this the Female Birth might be afterwards delineated which they say is later brought to perfection than the Male and so the production of Twins might happen XXXII Now if the Embryo in the eighth or ninth week be no bigger than a Pea or a Tare and about the fortieth day be no bigger than a large Emet certainly their demonstrations are to be accompted very ridiculous who shewing some diminutive dry'd Abortments to be seen endeavour'd to perswade their Spectators that one is the Conception of six or eight days the other of thirteen days or a fortnight when as they are much bigger than those by me seen and describ'd and that it is altogether very probable that scarce any thing of the form'd Embryo can be discern'd by the Eye before the fortieth day Besides that it is manifest from the first form'd Embryo that the whole mass of the Male and Female Seed cannot be wasted in forming so small a Body when out of the least drop of it such a small Body may be form'd as big as a large Emet Therefore the rest of the mass which flows not out of the womb nor is wasted in forming the parts cherisâ—…es and nourishes those parts soon after and contributes to their growth But because that residue of the Seed is soon consum'd presently therefore a plentiful milkie Juice supplies its room which then begins to flow into the Amnion and that plentifully when the Umbilical Vessels are grown to their due bulk XXXIII From what has been said it is apparently manifest that the Birth is form'd not of the whole mass of the Seed but only of the most spirituous and thinnest part thereof collected first like a transparent Crystal into a diminutive Bubble as has been already said before And now what others have observed and I my self have seen in reference to this Bubble let us now in few words take notice XXXIV Riolanus Animad vers in Laurent tit de formato Foetu sets down this Observation in reference to the Crystalline Bubble Lately says he there was brought me the production of one Month like a small Hens egg so wrapt about with its Membranes of which the outermost was as it were like small flocks and very fibrous the beginning and foundation of the Placenta This Membrane being slit three little baggs were conspicuous within contiguous one to another like little Clusters of Grapes Within those Vessels was contain'd a transparent water and in one of the Bladders which was the middlemost was to be seen a little Body like an Emet and a fine slender Thread produc'd from it That little Body resembled a Birth without form and not to be distinguish'd as far as could be discern'd by the Eye most nicely beholding that Miracle of Nature But the ruddy Thread mark'd out the Navel XXXV This Passage does not a little illustrate our understanding of the Bubble But I except against one Error therein arising from a preconceived Opinion that the Embryo was forthwith nourish'd by the Navel And I believe that Riolanus was very much out as to that same Thread which he alledges to be the Navel For as it is apparent from our second preceding Relation if in that Embryo seen by my self newly broken forth from the Bubble and narrowly inspected by my own Eyes to which I give more credit than to the sayings of others and then more perfectly form'd the Navel scarcely swell'd out to the breadth of half a small Straw nor any farther cast forth any Thread how much less could the Navel thread be any farther extended from this same rude undistinguishable and scarcely begun Birth Furthermore at the beginning the parts are increas'd swifter or slower according to the more or less necessity of their use And in regard that at the beginning there is as yet no necessity of their Use in regard the Birth does not as yet want Umbilical Blood hence it comes to pass that at the beginning it is extended to a conspicuous length but afterwards by degrees grows out of the Birth as we shall make appear Cap. 32. XXXVI The same Riolanus adds another Observation of the same Nature out of Carpus's Commentaries upon Mundinus wherein Carpus observes three little Bubbles touching each other So also Platerus Quaest. Med. Quaest. 1. writes that in an Abortion about the bigness of a Filbird he found three little Bubbles within a thin Amnion and believes them to be the Foundations of the three principal Parts the Heart Brain and Liver For my part I never saw so small an Abortion about the bigness of a Filbird nor ever read of any one besides Platerus that ever saw such another Besides the Citations lately produced out of Hippocrates Aristotle and Riolanus teach us that the Opinion of Platerus cannot be true from whence it is apparent that the Birth is wholly delineated form'd and to be found in one Bubble only In the other two Riolanus found a transparent Water Carpus believes that Embryo's would have also been found in those Bubbles full of transparent Water had they stay'd longer in the womb but Female ones which are later form'd Which according to the Experiments of Hippocrates and Aristotle in some measure seems probable At least this is most certain that in and out of the transparent Liquor of one Bubble the Birth is delineated and form'd And therefore I am perswaded that three Bubbles as those learned Persons saw 'em are very rarely to be seen but that generally there is but one in the Conception unless when a Woman conceives Twins or three Children at a time to which there must be added a fourth Bubble in Women that conceive more like the Scotch-women who frequently conceive four at a time XXXVII Now I am the more confirm'd in this Opinion by an Abortion that was brought to me at the same time that I was writing and inquiring into these things by a noted Midwife in which I found not Three but only one Bubble surrounded with a thin Cobweb-like Membrane This lay hid between a plentiful Seminal Colliquation which was watery somewhat thick and viscous wrapt about with two Membranes the Chorion and the Amnion and swam at the top of it free and no where joyning to the Amnion But to those external Membranes in one very little part there stuck without side a certain small fleshie soft formless and bloody Mass about the bigness of the twelfth part of the Abortion which being somewhat endammaged in the outermost part of it seem'd to have been torn from the Womb. The Bubble
contained a transparent Water clear as Crystal wherein I could observe neither any blood nor any thing else unless it were some very small little Lines hardly discernable which were without doubt the outside Lineaments of the Embryo The Woman that thus miscarried knew not that she had conceiv'd but being struck with a suddain and more than ordinary dread cast that Matter out of her womb without any pain and little straining XXXVIII About the same time I saw another very young Conception upon the Miscarriage of a Minister's Wife wherein I found in like manner one only Bubble very transparent and Crystalline about the bigness of a Filbird wherein there appear'd no little Lines either bloody white or of any other Colour To the exteriour Membrane of that wrapt about the Colliquation there stuck also very close as in the former a little fleshie and bloody Particle endammaged without side and as it were torn from the womb From this most tender little Mass I apparently observ'd certain Blood-bearing little Vessels to derive themselves and to spread themselves very numerously thorough the Chorion But in the inner part of the Amnion besides the seminal watry Colliquation upon which the Bubble swam I could not observe any thing bloody nor any small Vessels in the Substance of it These two Membranes were easily to be separated one from the other neither was there any Liquor contained between ' em XXXIX The Magnitude of these two Abortions the foregoing and this was about the bigness of a Hen-Egg and their Membranes contained more of the Colliquation than half an Egg-shell would hold which in regard it could not altogether with the Bubble proceed from the mans Seed of necessity the womans Seed must be mixed with it tho' the Bubble without all Question sprang solely out of the mans Seed XL. Taught by these two Experiments I am apt to believe that there is but only one Bubble in the Conception generally and seldome any more unless when more Births are to be form'd But tho' hitherto I never saw any more yet I am loth to contradict the Experience of Riolanus Carpus and Platerus or to doubt of the Truth of it And perhaps it may be my Chance to see more at another time XLI In the Formation of the Birth the more curious Question yet remains which Parts of the Body are form'd in the first place which in the second which in the third and which in the last Place Aristot. l. de Invent. Writes that the Heart of Creatures endued with Blood is the first generated which he observ'd in Eggs after the Hen had sate three Days and as many Nights as he asserts l. 6. de hist. Animal Ent is of Aristotle's Opinion believing the Heart first to be form'd and to be the efficient Cause of the forming the rest of the Parts The Seed says he emitted in Copulation into the Womb by the Male constitutes only the Heart in Conception for no part of the Creature consists of Seed besides the Heart And in another place he says That the Heart moves not only after the Birth is form'd but also from the Beginning and is the efficient not the material Cause of the Formation With Ent seems Regius to agree l. 4. Philos. Natur. Others believe the Brain others the Liver others that they are all three form'd together and afterwards the Guts the Spleen and Lungs And this is the Opinion of Galen l. 4. de Usu Partium which many follow The Humour says he that smears the inner Surface of the Womb is turn'd into a Membrane wherein the forming Spirit being every way enclosed puts forth its natural Motions procreating three Points answering to the three principal Parts which being swell'd and distended by the Violence of the Heat form their Bellies the Heart the Breast the Brain the Head the Liver the Abdomen Then the other Parts are delineated and form'd together and then by degrees flows the thin Blood to their Nourishment Others with Bauhinus believe the umbilical Vessels to be first produced as being chiefly and first of all necessary in respect of Nourishment Others affirm the Bones to be first form'd as being the Basis and necessary Foundation of the whole Body And thus one judges one way another another way of a thing so obscure But who I would fain know survey'd Nature at her work that he should be able to know all these things so exactly If the Embryo in forty days be no bigger than an Emmet how small must it be upon the thirtieth Day within which time nevertheless all the Delineations are perfect tho' not discernable to our Eyes Who in that small Body shall determine which Part is formed first which in the second and which in the last Place These are Mysteries which the sublime Creator thought fit to conceal from our Understanding so that if we make any farther Inquiry into 'em Galen will reprehend us If thou inqutrest says he over nicely how these things are made thou wilt be convinced that thou understand'st neither thy own Weakness nor the Omnipotency of the Workmaster XLII In the mean time if it be lawful in a Matter so obscure to make any Conjectures I believe that all the solid Parts are delineated and form'd together because they do not mutually depend one upon another but are all the immediate Works of Nature Moreover one cannot be or act without the other A Body cannot be without a more solid Foundation which is afterwards to be Bony The Heart cannot act without Veins and Arteries nor the Brain without Nerves nor the Stomach without Guts c. For there is no reason why one Part should be form'd before another In the foresaid Bubble the Matter is contain'd which is proper for the Generation of all the Parts which wants no farther Preparation and the Architectonic Spirit may equally delineate and form at the same time all the Parts out of the same matter And wherefore should it form the Heart as Ent would have it sooner than the other Parts To prepare Matter for the Generation of the rest That 's done already Certainly it cannot be said that the Heart generates and forms other Parts when it only prepares Matter for the Nourishment and Growth of the whole from which not their Generation proceeds but their greater Perfection being generated to perform their several Offices For if the Heart at the beginning should generate other Parts why does it not produce new Parts after the Birth of the Infant when it is stronger and operates more powerfully That it prepares Nourishment for all the Parts after the Child is born is confessed by all why should it not do the same at the beginning Shall it have any other Action assigned it at this than at another time But you will say the Heart is first of all conspicuous the rest of the Bowels and all the other Parts appear later and therefore is first form'd Now who can discern in
an Embryo at the beginning no bigger than an Emmet what Parts are already form'd with the beating Heart Which tho' it be the defect of our Sight yet Reason sufficiently teaches us that all the Parts are delineated together since the Harmony of all together is so great and so necessary that they cannot subsist or act one without another And indeed it seems but probable that the forming Spirits contain'd in the Bubble and beginning the Formation of all the Parts more vigorously perform their Work and more speedily strengthen and perfect all Parts already delineated after they are at more Liberty from the thicker Colliquation as being assisted by the Heat of the Heart excited and kindled by a particular Fermentation But certain it is that before that Assistance they began the Formation of all and singular the Parts Of which tho' such and such first appear in the forming whereof most Spirits were employ'd and of which there is the greatest Necessity for their Use however this does not exclude the Delineation of the rest of the Parts which our Sight cannot discern XLIII Here if any one will object that perhaps the spermatick Parts are delineated together but that the bloody Parts are afterwards of necessity to be produc'd I answer that when we speak of the Formation of the Parts we speak of the first Delineations or Out-lines of all the Parts and all those we say are form'd out of the Seed alone into which the bloody Nutriment is afterwards infused by which they acquire a greater Bulk and Bigness Yet in the mean time there is no bloody part in the whole Body which is not intermixed with spermatic Threads and so no part can truly be said to be form'd out of the Blood and to subsist without a spermatic Foundation This was the ancient Opinion of Hippocrates All the Members says he are discerned and augmented together not one before or after another only those that are naturally bigger are seen before the other tho' they were not form'd before And in another place There is not in my Opinion any beginning of the Body but all the Parts seem equally to be both beginning and end together For the Circle being drawn there is no end to be found Now what Parts are first visible how the order of Formation proceeds gradually as far as the Eye can discern is elegantly described by Harvey Tract de generat Animal whom the Reader may do well to consult together with Antony Everard in his Lib. de Ortu Animal XLIV But now seeing the form'd Parts came once to associate to themselves and assimilate the Nourishment brought 'em and so begin to grow by Nutrition seeing the Heart also begins its natural Action of Sanguification from its smallest Point or Beginning Some more curiously inquire whether the Brain which is very soft in the Embryo makes animal Spirits and by their Assistance performs animal Actions I answer That as the Actions of many parts are idle at first as of the Lungs Eyes Ears Teeth and Stones c. Of which there is no absolute Necessity at the Beginning so the Actions of the Brain Liver and Spleen being more necessary begin at the Beginning but so weakly by reason of the Infirmity of the Organs that they cannot be discern'd But by degrees the more perfect they grow the more perceptible they are And hence it is probable that the Brain at the beginning may begin to make animal Spirits but very few and very weak because there is less need of 'em at the beginning But the stronger the Brain grows and the more need of Spirits there is the stronger and more vigorous Spirits it makes As is apparent by that time a woman has gone half her time when the Child begins to stir which Motion cannot be perform'd without those more plentiful Spirits And from that time the Brain is so corroborated that at length it begets more plentiful and vigorous Spirits fit to perform the chiefest animal Actions Which principal Actions however are idle in the Birth inclosed in the Womb where there is no occasion or necessity of Imagination Thought or Memory But the Infant being born the Brain increasing in Strength begets more vigorous and efficacious Spirits Therefore Children as they are weaker of Body so are they weaker in their Intellectuals Because the Faculties of the Soul do not well perform their Offices till the Organs are perfect only the Feeling and moving Faculties begin to act from the time of the Childs quickning For from that time the Motion of the Infant is peceived by the Mother and the Birth sympathizes with the Mothers Pains Which Cardanus proves by pouring cold water upon the Belly of the Mother for thereby the Infant will beforc'd to move in the womb and by that means he tries whether women with Child are quick or no. XLV I shall here add one thing more which is controverted among the Philosophers whether the Infant wakes and sleeps in the Womb Avicen utterly denies any such thing However Women with Child will tell ye that they manifestly feel the Motion of the Child when it is awake and the resting of it when it sleeps But we are to say that Sleep is the Rest of the Senses for the repairing and renewing the animal Spirits wasted by watching occasioned by the Contraction of the Pores and Passages of the Brain On the contrary that Wakefulness is a convenient opening of the Pores of the Brain and flowing in of the animal Spirits through them into the Organs of the Senses sufficient for the performance of their Actions But neither of these can be said to belong to the birth included in the womb For First the Spirits are not wasted but only few and those weak are made and therefore the Rest which is in the Infant unborn cannot be call'd Sleep because it proceeds not from the Causes of Sleep that is to say the wast of the Spirits and the Contraction of the Pores of the brain nor has it the end of Sleep which is the Restoration of decay'd and wasted Spirits Secondly The Motion of the Infant cannot be said to be waking because it wants the true Causes of waking which is the opening of the Pores of the brain and an Influx of Spirits into the Organs of Sense sufficient to perform the Actions of the Senses The first cannot be by reason of the extream Moisture and Softness of the brain Nor the latter by reason there is not as yet generated a sufficient Quantity of Spirits Moreover the Motion and Feeling of the Infant does not presuppose a necessity of waking For that men grown up and matur'd by age when fast asleep many times tumble and toss in their Sleep and sometimes walk and talk and being prick'd feel and contract their injured Members and yet never wake Therefore we must conclude that the Infant in the womb cannot be truly said to sleep or wake but only sometimes to rest and sometimes to be
Unless we should say that the lymphatic Vessels do not only and always carry the Lymphatic Iuice but the Chylus also in various places where the Chylus is offered and so that the same thing may likewise happen in the Placenta as it often happens in that large pectoral Vessel called the Thoracick Chyliductus In the mean time Hoboken a most accurate observer of these things never could find any lymphatic Vessels in the Liver neither did they ever occur to me tho' I have diligently sought after them XVIII Some there are who assert that there are also certain small diminutive Nerves and that there is a certain nutritive Iuice conveighed through those for the benefit of the Birth But I would fain know of those People whence those Nerves have their Original from the Father or the Mother or from the Birth The first cannot be by what we have said already in regard there are no Vessels that extend themselves out of the Placenta into the Womb. And that the latter cannot be true is apparent from hence because it is contrary to Reason and all Belief that any Nerves should be extended so far from the most soft Substance of the brain of the birth and that they should run from the body of the Womb it self through the whole length of the Navel to the Placenta Besides that in the Delivery by the breaking of those Nerves the birth it self would be greatly endangered Lastly Because there are no nutritious Juices carried through the Nerves neither can be carried through 'em as we shall shew more at large l. 8. c. 1. We have said a little before that the Vessels and Pores of the Womb do gape a little toward the Placenta and empty their Juices into it like a kind of Dew This many strenuously deny in Women And yet at the same time they grant that the Vessels of the Womb are opened into the Uterine Caruncles of Beasts and pour forth their alimentary Juice into their little Caverns which is again suck'd up out of them by the little branches of the umbilical Vessels and out of those Cotyledons is carried to the Womb as we find true by ocular Testimony But it is not worth while to use many words in refuting the Opinion of these Men as contradicting not only the Sight it self but one another seeing that they allow alimentary Juice to the Placenta's or Cotyledons of Beasts and yet deny them to the Placenta's in Women whereas there is the same use and necessity of the same part in both and for that it is apparent by what has been already said that the alimentary Juice is no less in the Cotyledons of Women than of Beasts XIX The Place where the Placenta sticks to the Womb cannot be certainly assign'd for sometimes it is joyn'd and firmly adheres to it in the right side sometimes in the left and sometimes at the hinder part of the bottom of the Womb and where it is fastened within to the Chorion there it admits the Entrance of the umbilical Vessels But when it begins to increase in the first Months it sticks as closely to it as the unripe Fruit to the Tree But the bigger the Birth grows and the nearer to Delivery so it still parts the more easily from the Womb and at length when the Fruit is quite ripe after the Expulsion of the birth falls off from the Womb. XX. By the general Vogue of the Ancients it is said to adhere to the Womb by Acetables concerning which Acetables however there is a very great dispute 1. Some think 'em to be the Protuberancies of the Vessels of the womb like to Hemorrhoids or Warts with which the Embryo is nourish'd But this is derided by Erotian in his Onomasticon 2. Others with Diocles assert'em to be certain Mamillary Processes swelling out from the body of the womb into its Cavity during the time of Ingravidation for the Nourishment of the Birth which is also exploded by Soranus Ephesius 3. Others with Protagoras back'd as they say by Hippocrates and Galen affirm that the Acetables are the Orifices of the Vessels swelling with overplus of blood dispersed through the inner Tunicle of the Womb And thus Van Horn asserts 'em to be a certain arterious larger sort of little Pipes gaping into the Cavity of the Womb. Which Opinion was started long before by Spigelius but rejected by Nicolas Massa 4. Formerly they held that the Kernelly Pieces of Flesh resembling the Leaves of the Herb Wall-Penny-Wort were placed between the Chorion and the Womb adjoyn'd to the Orifices of the Vessels and took them for the Cotyledons 5. Riolanus writes that the Placenta is fastened to the sides of the Womb by an innumerable number of Fibrous Productions and gives the Name of Cotyledons to these Fibres And besides these affirms that there are no other apparent Cotyledons in Women 6 Fallopius Arantius and many other quick-sighted Anatomists deny that there are any Acetables or Cotyledons in a womans Womb with whom also Harvey agrees who describes the Cotyledons in beasts but deny women to have any or that they have any thing like ' em On the other side Silvius stoutly maintains that there are Acetables in women and affirms that they are to be seen in a woman near her Time or but newly delivered With whom Carolus Gemma and Laurentius agree Galen indeed asserts that women have Cotyledons but he confirms it only by the Authority of other Anatomists and says they are the Orifices of the Vessels of the Womb or rather the closing together of the Vessels of the womb and the birth by Anastomosis Which Opinion we have already refuted In such a Dissention of learned Men tho' it be hard to assert any thing of certainty yet the Truth is to be inquired into in regard it seems a thing not to be doubted but that women have Acetables in regard that Hippocrates who neither could deceive nor be deceived as Macrobius testifies makes mention of 'em which he would not do to no purpose nor by mistake First then let us consider what these Cotyledons are and next whether they are in women with Child XXI Certain Parts appearing in the Womb of a woman with Child are called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that from a two fold Resemblance First from the Likeness which they have to the Herb Cotyledon which the Latins call Venus-Navel in English Wall-Pennywort an Herb whose Leaves are somewhat thick smooth full of Iuice round unequal in Compass and a little hollow in the middle Secondly From the likeness which they have to the Cavity of the Hip-bone which is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and contains the head of the Thigh-bone From which Resemblance they are also call'd by the Latins Acceptabuld because they receive something into their hollowness but more frequently Acetabula because they are like to little Sawcers wherein they use to bring Vinegar to the Table XXII From this Derivation of
is a milky Liquor carried thither through the â—…eries somewhat mixed with the Nervous Liquor which Opinion we resute l. 2. c. 12. XXV Nicolas Hoboken also asserts this Liquor to be carried thorough the Arteries tho' after another manner For tho' up and down in other places of his book de secund Human he writes that he could not observe any blood-bearing Vessels in the Amnios Yet in his Treatise de secund Vitul he writes that the Arteries possess in a plentiful number the Tunicle of the Amnios and that in that place there is a great Correspondence between them and very many small Glandules not only in great number besieging the outer parts of the little String but the inner parts of the Amnios So far forth as by means of those little Glandules the Arterious blood carried thither is affected and prepared that the said Liquor may be thence conveighed to the Hollow of the Amnios But he does not add what Alteration it undergoes nor does he any way prove that Correspondence which he supposes by Conjecture Moreover in many parts by means of the Glandules the Lympha is separated from the blood as Choler in the Liver the splenetic Juice in the Spleen c. But it was never heard that any Juice which is not in that blood could be separated from it or that the Arterious Blood could be changed into milkie Juice XXVI Here we meet with one Difficulty that is to say that the milkie Vessels as well those that come from the Mother to the Womb as those that run from the Birth to the Womb are never to be seen But no Man will make a wonder of this who sees how easily all blood-bearing Vessels even the Chyle-bearing Pectoral Channel which is somewhat bigger ly hid when empty and sometimes the Lymphatic Vessels being empty'd disappear so that they neither be discern'd or found any more He also that has observ'd how invisible those Passages are through which sometimes in the Dropsy the serous Humours of the Abdomen and in the flowing of the Whites that vast Sink of the Vitious Humours is emptyed through the Womb from the Liver Mesentery and other Vessels of the Abdomen So also these milkie Uterine and Umbilical Channels without Question are very small and in dead women evacuated and thence they have hitherto so long layn hid that they have scap'd the Sight of the Anatomists Of which nevertheless there have not long since been some Discoveries made which some Persons not dreaming of the milkie Vessels have taken for Lymphatics others for diminutive Nerves XXVII Charleton reports that Vanhorn a famous Anatomist of Leyden in an Epistle to Thomas Bartholin wrote that he observ'd two milkie Branches descending toward the Separation of the great Artery extended to the Seat of the Womb near the Crurals Something also to this purpose has Anthony Everard observed in Coneys For he writes that in a Coney with young he observ'd some milk-bearing Channels arising from the descending Trunk that run along together with the Spermatic Vessels to the parts serving for Generation Deusingius gives a clear ocular Description of these Vessels de hum Corp. Fab. p. 7. c. 3. For says he that there are milkie Vessels also belong to the Womb conveighing Alimentary Iuice to the Birth we have not only in another place by most solid Arguments demonstrated but observ'd by ocular Inspection in Bitches Whelps innumerable diminutive milkie Branches running through the broad Ligaments of the Womb to the Horns themselves and the whole Body of the Womb. Moreover we observ'd in the Year 1655. a little milkie Branch entring together with the Umbilical Vessels through the Navel of the Whelps contained in the Womb. And as in other Creatures so there is no Question to be made but there is in Women But tho' we have not hitherto seen these milkie Conveighances to the womb however it suffices for the Demonstration of the Truth that they have been discovered by more quick-sighted Anatomists and that also it may be demonstrated by most certain Arguments that of necessity they must be there tho' they are seldom conspicuous 1. Because there is a great Similitude in Colour Tast and Substance between the Liquors of the Chyle-bearing Pectoral Channel and the Amnios 2. Because in breeding Women a certain Chylous Milkie Liquor flows in great abundance from the womb As has been observ'd and seen by Andrew Laurentius Zacutus Lusitanus and others 3. For that colour'd Liquors being swallowed down come presently to the womb which cannot penetrate thither so suddainly through any other than the milkie Vessels conceal'd and devious from the rest Thus writes Iohn Heurnius that upon the giving of Saffron in Broths a Woman brought forth a Child stain'd with a Saffron Colour Also Henrie ab Heer 's reports That a Woman having swallowed Saffron within half a quarter of an Hour brought forth a Child stained with a yellow Colour Which Colour could not possibly reach so soon to the womb and the birth unless together with the Chylus it were carried thither through certain milkie Vessels devious from the rest For if the Saffron were first to be concocted in the Heart and then to be carried thither with the Blood it would lose its Colour Or grant it still to be retained yet it would require the Interval of some Hours before it could come to the womb Concerning this Matter see some other things said c. 18. whereby the remarkable Experiment try'd by Herdotius in a Bitch with Puppy this same devious Passage of the milky Juice to the womb is made very apparent and there illustrated with other Observations XXVIII Here we are to take notice of the mistake of Curveus who writes that at the beginning there is a Humour in great abundance collected between the Chorion and the Amnios and that that being filter'd through the Membrane of the Amnion penetrates to the inner hollowness of the Amnion and that this inner Iuice differs not from the other but only in its thinness caus'd by the same filtration Whereas the Humour which is found without the Amnion is not contain'd simply in the Chorion but between the Chorion and the Urinary Membrane neither is there any at the beginning in that part to be filter'd whereas from the very beginning the moisture moderately abounds in the Amnion and whereas the inner Juice is not thinner but much more thick and viscous than that which afterwards increases between the Chorion and the Urinary Membrane Moreover the milky Juice of this Amnion being boyl'd grows to the consistence of a Gelly but the other without the Amnion thickens without any boyling The first is apparent by the Experiment of Rolfinch Lib. 6. Dissert Anat. c. 32. Where says he We boyl'd the Humours wherein the Birth swims with a gentle heat when the thinner Particles being consum'd that which remain'd at the bottom was clammy like Glue The Humours upon the Tongue taste somewhat sweetish so that this glutinous
and frozen Ioynts so that he might be able to walk and eat But afterwards the heat of the Body encreasing beyond due Mediocrity though he had the choicest and most plentiful Nourishment by him he would begin to be troubled and sweat Lastly Extremity of heat encreasing that anxiety he begins to turn himself every way and violently breaks open the dore for more Air afraid of being stifl'd XXI Thus in the Birth this same necessity of Refreshment and Respiration is the only true and chief cause of Calcitration and Delivery For when the heat of the Heart is so encreased as to generate hotter Blood to be now twice dilated in both Ventricles of necessity it must be cool'd by Respiration in the Lungs which Respiration being deny'd the Infant is Suffocated as many times it happens when it sticks in hard Labours before it can be expell'd Now that the necessity of breathing forces the Birth to Calcitration is apparent from hence for that as soon as it is born and enjoys a free Air it presently breaths and oftentimes cries to which Respiration it is not forc'd by the ambient Air but by the necessity of Respiration besides which there can be no other cause imagined that can compel the Infant to breath XXII Harvey believes this necessity of Respiration is not the cause of Calcitration and delivery for proof whereof he puts two Questions to be resolved by the Learned First How the Embryo comes to remain in the Womb after the seventh Month whereas being expelled at that time it presently breaths nay cannot live an hour without Respiration but remaining in the Womb it abides alive and healthy beyond the ninth Month without the help of Respiration To which I answer what I have hinted before that according to the temper of the Woman her Seed her Womb her Dyet the heat augments in some Births sooner in some later which if they encrease to that bigness in the seventh Month that refrigeration by Respiration is necessary then the Birth breaks its prison by Calcitration and such a Birth whatever Harvey thinks cannot abide alive and sound till the eighth or ninth Month for the Birth that abides so long in the VVomb is not come to that degree of heat in the seventh Month as to want Refrigeration XXIII Harvey's other Question is How it comes to pass that a new born Child covered with all its Membranes and as yet remaining in its water shall live for some hours without danger of Suffocation but being stript of its Secundines if once it has drawn the Air within its Lungs cannot afterwards live a Moment without it but presently dies To this Question of two Members I answer that the first part perhaps may be true of an immature Birth thrown forth by Abortion by reason of its small heat requiring little Refrigeration but of a Mature Birth brought forth in due time it cannot be true there being so much heat in it as must of necessity be cool'd by Respiration and therefore such a Birth being included within the Membranes cannot live for some hours as Harvey supposes nor half an hour no not a quarter of an hour And this the Country People know by experience that a Colt or a Mare being once brought forth if it remain included within its Membranes I will not say an hour or half an hour but a very little while half a quarter of an hour or less is presently stifled and therefore they take care that some body stand by while the Dam has brought forth to break the Membranes which if no Body be present the Dam often does with her Mouth And which all other Creatures that bring forth living Conceptions generally do else the Birth is stifled But grant the Birth may live half an hour within the Membranes this makes not against us For the external Air presently refrigerates the Air included in the Membranes which being so refrigerated the Birth for some time may enjoy the benefit of the cool Air but not long for that the hot Air sent from the Lungs with the vapourous Breath would in a short time fill the the whole Capacity of the Membranes and so the Birth for want of cooler Air must of necessity be stifled XXIV To the latter part of Harvey ' s Question I answer that so long as no Air is admitted into the Lungs the Birth may yet live without Respiration because a small quantity of Blood may be forced out of the Right Ventricle of the Heart into the thick Lungs and hence the dilated Blood in the right Ventricle is not carryed to the left but through a Channel by which the Pulmonary Artery is joyned to the Aorta in the Birth it flows into the Aorta into which for some time as being less hot and spirituous it may flow without Refrigeration because it is not therein dilated again But when by the Inspiring of the Air the substance of the Lungs becomes to be dilated then the Compressions of the Vessels being all taken away the spirituous Blood in great quantity is forced from the right Ventricle of the Heart into all the open Vessels of the Lungs which unless it should be somewhat thickned by the Inspiration of the cold Air could not flow to the left Ventricle there to be again dilated but would stuff up the whole Body of the Lungs and so the Creature would be stifled And this is the reason that when the Birth has once breathed it cannot afterwards live though never so little a while without Respiration And therefore that is certainly to be exploded which Bauschius the Writer of the German Meâ—…icophysical Ephemerides cites out of Patterson Hayn written to him by Gerges a certain Hungarian Shepherd In Hungary says he a Woman near her time in the year 1669. began to fall in labour insomuch that the Child had already thrust forth his Head without the Womb. But the Birth having cry'd twice or thrice was drawn back into the Womb and there remained a fortnight longer after which the Woman was duly brought to bed Now how far this idle story is from Truth a blind Man may see For when the Birth has once thrust forth its Head without the VVomb unless either by the force of the Womb it s own striving or the hand of the Midwife the whole Body either come forth or be drawn out the Orifice of the Privity so strengthens it self about the neck of it that it is presently killed But by reason of the extraordinary narrowness of the Capacity of the Womb it can never return back to the inner parts especially after it has sent forth two or three Cries This let who will believe and let Patterson Hayn and Gerges the Shepherd believe it as long as they please who have suffered such a Fable to be imposed upon by Tattling Gossips and ventured so slightly to divulge it for a Truth XXV Lastly it maybe objected against our foresaid Opinion that it is not
probable that the necessity of Respiration forces the Birth to a stronger Calcitration when the Birth in the Womb breaths sufficiently considering the Proportion of its heat For Vessingius resting upon the Authority of Hippocrates writes that the Lungs of the Birth enclosed in the Womb by a gentle dilation draws something of Air and for proof of this he alledges the Infants being often heard to cry in the Womb. Examples of which are produced by Albertus Magnus Libavius Solin Camerarius Sennertus Bartholin and Deusingius Also the Learned Velthusius believes that in this case the Air penetrates to the places where the Infant lies and that it is attracted by the Infant by Inspiration Nay the Honourable Robert Boyle in Experim Physic. Mathem Exercit. 41. seems to confirm this crying by a most memorable Example I knew a certain Lady says he who was with Child some years since at what time her friends bemoan'd her Condition to me that she was very much terrified with the Crying of her little Infant XXVI But whoever they were they were all in an Errour that wrote of the Respiration and crying of the Birth in the Womb. For first the Relations of these things are taken from the vain stories of idle and unskilful Women and Men who either conceive Whimsies of their own or else on set purpose perswade others into a belief of these Vanities Either to move the Rich to Pity for generally the poor are they that only hear these Noises or else to get themselves a name among the Vulgar by establishing some Prophecy upon these feigned wonders But we shall hardly read of any person of Reputation that ever heard this imaginary Crying Secondly it is impossible there should be any breathing or crying in the Womb without any Air but which way shall it come thither For the Mouth of the Womb is so closely shut by the Testimony of Galen or Hippocrates that it will not admit the point of a Probe nor the least Air or Water Of which though some make a doubt yet we found to be true in the year 1649. When we opened the Body of a young Woman that was poysoned in whose body we found the Womb swollen with a Birth above a hands length and the Mouth of the Womb not only most closely contracted but also stopped up with a glutinous clammy flegmatick Humour that would not admit the sharp end of a Bodkin unless it should have been forced through the Glewy substance The same thing we found in December 1665. in a Woman seven Months gone that dy'd suddainly Moreover besides this closing up the Mouth of the Womb the Birth is also so exactly enclosed in its Membranes that no liquor contained within can distil forth nor any external Air penetrate withinside VVhich difficulty Gualter Needham observing after he has related a story as it was told him of a Child that was heard to cry in the Womb of a Noble Woman L. de format foet writes that the Air cannot come from without to the Birth but that it may be there generated by the fermentation of the Humours latent within as wind is bred in the Stomach Guts and other parts But this being in some measure granted how is it possible that the Birth going about to cry should draw in that or any other Air when it swims upon the Milkie liquor of the Amnion which would fill up the Mouth of it For should it breath in the Air it would be choaked in regard the Liquor in the Mouth would slide down into the Lungs through the rough Artery together with the Air and fill up the middle Fistulous part of the Windpipe Certainly t is a wonder that those Learned Men who have written concerning this Uterine Crying have not made this Observation upon it that the sound which is heard in the Belly of a Woman with Child which they that hear perhaps take for the crying of the Infant proceeds only from the Wind that roars in the Guts compressed and straitned by the bulk and weight of the Infant as we hear sometimes a wonderful whistling of the wind impetuously forcing it self through the narrow holes of windows such a one as once I remember I heard my self with several others exactly resembling the sighs and groans of a Man in sorrow or in some great danger so that all that heard it were frighted and talked of nothing but Spirits and Hobgoblins that bewayl'd some terrible Misfortune that was to befal them whereas after half an hours search we found the winding hole through which the wind passing made that lamentable noise which ceaâ—…d upon stopping the Hole And thus t is no wonder if the Vapours passing through the streights of the Compressed Guts sometimes make a whining noise like the crying of an Infant as you shall hear in the lower Belly noises of the wind resembling perfectly the croaking of Frogs and the Hissing of Serpents Therefore says Aristotle the Infant never cries till it be come forth out of the Womb. XXVII Here perhaps an important doubt will arise if it be so that the Birth promotes its delivery by vehement kicking occasioned by the necessity of Respiration and so provokes nature to Expulsion what 's the Reason 1. That sometimes a very weak Birth that wants no Respiration is forced out of the Womb in the fifth or sixth or seventh Month in which seventh Month however many mature Births sufficiently strong and lively and wanting Respiration are born though it may happen that many Births unripe very weak and unable to brook the change of Air and Nourishment may be and are frequently born in that Month. 2. That a Birth that dies in the VVomb consequently requiring no Respiration is cast forth by female Labour seeing that in neither of these cases there is any need of strong Calcitration to promote delivery I answer to the first that sometimes a Birth may be sound in the Womb according to the time that it abides there after Formation though not ripe that is so weak as not to be able to brook the changes of Air and Nourishment and that of such a Birth a Woman miscarries by Abortion not through the necessity of Respiration or provoked by sprawling but by reason of a cause far different either the flowing in of too much flegm or too violent Agitation of the Womans Body or through the rapid disorderly and violent motion of Spirits and Humours as in the passions of Anger or Fear by all which cause the Placenta is loosned from the VVomb or the Birth is killed which then becomes heavy and troublesom to the VVomb and provokes it to Expulsion and to the end that trouble may be expelled presently the Spirits are sent in great quantity to the Contracting Fibers of the VVomb and Muscles of the Abdomen which by drawing both the one and the other together expel the Birth To the Second I say that the Birth being dead for some times the pains of Travel cease because
simply of it self but by virtue of the appetitive Power or of the Passions of the Mind which occasion various motions of the Spirits and Humors Thus the Imagination and Thought of an extraordinary Danger makes a man tremble fall down grow cold and fall into a Fit and sometimes occasions the Hair to grow grey on a sudden Glad Thoughts revive and warm the Body Obscene Thoughts occasion Blushing and Thoughts of Terror occasion Paleness Venereal Thoughts diffuse Heat through the whole Body loosen the Genitals of Women stiffen those of Men and open the Seminary Passages otherwise invisible in such a manner as to occasion spontaneous nocturnal Pollutions This intent Imagination and desirous Thought of giving the Infant Suck is the reason why the Chyliferous Passages to the Breasts are dilated and open'd especially if some other external Causes contributing to the same purpose cherish and excite those strong Imaginations as lascivious Titillation of the Breasts the stirring of the Child in the Womb or sucking of the Nipples For according to the various Influx of the Animal Spirits the parts are sometimes streightned sometimes loosen'd as every body knows and according to that various Constriction or Dilatation the Blood and other Humors flow more or less into the Parts and are sometimes the occasion of Heat Softness Redness sometimes of Constriction Coldness and Paleness Among these impuls'd Humors is the Chylus which is continually thrust forward by the Muscles of the Abdomen through some Lactiferous Vessels and so through those Vessels that tend to the Breasts provided that a special Influx of the Animal Spirits have loosen'd those Parts through which those Vessels are carry'd and has render'd those Vessels penetrable by removing all manner of Constriction Now that this is the true Cause is apparent from that man mention'd by Santorel who upon the Death of his Wife when his Poverty would not give him leave to hire a Nurse that he might still the Cries of the Infant would often lay the Child to his Breasts no doubt with an ardent desire to give it Suck and so at length through that intent continual Cogitation and often iterated sucking of his Teats the Chyliferous Passages were loosned and his Breasts afforded Milk sufficient for the nourishment of the Infant The like Accident hapned at Viana where the Woman of the Bores-Head was brought to Bed not long after the Death of her Husband and soon after her Delivery dy'd very poor her self leaving the Infant sound and healthy of which the Grandmother taking Compassion and not able to hire a Nurse by reason of her Poverty undertook to bring it up by hand in the 60th Year of her Age at what time putting the crying Infant to her Breasts and giving it her Nipples to suck through that force of Imagination and eager desire to suckle the Child her Breasts began to give Milk and that in a few days so plentifully that the Infant wanted little other Diet to the great admiration of all that saw the Infant suckled with the Milk of an Old Woman whose Breasts had been fallen for many years Many such Examples of Old Women giving Suck Bodin relates in his Theat Natur. And the Truth of this Cause is no less evinc'd by lascivious and prurient Virgins who are full of Libidinous Thoughts and therefore often handling their Breasts sometimes without the loss of their Virginity come to have Milk in them of which sort of Milk-bearing Virgins of undoubted Honesty I happen'd to see two Bartholin witnesses another seen by himself and we find several Examples of Women yielding Milk in Vega Schenkius Caster Castellus and others collected by Bauhinus Neither will any man question but that such like lascivious Thoughts of their own Breasts and handling 'em has also produced Milk in the Breasts of Men. But in Women with Child the stirring of the Birth in the Womb excites every day more and more those Thoughts of suckling the Infant and hence when the Infant begins to move sensibly then the Milk begins to appear in the Breasts XLI I shall add a manifest Domestic Example My own Wife in March 1656. had in her lying in a sufficient quantity of Milk according as she was wont to have but the Infant for six or seven Weeks was so weak that it could not suck so that every one thought it would have died and she not dreaming any more of suckling it her Milk dry'd up But when afterwards the Child recover'd and was able to suck and my Wife had no Milk in her Breasts the Child was of necessity to be put out to Nurse But the Nurse proving bad my Wife nine Months after her Delivery sent for the Child home and while another Nurse could be found would often lay the crying Infant to her Breast wishing her self in a condition to suckle it The next day the Child was sent to another Nurse but that Evening through that same strong Imagination and Thoughtfulness her Breasts that had been dry'd up for above Eight Months began to swell and be full of Milk so that had not the Nurse been hir'd she could have suckl'd the Child her self which proves that strong Thoughts and Imaginations are the first Cause that move the Chylus to the Breasts But some will say if this were true then in those Women that have no Milk in the Flower of their Age after being brought to Bed such ardent Desires to give the Child Suck would bring Milk into their Breast but no such thing happens tho' they desire to suckle the Infant I Answer That all Thoughts are not so intent and strong as to move the Affections of the Mind without a vigorous stirring of which the Animal Spirits are not so impetuously mov'd and hence the Thoughts of Suckling the Infant tho' they frequently occur to the Womans mind yet if they do not happen with a violent and continual Intentness the Animal Spirits cannot be so copiously determin'd toward the Breasts as to be able to dilate and remove the Impediments of the Vessels tending thither Besides that many things may happen which may hinder the passage of the Chylus to the Breasts notwithstanding the present ardent desire and strong imagination of suckling the Infant as scarcity of Chylus thickness of the Breasts obstruction of the Kernels by viscous Humors by Exulceration Fall Blow or other Mischance or a natural Streightness of the Milky Vessels tending to the Breasts or compression from the neighbouring Parts and then the Effects of Thought and Imaginat on are frustrated XLII Hence it appears why Child-bearing Women have such plenty of Milk the Third Fourth or Fifth Day after Delivery Because that being tir'd with their Labour for the first Two or Three Days they do not much employ their Thoughts upon any thing and for want of Appetite eat little and breed less Chylus but the next days following when they eat more and the Infant begins to cry more then they also continually think of
giving it nourishment and desire to satisfie the Crying of the Child and through this Affection the Passages being loosen'd by the determin'd Influx of the Animal Spirits the Chylous Iuice that was formerly carry'd to the Womb is now turn'd to the Breasts XLIII To conclude I shall only add one Question worth Examination Why upon the weaning of the Child the Chylous Iuice is no longer carry'd to the Breasts but the Milk is dry'd up It is because the Woman lays aside all thought of giving Suck which the more speedily she does the sooner and the better are her Breasts dry'd up for that then the more copious Influx of the Animal Spirits to the Breasts fails by which the Glandules of the Breasts and the Chyliferous Vessels tending thither were dilated and hence the Glandules then fall and are contracted and the said Chyliferous and Milky Vessels are compress'd by the weight of the adjacent parts so that there can be nothing more through those convey'd to the Breasts and then that part of the Chylus that was wont to be convey'd thither in Women with Child is convey'd to the Womb in others to the Heart there to be chang'd into Blood which because the Body does not want in such abundance hence it comes to pass that Women are less hungry and thirsty than when they gave Suck and so they breed less Chylus and what Blood is bred superfluous in the mean time in Women with Child contributes to the Birth in others is evacuated through the Womb. XLIV But some will say Where remains that Milk which upon the first weaning remains in great plenty in the Breasts and is not suckt out Why is it not coagulated and corrupted and consequently does not breed Inflammations and Apostemes I answer it is carry'd by degrees through the Mammary Veins to the hollow Vein and so to the Heart in like manner as the Chylus pour'd forth out of the Chyliferous pectoral Channel into the subclavial Vein flows together with the Veinal Blood to the Heart But whether that Milky Juice be carry'd to the Heart through the Mammary Veins extraordinarily in Women giving Suck especially such as abound with Milk I leave to consideration seeing that the remarkable Number and Bigness of the Veins and the small Number and Bulk of the Arteries seem to perswade the contrary XLV In opposition to this Opinion of ours one notable Doubt arises How it comes to pass that in Cows Mares Ews Goats and other Creatures the Milky Chylous Iuice flows in such abundance and so constantly to the Udder seeing that being depriv'd of Rational Souls they are no way capable of Imagination Thought Intellect Memory Will Iudgment c. True it is our Modern Philosophers that follow Cartesius acknowledge no such noble Actions as these in Brutes or if they seem to perform some Actions like to these they believe they neither can nor ought to be number'd into the Rank of principal Actions as not being perform'd by a Rational Soul but affirm 'em to proceed only from a certain kind of Motion of the Spirits induc'd by the Objects and flowing from the propriety of the Disposition of the Parts And thus they alledge that in Brutes certain Dispositions of the Spirits and the rest of the Parts are induced by the Objects from which certain kind of Motions result in reference to which the Pores sometimes of these sometimes of those Parts are opened and shut through the greater or lesser slower or swifter stronger or gentler Influx of the Spirits And in this case now proposed by us they would thus argue viz. In a Cow by reason of the great Commotion of the Birth in the Womb or the Pain of bringing forth the Pores are opened about and toward the Udder and so by the Influx of Animal Spirits the Passages before shut are dilated so that the Chylous milky Juice is at liberty to flow thither more freely through its proper Vessels Which Laxity of the milky Passages continues long after bringing forth because of the continu'd opening of the Pores wider than usual toward the Udder and the more Copious Influx of the Animal Spirits and continued by the tickling Motion about the Udder induced by the grasping of the Calf that sucks or the Hand of the Milkmaid But in regard the Object cannot of it self induce any sensitive Motion unless it be first known either as Good or Evil and this Knowledg and Perception presupposes something knowing far different from the Object to be known for being taken without Knowledg and Preception no Motion can be said to be made by its means as in those that are troubled with a Catalepsie into whose Organs both sensitive and moving tho well form'd and furnished with Blood Heat and Spirits tho the Objects fall they cause no Motion because they are not perceiv'd and consequently there are no new Determinations of the Spirits to various Parts nor no alterations of Motion Furthermore seeing the Property of the Disposition of the Parts necessarily presupposes some peculiar Disponent which induces to that proper Disposition and alters it according to the nature of the Thing and even the motion of the Spirits it self presupposes also some first mover perceiving and knowing the Object for nothing knows moves and disposes it self without a Cause it sufficiently appears that such an Explanation neither suffices nor satisfies especially if we consider over and above that most brute Animals perceive and distinguish Pains Smells and Tastes covet things grateful perceive know and avoid things grateful as such know their Friends from their Enemies c. Which most certainly are no Operations of the Disposition of the Parts mov'd by Objects but of somthing perceiving the Objects and so disposing the Parts to perform such and such Actions As in Man a Brain well form'd and temper'd and full of Animal Spirits is not the primary Cause of the principal Actions but the Rational Soul which makes use of the Brain and Spirits as Instruments and so disposes the Brain that sometimes these sometimes other Pores are more or less opened and shut and fewer or more plentiful Spirits sometimes determin'd after this or that certain manner through those open Pores and consequently these sometimes others and many times several principal Functions operate together Or as an Organ sufficiently furnished with Pipes Bellows and Wind cannot by virtue of any Object or by its own proper Disposition sing any musical Songs unless by the Assistance of the Organist who directing the Keys with his Fingers determines the Wind sometimes into these sometimes into other Pipes and so produces a grateful Harmony Thus also in Brutes besides the Objects and the proper Disposition of the Brain and other Parts there must be of necessity something else over and above which perceives the Objects and produces such wonderful Operations out of those Parts It is here in vain alledged that simple Natural Affections as Hunger Thirst Joy Sadness want in Brutes no other
forc'd in at the upper part out of the Syringe I say through the Pores because there is no need of middle pipes to convey the Water into the lower Pipes for that the Pores of the Spunge afford a sufficient passage But if these Pores are streightned and the lower Pipes are contracted by any Accident that the Water cannot pass equal in quantity and swiftness then the Spunge receiving more than it can transmit begins to swell and consequently the loose piece of Leather wherein it is wrapt becomes distended hard and tumid The same will happen if any viscous Matter be forc'd through the Syringe into the Spunge by which the Pores and Passages are stopt up for then receiving much more than it can well discharge of necessity it will rise into a Tumor He that will apply this Similitude to the Body of Man will find the Circulation of the Blood to be occasion'd in like manner through the Pores of the Substance and hence perceive the Cause of most Swellings XIV There is an extraordinary and manifold necessity of this Circulation 1. Seeing that the Blood being once discharg'd into the Parts the farther off it flows from the Hearth of its Fire is so much the more refrigerated and less a part for nourishment there is a necessity of its return to the Fountain of heat the Heart to be again new warm'd and attenuated therein which return is occasion'd by this Circulation 2. Without this Circulation neither could the Blood be forc'd to the Parts that are to be nourish'd nor could that which remains after nourishment together with the Chylus be carry'd back to the Heart 3. By means of this all the Particles of the Blood are made fit for nourishment by degrees and according to a certain order For there being no long Concoction in the Heart but only a certain swift Dilatation therefore the Chylus upon its first passage through the Heart does not acquire the absolute perfection of Blood but at several passages sometimes these sometimes those Particles become more subtile and fit for nourishment 4. By the help of this Circulation the virtue of Medicines taken and apply'd is carry'd through the whole Body or the greatest part thereof 5. By means of this the Blood is in continual motion and preserv'd from congealing and putrifying 6. By means of this we come to the knowledge of many Diseases concerning which in former time many Disputes have arisen among Physicians 7. By means of this Physicians also understand how to undertake the Cures of most Diseases whereas formerly they only proceeded by uncertain Conjecture There is no necessity that I should here refute in particular the vain Arguments of Primrosius Parisianus and others who stifly endeavour to oppose this Circulation and uphold the darkness of former Ages remitting the Readers that desire to be more particularly inform'd of these things to Ent Highmore and several others who make it their Business to refute the Arguments of such as uphold the contrary Opinion XV. But here remain two more Doubts 1. Whether the Chylus circulates through the whole Body 2. Whether the Serum circulates in like manner I answer That as to the Chylus so long as it is not within the command of the Heart and before it has enter'd the Veins it is not forc'd by the beating of the Heart and consequently does not circulate Thus the Chylus contain'd in the Milky Mesenteric and Pectoral Vessels is thrust forward by the compressure of the Muscles and other parts but is not mov'd further forward by the beating of the Heart so long as it has not enter'd the Veins So the Chylus falling out of the Milky Vessels into the Breasts circulates no farther but like Milk is either suckt or flows of its own accord out of the Teats But if any part of it there enter the Mamillary Veins that same still retaining the form of Milk or Chylus is convey'd together with the Vein-Blood to the Heart wherein being dilated presently it loses the form of Chylus or Milk and assumes the form of Blood at first more crude or less spirituous but afterwards to be more and more perfected by several passages ' through the Heart And so it does not circulate through the whole Body in the form of Chylus but in the form of Blood having no manner of similitude with the Chylus Whence it comes to pass that there is no Chylus to be found or that can be found in the Arteries In like manner neither does the Chylus circulate in Women with Child toward the Cheese-cake or Amnion As neither does it in some Women not with Child but flowing likewise to the Womb is corrupted and putrefies about the Womb and flows forth with more or less ill smell according as its Corruption is more or less Which is most probable to be the most obvious Cause of Uterine Fluxes Also the Chylus that sometimes flows to the Urinary Bladder cannot circulate All which things being consider'd we must conclude at once that the Chylus does not circulate through the whole Body but that entring the Veins it retains the form of Chylus only so far as the Heart and there loses its form upon the dilatation As for the Serum this is also to be said that it does not circulate but when it enters the Blood-bearing Vessels For no Humors circulate by virtue of the beating of the Heart till after they have enter'd the Limits of the Heart's Command and become subject to its Motion But so long as they acknowledge any other Mover such as are the Peristaltic Motion of the Stomach Guts and other parts and the compressure of the Abdomen c. they never circulate As the Serum when having pass'd beyond the Bounds of the Heart's Empire it falls into the Ureters and Bladder And the Flegmatic Lympha when separated from the Blood of the Choroidal Fold it comes to be deposited in the Ventricles of the Brain circulates no more tho' it circulated before when it was mix'd with the Blood CHAP. IX Of the Parts of the Heart See the 9th Table I. IN the Heart are these Parts to be specially consider'd Two little Ears two Ventricles with a middle Septum that distinguishes them eleven Valves and four large Vessels of which two adhere to the Right Ventricle the hollow Vein of the Pulmonary Artery and two adhere to the Left Ventricle the Pulmonary Vein and the Aorta Artery Now let us us see in what Order the making of that enlivening Nectar proceeds in this Ware-house of Sanguification To which purpose we shall produce the several Parts in that Order as Nature makes Use of 'em in the execution of this Office II. The Little Ears are as it were Appendixes to the Heart seated on both sides at the Basis of the Heart before the Orifices of the Vessels carrying the Matter to the Ventricles and from some sort of likeness to the Ears call'd the Little Ears of the Heart III. They
after that was delivered of another Boy and both lived in good Health Therefore we must conclude the last Conception had Nourishment enough in the Womb and was strong and consequently able to retain it self in the Womb during the delivery of the other in regard the Woman's Labour was easie and without any violence OBSERVATION LXI Worms in the Head THE Son of a certain Treasurer of Iuliers a Young Lad about twelve Years of Age from his Child-hood had been always troubled with Worms in his Head at length his Mother by the advice of a Quack washed and daubed his Head with I know not what Lotions and Oyntments and so the Worm was kill'd by which the Mountebank thought to have got himself a great name in the Town but within a few days after the Boy began to complain of a Pain in his Head which every day increasing at the Months end was so intollerable that I was sent for but all to no purpose after tryal of all external and internal Medicaments at nine Weeks end Epileptic Convulsions seiz'd him which in a few days turned to a vehement Epilepsie which afflicted him at first every day then every hour then every quarter of an hour at length the Child died his Head being open'd the Hard Meninx was all over of a red Colour and very Black in that part next the upper-part of the Head somewhat toward the the left side this being dissected there came forth a Blackish and watry Goar which had lain between both the Meninxes the substance of the Brain was very little altered but in the Ventricles of it there was a kind of greenish Humour watry yet not very clammy but the quantity very small in other things there was no alteration ANNOTATIONS IN this manner it was that these Worms were cured by this Mountebank However he was wise in this that upon Notice of the Boys Death he sneaked out of Nimeghen perhaps afraid I should upbraid him with the Death of this Patient like an Ignoramus as he was who had stopp'd up the way by which Nature voided the noxious Excrements of the Brain before he had made any diversion OBSERVATION LXII A Tertian and Intermitting Fever THE Wife of Monsieur de Spieck a strong Child-bearing-Woman the second Week after she was brought to Bed found her self very well but trusting too much to her strength got out of her Bed walked about the Chamber and eat a bit of a dry'd Neats-Tongue but at the end of the third Week she was seiz'd with a violent double Tertian Intermitting Fever with an extraordinary Heat continual Waking her Stomach quite lost unquenchable Thirst with several other bad Symptoms The twenty second of August I was sent for when I found her very anxious and weak and in the midst of her second Fit which most People thought would have carry'd her off I gave her presently Bezoar Stone ℈ s. Confection Hyacinth ℈ j. with six Drams of our Treacle-water which as she said soon after gave her some ease to quench her Thirst I gave her this Julep which pleased her so well that she drank nothing else all the time of her Distemper ℞ Waters of Carduus Benedict Succoury Borage an lb. s. Syrup of Limons ℥ j. s. Violets ℥ j. Oyl of Sulphur q. s. to make it grateful to the Pallat. Toward the Evening I prescribed this Infusion which she took the next Morning ℞ Leaves of Senna well cleans'd ℥ s. Rubarb the best ʒj s. Rhenish Tartar Anniseed an ʒj Succoury water q. s. Steep them all Night the next day boyl them gently then press them strongly adding Syrup of Roses Solutive ℥ s. For a Draught This gave her four Stools which brought away much stinking Excrement and gave her great ease after the Purge I prescribed her Chicken Broth with Sorrel and Chervil boiled together in it with a little juice of Citron to relish it and to quench her Thirst still gave her the Julep before mentioned The next Night she slept indifferently and when she waked found her heat much abated the next expected Fit was so slight that she was hardly sensible of it nor did the Fever after that appear any more being vanquished by these Medicins only ANNOTATIONS CHild-bearing Women not careful of themselves when they lye in oft-times pay for their Rashness as this Gentlewoman did As also did a Neighbour of Ours who going abroad too soon fell into a continued Fever upon which first a Frenzy and then Death ensued Another of our Acquaintance the second week of her Month looking to soon after her House Affairs and presuming to Combe her Head fell into an Epilepsie upon which a Delirium ensued which Maladies though at length they were much abated yet could they never be cured all the while the Gentle-Woman lived OBSERVATION LXIII A Bleeding at the Nose THeodore Bijl about fifty five Years of Age in August about four a Clock in the Morning was taken with a Bleeding at his right Nostril Three hours after being sent for for revulsion I ordered the Chyrurgeon to open a Vein in his right Arm with a large Orifice and to take away ten Ounces of Blood which done by applying cold Water to his Neck and Forhead the Bleeding was stay'd three days after being invited to a Feast where he drank Wine a little too freely upon his return home he was again taken with the same Malady and bled all that Night before I was sent for the next day I ordered him to be let Blood as before but to no purpose nor durst we repeat Blood-letting in regard of his Age and his strength nor would he permit any Tents to be put up into his Nostrils and therefore we apply'd a little lock of Tow moisten'd with this mixture to his Forhead ℞ Bole Armoniack ʒij s. Bloodstone Mastick Frnkincense Red Coral an ℈ ij The white of one Egg. Vinegar of Roses q. s. mix them together Moreover Oxocrate which is actually cold was applied to his Neck Forehead and Testicles and Revulsions by Ligatures and Painful Frictions of the extream Parts and by Cupping Glasses applied to his Shoulders which avail'd nothing at length after the bleeding had continued above thirty six hours and the strength of the Patient through loss of Blood was very much exhausted then he was forced to admit of Astringents to be thrust up into his Nostrils therefore when we had cleansed his Nostrils from the clotted Blood we ordered a Powder of Trochischs of Myrrh of Bole-Armoniac Mastick and Frankincense to be blown through a Quill into his Nostrils and withal thrust up a thick Tent made of Linnen about a Fingers length dipt in Vinegar and the white of an Egg and sprinkled with the same Powder by which means the bleeding seemed to stop for two or three hours but afterwards the Blood began to descend through his Palate into his Mouth and the Tent falling out he bled again at the Nostril Then after we had once more cleansed his
they may be discerned It s Muscle The form of the Prostatae They are indu'd with an acute Sense Their Use. Whether a threefold Seed Two Questions The action of the Stones Reasons against the former Objections By what power Seed is generated Whether Males are begot by the right Stone Females by the left The Yard The Names Whethâ—…r a living Creature Situation Figure and Bigness It s Subsâ—…nce The Urethra The largeness It s vse The nervous Bodies Their Rise The Vessels of the nervous Bodies The Glans Figure and Colour Substance The Foreskin The Bridle Praeputium The Vessels of the Yard and first the Arteries The Veins The Nerves Muscles Erection of the Yard It s Office Whether any Generation without the Immission of the Yard The Parts adjoyning A prooemial Discourse The Division The preparing Vessels Spermatic Arteries two Spermatic Veins Nerves Lymphatic Vessels The Spermatic Vessels adhere to the Testicles The first Discoverer of these Ovaries Their Number Weight Magnitude * By this account it appears that the Testicles of a Man weigh but three Drams However whether they may be accounted as the more general Weight or Magnitude in all Men I will not determine This I can tell that in two Men opened neither of which were extraordinary great or large Persons a Testicle of the one weighed six Drams and of the other five Drams So that I believe there is a great Diversity â—…s to the Weight of them in all Mankind Salmon Situation Their Figure The Tunicle Difference from mens Tâ—…icles Their Substance Preternatural things in Womens Stones Eggs. The Membranes of Eggs. Eggs in all sorts of Creatures The Matter of Eggs. Ovaries Various Errors of the coming of the Seed to the Womb. The true way of the Seed and the Eggs. The Tubes What the Tubes are Their Membranes The Figure of the Tubes The Vessels Whether they have Valves Whether distinguished into Cells Length How the Eggs come from the Testicles to the Womb. A difficulty concerning the Wind-eggs in Women The opinion of Wind-eggs confirm'd The reason of the relaxation of the Tubes Births conceiv'd and form'd in the Tubes This whole business demonstrated at the Theatre in Amsterdam How the Substance of the Ovary becomes spungy and open Three things to be consider'd in Womens Eggs. Whence the pleasure of Copulation Whether Women may be castrated and have their Stones cut out Another sort of Castration The Wâ—… It s 〈◊〉 It s Substanâ—… It s Membrane The space between the Membranes The bigness It s weight It s shape It s hollowness The Horns 〈◊〉 connexion It s Ligamenis The opinions of Soranus and Aretaeus about the falling down of the Womb refuted Whether the Womb can fall Whether the Womb be inverted in the fall The other pair of Ligaments whence they proceed Its Vessels Arteries Veins The cause of the flowers What is the Uterine Ferment Aristotle's Opinion Whether from the redundant blood Nerves It s Office 〈…〉 Whether it forms the Birth Whether the Birth may be form'd out of the womb The Motion of the womb What ascends or rises up in sits of the Mother is not the womb Whether Hysterical Effects arise from the Sweet-bread Iuice Nothing to be concluded from Scents concerning the Motion of the Womb. Why stinking Smells are profitable Why sweet Smells are hurtful The Motion of the Womb in Women with Child It s Motion in falling down A Child born the Mother being dead The parts of the Womb enumerated The Bottom It s Cavity The Nâ—… Whether the Yard reach the Orifice of the Wâ—… The sheath The largeness The Vessels of the Sheath The Arteries The Veins Its Nerves Lymphatic Vessels The Neck of the Bladder The Net-resembling Fold The use of the Vagina The reason of that use A thin nervous Membrane call'd Hymen Hymen sometimes not perforated but like a Sive Whether Hymen or no Whether the want of the Hymen be a sign of Virginity lost The Myrtle form'd little pieces of Flesh. Their vse The Womans Privities The outward part of the Womb or Vulva The bigness The Lips The Mount of Venus Of what they are composed A slight Motion in the Lips The Nymphs Their Substance Their Vessels Their Use. An Observation The Cleft of the Privity The Clitoris It s Sulstance The Tentigo Its Muscles Its Arteries and other Vessels Its Nerves A bonie Clitoris The Exit of the Vrinary Passage The neck of the Bladder The Prostates of Women The Orifice may be dilated The Bigness Its Irregularities Hermaphrodites Whether the Seed pass thorough the Clitoris 〈◊〉 Whether the Genitals of Men and Women differ in nothing but in Situation The instruments of Generation differ in each Sex being compar'd Whether women may be chang'd into men Observations No woman ever chang'd her Sex The womb in empty women In women with child The swelling of the Breasts The straitning of the Orifice The Situation of the Guts The Situation of the Stones The condition of the Neck The Relaxation of the Orifice Bigness of the Vessels The reason why the Vasa Sanguifera are so much dilated in women with child The Name 〈◊〉 What the Matter of it The opinâ—… of the Ancients The Ancients say it is made of the Iuice falling from the Brain and Spinal Marrow The opinion of Modern Authors Opposed by some English Physicians without Reason Clement Niloe's opinion erroneous Barbatus of Padua his opinion The true Matter of the Seed The Blood constitutes the first Mass of Seed That the Animal Spirits contribute to the making of the Seed Salt the chief Coâ—…position in the Seed The Proof When the Seed is well made The reason of the Gonorrhea Simplex How the Matters composing the Seed flow together An Objâ—…ion answered A Difficulty Two parts of the Seed Thick and spirituous Parts mixed and clotted together compose the Mass of the Seed Where the efficient Principle is wanting the Seed is unfruitful An Objection answered Of the spirituous Part. The Opinion of Hippocrates concerning the spirituous pâ—…t of the Seed Of Aristotle What is the spirituous Part. It is a Body It is produced out of a Body 〈◊〉 aptitude The nature of the spirituous Part. Where the Idea of all the Parts is contained Ideas whence and what they are The Properties of the singular Particles not separated meet in every Particle and display themselves in the formation How tâ—…ss Spirit comes to the Stones How these Parts are generated out of the Seed which the Parents wanted before Generation How Idea's imagined are imprinted in the Seed Another Question to be answered Whether Children can prâ—…create Whence the likeness of Features Of the womans Seed Whether Women have any Seed or 〈◊〉 That Women have Seed * To these Reasons may be added one more taken from Maids who have been seised with the Furor Uterinus and have dyed of the same In whom being opened the Testicles of one or both have been found extraordinarily swell'd beyond their natural bigness
be two Souls in Man The sensitive Soul what The Architectonic or Vegetative Soul subsists in a Man with the Rational Soul The Seat of the Vegetable Soul where Whether in some parts more than in others Willis not congruous in this matter to Reason What the Vegetative Soul is This Soul is the vivific Spirit produced out of Corporeal Matter The Opinion of Regius Willis's Opinion Willis Refated Willis his Explanation of this Soul The Authors Animadversions The form of the Soul is different from the Matter it inhabits Willis his little diminutive Soul Willis his Absurdity The Affections or Passions of the Soul Whether the Soul be nourish'd What this Life or Soul is the Philosophers ignorant The Uterine Liver The Definition It s Original When the Umbilical Vessels begin to grow Harvey's Observations of the beginning of the Placenta in 〈◊〉 Abortive Whether coagulated Blood Aquapendeat's Opinion The number of Placenta's It s Substance It s Colour Shape and bigness The Superficies The Ingress of the Navel Its Vessels Whether any Anastomoses between the Vessels of the Womb and Cheese-cake Wharton's Opinion Whether any Veins and Arteries in the 〈◊〉 Whether any Nerves in the Cheescake The Place of Adhesion The Opinions of the Ancients Opinion The Name deriv'd What the Cotyledons are In what Creatures to be seen Cotyledons in Brutes The use of the Placenta in Women The Placenta supplies the Office of some other Bowels Why the Placenta sticks to the Womb. An Objection The Blood flows from the Womb into the Uterine Liver A Watery Milky juice flows from the Womb to the Amnion Secundines The Chorion The Urinary Membrane Amnios The Caul on the Head The Conâ—…tion of the Membranes in Twins The reason thereof and of monstrous Births The Original of these Membranes Their true Original Alantoides What it is Iâ—…s Origiâ—…al Situation It s vse It s Shape and Bigness Whether any Allantois in Women A milkie Liquor within the Amnion The Filth sticking to the Birth What the Liquor in the Amnion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iâ—… bâ—… 〈◊〉 Wâ—… Sâ—… Whether any Steam It is an Alimentary Humour What sort of Liquor it is Whether it proceed from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hoboken's Opinion A Difficulty concerning the milkie Uterine Vessels and the Umbilicals Vanhorn observ'd 2 milkie Branches descend towards the great Artery c. Curveus hiâ—… mistake The passage of the Iuice Ent's Opinion confuted That this milky Iuice does not come from the Breasts The Opinion of Veslingius touching the use of this Iuice The Amnios Urinary Membrane and Chorion stick close one to another The Opiâ—…ion of Riolanus The urinâ—…ceous Humour sepâ—…rated from the Liquor of the Amnios in Brutes where it is collected iâ—… the Alantois What the Serous Humour is The mistake of Deusingius The mistake of Riolanus The Name The Naâ—…el what it is It s Situâ—…tion Its Vessels The Umbilical Vein The Use. Its Valves The Error of Courâ—…eus The Umbilical Vein in Brutes The Umbilical Arteries These Arteries hard to be found in the Embryo for the first Months yet form'd and grow together The Use. The motion of the Blood through the Navel No Anastomoses No Union of the Umbilical Veins with the Arteries The Umbilical Vessels do not rise from the Uterines Whether form'd before the Heart How these Vessels pâ—… through the Membranes Dorsal Roots The Urachus or Urinary Vessel It is pervious in large brute Animals How it is observed in Mankind Why it is not conspicuous without the Abdomen Observation The Urine flows from the Birth through the Urachus Bartholin in an Error The Opinion of Courveus The Opinion of Maurocordatus The Pipe of the Navel-string Some few Nerves Knots like little Bladders full of a whitish Iuice Predictions from thence The cutting of the Navel-string When cut to be left of a just Length The Nourishment of the Birth in the Womb. First Digression The Birth is nourished by the Mouth and Navel Nourishâ—…nt by Apposition Nutrition by the Mouth and Navel The proof of Nouâ—…ishment by Apposition Proof of Nourishment at the Mouth Observation An Argument from sucking Confirm'd by Hippocrates With what matter it was nourished at Mouth Taken in by degrees and swalloâ—…ed not forc'd A Question The proof of Nutrition by the Umbilical Blood It is carryed in the same manner in a Chicken Riolanus deceived Whether Tapping iâ—… a Dropsie may not more safely be done in the Navel it self In what the difference consists Variety in the whole Difference in the Head Difference in the Breast Difference in the lower Belly Difference in the Ioynts How the Birth is contained in the Womb. The Inversion of the Birth Change of Situation The Opinion of Fernelius Digression How long the Birth remains in the Womb. Children born within the sixth Month. Children born in the fifth Month. They cannot live that are born in the eighth Month according to Hippocrates The reason of the variety in the time of Delivery Paulus Zachias Learned Men too much deceived by old Womens Tales Error in Womens Reckonings What happens near the time of Delivery The cause of Expulsion A natural Birth Unnatural Nature expels the Birth out of the Womb through the Uterine Sheath Something 's admirable to be observed The cause of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 Not the narrowness of the place Not the Corruption of Nourishment Not defect of Nourishment Whether abundance of Excrements The true cause A Similitude The 〈◊〉 of Refreshment and Respiration is the cause of Calcitration The Opiâ—…on of Harvey and two Questions Harvey's other Question That Birth may live a while without Respiration An Objection All in an Error who write of Respiration and crying in the Womb. The cause of 〈◊〉 and dead Births The Breast The strusture of it The Figure The largeness of it It s Division Containing parts The proper The contained parts Their place The names The bigness A consideration of the bigness Their number Their Situation The shape and colour Glandules A large Glandule The Teat Where the Milky Chanels terminate The exquisite sense of the Teat It s Colour It s bigness The Areola Vessels Nerves Arteries Veins 〈◊〉 Lymphaticks Lymphatick Vessels The Milky Vessels Whether the Chylus be carryed through the Arteries to the Breasts The Office First digression Milk what The matter of Milk Whether out of Menstruous Blood Absurdities from the former Opinions Whether out of Alimentary Blood An Objection Why the Veins swell in the Breast Whether made of crude Blood Whether out of the Arterious Nervous Blood Whether out of the Serum Whether out of Fat. The Chyle is the Matter of Milk How the Chylus is chang'd into Milk The Milky Iuice made more perfect Why the Milk fails in Effusions of the Blood Why Women that give Suck want their Courses Mesue's Story Whether the Animal Spirits be the Matter of Milk A notable Question The true Cause An Observation Why the Milk increases the fourth day after child-birth A Question Why the Breasts are dry'd up upon weaning What
which also happens to the two other lower Pairs the Ascending and Transverse are crossed on both sides by the Processes of the Peritonaeum extending themselves to the Testicles but in Women by the Vermiform Ligaments of the Womb which Passage being overmuch widen'd or broken if the Call or Intestines fall upon the Groin or Cod it is the cause of Burstenness They derive Nerves Arteries and Veins from the Intercostal Branches at the upper part V. The Linea Alba is a whitish part running from the Cartilago Mucronata through the middle of the Paunch and Navil to the Os Pubis or Share-bone It has the firm Substance of a Tendon through the Concourse of the Ends of the Tendons of the Descending Ascending Transverse and Pyramidical Muscles of the Abdomen It is broader above the Navil narrower below it and in Women with Child many times it appears of a blewish Colour which Colour it has been known to keep till the third Month after Delivery Riolanus animad in Bauhin seems to believe it to be a peculiar Membrane running out from the Cartilago Mucronata of the Breast through the Navil to the Commissure or joyning of the Share-bone and receiving the Tendons of the Share-bone In the same Animad in Bauhin he affirms the Linea Alba to be imaginary perhaps because that being blind through Age he could no longer discern it VI. The second Pair is constituted by the Muscles obliquely Ascending furnish'd with Ascending Fibres which as they ascend cross the Descending in form of a Letter X. They arise from the Transverse Processes of the Vertebers of the Loyns from whence they receive the Nerves and the Apophyses or going forth of the Os Sacrum but membranous both and the outward fleshy part of the Hip-bone Hence the fleshy Ascending are joyn'd at the top to the Cartilages of the eighth ninth tenth and eleventh Ribs and terminate in the Linea Alba with a broad nervous Tendon crossing the right Muscles and are nourish'd by the little Branches of the Arteries growing from the musculous Artery near the Loyns and casting forth Veins to the musculous Vein Some Anatomists vulgarly hold that these Muscles with a double Tendon enfold the right Muscles Which is not very probable For above the Tendons of the Ascending Muscles rest upon the right Muscles and are so fast interwoven with their Tendony Intersections that they can hardly be separated whole from ' em But in the lower or inner part of the Muscles those Tendons cannot be discover'd and therefore they are deservedly rejected by Vesalius and Riolanus and Lawrentius is justly blam'd by Riolanus for taking notice of 'em in his Sculptures VII The third Pair is that of the Musculi recti so call'd because of the streight Course of the Fibres They are very strong three or four fingers broad and about a finger thick They arise fleshy from each side of the Cartilago Macronata the Breast-bone and the Cartilages of the Ribs where they receive three or four Nerves from the Intercostal parts and so descending directly down and being united almost near the Navil and distinguish'd with two three sometimes four Impressions as it were into several Muscles end at length with a strong thick Tendon in the Share-bones Some Anatomists describe their beginning from the Share-bones and make 'em to end in the Cartilages of the Ribs Others believe that they consist of several Muscles and place their beginnings partly in the Cartilages of the Ribs partly in the Share-bones and make 'em to end at their Intersections and affirm the several parts contained between the Tendon-like Inscriptions to be so many Muscles To which Opinion not improbable Spigelius gives his consent induc'd thereto by this Argument Because they not only receive Nerves from the Intercostals above but also below from the first Pair of the Loyns For it is a perpetual Rule that every Muscle moves toward its beginning But where the Nerve is inserted there as Galen testifies is the beginning of the Muscle See the Reason l. 5. c. 1. but here several Nerves are inserted into their Parts not only above and below but also those which are interspac'd with separate Interfections and therefore there are many beginnings of these Muscles which in regard they cannot be many in one Muscle therefore all the Musculi Recti do not consist of one but of several Muscles Moreover if we consider their primary use which is strongly to press down the Belly for the Expulsion of Ordure and the Birth which Compression and Expulsion does not require that either the Breast-bone should be drawn downward or the Os Pubis upward but that those Bones should remain in their places and that all and every the parts of these Muscles should swell together that so the upper parts of every one should draw upward some parts that are nearest to 'em at the first Intersections the lower parts other parts which are nearest to 'em downwards and that the middle parts lying between the Intersections should draw to themselves the parts that are next 'em on both sides Which Contractions being made by distinct and several Parts to several parts which cannot be done in one Muscle it follows that every single Musculus Rectus must consist not of one but of several Muscles VIII As they receive large Arteries from the Epigastrics ascending and the Mammillary Arteries descending so they send forth a larger sort of Veins to the Epigastric and Mammillary Veins IX These Arteries and Veins at their Ends in the inner part are vulgarly said to joyn together about the middle by Anastomoses one into another So that the Ends of the Epigastricks open into the Ends of the Mammillary Veins whence many derive the Consent and Sympathy of the Dugs with the Womb. But I have always observed these Anastomoses or Openings of one Vein into another to be wanting nor did I ever yet meet with any Body wherein these Ends were not distant one from another the breadth either of a Thumb or a little Finger so that I am certain the Cause of that Consent can by no means proceed from hence Thus Vesalius likwise in Exam. Obs. Fallop writes that he has observed that those Vessels are never so united that it may be said there is any Communication between ' em Bartholin also in dub anat de lact Thorac c. 1. writes that he sought for these Anastomoses in a sound young Woman kill'd six weeks after her Delivery but could find none rather that the Branches ascending and descending were about a fingers breadth distant one from another yet Riolanus defends those Anastomoses most stiffly Anthropog l. 2. c. 8. and asserts that he had shewn 'em to a hundred of his Scholars But for all that I do not give so much credit to his words as I do to my own eyes Perhaps old Riolanus might be dimm-sighted at that time and so perhaps might think he saw what was not to be seen Of these Anastomoses see more
l. 6. c. 3. l. 7. c. 7. X. The fourth pair resting in the lower Place upon the Musculi Recti are the Pyramidal Muscles so call'd from their figure which is Pyramidal but from their use Succenturiati because they are thought to assist the Musculi Recti in their duty They arise small and fleshy from the Share-bones where they also receive the Nerves From this larger foundation they rise smaller and smaller and scarce four fingers bread ascending the Ends of the Musculi Recti yet somewhat unequal in length the left being both shorter and narrower they thrust their sharp Tendon into the Linea Alba and sometimes extend it to the Navel with a slender End Vesalius Andernâ—…cus and Columbus describe those Ends erroneously for the beginning of the Musc li Recti seeing that the interceding Membrane and also the Separation which may be made without any prejudice to the Musculi Recti also the Obliquity of the Fibres quite different from the strait Muscles and lastly a peculiar way of thrusting themselves into the Linea Alba clearly demonstrate that they are several and distinct Muscles XI Fallopius and Riolanus ascribe to these Muscles the Office or Action of compressing the Bladder and promoting the Excretion of Urine or the Act of making Water Nevertheless sometimes ' both these Muscles are wanting sometimes the one and sometimes the other is lacking but more frequently the Left than the Right and then the broader and more fleshy End of the Right supplies their place We have several times shewn as well when they have been both to be seen as when they have been defective both in Publick and Private Exercises XII The fifth Pair consists of the Transverse Muscles fasten'd to the Peritonaeum underneath and full of Transverse Fibres They begin from the Ligament rising from the Transverse Processes of the Vertebers of the Loyns the Huckle-bone and the Cartilaginous Neighbourhood of the six inferiour Ribs And being furnish'd with Arteries Veins and Nerves obliquely ascending they end with a large Tendon in the Linea Alba. To these the Peritonaeum sticks so close that it cannot be separated from 'em without Dilaceratiâ—…n XIII The common Opinion is that all the foremention'd Muscles compress the lower Belly and by that means promote the dispersing of the Nourishment through the Vessels and Bowels as also the expulsion of super abundant Excrements and the mature Birth also that they assist the Breast in strong Respiration and Expectoration or forcible throwing off what is offensive to the Lungs fasten the Contain'd Bowels and defend 'em from External Injuries and cherish 'em with their Heat But I think this that it is convenient to discourse somewhat more particularly of their Actions For if generally they all serve to compress the Belly which are they that raise the Containing Parts of this Belly For their Elevation and Depression is Alternate and both are equally necessary to the pushing and squeezing forward of the Nourishment and Humours through the Contain'd Parts which I admire no Person has hitherto taken notice of And therefore there is a notable Distinction to be made of the Operations of these Muscles XIV In the first place the two oblique Pair raise the Abdomen For in regard they swell at their beginnings or fleshy Part then the Tendons with the Linea Alba draw outward and raise upward and that same swelling usually concurs with the swelling of the Dilating Muscles of the Breast and therefore in breathing the Abdomen is also elevated together with the Breast which every man may find in himself Then again that Elevation may be made without breathing when the Animal Spirits especially more copious are determin'd to these Oblique Muscles and very few flow into the dilating Muscles of the Breast This Operation also among other things their Oblique Situation teaches us which is not so convenient for pressing forth as also their Original and the length of their Tendous But the other three Pairs manifestly serve for Compression For the Musculi Recti with the Pyramidal when they swell cannot but very forcibly depress the Belly and the transverse Muscles swelling because they rise from the Loyns cannot but very strongly contract the Belly by drawing the Linea Alba backward Spigelius l. 4. anat c. 10. ascribes another Use to the Muscles of the Abdomen that is to move the Trunk of the Body at the Sides Circularly and Obliquely and to bend the Body forward Of which two Offices the one is to be ascribed to the Oblique the other to the Streight Muscles Besides the foresaid Muscles those Muscles seated in the Region of the Loyns and Ossa Sacra may be reckon'd among the Muscles of the Inferiour Belly But because that they are chiefly serviceable to the Action of other Parts they are not muster'd in the Order of the Muscles of this Belly XV. The most inward Containing Part of the Abdomen is the Peritonaeum by the Arabians call'd Ziphach because it is spread over all the Bowels of this Belly and not only contains and restrains 'em but clothes them with a Common Tunicle Vesalius and Bauhinus following the Opinion of Galen de â—…su part lib. 4. cap. 9. ascribe to it the Office of compressing the Intestines and to the Exclusion of the Birth But in regard that Action or Compression is Voluntary it is necessarily perform'd by the Muscles the Instruments of voluntary Motion by which means the compress'd Peritonaeâ—…m pushes forward and so presses forth only by Accident XVI It is a thin and soft Membrane interwoven with Spermatic Fibres smooth within-side and as it were besmear'd over with Moisture without fibrous and somewhat rough XVII It is improperly said to derive its Original from the first and second Vertebrae of the Loyns because the thickness of it is more in that place and its Connexion firmer I say improperly because no one Spermatic Part derives it self from another but all take their Original from the Seed Fallopius is of Opinion that it has its beginning from the beginning of the Mesentery Lindan agreeing with Riolanus deduces its beginning from the Membrane outwardly infolding the Vessels and the Bowels But in regard this Membrane is rather to be taken from the Peritonaeum that spreads it self over all the lower Belly the Peritoneum can never derive its beginning from that XVIII Jacobus Sylvius observes it in men to be thicker and stronger in the upper part of the Belly in women toward the lower part of the Belly Which Bauhinus believes so order'd by Nature in the one as being more addicted to Gluttony in the other for the sake of the Womb and the Birth to be therein conceived But Spigelius affirms it to be thicker in both Sexes always in the lower part and never in the upper Which he believes was so ordain'd by Nature with great Prudence as being the Part which is most obnoxious to Ruptures in regard that whether we sit walk or stand
the Bowels always weigh downwards and therefore that the Peritonaeum may be better enabled to sustain their weight she thought it necessary to strengthen and fortifie that part XIX It has very small Nerves that arise from the Vertebra's of the Breast and Loyns Arteries and Veins that spring from the Diaphragmatic Mammary and Epigastric Vessels XXI It is bor'd thorough at the passage of the Gullet and Vessels above and below and proceeding outward in the Birth as also of the Vermiform Ligaments of the Womb. Moreover its outward Membrane forms in men two Oblong Processes like more loose sort of Chanels descending toward the Scrotum for the defence of the Testicles and Spermatic Vessels descending and turning again XXII This Membrane is call'd Vaginalis the Sheath-Membrane because it comprehends the Stones as it were in a Sheath But in Women whose Stones are not pendulous without it extends it self on both sides to the end of the Round Ligaments of the Womb and proceeding forward together with it without the Abdomen extends it self above the Share-bones to the Clitores But it s inner Membrane sticks fast and grows to the Spermatic Vessels or the foresaid Ligaments of the Womb passing forward and together with the Vaginal Membrane extending without the Cavity of the Abdomen For that Membrane being either dilated or broken in that place causes Bitterness so that the Intestine and Caul in Men falls into the Scrotum in Women down upon their Groyns Which Rupture or Dilation of the Peritonaeum if it happen in the Navel is call'd Hernia Umbilicalis or the Navel-Rupture CHAP. VI. Of the Parts Contain'd and first of the Caul I. THE Parts Contain'd in the Abdomen either perform the publick Concoctions or serve for the distribution of the Nourishment and Blood or expel the Exerements or serve for Generation The Stomach small Guts Sweet-bread Liver Spleen and Caul which is serviceable to them perform the publick Duties of Concoction The Arteries Veins Milky and Lymphatic Vessels serve for the distribution of the Nourishment and Blood The thick Intestine the Gall-bladder the Porus Biliarius the Kidneys and the Urinary Bladder expell the Excrements The Spermatic Vessels the Stones the Parastatae or crooked Vessels at the back of the Testicles the Prostatae or Glandules under the Seminal Bladders the Seminary Vessels the Womans Privities her Womb and Neck of the Womb contribute to Generation But tho' in Men the Yard and Testicles are excluded out of the Abdomen yet are they by Anatomists reckon'd among the Parts contain'd because the Spermatic Vessels go forth toward the Testicles from the Internal Parts and the different Vessels proceed from the Testicles toward the inner Vessels and for that the Seed which is collected together in the inner Prostatae and Seminary Vessels flows out of the Yard Of all which we are to treat in the following Chapters according to their order II. The Peritonaeum being open'd presently appear the Navel Vessels Of which in the 32. Chapter III. Those being remov'd the Caul offers it self in Latin Omentum as it were Operimentum because it covers the Bowels The Greeks call it Epiploon for that it does as it were swim over the Guts sometime Gargamon sometimes Sagena that is a Net or little Net for that by reason of the stragling Course of its Vessels it resembles a Fisher-man's Net the Arabians call it Zirbus It covers all the Sanguineous Parts tho' it appears fatter over some and more membranous over others IV. It is a thin and double Membrane rumpled like a Purse arising from the Peritonaeum that infolds the outside of the Stomach and Colon. Riolanus derives its Original from the Mesentery Which Opinion differs not from the first when the Mesentery has its Membranes from the Peritonaeum of which it is a certain sort of Production V. It consists of a thin Membrane interwoven with several folds and small thred-like Fibres growing in the forepart to the bottom of the Stomach and the Spleen and sometime also to the round Lobb of the Liver at the hinder part growing to the Colon and so folded like a Sack as also of several Vessels and a soft kind of Fat which is chiefly spread about the Vessels and is very plentiful in fat People VI. It has a world of Veins which it transmits to those which run toward the Liver from the Stomach and Spleen and so to the Vena Porta or great Vein of the Abdomen With which are intermix'd several Arteries from the Branches of the Ramus Coeliacus and Mesenterick Artery and some few Nerves that proceed from the Plexures of the Intercostal Nerves of the sixth Pair VII The Roots of the Blood-conveighing Vessels meet one another here and there with an Anastomoses leaving conspicuous Spaces between each other which are also fill'd themselves with smaller Branches springing sidelong from the larger Roots by means of whose frequent Conjunction an apparent Net is form'd whose middle Spaces exhibit various Figures fram'd with wonderful Art and Workmanship Many of these lesser Branches also run out into the Fat and not only thrust themselves slightly into the outermost Lumps but also penetrate farther in and are fasten'd to the Lumps or little Globes of Fat and sometimes they are hid with a small thin Membrane spread over 'em so that they are imperceptible Malpigius Exercit. de Oment ping Adip exactly describes the Structure of the Caul in an Ox a Sheep a Hart a Dog and some other Animals VIII Veslingius asserts that several little Kernels plain to be seen sometimes more sometimes fewer are scattered up and down in the said Vessels But Riolanus animad in Vesling Barthol affirms that he never observed any such Kernels But through Age he seems to have forgot a truer Assertion in Anthropogr where he acknowledges some few And indeed they are very few and those only under the lower and deeper Part under the Pylorus or right Orifice of the Ventricle and the Spleen In like manner Wharton in his Adenographia makes mention of but very few For c. 12. he writes That he only found two little Kernels but those always in the Caul One bigger in the place where it joyns with the Pylorus which he observ'd receiv'd some few milkie Vessels running from the bottom of the Stomach toward the length of the Caul but he is in an Error for there are not any milkie Veins that derive themselves from the bottom of the Stomach but as far as I could find by three or four Observations these Vessels do not seem to be milkie and advancing to the Kernel but rather Lymphatic and proceeding out of the Kernel These Vessels the same Author says that afterwards viz. from the length of the Caul they run with an oblique Course toward the right Extremitie of the Sweetbread which they partly seem to creep under and partly glide by tending toward the common Receptacle of the Chylus into which they
disburthen themselves The other Kernel he asserts to be a little less which he affirms to have found sometimes double sometimes treble sometimes consisting of more Bodies But if many Kernels are found in any Body that was sickly at his Death he calls those Kernels Adventitious because they are not to be found in healthy Bodys IX The learned Malpigius besides the aforesaid Vessels observes other very thin and slender Bodies extended like small Threads among the Vessels that shoot sorth which he calls Corpora adiposa or fat Bodys and he believes 'em to be certain peculiar hollow Vessels carrying the materials of Fat for the Generation of Fat tho' it be impossible to observe their Original by reason of their extream Slenderness In the mean time he is of Opinion that these Materials of Fat are separated from the Blood by the means of certain invisible adipous Kernels and are so sent to these Vessels and thro' those conveighed into the Membranes rhere to be coagulated into Fat. For as there are certain peculiar Kernels appointed for the separation of Acid Salt Bitter Lympid c. Humors from the Blood for this shall be made out in the following Chapter so he believes that there must be certain peculiar Kernels which he calls A lipous of necessity appointed of oily and fat Particles from the Blood and that those oily Particles being separated are to be carried through certain peculiar adipous Vessels in the same manner as the Blood the Animal Spirits the Chylus and lympid Humor called Lympha are carryed through peculiar Vessels upon which he introduces many ingenious and probable Conjectures But what it is that makes me question the Truth of these Kernels and Adipous Vessels I have already set down in the fourth Chapter preceding where I have made mention of these Kernels X. The Caul is seated about the Intestines into whose Windings and Turnings it insinuates it self and spreads a great part of its self between the Spleen and the Stomach XI In many Persons it scarcely extends it self below the Region of the Navel in some farther reaching even to the Bladder and sometimes in fat Women compressing the Mouth of the Womb to the bottom of which it rarely grows it occasions Barrenness as Hippocrates testifies And in Men if it fall down through the torn Peritonaeum into the Scrotum it causes that Rupture which is called Epiploce when the Caul falls into the outward Skin of the Cods It appears in more Folds and Doubles toward the Spleen than in any other Parts Sometimes in Women after Delivery remaining all rumpled about the middle of the Belly it occasions terrible and frequently returning Pains XII For the most part in Men grown up it hardly exceeds the weight of half a Pound and yet sometimes it has bin known to weigh several Pounds Thus it is found to be wonderfully encreased in some Diseases And Wharton relates that in a Virgin that dy'd of a Cachexie he saw a Caul that was fleshy or rather Glandulous about half a Thumb thick Sometimes also in fat and tun belly'd People that are sound it is covered over with a great quantity of Fat which encreases its weight Thus Vesalius l. 5. c. 4. saw a Caul which being augmented to the weight of four or five Pounds drew down the Stomach with its Ponderosity and was the Occasion of the Parties Death by its weight XIII By cherishing the Heat of the Stomach and Guts it causes more successful and speedier Concoctions It supports the splenick Branch and other Vessels tending to the Stomach Colon and Duodenum Moreover it many times receives the Impurities and Dreggs of the Liver as appears out of Hippocrates l. 7. 55. also out of his 4. lib. de Morb. lib. 1. de Morb. Mulier As also from the Observations of Riolanus Rossetus and other Physicians CHAP. VII Of the Ventricle Hunger and the Chylus I. TAke off the Caul and presently the Ventricle or Stomach appears as it were a little Belly call'd by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as also Gaster II. It is an organic Part of the lower Belly seated in the Epigastrion next under the Diaphragma which receives the Nourishment taken prepared by Mastication and let down through the Gullet and there concocts it and dissolving the best part of the Nutritive Substance converts it into a Chylus or whitish kind of Substance like to Cream III. It consists of a triple Membrane the outermost thick and common springing from the Peritonaeum the middle fleshy the innermost full of Wrinkles and covered over with a viscous Crustiness to preserve it from the Injuries of Acid Iuices IV. In the middle and innermost Membrane in the first place there is to be seen great Variety of Fibres extended some obliquely some streight and some Circular For the strengthning of the Bowels and more easy Retention and Expulsion V. The innermost Tunicle is vulgarly said to be common to the Gullet and Oesophagus whereas it is of a far different Nature and Structure and in regard of its Temper and Composition contains a most admirable fermenting Quality which the Membrane of the Mouth of the Stomach and Oesophagus is not indued withal and hence it engenders and stores up within it self a peculiar Fermentative Humor which being in a sound Condition the Concoctions of the Stomach are rightly perform'd but being vitiated by the Mixture of Choler or any other depraved Humors occasion a bad Concoction And therefore it would be better to say that this Tunicle is not common with but continuous to the Oesophagus and Mouth of the Stomach For there is a great Difference between Continuitie and Communitie For the one denotes only the inseparable Adhesion of the Substance alone but the other signifys the Equality both of Faculties and Uses For Example the great Arterie is continuous to the Heart but not common as not having such Qualities and Actions as the Heart has VI. The Temperament of the Stomach is moderately Hot not so hot as the Heart Liver and many other Parts Which moderate Heat is augmented and cherished by the Heat of the Parts that lie round about it To the end the Concoction of the Chylus may be the better accomplished which otherwise is greatly endammaged by the Excesses of these Parts either in Heat or Cold. VII In a Man there is but one Stomach It being a rare thing to find two Stomachs in any Body Of which I never read but three Observations of which one concerning a Stomach divided into two is cited out of Ioselinus by Theod Schenkius in Anat. The other is cited by the same Person out of the Observations of Salmuthus And the Third is set down by Riolanus Anthropogr l. 2. c. 20. in these Words Once I saw a double Stomach continu'd but distinguished with a narrow Mouth in a Woman publickly dissected in the Year 1624. In this Woman the Stomach was
Because the Chyle is not separated from the thicker Mass nor enters the milky Vessels unless Choler be first mixed with it together with the pancreatic Juice which doth separate and attenuatâ—… it by a peculiar Fermentation or Effervescency from the thicker matter that involves it which Choler is poured forth into the Guts and not into the Stomach and if it should be carried to the Ventricle by Chance that is contrary to the usual Motion of Nature and then Chylification is disturb'd Now that the Chyle cannot be separated from the thicker Matter or attenuated by Fermentation without the Intermixture of Choler so that it may be able to enter the milky Vessels is apparent in those People that are troubled with the yellow Jaundice in whom by reasâ—…n that the Choler cannot flow into the Duodenum by reason of some Obstruction of the Cholodochus or any other Cause whatever that Distemper happens because the Choler being deny'd Passage into the Duodenum the Patients cannot go so often to the Stool and when they do the Excrement is for the most part Chylous and white collected together in the Guts and cannot be fermented and distributed for want of Choler As to the suddain Refreshment after Meals that comes not to pass by reason of any shorter Cut from the Stomach to the Spleen and from thence through the Liver and Vena Cava to the Heart which however is not a shorter way neither than when it is carried from the Ventricle to the Intestines but because the subtil Vapors of the Nourishment penetrate through the Pores of the Ventricle to the Heart For the whole Body as Hippocrates testifies is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or full of Streams and likewise all together gently tickle the Nerves of the Sixth Pair common to the Heart and Ventricle which is apparent from hence because not only Nourishment but all fragrant Smells and cordial Epithemes or Applications refresh those that are subject to swooning and recover 'em out of their Fits when as neither the Odors nor those things from whence the Odors exhale reach either the Spleen or the Heart but only the most subtil Vapors make their Passage through the Pores And moreover 't is wonderful to think how soon the thin Particles of the Nourishment which require but little Digestion pierce through the milky Vessels to the Vein Subclavia and the Heart I have given to Doggs empty'd with long Fasting liquid Nourishment of easy Digestion and within three quarters of an Hour after having dissected 'em I found in that short space of time a watery Chyle very plentiful in all the lacteous or milky Vessels carried from the Ventricle and the Intestines tho' the Food seem'd to be all entire in the Stomach The History cited out of Fernelius seems not to be very rightly quoted For I do not remember that ever Fernelius wrote any thing of Obstruction of the Pylore Indeed in his L. 6. Patholog c. 1. he relates a Story of a Woman with Child that had a hard swelling in her Stomach so that no Nourishment could descend into her Stomach but presently upon touching that Orifice they returned towards the Throat again which Woman in two Months time with all the Art and Endeavours that were used could get nothing into her Stomach But what is this Story to the Proof of the Opinion forementioned He tells us the Nourishment could not descend into the Stomach therefore no Chyle could there be made out of it neither could the Chyle flow from the Stomach to the Spleen The Story of Philip Salmuth Cent. 1. Obs. 20. might have bin cited and objected much more to the Purpose of a certain Person who was troubl'd with continual Vomiting and was forc'd to throw back all the Meat he swallowed by reason the Passage was stopp'd by a Scirrhous or hard Swelling at the Mouth of the Pylore as was found after he was dead Another Story like this is recorded by Benivenius observat 36. and another by Riverius cent 1. Obser. 60. and another by Schenkius exerc l. 1. Sect. 2. c. 33. not unlike the Story which Io. Vander Meer related to me of an Accident seen as well by himself as by several of the Physicions in Delph of a certain Woman that for half a Year lay very ill at Delf and vomited up all the Meat she eat after some few Hours the first well concocted the next loathsome and smelling very badly After which her Evacuations by Stool began to cease by degrees so that for the first Week she did not go to Stool above twice or thrice then once a week and then hardly once in a Month which brought her to nothing but Skin and Bone till at length she dy'd In whose Body being opened was found a Pylore all Cartilaginous with an Orifice so small that it would only give Passage to a little Needle But seeing it appears by these Histories that the Pylore can never be suddenly nor long so streightned but by degrees so the passage of the Chylus is obstructed by degrees from whence it comes to pass that for want of sufficient Nourishment the strength is wasted insensibly and the Body emaciated by degrees Seeing also that by their going to stool tho' it were but very seldom and for that the Pylore would admit the passage of a little Needle that it would not admit a greater Body it appear'd that the Pylore in those Persons was not totally obstructed or if it were wholly clos'd up yet that they did not live long by reason of that Obstruction but dy'd in a short time it cannot thence be prov'd that the Chylus passes from thence to the Spleen For if this were true the Patients strength would not have fail'd so soon through the Obstruction of the Pylore nor have yielded so easie an Access to Death LXXI Bernard Swalve considering these Difficulties Lib. de Querel Approb Ventric p. 63 64. dares not assert that Refreshment is occasion'd by the Chylus coming a shorter way than through the Intestins but writes that supposing a case of necessity the little Orifices of the Gastric Veins in the Tunicles of the Ventricle gape a little and that into them it is not the Chylus which is too thick but a more Liquid Iuice is speedily infus'd presently to be intermix'd with the Blood flowing back to the Heart But according to this Assertion Swalve seems to offer a most cruel Violence to the Gastric Veins and to force 'em to confirm his Speculation as if by agreement he would at his own pleasure shut 'em up but upon this Condition that they should not gape but in a time of necessity or being open should not empty their Blood into the Cavity of the Ventricle which otherwise might easily happen and so occasion Vomiting of Blood and that they should not take the Chylus it self but only sup up a Liquid Humour out of the Stomach and so carry it in a hurry to the Heart LXXII The use of the
of both those Openings closing the Ingress of the Ilium into the Colon was so guarded by these Valves that nothing could fly back again And by this View we found that of the foresaid four Opinions the second was the most probable but that the first third and fourth which was our own was a Deviation from the Truth Only that the third rightly and truly asserts that there is a certain fleshy Circle which laps the Ingress of the Ilium into the Colon. XXXIV In this Colon the thicker sort of Excrements are gathered together and contain'd till the time of Exoneration whereas it would be a great Shame and Trouble to have his Excrements continually dropping from him For which reason it is very large and capacious and has little closing Valves to stop and retard the Excrements And by reason it encompasses almost the whole Abdomen sometimes ascending sometimes descending hence it happens that the Dregs and Excrements to be expell'd pass down more slowly requiring two or three times of compressing it self for their Expulsion XXXV The third and last of the thick Guts is the Intestinum Rectum which descending in a streight Line into the hollow of the Hips ends in the Fundament Call'd by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it runs on without any Excrescencies or Windings also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it is the Beginning or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it constrains us as it were by a kind of Command to quit our selves of the Burthen that oppresses us XXXVI It is far inferior to the Colon in Length and Brâ—…dth as not being above one Palme and a half in Length and about three Fingers broad but in Thickness and Carnosity exceeds all the Guts Being outwardly covered with fat Appurtenances XXXVII It is ty'd to the Os Sacrum and Coccyx by means of the Peritonaeum and in Men is fastned to the Root of the Penis in Women to the Womb by a musculous Substance whence springs the great Consent of these Parts XXXVIII The End of it is the Fundament called Anus and Podex which has three Muscles The First which is called Sphincter and is fasten'd to the lowest Parts of the Os Sacrum embraces and purses up the Fundament orbicularly to keep in the Excrements To this there are some who add another but of a thinner Substance for the same Use inseparably joyn'd to the former and as it were riveted into the Skin at the Extremity of the Fundament But this the greatest part of Anatomists confound with the first and make but one of both The other two are called Levatores or Fundament-Lifters which rising from the Ligaments of the Coxendix and Os Sacrum descend distinct to the Sphincter and intermix their Insertions with it to the end they may draw the Fundament back again brought down by the Force of straining in Evacuation Tho' Riolanus derives their Original from the Bones themselves yet he divides 'em erroneously into four Muscles whereas such a Division cannot be made without Dilaceration as de Marchettis well observes Anat. c. 3. These Muscles being loosened by any Accident cause a falling of the Fundament or rather a sinking down of the Gut XXXIX Into the Fundament are ingrafted the Roots of the Haemorrhoid Veins which are two fold Of which the Internal ascending sometimes to the Right sometimes to the Left Mesenteric Veins and sometimes to the Splenic Branch empty their Blood into the Vena Porta but the External enter into the Hypogastric Branch XL. Arteries accompany the Veins proceeding partly from the lower Mesenteric Branch and partly from the Hypogastric Arterie XLI To these three or four little Veins joyn themselves deriv'd from the extream parts of the pith of the Back which make this Gut very sensible and infuse Spirits into the Muscles to enable their Contraction CHAP. IX Of the Mesenterie I. THE Mesenterie or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is so called from its Situation as being placed in the middle of the Bowels II. It is a membranous Part seated in the middle of the lower Belly destin'd not only to bring the Vessels safe to the Intestins and carry 'em back again but also to be a common Band of all the Guts themselves lest their manifest Windings and Turnings should be confounded and intangl'd to the manifest hazard of Life and Health III. Which tho' it be but one is divided by some into the Mesaraeum or Mesenterie and the Mesocolon while the thin Guts stick to the first the thick Guts to the latter IV. It consists of a double strong Membrane continuous to the Peritonaeum and every where stuft with Fat Besides which Wharton writes Adenograph c. 7. That he has found out and demonstrated a Third Middlemost and proper to it somewhat thinner than the former and propping up the Vessels and Kernels within it V. From the Center to the Circumference it is about the bigness of a Span. But the Shape of it is Circular whose Circumference is contracted into innumerable Folds to streighten the length and widness of the Guts and to contain their proper Situation and Order In the Middle it is large Oblong in the Sides especially on the left Side where it descends to the right Gut But it is of an extraordinary thickness in fat People the bulk of Fat being largely augmented In others it is much more thin VI. It rises about the uppermost and third Vertebra of the Loyns to which it is ty'd with a very firm Connexion Fallopius believes it to derive its Original at the Nervous Plexare or Knitting from whence it takes its Beginning of which more c. 18. l. 3. c. 8. VII It has several very small and soft Glandules inserted among the Membranes and in the middle one great one all which it is most certain do manifestly conduce to the attenuation and greater Perfection of the Chylus And of these Glandules there is great Difference found in the number not only in several sorts of Animals but in many Individuals of the same Species However this is observ'd in Man where they are sewer in number their bigness compensates that Defect Now that they conduce to the Attenuation and perfecting the Chylus hence appears for that innumerable milkie Vessels run through 'em after what manner is to be seen Cap. 11. and pour the Chylus into 'em to imbibe in it something of a slight subacid Quality for its greater Perfection which Vessels proceeding from 'em meet together at length in the middlemost great Glandule and thence in a direct and short Channel are carry'd to the Receptacle of the Chylus into which they empty their milkie Juice This Glandule Fallopius and Asellus erroneously call the Pancreas or Sweetbread and many at this day the Pancreas Mesenterii but very far different from the real Pancreas seated under the Stomach VIII This both Experience and our own Eyes do teach us For if these Glandules
Substance of the Cystis or of its Neck remain beyond the Ligature but that only the common Ductus Cholidochus and the bilary Porus may run directly toward the Intestines and then tying another Knot near the Jejunum a remarkable Quantity of Choler will be collected together and evacuated out of a small Wound made beyond the Ligature in the mid Way which Knot may be several times unty'd that the Porus Bilarius being plentifully fill'd may be emptied again XLIII To which Experiment may be added three or four Observations of Riolanus Anthropog l. 2. c. 22. From whence it appears as plain as Day that the Choler flowing from the Gall-bladder never ascends thorough the Bilary Porus to the Liver And that no Choler often descends from the bladder yet in the interim flows in great quantity from the Liver through the Poras Communis to the Intestines and therein if it be endu'd with bad qualities produces Diarrhoeas Dysenteries the Disease Cholera cruel Gripings and other Distempers XLIV Concerning the use of the Bladder there have been hitherto great Disputes among the most Eminent Doctors Aristotle thought it to be separated from the Blood as a meer noxious Excrement whose Opinion is followed by many And hence it is that Bauhinus Anat. l. 1. c. 45. makes a doubt whether the Collection of the Choler in the Bladder be necessary to Life when the ancients affirm'd the cause of long life to be the emptiness of the Gall-bladder deducing their Argument from Harts that have no Gall and yet live long Haly Abbas and Avicen say that it heats and strengthens the Liver and helps its Concoction Zirbus writes that it defends the Liver and other parts from Putrefaction Which Opinion tho' it be exploded by Vesalius yet does it not displease Riolanus Helmont asserts it to be the Balsom of the Liver and all the Blood Glisson asserts that it does not only preserve the Liver from Putrefaction but prevents its Obstructions purifies the Blood and hinders its Coagulation Veslingius also says that it preserves the very Chylus from Putrefaction Many Neoterics according to the Opinion of Galen have design'd only to promote the Evacuation of the Excrements out of the Guts which Bartholine says are thereby made fluid and fit for motion And thus all have made a doubt concerning the Use of this Noble Juice which is found to be wanting in no Man and which no Man can live without and of which Fernelius writes that many People have dy'd in whom there has been found no other cause of their Death than that the Gall-bladder was altogether empty of Gall. XLV Manifest therefore it is that Choler has a more noble Use than hitherto has been ascrib'd to it by Physicians and Philosophers And indeed the chiefest Use of it is to be serviceable to Fermentation Of which more at large c. 17. CHAP. XVI Of the Spleen I. THE Spleen call'd by the Latines Splen by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an Organic Part or Bowel seated in the left Hypochondrium under the Diaphragma between the Stomach and the Ribs II. It is very rare or rather prodigious as both Aristotle and Pliny testifie that the Spleen should change places with the Liver that is that this should be in the left and the other in the right Hypochondrium which nevertheless has been observ'd by Cornelius Gemma and Talentonius And such an unusual Accident Cattierus describes and Bartholine relates two or three Histories to the same purpose Observat Anat. Rar Cent. 2. Hist. Also it is as unusual for the Spleen to be wanting which defect nevertheless Hollerias reports that he saw in a certain Woman and was found in Ortelius as has been said c. 14. Andrew Laurentius also makes mention of a Body dissected at Paris that had no Spleen in which the Splenetick Branch ended in a small Glandulous Body Thus Kerckringius in his Anat. Observ. writes that in two Births dissected at Amsterdam he observ'd the Spleen to be wanting Aristotle also testifies that the Spleen is wanting in several Creatures L. 3. de part Animal All Creatures saith he that have Blood have a Liver but all have not a Spleen And c. 24. All most perfect Creatures only have a Spleen Thus Riolanus following Aristotle's Opinion Creatures that have none or very small Lungs have none or a very small Spleen Ent also in Apolog. writes that he has observ'd several Birds to have no Spleen III. In Men it is generally but one and seldom exceeds that number Nevertheless Cabrolius Observ. 15. as also Posthius and Dominic de Marchettis have foâ—…nd two Fallopius observes in Observ. that he has seen three frequently in Dogs there are two not so often three unequal in bigness out of each of which there is a vessel extended to the Splenetick branch And the same thing perhaps may fall out in other Creatures For Aristotle de Generat Animal l. 4. c. 4. writes that some brute Creatures have a double Spleen and that some have none at all IV. The Convex part of it is knit to the Diaphragma not so fast and tite as the Liver but superficially as also to the left Kidney by small membranous Fibres springing from the Peritonaeum And yet in Novemb. 1668. we found so fast a Connexion of it to the Diaphragma the left Kidney and the left Lobe of the Liver extended so far that the Connexion could hardly be sever'd without dilaceration but this rarely happens The flat part adheres to the Caul and the adjoyning Parts and being so bound in sane bodies seldom descends beyond the lowest Rib but the Ligaments being loosen'd it is felt in a lower place to the great disturbance of health but the Ligaments being quite broken somtimes it slides down into the Hypogastriâ—…m which Cabrolius observ'd to have happened to a certain Noble Man whose Spleen swam upon the whole Concavity of his belly And which by Riolanus was seen in a Parisian Woman whose Spleen rested upon her Womb and for two years deceiv'd the Physicians who took it for a Mole whereas when the dead body was open'd the cause of the Swelling and the Womans Death were both found together to have proceeded from the Spleens being fall'n down out of its place V. The bigness of the Spleen in Men is various according to the diversity of Bodies and Constitutions For generally it is six Inches long three broad and about the thickness of the Thumb Iâ—… diseased bodies it sometimes grows to an enormous bigness so that its protuberancy beyond the Ribs may be both felt and seen Theâ—… that inhabit moist Regions and Fenny Places have large Spleens Lindan reports also That the Common People of Friezland that use for their common Drink sowre Butter-milk have great Livers In the Year 1657. I dissected a body wherein I found a four square hard Spleen about the bigness of a mans head Fernelius also writes that there was a Liver seen that
credible that either this or any other thick and feculent Humour could be conveighed through the most narrow Pores of the more solid Substance of the Nerves Others conjecture that there is a certain Rennet prepared in these Glandules which flowing from thence to the Kidneys causes therein a quick Separation of the Serum from the blood Which Opinion certainly carries with it great Probability if the way from these Pasages to the Kidneys could be demonstrated But what if we should say That that same black Juice is prepared out of the Arterious Blood and obtains a certain fermentative Power necessary for the Venal Blood for which reason it flows from them not to other Parts but endued with the same Quality flows through the Veins proceeding from the Capsulae to the Vena Cava But neither is this any more than a Conjecture Hence because the Use of these Glandules is so little known I am persuaded it happens that they were never taken into due Consideration by any of our Physicians Whereas we find that many Diseases arise from their being out of Order And therefore it is to be hop'd that all Practisers both Physicians and Anatomists will for the future observe these Parts more diligently and by frequent Dissections of dead Carkasses inform themselves what Diseases their Disorder and ill Temparature may occasion CHAP. XX. Of the Ureters I. THE Ureters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make Water and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are certain oblong and white Vessels or round Channels proceeding from the Kidneys receiving the Serum strein'd from the Reins and carrying it to the Bladder together with the Gravel Choler Matter and other Iuices mix'd with the Serum II. They arise from the inward Concavity of the Kidneys whose various Pipes meeting and closing together form the Ureter III. One is generally granted to each Kidney seldome any more are found tho' it were twice my chance to find more which two Ureters however were united on both sides near the Bladder and enter'd it with an Orifice IV. They consist of a thick twofold and white Membrane the outermost common the innermost peculiar But Riolanus more judiciously acknowledges but one peculiar Membrane for that there is no outermost common Membrane joyned to it from the Peritonaeum The Ureters generally are contained under the Peritonaeum together with many other Parts but they are not particularly enfolded by that Membrane nor receive any peculiar Tunicle from the Peritonaeum as the Ventricle the Vena Cava the Liver and many other Bowels and Vessels do But the peculiar and only Membrane of which they consist is a Membrane strong nervous strengthened with some Fibres oblique and streight and Arteries and small Veins from the neighbouring Parts and furnish'd with Nerves from the sixth Pair and the Marrow of the Loyns which endue it with an exquisite Sense of Feeling Which little Nerves however Riolanus will not allow the â—…reters believing it enough to excite Pain that they are Membranous seeing that from the distension of a Membrane by a Stone or any sharp Substance there follows a Pain severe enough to be endur'd Wherein he mistakes for that any such thing can happen without the flowing in of the Spirits through the Nerves is prov'd from the Palsey in which Distemper the Membranes do not feel through the Defect of Animal Spirits nor do they display the least sign of Feeling that may be thought to proceed from their Structure and Composition V. These are very small in a Man about a Handful in length and about the breadth of a Straw Tho' sometimes they are very much dilated by Stones passing violently through and with a tormenting Pain so that sometimes they have been seen as broad as the small Gut VI. They proceed downwards from the Reins above the Psoâ—… Muscles that be in the Hip between the double Membranes of the Peritonaeum somewhat reflex'd toward the lower Parts and in some manner by an oblique Course between the Membranes of the Bladder are inserted about the hinder parts of the Neck of the Bladder and are continued with the inner Substance of the Bladder in which place some believe 'em to be fortified with Valves at their Oriâ—…ices hindering the Return of the Urine from the upper Parts Which Valves however Riolanus Andrew Laurentius and Plempius call in Question and say that their oblique and winding Ingress into the Bladder stops the Return of the Urine out of the Bladder for which Opinion we also give our Vote CHAP. XXI Of the Piss-Bladder I. THE Piss-Bladder 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Membranous Organical Part of the lower Belly which retains the Serum received from the Kidneys and at length discharges it as being troublesom either through its Weight or Acrimony II. It is seated in the Hypogastrium between the double Tunicles of the Peritonaeum in the Cavity which is form'd by the Os Sacrum the Hip-Bone and Share-Bone In Men it leans upon the Intestinum Rectum and is joyn'd to the Prostatae Glandules in Women it sticks to the Neck of the Womb and in both is fastened to the Share-Bone before and it is also annexed to the Navel by the Urachus III. It consists of a threefold Membrane of which the outermost in Men but not in Brutes being surrounded with Fat proceeds from the Peritonaeum The middlemost which is thicker is endued with fleshy Fibres for Contraction and Expulsion of the Urine and hence by Aquapendens and Bartholine called the enfolding Muscle by Spigelius the Thruster downward of the Urine This if it be too much distended by â—…oo great a quantity of Urine occasions a total suppression of Urine because the Fibres of it being too much distended are so weakned that they cannot contract themselves again Which sort of Suppression of Urine Forestus writes that he himself was troubled with l. 25. Observ. 14. The innermost is thinner and being of a more exquisite Sense of Feeling is protected by a kind of Slime from the Corrosion of the Liquor contained in it This is found very much wrinkl'd in People that are troubl'd with the Stone IV. The Figure of it is oblong globous or round and sometimes sharp like a Pear V. The Bigness is not alike in all but in some larger in some less which extraordinary largeness is occasioned by its frequent and violent Distensions by too long a Retention of the Water VI. It has one Cavity which by the Observations of Physicians in some few has been seen distinguished into two by a Membrane or Fence in the middle VII There are three Holes belonging to it of which the two lesser before the Neck are open to the Entrance of the Ureters The third which is the bigger in the Neck gives way to the Urine going forth VIII It receives Arteries from the Hypogastries entring the sides of the Neck and carrying thither Blood
for its Nourishment The remainder of which it pours forth through little Veins into the Hypogastric Vein It admits Nerves from the sixth Pair and the Marrow of the Os Sacrum IX It is divided into Bottom and Neck X. The Bottom comprehends the upper and broader part of the Bladder from which the Urachus is extended upwards to the Navel which Urachus together with the adjoyning umbilical Arteries in People of ripe Years proves a strong Ligament preventing the falling down of the Bottom upon the Neck Of the Urachus see more c. 32. XI The Neck is the lower and narrower Part which in Men being longer and straighter is carried to the Root of the Yard and opens into the Urinary Passage or Piss-Pipe But in Women shorter and broader hanging above over the Neck of the Womb and opens itself under the Clitoris a little above the Entrance of the Sheath or Matrix between the Nymphae In both Sexes fleshy woven out of many Fibres chiefly Transverse and Orbicular lying hid among the right Fibres encompassing the whole Body of the Bladder which constitute the Sphincter Muscle pulling together the Neck of the Bladder to prevent the Urine from coming away unseasonably and winding about the Prostatae as may be seen in the following Chapter As for those Anatomists that describe several other Muscles of the Bladder they do but make themselves ridiculous As the External Sphincter the Thruster down c. which are nothing else but the fleshy Membrane of the Bladder XII Over this Neck in Men toward the Piss-Bladder a little Membrane overspreads it self like a small Valve which prevents the Seed which is forc'd toward the Piss-Pipe from flowing into the Bladder and the falling of the Urine which flows out of the Bladder into the seminal Pipes Which may be demonstrated if a Bodkin be put into the Bladder toward the Piss-Pipe into which it enters easily without any Obstacle but not the contrary way unless by the Force of Dilaceration This little Membrane is broken by the Immission of a Catheter into the Bladder and sometimes is corroded away in a Gonorrhea Bartholine reports from the Observation of Riolanus that this Membrane is to be found in Boys till twenty Years of Age but not after that Which Observation I do not take to be any perpetual Rule For in Practice we have many times broken this Membrane not without great Pain ensuing in older Men by immission of the Catheter Perhaps Riolanus might observe this in the Dissections of dead Bodies in France For the French Youth being extreamly Lustful and abandoning themselves to their Venery and frequently Clapp'd it may easily happen that this Membrane may be eaten away by the corroding Seed as it passes through the Channel CHAP. XXII Of the Parts in Men serving for the Generation of the Seed I. AFter the Organs of Nourishment by which the Food is prepared for the Support of the Body which would else decay Order and Method require that we should proceed to the Description of the Instruments of Generation by which the Perennity of human kind which Nature has deny'd to Individuals is preserv'd by Procreation II. These Parts are called Pudenda from Pudor Modesty as being those Parts of which Man was not asham'd before Sin But after he had sin'd he took notice of his Ignominious Nakedness and was asham'd Theophrastus Paracelsus writes that Men before Sin wanted these Parts but that after Sin committed they were added by the Creator in perpetual Remembrance of the shameless Fact he had committed And because our first Parents fell through the Temptation of the Devil therefore to Adam was given a genital Member or Yard like a Serpent and to Eve a Member of Generation like the Serpents Den. Now whether this be the Reason that the Adamite's Serpent is never at rest but when he is entering Eve's Den and that Eve's Den with so much Love and Desire receives and admits the Adamite's Serpent I leave to others to dispute III. These same Privities which are also call'd Genitals being in both Sexes not fram'd alike necessarily we must discourse of both apart And first for the Generating Parts of Man in the same Order as the Seed is generated moves within 'em and is ejected IV. The Genital Parts in Men are such Parts as are design'd for a Man to beget his own Likeness in a Woman These Parts are divided into Internal and External of which some ly hid in the Cavity of the Abdomen others are conspicuous without However all these both outward and internal Parts that serve for Generation are twofold Others prepare the Seed of which in this Chapter others conveigh the Seed into the Womb of which in the following Chapter V. Among those which make the Seed in the first place occur the Spermatic Vessels Which are vulgarly call'd preparing Vessels because that formerly it was thought the Blood was there prepared for the Generation of Seed These are twofold That is to say two Arteries and as many Veins which are more conspicuous and bigger than the Arteries Some write that they have seen the Arteries bigger than the Veins which must be preternatural and contrary to the Circulation of the Blood for then through large and broad Arteries more Blood would be carried than could be return'd back through smaller and lesser Veins whence it is probable that such a thing never happen'd but that the Anatomists that writ so had a Mist before their Eyes VI. The spermatic Arteries carry Blood for the making of the Seed and the Nourishment of the Testicles Of which the Right a little below the Left close by or a little above the Emulgent sometimes both together about the Distance of two Fingers under the Emulgent arise out of the Trunk of the great Artery before But then the Right ascending the Trunk of the Vena Cava proceeds obliquely to the Vein of the same side and the Left proceeds directly to the Vein of its own Side Nevertheless Riolanus has observed that both sometimes proceed from the Emulgent and sometimes not two but one only to have sprung out of the Trunk of the Aorta and to have perform'd the Duty of the two In like manner George Qâ—…ck a Physician of Norimbergh observed this single Artery in a dead masculine Body springing from the forepart of the Aorta which being divided into two Branches above the separation of the Crural Branches joyn'd afterwards on both sides to the descending spermatic Vein And by the Relation of Hoffman Peter Paw in the Year 1598. in the dead Body of an old Man found no more than one spermatic Artery proceeding from the middle Trunk of the Aorta ten times bigger than those Arteries wont to appear in others and ending in the Testicles being without question double fork'd before But these Accidents rarely happen as in that Person of whom Cornelius Gemma writes Art Cyclog lib. 2. Often says he
to 'em a far different Function that when they swell they may compress the Nervous Bodies on both sides and by that means suddainly thrust forward toward the Nut the Blood flowing in through the Arteries and for some time stop the same Blood being about to flow back again by compressing the Veins thereby to preserve the Yard stiff for some time But in regard the Office of the Muscle is only single by contracting it self to draw the Part to which it is fasten'd and that the Muscle was primarily ordain'd for that sort of Action and whatever happens from it besides that Action of its own that happens only by Accident of Necessity as in all others so in the Muscles of the Yard that Action is to be held unquestionable and we must of necessity maintain that these Muscles cause the Erection of the Yard and Dilatation of the Urethra If by Accident while they swell they may somewhat compress the Nervous Bodies according to Regner de Graef that does not take away their peculiar and primary Action nor can it be concluded from thence that they do not erect the Yard but only serve for that accidental Use. XXII When in the heat of Lust the Animal Spirits plentifully flow into these Muscles and the two nervous Bodies then the Yard stirr'd with venereal Violence is extended and becomes stiff The manner and Bulk of which Extension all Men understand that are not in the number of bewitch'd and srigid But that certainly must be a vehement Extension beyond the usual Measure in the young Man of two and twenty Years of Age which Schenkius speaks of in exercit An. who without any trouble for half an hour together carried a Pewter Flagon containing five Measures of Ale upon his standing Yard not without the Admiration and Laughter of those that beheld it XXIII The Office of the Yard sufficiently appears from the Definition and what has been already said XXIV But in regard that Generation cannot be accomplished without the Yard by the Consent of all Philosophers and Physicians the Question is whether it can be perfected without Immission of the Yard into the Sheath of the Womb Reason dictates that it cannot otherwise be perform'd since without the Immission of the Yard the Seed of the Man cannot be injected into the Womb of the Woman Yet Experience has sometimes taught the contrary viz. That Women have conceived without the Immission of the Yard Of which Riolanus gives us four Examples one upon his Knowledg and three upon the Report of others Lately says he we saw a Woman at Paris who by means of a hard and difficult Labour had her genital Parts torn and dilacerated whose Nymphae and four Caruncles were so closely grown together that they would hardly admit the end of a Probe and yet this Woman conceived with Child For the Womb covetous of that Food had attracted within the Lips of the Privities the Seed that was shed round about it as a Hart draws Serpents out of their Holes by the Breath of his Nostrils When she was ready to be brought to Bed the Hole was opened by the means of a Speculum Veneris to that wideness which was requisite for the coming forth of the Birth and so she was delivered of a perfect Birth safe and well A Second he cites that was seen at Paris in the Year 1609. A Third he cites out of Clementina 1. Quest. 15. de Consang of a certain Maid impregnated the Fences of whose Virginity were all firm and untouch'd A Fourth he quotes out of Fabricius's Surgery of a Woman that conceived meerly from the Embraces of the Man without the Immission of the Yard A History like to which of a Roman Virgin to whom the like Accident happened is related by Henry a Monichem in Lyserus Observat. 13. I my self remember in the Year 1637. being then at Nimmeghen that I was sent for to a poor Womans Labour living near the Crane Gate of whom the Midwife related that a strong transverse Membrane with a little Hole in the middle was extended at the Entrance of the Sheath so strong that she could not burst it with her Finger This hindered the Midwife from getting in her Finger and in regard she was much less in a Condition to receive her Husbands Yard all wondered how she could be got with Child Upon which the Husband confessed that he frequently try'd whether he could make way through that Obstacle when he was at the stiffest but that he never could penetrate or get farther in however that in the Attempt he had several times spent against that Membrane Whence I conjecture that the same Seed ascended through the aforesaid Hole in the Membrane toward the Womb and by that means the Woman came to Conceive I advised the cutting away that Membrane and dilating the Part but her Modesty not willing to admit a Surgeon in the midst of bitter Pangs of Childbed the Passage being shut against the Birth by that sturdy Membrane she lost both her own and the Life of the Child By all which Examples it appears that sometimes there may be a Conception without Immission But these are Accidents that rarely happen whose Examples constitute no Rule in regard that Husbands rarely complain of such kind of Obstacles XXV The Parts next adjoyning to the Yard are called by various Names The Part above is called Pubes to the Parts on each Side are given the Name of Inguina or the Groyns The Part from the Root of the Cod to the Fundament is called the Perinaeum from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to flow about because that Part is generally moist with Sweat All which Parts the Pubes the Groyns Perinaeum Scrotum to the Circuit of the Podex in People grown to mature Age abound with Hair with which Nature would in some Measure cover the secret Parts Which Hair both in Men and Women begins to appear about the fourteenth Year when riper Reason distinguishes Vice from Vertue Riolanus also observes that in Women who have no Perinaeum seldom any Hair grows about the Podex unless when they come to be very Old CHAP. XXIV Of the secret Parts of Women serving to the Generation of Seed and Eggs. I. IN the foregoing Chapters we have explained the genital Parts of Men Order therefore requires that we should now proceed to the generative Parts of Women that is to the Description of those Parts that involve Women in a thousand Miseries enervate Men a thousand manners of ways by means of which weak and feeble Women triumph over the strongest of Men. Parts which have ruined many the most potent Kings destroy'd Emperors made wise Men Fools deceived the Learned seduced the Prudent thrown the Sound into most shameful Distempers impoverished the Rich and vanquished the stoutest Hero's That hurried holy David into Sin led away Salomon to Idolatry prostrated the Strength of Sampson and compell'd the stoutest Hercules to the Distaff for whose Sake Sichem
Speculations upon the History of Eggs in the beginning of the Year 1672. Whom some Months after followed Iohn Swammerdam a Physician of Amsterdam who nevertheless in his little Book which he calls the Miracle of Nature contends most sharply with Regner de Graef for the first little Honour of putting forth Cuts and that with so much Heat that he seems to besmear the whole Ovary together with the Eggs not with Honey but with most bitter Gall complaining that he could not prevent the other with a more early Edition of his Book That Womens Stones are ordained for the generating of Seed tho' not so perfect as is the Seed in Men and that this Seed is infused partly into the Womb partly into the Uterine Sheath from these Stones through the Fallopian Tubes and other Passages describ'd by other Persons in former Ages even till our times was written and taken for granted by all Physicians and Anatomists so that it was by my self held for a thing not to be controverted Which was the reason that I wrested some Arguments against this new Invention of Eggs and Ovaries which till then I never saw or heard of But afterwards examining the thing more diligently and comparing the Observations of others printed upon that Subject with my own ocular Views I found that my own and the Opinion of the Ancients could not hold which I am forc'd to confess in this second Edition of my Anatomy X. These Stones are two more soft more flagging more unequal and less than in Men. But sometimes somewhat bigger and softer sometimes lesser harder and dryer according to the Age of the Party and her moderate or immoderate use of Venery XI Their Bigness according to Diversity of Age Regner de Graef describes by weight For he observ'd in Children and new-born Infants the Stones to be from five Grains to half a Scruple in such as had attained to Puberty and were in the Flowre of their Age that the Stones generally weigh'd a Dram and a half and so were much about half the Bigness of a Mans Stone That in more elderly People they became less and harder In decrepit Persons that they weigh still a Scruple But 't is very probable this Rule cannot be so exactly set down but that it may suffer some Exception and that in Womens as in Mens there may be some Variety of the Bigness For in Persons that have dy'd in the Flowre of their Age according as they have been more or less prone to Venery we have observed the Bigness and consequently the Weight to vary by our Inspection of dead Bodies nor have we found 'em to be alike small in old Women XII They are seated within the Concavity of the Abdomen adjoyning on both sides to the sides of the Womb at the upper part of the Bottom in Women that are clear about two Fingers or one and a half remote from it but in Women with Child the Bottom swelling recedes upwards by degrees and fasten'd to it with broad membranous Ligaments On the other part adhering to the Spermatic Vessels by the help of the Membranes wherein those Vessels are infolded about the Râ—…ion of the Oâ—… Ilium they stick closely to the Peritonaeum and observe the same hight with the bottom of the Womb in Women that are empty but in Women with Child are remov'd more and more from it ascending by reason of its Increase But they hang by no Cremaster Muscle for that not being pendulous without they need not those Muscles to draw 'em up to the upper Parts so that they are only held and strengthened by the broad Ligaments XIII Their Figure for the most part Semi-Oval in the fore and hinderpart somewhat broad and depress'd XIV They are infolded with a strong Tunicle call'd in greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some aver to be single and proper to themselves others single but produc'd from the Peritonaeum others double and consisting of one proper and another common proceeding from the Peritonaeum strongly annexed to the former But this Division of it into two Membranes seems to be a thing hardly to be seen and difficult to be affirm'd XV. They differ in Substance very much from the Stones of Men whereas the one are form'd of little seminary Vessels joyn'd and interwoven one within another with a wonderful Order But these consist of Membranes Vessels and other Bodies XVI This Substance of theirs Regner de Graef has with great Diligence inquired into discovered and describ'd in these Words Their inward Substance says he is composed chiefly of many little Membranes and small Fibres loosely united one with another in the space between which are found several Bodies which are within either naturally or preternaturally The Bodies naturally found in the Membranous Substance of the Stones are little Vessels full of Liquor Nerves and preparing Vessels which râ—…n forward almost in the same manner as in Men to the Stones and creep through their whole Substance and enter the Vessels in whose Tunicles numerous Tunicles vanish after they have copiously dispersed and spread themselves as we find in the Yolks of Eggs annexed to the Bâ—…ch of the Ovary And saith he the Lymphatic Vessels found in the Stones whether they enter their Substance we have not so clearly discovered as to affirm it tho' we believe it agreeable to Truth And he adds farther That what things are sometimes only naturally found in the Stones of Women are little Buttons which like the Conglomerated Glandules consisting of many Particles tending in a direct Course from the Center to the Periferie and are infolded with their own proper Membrane We do not say these little Glandules or Buttons are always in the Stones of Females for they are only discovered in 'em after Copulation one or more as the Female is to bring forth one or more Creatures into the World after that Copulation Nor are they alike in all Creatures nor in all sorts of Creatures For in Cows they are of a yellow in Sheep of a red in other Creatures of an Ash-colour Moreover some few days after Copulation they come to be of a thinner Substance and the middle of 'em contain a lympid Liquor included in a Membrane which being thrust forth together with the Membrane there remains a small Hollowness only in 'em which by degrees is so entirely defaced that in the last Months of Childbearing they seem to be composed of a solid Substance At length the Birth being born those little Glandules diminish and at last quite vanish Now those things that are observed to be Preternatural in the Stones of Women are watery Bladders call'd Hydatides little stony Concretions and preternatural Swellings call'd Steatomata and the like XVII Sometimes other preternatural things are found therein in a sickly Condition of Body In the Years 1656 1658 1663. I dissected three Women wherein one Stone exceeded the other the bigness of a Stool-Ball and contained a
viscous Humour the other Stone being sound and well In several others that were much troubled with the Mother while they liv'd for the most part I found some excess of Bigness indeed but far less than in that before mentioned and sometimes in one sometimes in both a certain Saffron coloured or yellowish sort of Liquor Dominic de Marchettis in a certain Woman saw the right Testicle swell'd to the bigness of a Hens Egg and full of Serosity And in another the Stones so intangled with the Ligaments and Tubes that they seem'd to be one fleshy Mass without Distinction Bauhinus writes that Stones have sometimes been seen bigger than a Mans Fist And there he makes mention of the Dropsie in the Stones in a Woman that dy'd of such a Dropsie out of the swelling of whose right Stone he drew out nine Pints of Serum the left exceeding the bigness of a Quince and abounding with many watery Bladders To these he adds the Story of another Woman whose right Testicle he found to be as big as a Goose Egg full of long white Hair sticking in the Tunicle encompassed with a kind of slimy Matter like Suet. The aforesaid Vesicles which are found in the Stones according to the Nature of which Regner de Graef makes mention were also long before observ'd by Falloâ—…ius and Caster but what they were or to what Use they serv'd they could not tell XVIII These things afterwards Van Horn Epist. ad Rolfinc was the first that call'd Eggs and that most convenient Name succeeding Anatomists deservedly retain'd seeing that they are really Eggs and that while they were yet but very small there is nothing but a certain thin sort of Liquor contain'd in 'em which is like to the White contained in the Eggs of Birds and those Eggs being boyl'd it hardens in the same manner like the White in the Eggs of Birds Neither does it differ in Consistence or Savour from this White Quite otherwise than the Liquor contained in the Hydatides or watery Bladders which Fallopius Vesalius Riolanus and others erroneously took for these Eggs which will neither harden with boyling nor savour at all like the White in the Eggs of Birds XIX The Eggs of Women and of all other Creatures that bring forth living Animals are wrapt about with a double Membrane one thicker the other thinner The one in Conception makes the Chorion and the other the Amnion Now in Creatures bringing forth living Conceptions there was no need that the outward Membrane should be hard and crusty as in Birds For in the one it was to be preserv'd without the Body and therefore to be defended by that outermost Rind from external Injuries But this hardness was not necessary to preserve 'em while within the Body as in which external Injuries are sufficiently kept off by the hot Parts that ly round about it the Womb the Abdomen c. XX. But that Eggs are found in all sorts of Creatures is now certainly taken for a thing ratified and confirm'd on all Hands which as it is accorded as to Birds Fish and several sorts of Insects so by innumerable Dissections the same is now as unquestionable as to Creatures that bring forth living Conceptions Tho' according to the diversity of Creatures the variety of Bigness is not the same but very different and more than that besides greater already brought to Maturity in many there are found several lesser that would by degrees have grown to their full bigness Nor is the Number always the same but one two three or more according to the number of Conceptions which the Creature will bring forth But in those Creatures where the matter is not apt and proper for the Engendering of fruitful Eggs as in old Women and Mules or by reason of the ill Temper and Composition of the Eggs there they become Barren XXI These Eggs are begot in the Stones of Females that bring forth living Conceptions out of a spirituous Blood flowing through the preparing Arteries and an Animal Spirit flowing through invisible Nerves to the Stones and leaving in their membranous and kernelly Substance Matter sufficient and proper for their Generation while the rest of the remaining Humours return to the Heart through the little Veins and small Lymphatic Vessels XXII From all that has been said our modern Anatomists conclude following their Leader Van Horn that the Testicles of Women should be rather called their Ovaries than their Stones and that chiefly for this Reason for that neither in Shape nor Substance nor in what they contain they have any Likeness or Resemblance to the Stones of Men. And hence it was without doubt that they were accompanied by many unprofitable Parts tho' their absolute necessity appears from the spaying of Women who upon the cutting out of these Parts become no less barren than Men upon the cutting out their Stones But whether Stones or Ovaries 't is not a Straw matter so we agree in the main about the thing it self XXIII Now how these Eggs come to the Womb from the said Ovarie as being most obscure requires a stricter Examination By what Passages the Womans Seed came to the Womb from her Stones before the discovery of Eggs several have varied in their Explanation Some with Galen thought those short Processes extended from the Stones to the Neck of the Womb were the Vasa deferentia or deferent Vessels Others conjecture that from these Processes near the Womb there was deriv'd a peculiar Branch to the Neck of the Womb and so the Seed was carried partly to the bottom of the Womb partly to the beginning of the Neck and that the Seed was evacuated through the upper way in empty Women but through the lower way in Women with Child Riolanus describes a little hard Vessel from the lower part of the Testicle white and very slender and another like it contain'd between the Tube of the Womb through which two being joyn'd together in the bottom of the Womb he alledges the Seed to be poured forth into the Concavity of the Womb and lastly from these he believes another little slender Branch to be also deriv'd to the Neck of the Womb. But more modern Anatomy plainly shews that the first were deceived by the Divarication of the preparing Arteries Riolanus by his Inspection of the little Nerves running forth that way And that through the first Passages nothing but Blood passes through the latter nothing of Seed but only invisible Animal Spirit Spigelius and Veslingius asserted that part of the Seed in empty Women passed through the round or lumbrical Ligaments of the Womb but that all the Seed in Women with Child copulating flow'd through the same toward the Clitoris and Sheath with whom formerly I altogether agreed because I saw therein toward the end a slimy sort of Liquor like Seed which might be some flegmatic Excrement but afterwards I forsook their Party for that being admonished by the Observations of others by a
more accurate Inspection I could not find any Hollowness in those Vessels through which those Vessels could pass That the Seed of the Woman is not injected into the Cavity but into the Porosities of the Substance of the womb it self And the Seed of the Man either is not injected into the Cavity of the Womb or being injected into it by and by flows out of it again as of no use Harvey's Inspections could never persuade me for by that means the Seed of the Woman being enfertiliz'd with the Seed of the Man in order of Circulation might easily be driven through all parts of the Body and so be matur'd by any convenient Heat and be adapted for the Formation of the Birth XXIV These things premised from all that has been said it is clearly manifest that there is no true female Seed as the Women's Eggs and the Vasa deferentia of the Eggs sufficiently declare but that the most spirituous Parts of the Prolific male Seed being injected into the Womb flows through the Tubes from the Womb to the Testicles and the Eggs therein contain'd and that those Eggs impregnated with this Seed fall from the Testicles and are received by the Extremities of the Tubes annexed to 'em and so through those by degrees are thrust forward to the Womb. XXV These Tubes from their first Inventor were call'd Fallopian and are the Vasa deferentia or deferent Vessels wherein Fallopius affirms that he has both found and shewn before credible Spectators most exquisite Seed Which Tubes he thus describes But that same seminary Passage says he rises very slender and narrow nervous and white from the Horn of the Womb it self and when it has parted a little way from it it becomes broader by degrees and curls it self like the Tendril of a Vine till it comes near the end then those Tendril-like Wrinkles ceasing and being become very broad it ends in a certain Extremity which seems to be membranous and fleshy by reason of its red Colour which Extremity is very much ragged and worn like the Edges of a worn Cloth and has a large Hole which always lies shut those extream Edges and Iaggs falling down together which if they be carefully opened and dilated resemble the extream Orifice of a brazen Tube XXVI These Tubes of the Womb so called from their crooked Shape are two Bodies adjoyning to the sides af the womb hollow stretch'd out from the bottom of the womb and composed of two Membranes XXVII The innermost of these Membranes is common with that which closes the womb withinside but not so smooth and that more about the Extremities than in the middle The outward Membrane is common with the external Membrane of the womb and very smooth near to the womb somewhat thicker but about the Extremities thinner or smaller XXVIII The beginnings of the Tubes running forth from the womb by degrees are more and more dilated and having acquired a remarkable Capaciousness by degrees become more and more crooked and run on with a tendril-like Course till they encompass about the one half of the Substance of the Stones with the other Extremity and are very much dilated about the Stones in the first place and by and by contracted and beyond their Contraction slit into many Iaggs to which Regner de Graef has observed many watery Bladders and hard Stones to stick Now because that after the said Dilatation being suddainly narrowed again they run to the Stones with a very slender Course hence it is that in women at first sight they seem somewhat remote from the Stones and only fasten to the Stones by a thin Interposition of Membranes like the wings of Bats But in many Creatures they are found to be very near annexed to the Stones and in many they half embrace the Stones And so the Tubes according to Nature are passable from the Stones to the Womb but only once Regner de Graef found 'em preternaturally clos'd up XXIX They are furnished with spermatic Arteries and Nerves from the same that penetrate the bottom of the womb XXX Wharton ascribes Valves to these Tubes so placed that nothing of seminal Matter may flow from the Stones to the womb and affirms that he observ'd it in the Dissection of a Mare Others describe to us Valves placed in a contrary Situation preventing the Ingress of things contained in the womb into the Tubes But besides Inspection Reason teaches us there can be no Valves in these Vessels when the Contraction of the Extremities alone is such that they will not allow the Passage of any thing through 'em unless in heat of Lust they be dilated by a plentiful Flux of arterious Blood and Spirits and so the spirituous part of the masculine Seed may penetrate from the Womb to the Stones and the Eggs and then again permit these Eggs to pass from the Stones to the Womb. XXXI Some there are that have conceited several Cells and various Receptacles distinct one from another and from thence have ascribed to 'em the use of the seminary Vessels of Men. But they were deceived by the sight of the contorted Parte whereas in Tubes dissected and blown up according to their Length there is only one Cavity to be seen distinguished with no Cells or Valves and here and there somewhat unequally dilated XXXII The capaciousness and length of these Tubes cannot certainly be describ'd in regard that the difference of Age the use of Copulation and many other Accidents cause an extraordinary variety in these things Through the Tubes therefore the spiritous part of the Male-seed injected into the Womb is carried to the Stones and the Eggs therein contain'd and these Eggs again proceed from the Stones to the Womb. But how these come to the Womb through these narrow passages of the Egg-Chanel this tho' it be hard to be describ'd yet by Similitudes it seems not difficult to be conceiv'd in the Mind and explicated XXXIII Many Fruits in their Seasons as Cherries Damsons Peaches Walnuts c. whose Seeds which are like to Eggs are brought to such a bigness and fitness as to be impregnated gape of themselves and so those Seeds included in their Rinds which Rinds at first stuck close to their Substance but afterwards loosen'd from it fall out of them but so long as they cease to be irradiated and cherish'd by the dewie Moisture of the Earth and the Influx of the spiritous Solar heat which are to them like the Seed of the Male they lye hid within their strong Shells or Cases but when that enfertilizing Influx of the Earths Moisture and of the Solar or other convenient heat entring through the invisible Pores of the said Shells or Cases has brought them to a greater perfection of Fertility by and by those Shells or Cases grow soft in their Sutures and so the Stones tho very hard open and the Seeds included within grow moist and more juicy and dilating themselves
and the Eggs themselves might the more easily slip into them be receiv'd by them and hasten'd forward into the Womb. Now that this is the true cause of this relaxation no man will wonder who has try'd how strait the Genitals of honest Women are if that afflux do not happen that is when they Copulate without any Lust so that it is a trouble to 'em to receive the Yard and then again how loose they are and with what pleasure they Copulate and admit the Yard where that afflux plentifully happens for I do not speak of Curtizans who by the overmuch use or rather abuse of Copulation have their Genital Parts so worn and loose that they can never be contracted and wrinkled again He also that shall consider how much the same afflux relaxes the Orifice and Sheath of the Womb when a large and mature Birth endeavouring to pass through those narrow passages by its kicking and motion afflicts and pains those Parts will easily confess the same For then all those Parts dilate themselves the former to transmit the Eggs the latter to exclude the mature Birth and that not being endu'd with any Art or Knowledge but as being relax'd and mollify'd by a copious afflux of Blood and Animal Spirits at that time flowing more to those parts than at other times through the determination of the Mind Which afflux afterwards ceasing all those Parts so vastly relax'd within a few days return to their pristine constitution and straitness XXXVII From what has been said it is manifestly apparent that Eggs are carried from the Womens Stones or Ovaries through the Tubes to the Womb. Which is confirm'd yet more by the Observations of some credible Physicians by whom in the dissections of Big-belly'd Women it has been found that by reason of those Eggs being detain'd in the Tubes through some unnatural cause and not passing through into the Womb that the Births were found in the Tubes and found therein by dissection after Death of which Regner de Graef brings some Examples out of Riolanus and Benedict Vassalius Which tho' we look'd upon formerly as Oldwomens Fables now upon better knowledge of the Eggs and Tubes we believe to be true XXXVIII Besides these Observations this whole business was plainly demonstrated at the Theatre in Amsterdam April 15. 1673. by Ocular Inspection by the Learned Frederic de Ruisch a most famous Physician and Professor of Surgery and Anatomy And this in a Woman who in a short time after she had conceiv'd dy'd of some suddain Accident of whom he thus writes Not only the Tube of the right but also of the left side were somewhat more ruddy thicker and more distended than usual to the admiration of all the Beholders The Tube of the right side was somewhat writh'd toward the opening of the Ovary The Womb without any foregoing preparation we cut up in the presence of a noble Company of Physicians There we observ'd the Womb to be somewhat thicker than ordinary more ruddy and more spungy and its Concavity fill'd with a Lympid Liquor upon which there swam the beginnings of a Birth of a mucilaginous Substance which rude Mass was afterwards so dissolv'd by the Air that there was no footstep of it to be seen In that same rude foundation of a Birth I could not perceive any shape of Human Body And therefore whether that Foundation were an Embryo or only an impregnated Egg I much question 'T is also worthy observation That the hollowness of the Ovary out of which the Egg had fallen was not only of a deep red colour but also spungy as we find in the Womb the Birth being newly deliver'd so that to me the Egg seems to be cherish'd in the Ovary as the Birth in the Womb. Moreover I cannot but wonder at what I find also in other ingravidated Bodies why both the Spermatic Veins are so much wider than the Arteries For if the Arteries should exceed the Veins it would be no wonder seeing that the Birth requires much Nourishment I found the Orifice of a Womb not closely shut within as some Authors will have it but gaping more than usually c. XXXIX From this demonstration we may clearly be convinc'd not only how the Substance of the Ovary ready to quit the Egg becomes spungy and open but also how the Fallopian Tubes carrying the Egg from the Ovary to the Womb at that time became more thick and patent But why the Spermatic Veins running through the womb exceed the Arteries we shall give the Reason Cap. 27. but why he found the Orifice of the womb gaping at that more than usual rate is beyond mine and the common Observation of other Anatomists Only this may be said That being open'd to receive the Egg into the womb but a little before the suddain approach of Death gave it not leisure to close again or being relax'd by the suddain and disorderly Commotion of the Spirits continued open XL. In a Womans Egg for I speak not of the Eggs of Brutes three things are to be consider'd 1. It s External little Skins which after Conception constitute the Chorion and Amnion 2. The plentiful Humours or Liquors contain'd in those little Skins 3. The small Crystalline Bubble appearing in a fertile Egg already conceiv'd in the Womb. Of all which in their due places XLI After this History of Eggs one doubt remains that is If the Eggs are carried through the Tubes into the Womb and nothing else of Seed flows from the Stones whence proceeds that pleasure which Big-belly'd Women have in Copulation at what time no Eggs are carried anew to the Womb in regard the Extremities of the Tubes are so exactly shut as also in such as have their Womb cut out for the cure of some Disease particularly the falling down of the Womb Also in Women of fifty who cease to have any more Eggs in their Ovaries Moreover whence proceeds that Seed which flows from Women in Copulation into their Sheath and bursts forth in the Night in Lascivious Dreams I answer That that same great pleasure in Coition does not arise from the Eggs passing from the Ovary to the womb but rather from the Eruption of that Seed if it may be called Seed which proceeds from that glandulous Substance encompassing the Bladder which Seed is equally in Big-belly'd and Empty-belly'd grown women and in such as have their wombs cut out and may break forth with Pleasure into the Sheaths as well in Nocturnal Dreams as otherwise But we must understand that the pleasure of women in Copulation proceeds not so much from the bursting forth of the said Seminal Matter into the Sheath as from the rubbing of the Clitoris as it is with Men by the rubbing of the Nut. XLII There remains to be enquired Whether Women may be castrated and have their Stones cut out I answer That Women cannot be castrated without great hazard of their lives for the small Guts
sometimes through Lankness slides to the sides and lower parts XXXVI But against this our Conclusion another Difficulty opposes it self That is if the Womb do not move it self of its own accord how comes it to pass that sometimes after the Death of the Mother the Birth in the womb is expell'd forth Thus Bartholinus in the Treatise entitled Phinx Theologico Philosophica relates the Story of an Infant that with a loud cry was brought safe and sound out of the womb of the dead Mother And such was the Birth of Scipio and Manlius upon the Records of History Eber also produces an Example of a Child born after the Death of his Mother and Rolfinch produces another out of the memorable Speeches of Wolfang Silberus Three more are cited by Philip Salmuth Bartholin also testifies the same thing to have happened at Coppenhagen Hist. Anat. Cent. 1. And I remember another Accident of the same Nature that was told me at Montfurt Harvey also relates another of the same nature Exercit. de part A Woman says he being dead in the Evening was left alone in the Chamber and the next Morning the Child was found between her Thighs having made its own way Now as to the Difficulty we say this That the Mother being dead the Infant may for some time survive in the womb so that being alive and strong and the Orifice of the womb open and the Genitals being slippery and loose by reason of the preceding Labours and the Efflux of the serous Matter it may so happen that the strugling Birth may get forth by its own Endeavours tho' assisted by no Motion of the dead womb and that such Births have been frequently cut out of the Abdomens of the dead Mother is notoriously known But the first Accident rarely happens tho' frequently it falls out that women after most bitter Pangs of Childbearing their Strength failing fall into a profound Swoon so that they are thought to be dead and are sometimes buried for such tho' it has been known that they have afterwards come to themselves VVhich often happens to those that are troubled with the Hysteric Passion and for that reason being thought to be dead are committed fairly to the Ground as the Observations of many Physicians make manifest Iohannes Matthaeus Physician to the Marquis of Baden produces a memorable Example of this Quaest. medicar 4. An Accident deserving Compassion says he happened at Madrid in Spain where a noble Matron of the Family of D. Francis de Lasso after she had lain in a Trance for three days after a hard Travel her Relations believing her dead was carried into the Vault appointed for the Burial of the Family Some Months after the Vault being opened for the Burial of some other Person the Carcass was found in the same place where it was laid holding a dead Infant in her right Arm. Whence it appears that the Matron when she was buried was not really dead but had been delivered of an unfortunate Infant which she held in her Arms. Now in such a case I say it may easily happen that the woman which was thought to be dead the day before the next day was delivered and in a shorttime after expired For in extraordinary Cases of Necessity Nature sometimes performs wonders For which Reason the woman is thought to have been delivered after her Death who nevertheless was not dead at the time of her Delivery So that from hence no spontaneous or proper Motion of the womb can be inferred If after this any one will be so obstinate as to believe that the womb is alive after the Decease of the woman and is mov'd of it self by its own proper Power of necessity with Plato he will split upon a most hard Rock of Absurdity while he concludes that the womb is a Creature of it self not living a Life common to the rest of the Body and hence it will follow that one Creature is composed of two or that one Creature is the perfecting part of the other CHAP. XXVI Of the Parts of the Womb. I. IN the womb particularly are to be considered the Bottom the Neck the Sheath and the Sinus Pudoris or Mouth of the Privity it self II. The Bottom is the uppermost part of the womb properly colled the Matrix Uterus or Womb outwardly smooth and equal besmear'd with a slippery sort of Liquor in women not separated by any winding Prominencies of Horns nor so distinguished with Cells as in most part of Beasts that bring forth living Conceptions It is harder and thicker in those that are not with Child about the bigness of a Pigeons Egg or somewhat bigger which varies however according to the use of Copulation Conception and Age. III. It has one Hollowness yet not exactly round but somewhat stretched forth on both sides as it were like a Horn toward the sides in Persons deceased hardly able to hold a Kidney Bean but without doubt more loose in libidinous Coition somewhat rugged with wrinkles for the better Retention of the Seed and in women before they come to be with Child besmear'd with a viscous kind of Slime This is distinguished with a kind of large Seam into the right and left Part In one of which Males in the other Females are conceived as Hippocrates and Galen have asserted In the narrow Streights of this Cavity the Vivific Spirit of Male Seed infused into the womans Egg finishes out of it self that wonderful Structure of so many Parts so that at length a noble Creature shortly to ascend Heaven it self breaks out of this small close and nasty Prison IV. The Neck of the womb which many confound with the Sheath is the lower and narrower part of the womb containing the innermost Orifice of the womb VVhich Hole is oblong and transverse or overthwart like the Hole in the nut of the Yard in Virgins narrow and smooth but in such as have had Children bigger and furnish'd as it were with two Lips somewhat hard or little pieces of Flesh somewhat Tumid which Lips are hardly or never to be found in Virgins This Orifice is exactly shut after the Reception of the Seed and as it were seal'd up with a slimy viscous yellowish Humour that by the Report of Galen it will not admit the point of a Probe neither does it open before the time of Travel unless by â—…ervent and libidinous Coition whence sometimes happens Superfoetation But at the time of Delivery for the Expulsion of the Birth it dilates and spreads after a miraculous manner like a Rose and then the foresaid Lips of the Orifice as I have observ'd in women deceased when bigg with Child equal in thickness half a Finger very loose slippery and hollow like a Spunge V. Rarely the Yard of a Man in Copulation reaches so far as this Orifice which Riolanus however asserts may happen sometimes It may be says he that a longer Yard when the Orifice is open at the time when the
Flowers flow being thrust into that Orifice may be there detain'd and squeez'd as happens in the Limeing of Bitches which that it has happen'd to some I am credibly inform'd Thus when I was a Student at Leyden I remember there was a young Bridegroom in that Town that being over-wanton with his Bride had so hamper'd himself in her Privities that he could not draw his Yard forth till Delmehorst the Physician unty'd the Knot by casting cold Water upon the part Certainly 't is a wonder how such a narrow Orifice of the Womb can be so much dilated as to receive the Nut of the Yard which is the reason some think it impossible to be done and look upon as Fables whatever has been said touching this matter But this is to be said that in a very fervent Lust all those obscene parts grow very hot and are relax'd to that degree as to receive the Yard with ease as appears by the Uterine Sheath which not being heated by libidinous Ardour is so strait that it will not admit the Yard without difficulty but in the Act of Venery thro' the more copious affluency of Blood and Spirits stiffens grows warm and swells and then becomes so loose and soft that it easily receives the Yard Therefore it would be no wonder if in some through extream Lust this Orifice of the Womb be so relax'd as to admit the Yard especially if the Sheath be short and the Yard so long as to reach and enter the Sybilline Chink Nor is this more to be admired at than that the Orifice it self in time of Labour should of its own accord be so relax'd for a large Infant to pass thorough or for the Chirurgeon to thrust in his Hand and part of his Arm to draw forth the Birth when necessity requires VI. Continuous to the bottom and neck of the Womb is the Greater Neck or Gate of the Womb commonly call'd the Vagina or Sheath because it receives the Yard like a Sheath This is a smooth and soft Chanel every way enclosing and grasping the Yard in Copulation furnish'd with fleshie Fibres running out in length by which it is fasten'd to the other adjacent parts and withinside full of orbicular furrows or wrinkles more in the upper part than the lower and more toward the Privity than toward the Womb and unequal to procure the greater pleasure of Titillation from rubbing to and fro of a membranous and as it were nervous and somewhat spungy Substance which swells in the heat of Lust the better to embrace the Yard about the length of the middle finger and as broad as the Intestinum Rectum Nevertheless the length breadth and loosness of it vary according to the Age of the Person her Use of Venery and her natural Constitution and sometimes this length and breadth of the Sheath varies according to the length or bigness of the Yard in Men. Whence Spigelius thus writes Annat l. 8. c. 22. The Sheath every where embraces the Yard and frames it self to all iâ—…s Dimensions so that it meets a short one gives way to a long one dilates to a thick one and straitens to a small one for Nature so manages all these differences in respect to the magnitude of the Yard that it is needless to endeavour to fit the Tools or regard their proportion for that the great Fabricator has every where done it so admirably In like manner in Virgins and Women not so prone to Venery as in those that never had Children or Labour under an immoderate Flux of their Flowers or their Whites the wrinkles are much deeper and thicker and more numerous but in Women that have had many Children as also in Harlots often lain withal they are neither so deep nor so numerous if not many times worn smooth VII This Sheath in Infants is remarkably capacious tho' the Orifice be very narrow as it is also in grown Virgins never lain with which in the first act of Coition is somewhat dilated with the rupture of the Hymen but in Women that use but moderate Copulation it remains still in such a condition that the Yard passes through a kind of looser sort of Sphincter Muscle toward the innermost Sheath VIII It is furnish'd with Vessels of all sorts It has two sorts of Arteries some from the Haemorrhoidal Arteries creeping through the lower part of it others from the Hypogastrics descending along the sides of it and then dispers'd through the whole Sheath and in the upper part for the most part adhering to the Arteries of the Womb. IX Several Veins it sends forth from its lower part to the Haemorrhoidals the rest far more in number and every way dispers'd into its Substance to the Hypogastrics into which they empty the Blood which is contain'd in 'em from thence to be conveigh'd farther to the greater Vessels and so to the heart And out of these Blood-bearing Vessels it is that that same little Net is form'd discover'd by Regner de Graef X. It receives its Nerves from those that run out from the Os Sacrum XI Regner de Graef also writes That he has here observ'd certain very small Lymphatic Vessels which in their ascent penetrating through the External Substance of the Womb meet together by degrees and increase like small Rivulets till they came to the great Receptacle of the Chylus and then open themselves into it Besides these Vessels there run out into the forepart of the Sheath those Chanels sticking to the Substance of the Urinary Passage of which hereafter XII To the end of it that is at its first entrance under the Nymphs both before and atop adheres the neck of the Piss-bladder wrapt about with the Sphincter having there an Exit but in the hinder part it is firmly fasten'd with the binding Muscle of the Intestinum Rectum Regner de Graef has well observ'd that the Sphincter of the Bladder embraces the lower part of the Sheath with a conveighance of Fibres three fingers broad to the end that in Coition it might be able gently to close it self about the Yard which Constriction he believes to be mainly helped forward by other Bodies found out by himself of which he thus writes To this Constriction those Bodies contribute after a wonderful manner which the fleshie Expansions arising from the Sphincter being remov'd appear on both sides near the Lips of the Privity in the lower part of the Sheath For they ascend on both sides to the membranous Substance which is fasten'd to the neighbouring Parts and to the Clitoris and there terminate and vanish so that the Bodies of the right and left side have no Communion one with another as may be seen if either be fill'd with Wine for the Body of the right side being blown up the left never swells neither if the left be fill'd is the right distended or the Clitoris erected The outward Substance of these consists of a very thin Membrane the inner
which for the most part like the inner Substance of the Clitoris by reason of the quantity of coagulated Blood is of a blackish colour is woven out of several little Fibres and Vessels united and twisted one among another which for its resemblance to a Net is call'd Plexus Retiformis the Net resembling Fold This Plexus Retiformis or Net-resembling Fold is in my opinion there plac'd that the Orifice of the Sheath may be so much the closer straiten'd and the Virile Member straitly embrac'd For being distended with that plenty of Blood when by reason of the fleshie Fibres of the Sphincter Muscle compressing it it cannot swell outward it must swell inwardly and straiten the Orifice of the Sheath Now the distension of these parts will appear to the Eye if the bloody Vessels running through along the back of the Clitoris be fill'd with a little breath for then the whole Privity swells together with that same Fold Now because this Chanel of the Sheath is narrower in Virgins many with Soranus believe that the pain which Virgins feel in the first act of Coition and the Blood which breaks forth is caus'd by the Dilatation of this Chanel by the Yard and the Rupture of the little Veins and Arteries passing thorough it which others rather ascribe to the Rupture of the Vagina or Sheath XIII The Use of the Vagina or Sheath is to receive the Yard to embrace and gently gird it self about it To this end it grows warm in the heat of Lust by reason of the Afflux of Blood and Spirits to it So that it is somewhat in a manner erected and dilates it self the more conveniently to admit the Yard Whereas when that heat is over by reason of its laxity and softness it prevents the entrance of the External Air nor if the woman be in a Bathe will it admit water to enter the womb but when a woman has her monthly Purgations or is troubled with the Whites as also in time of Labour it does not dilate it self but the closing sides of it being press'd down by the weight of the Birth and Humours part one from another and so are compelled to give way to necessary Evacuation XIV Now that the Vagina must and ought to be dilated in the same manner as has been said and without that dilatation would hardly admit the Virile Member is plain from those women that take no pleasure either in a violent or unvoluntary Coition but rather on the other side complain of great pains by reason of the violent forcing of the sides of the Vagina one from another through the force of the entring Yard and is yet more apparent from the pain that some Virgins feel that come to be lain withal before they have any understanding and consequently no understanding to warm them to the Action In reference to which Plazzonus relates a very sad Story Lately says he it happened that a young man being to lye with his Bride the first night what with his eager haste and the robustious intrusion of his Member he not only broke the neck of her Bladder but the Intestinum Rectum withal For which I could give no other Reason but that her Privity not us'd to erection slagg'd in its first performance of admitting and receiving her Husband's first Addresses Thus I remember that I knew a young Bride in upper Batavia to whom by the violent immission of the Yard in the first Act of Coition and suddain dilatation of the Vagina there happen'd such a prodigious Flux of Blood that in three hours she lost her Life together with her Virginity And the like unfortunate Accident some years ago befell the Daughter of a certain Citizen of Utrecht who was so wounded the first night that before morning the Flux of Blood not being to be stopp'd she expir'd XV. Below the insertion of the Neck of the Bladder in Virgins there appears a thin nervous Membrane continuous to the Neck of the Substance and sticking orbicularly to its sides interwoven with fleshie Fibres and furnish'd with many little Arteries and Veins and bor'd through the middle for the Efflux of the monthly Purgations that in grown Virgins it will hardly admit the top of the little finger which the Ancients call'd Hymen others the Claustrum of Virginity others the Girdle of Chastity Which being safe and whole is a certain sign of Virginity and being that which must of necessity be broken by the first irruption of the Virile Member and senâ—…s forth a small quantity of Blood which they call Flos Virginitatis the Flower of Virginity but being broken it vanishes and never more grows again XVI This Membrane to the great loss of health has been observ'd by Cabrolius Vesalius and others not thin and perforated as is before mention'd but somewhat thick firm and contiguous and sometimes bor'd through like a Sive So in the Year 1666. in the Month of March we dissected a young Woman of three and twenty years of Age wherein we found that same Membrane continuous not perforated at all and so firm that the stoutest Efforts of a lusty young Bride grown could never have pierc'd it Now when it is so extreamly strong then in grown Women there is a stoppage of the Flowers and other Evacuations that way which is the Death of many Virgins unless cur'd by cutting the Membrane of which sort of Cure there are several Examples to be found in Benivenius Wierus Aquapendens Hildan and several others Here some have been of Opinion That the said Membrane hard and unperforated is a Substance quite different from the Hymen growing there contrary to the order of Nature whereas in truth it is the Hymen it self preternaturally harden'd to that Solidity neither will any man ever find any other XVII Many question the truth of this Membrane others deny that ever it was found and account as Fables whatever has been said concerning the Hymen Others with Oribasius Soranus Fernelius and Laurentius conceited Virginity to be nothing else than the wrinkled straitness of the Female Vagina overspread with Veins the dilaceration of which in the first Act of Coition and the rupture of the little Veins by means of the same violence causes a light Flux of Blood But Vesalius and Fallopius most expert Anatomists have found that Membrane in all Virgins as have also Columbus Plater Picolomni Iubart Spigelius Wierus Regner de Graef and several other eminent Persons to whose Ocular Testimony we must give credit And not only they but I my self at the Dissection of a Virgin about two and twenty years of Age in Decemb. 1671. shew'd that Membrane to several Students in Physic resembling a membranous Ring orbicularly plac'd in the Vagina of the Womb with a hole in the middle as big as the top of the little finger not exactly round but somewhat oblong in the upper part And Swammerdam writes that he took out such a Hymen out of the Body of a
〈◊〉 to conceive in English the Womans Privities or Quaint is seated in the foremost Region of the Share-bone XXIII In Virgins it is much less and thicker than in those that have had Children and in those that are arriv'd at years of Maturity is cover'd with Hair above and on each side while Nature endeavours to hide the obscene Part. Spigelius believes there may be a certain Judgment made of the bigness of the Privity by several External Marks For says he Anat. l. 1. c. 10. the proportion of the Womans Privity is to be taken for the most part from her mouth for they that have wide mouths and large eyes have generally large Privities and I have observ'd by manifold Experience that all thick and fat Women that have large Breasts and Bellies have also large Privities On the other side they that have little flat Breasts a narrow Mouth a peeked Chin and thin Lips have likewise straiter and narrower Privities XXIV The outward Lips appear first to the Eye which toward the Hair are somewhat thicker and higher rais'd and there closing and more protuberant compose the Mount of Venus as being seated at the Threshold of Venus's Temple which they that offer to Venus must be forc'd to enter XXV They are compos'd of a peculiar fleshie Substance and in some measure spungy which in heat of Lust swells and at the time of Delivery becomes very soft and tumid It was my hap to see in two Women newly deliver'd of the Birth when the Secundine follow'd their Lips so loosen'd and a great part of the Uterine Liver thrust it self into them whereupon the Midwife not understanding what such an unusual Accident meant the Physician and Surgeon were call'd who observing the Lips to be stuff't with the said Liver and for that reason unusually swell'd and withal as it were a piece of black Flesh budding forth thought the Privity to be torn in the Labour and the part to be already gangren'd Thereupon believing the Woman to be in very great danger I was sought for But when I came to view the Privity I presently observ'd that black Flesh to be a part of the Vterine Liver which had thrust it self into the Lips being inwardly dilated which being drawn out with a pair of Nippers both Women were freed from the imaginary fear of any Gangrene XXVI Riolanus attributes to these Lips a slight Motion of Dilatation and Constriction which he affirms to have been often experienced in lustful Women stimulated more than usually with the stings of Venery And farther he says that the Constriction is made by the Muscle of the Clitoris extended under the Lips of the Privity and the Dilatation by the other Muscle which is under the Ligament Lindan will rather have these two Muscles extended from the Sphincter of the Podex through the Groyns and being thin and broad to be inserted into the Internal Front of the Lips and upon the Evacuation of Urine that the Lips are by them divided and after pissing clos'd again XXVII Near to the Lips stand two fleshie soft Productions call'd Nymphae Nymphs or Wings in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These arise at the joyning together or commissure of the Share-bones where they are joyn'd with an acute Angle and constitute the wrinkl'd fleshie Production that clothes the Clitoris like the Praeputium and descend about half way the Lips every where touching one another for the most part and end in their lower part with an obtuse Angle as being almost of a Triangular Figure resembling somewhat in colour that part of the Cock's Comb that hangs under his Throat XXVIII They are of a ruddy Substance partly fleshie partly membranous soft puffie clad with a thin Tunicle different in thickness and bigness according to the diversity of Age being generally about a fingers joynt in length and thin nor very broad in Virgins till five and twenty years of Age. In those of riper years especially such as have lain with Man and born Children they become thicker and broader but never descend above half way the Lips These very seldom grow luxuriant in our Regions but among the Egyptians by the report of Galen frequently grow out to such a length that through the shame and trouble which they cause they are forc'd to make use of Incision XXIX These Nymphs together with the Lips besides the little Nerves from the sixth Pair have very many remarkable Vessels dispers'd through the outer and inner Substance For they receive Arteries from the Branch of the Inner Iliac call'd the Privity-Branch conveighing plenty of Blood in the heat of Lust which causes 'em to swell They also send Veins to the Privity-Vein into which when the heat of Lust is over they again empty their collected Blood Which Veins in Women with Child sometimes swell to that degree that they resemble those Swellings call'd Varices XXX The use of the Lips and Nymphs is to close and straiten the Entrance of the Privity and to preserve the Womb from the Injuries of the External Air. Concerning the Lips and Nymphs I observ'd an unusual Accident at Nimmeghen in the year 1640. A certain Woman a Seaman's Wife together with her Daughter about four and twenty years of Age and after she had shed a great many Tears out of her modesty made her complaint That her Daughter was uncapable of Man and asked me if I could remove the Obstacle She told me that her Daughter's Privity presently after she was born was well shap'd but being after that put to Nurse and carelesly look'â—… after her Buttocks Privities and Parts adjoyning would be miserably excoriated by the Acrimony of the Urine and Excrement by which means her Privity clos'd together leaving only a little hole for the passage of her Urine and Flowers When I view'd the Part I found the Lips and the Nymphs were exactly grown together as if there never had been any passage before Thereupon thrusting an Iron Probe in at the hole I found that the closure was only superficial but that within there was nothing grown preternaturally together Sending therefore for Henry Chatborn the Surgeon I order'd him to make an Incision upon the Iron Probe thrust into the hole and then to cure up the Wound which was done in a few days insomuch that the Maid in three Months after being married to a Husband there were no farther Complaints of the narrowness of the Privity and the next year she was deliver'd of a lusty Infant XXXI Between the closing Lips appears the Rift or Clift of the Privity and the Wings and Lips being separated the Cleft appears still deeper which the Moderns call the Dike or the Great Cleft to distinguish it from the first mention'd This runs along from the Share bones to the folding of the Buttocks and the Podex distant from it about a thumbs breadth and the more backward it bends the broader and deeper it is and forms as it
were a hollow Valley or a hollow Dike representing the shape of a small Ship and terminates in the Border of the Orifice of the Uterine Vagina This same space which is generally call'd Interfâ—…mineum and Interforamineum we have observ'd in hard Labours most terribly dilacerated and by that means the Cleft or lower part of the Vagina has gap'd to the very Podex difficultly cur'd in some and in others never Into the middle of the Dike enters the Orifice of the neck of the Womb or Vagina or Chanel that receives the Yard To which at the upper part adjoyns the urinary Passage through which the Urine flows out of the Bladder Which Orifice of the neck of the Womb or Vagina is sometimes so straitened by Chaps and Fissures or the Scar of some Exulceration that never afterwards they are able to lie with their Husbands Sometimes also after violent Labour being dilacerated it closes up altogether and leaves the woman unperforated or else with a very small Hole Of which Bauhinus produces several Examples Anat. l. 1. c. 39. And Cabrolius in his Observ. 23. relates the Stoppage of this Orifice in a Chirurgeon and how it was open'd again by a Chirurgeon XXXII Now a little higher in the middle part between the Wings there juts out a small Particle called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clitoris 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to wantonize and lasciviously to handle a Womans Privities Avicen calls it Albathara or a Twigg By Albucasis it is called Tentigo For it answers the Virile Twig or Rod in Shape Situation Substance Repletion with Spirits and Erection differing only in bigness and length XXXIII It is a small round Body consisting of two nervous Portions black within and spungy rising on both sides from the Excrescence of the Huckle-Bone as from two Thighs meeting together at the Conjunction of the Share-Bone Which Beginnings or Thighs Riolanus calls the white Ligaments To these Thighs the round Ligaments of the Womb reach with their Ends which formerly being led astray by Spigelius I took to be the Vessels conveighing the Seed XXXIV The Extremity or Nut of the Clitoris is called Tentigo having a Substance like that of the Nut of a Mans Yard which is covered with a certain thin Skin like the Praeputium proceeding from the Conjunction of the Wings At the top there appears a long hole like the hole of a Mans Yard but not pervious or bor'd quite through XXXV The Clitoris like a Mans Yard has four Muscles serving for the same Office two round above arising from the Hip-Bone and two below broad and fleshy proceeding from the Sphincter of the Podex which creeping backward through the Lips of the Privity are fasten'd to the Clitoris The use of which Regner de Graef believes to be not so much for the Erection of the Clitoris as for the Contraction of the Orifice of the Uterine Vagina Pinaeus acknowledges only three Muscles XXXVI It receives Arteries from the Privitie-Arteries which in the heat of Concupiscence and Coition bring spirituous Blood in great Quantity which afterwards the privity Veins carry back to the greater Veins Besides these Regner de Graef has observ'd such like Vessels to reach from the Haemmorrhoidals to the Clitoris Now these Vessels are communicated to the Clitoris where the two meeting they constitute its third body whose Substance they enter only with small little Branches and together with the Animal Spirit flowing through the Nerves cause it to swell in the height of Concupiscence The same Regner de Graef observes that the Veins of the right and left side for the most part are clos'd together by Anastomoses before they descend to the sides of the Clitoris and run forward to the Net resembling Fold and other parts of the Pudendum but that in the Arteries of each side Anastomoses are rarely to be found XXXVII Besides the Vasa Sanguifera there is also a small Nerve proceeding from the sixth Pair which endues it with an exquisite Sense of Feeling and occasions that pleasing Titillation in the act of Venerie so that the chiefest Seat of Womens Pleasure in Coition is in this part VVhence by Bauhinus it 's call'd the Sting of Venus by Columbus and others the Sweetness of Love Nevertheless the most charming and voluptuous Titillation lies in the rubbing of the Tentigo or Nut. XXXVIII Very rarely or hardly ever do we hear of what Bauhinus has observed concerning a Clitoris that it became bony in a Venetian Curtesan which by reason of its extream Hardness did so offend and hurt her Lovers in Coition that many times by reason of Inflammations they were forced to fly to the Surgeon for Help XXXIX A little below the Clitoris above the Mouth of the Uterine Vagina between the Nymphae the exit of the Urinary Passage is Conspicuous which being somewhat prominent and composing the superior Caruncle is the Extremity of the Sphincter of the Bladder by means of which Sphincter after the Urine evacuated the Orifice of the bladder is again drawn together and closed up XL. The neck of the Bladder in grown Women is the breadth of two Fingers in length wrapt about by the Sphincter Muscle which enfolds the whole length of it XLI But the neck it self consists within of a thin Membrane which the Membranous Substance girdles round being as it were glandulous whitish and about the length of one Finger thick and full of Pores especially near the Exit of the Urinary Passage through which several larger Chanels running terminate near the Exit of the Urinary Passage and in the forepart of the Uterine Vagina Some there are who think that the virious serous and flegmatick Humours that dayly flow from many women are evacuated through these Chanels but Regner de Graef a most accurate Anatomist not without good Reason ascribing to that thicker Substance encompassing the Urethra the use of the Prostates believes that there is bred therein a kind of seminal and somewhat slimy Juice endued with a certain Acrimony and Saltness which causes Desire and makes women Salacious and breaking forth through those little Chanels and Pores renders the Privities delightfully Slippery in Coition The same Regner de Graef who believes that viscous Matter coming from the Yard in the Gonorrhea to be seldom evacuated from the Stones or seminal Vessels but most frequently from the Stones believes also that in women troubled with the Gonorrhea the same matter is evacuated out of these Parts alone which he calls Prostates and confirms it by this Example Now that the Gonorrhea says he slows from the Glandulous Body and through the little Sewers in and about the Urinary Passage the Dissection of a certain Woman infected with this Disease made manifest for her Womb and Vagina being untouch'd we found only the Glandulous Body or Prostates to be faulty XLII But the said Orifice or neck of the Bladder
by reason of the softness of the Substance may easily be dilated for Stones of an indifferent bigness to be expell'd and brought away by the great quantity of Urine rushing out at the same time with little or no Trouble or so that the same Stones Dilatation being first made by the help of Instruments may be drawn out of the bladder without any Incision as we find it many times successfully done by your Lithotomists XLIII The Clitoris is usually but small and lies hid under the Nymphs in the middle fatter part of the Privities or in the top of the larger Cleft Afterwards in grown People it grows somewhat prominent and when it swells it stirs up Concupiscence Riolanus well observes that in living People where all things swell with Heat and Spirit this Part is manifestly to be seen especially in the more Lascivious that have more voluptuously addicted themselves to Copulation but that in dead women it hardly appears by reason of the smallness of its bulk that falls upon the Dissipation of the Spirits And yet we publicly shew'd it at the Theater in the dissected body of one not above twenty four Years of Age. XLIV Sometimes it happens that contrary to the common Course of Nature this part grows out much more in length like the Yard of a Man so that Women have made an ill use of it by copulating with others of their own Sex hence called Confricatrices but anciently Tribades Thus Platerus asserts that he saw a womans Clitoris equalling in length and thickness the Neck of a Goose. Riolanus and Schenkius have observed it as long as a Mans little Finger Regner de Graef saw a Girl new Born whose Clitoris had such a Resemblance to a Mans Yard that the Midwife and the rest of the women there present took it for a Boy and gave it a Mans Name in Baptism Plempius writes of one Helena that lay with several Women and vitiated several Virgins with that Part. I my self in a certain woman at Montfort saw a Clitoris as long and thick as the ordinary Yard of a Man which happened to grow to that extent after she had lain in three or four times XLV This is that part which in Hermaphrodites thus prodigiously encreasing forms the Virile Member which appears from hence that in the slit of the Nut there is no conspicuous Perforation to be seen tho' the Stones seem to joyn to it at the sides without Such an Hermaphrodite I remember I once saw in France near Anjou about 28 Years of Age who was bearded about the Mouth like a Man yet went in womens Apparel and for a small matter turn'd up her Coats to any one that had a mind to satisfy Curiosity In this Party the Clitoris at the upper end of the Privity was grown out of the Privity about half a Fingers length and as thick as a Mans Yard with a Nut Bridle and Foreskin as in Men only that the Slit of the Nut was not perforated Such another English Hermaphrodite about 22 Years of Age in the Year 1668 we saw at Utretcht whose Governour reported that he was born a perfect Girl but that when she came to be about five or six Years of Age her Genitals began to be changed and by that time she came to be ten Years old her Yard became conspicuous We saw the Yard hanging forth about half a Finger long but the Slit of the Nut was not persorated otherwise not unlike a Mans Yard the Praeputium of which was form'd by the Closure of the Nymphs which half covered and uncovered the Nut as in Men. And this Yard would upon venereal and lascivious Thoughts erect it self a Fingers length as his Governour reported In each of the Lips of the Privity as in so many Cods one Stone was contained A little below the Clitoris was the urinary Passage and the Sheath of the Womb. His Governour related that he had his monthly Courses at set times like other women and in height of Lust the Seed would flow forth but that the Hermaphrodite himself could not tell whether it flow'd through his Yard or from his Female Privities His Duggs that were but small and his hairy Breast and Thighs seem'd to denote something Masculine as also his Voice and his Hair which was very thick and curling with the Beard apparently beginning to shoot forth upon his Lips At first he wore womans Apparel but the next Year when I saw him again at my own House by reason his Beard grew so notorious he altered his Habit and put on Mans Apparel From whence it appears that these Hermaphrodites are not such as partake of both Sexes but are really women whose Genitals are not rightly form'd while the Stones fall down into the Lips of the Privity and the Clitoris grows out to an extraordinary Length XLVI Here arises a very weighty Question whether your Confricatrices and Hermaphrodites lying with other women spend any Seed through their Clitoral Yard and eject it into the Womb I must confess I was once so much for the Affirmative that I maintained it in the first Edition of my Anatomy thinking it might be confirm'd by Reason and Experience By Reason Because I thought it no more a Wonder for the Seed to pass the invisible Pores of the Slit of the Clitoris than in Men for it to pass from the Stones to the Urinary Vesicles through the invisible Pores of the Vasa deferentia Add to this that those female Rubbers do not feel less Pleasure in that Coition than Men in their Copulation with Emission of Seed By Experience Because I my self formerly knew a woman of no mean Quality that made her Complaints to me that when she was young and feeling the Itch of Lechery she was wont often to rub her Clitoris with her Finger and so was wont to provoke her self to spend her Seed with great delight But in progress of time this ill Custom turn'd to a Distemper So that if her Privity were never so little touch'd either by the Cushion where she â—…ate or by her own Drawers when she walk'd or by any other manner of way presently her Seed flew from her whether she would or no neither was she able to retain it at her own Pleasure upon which she came to me for Remedy She told me moreover that she could certainly feel her Clitoris swell and itch upon the least wanton Thought and that she certainly believ'd that the Seed which was provok'd by the rubbing of her Finger flew out from that part meaning her Clitoris Here comes in a remarkable Story related by Iacob Duval Tract de Hermaph with the whole Proceedings of the Court upon the Tryal Where among other things he reports that a certain Widow woman who had two Sons living by her deceased Husband and was married the second time through Ignorance to a Hermaphrodite confessed that the said Hermaphrodite one Night entered her Body four times and so strenuously and naturally
did her business that she never lay with her Husband with more Pleasure Which Reasons and Examples seem'd formerly to me to prove that your female Rubbers and Hermaphrodites lying with other women eject their Seed out of the Clitoris as Men out of the Yard But because in this Age Anatomy grows still to more and more Perfection through the great Diligence and Labour of many eminent Persons hence it came to pass that by frequent Examination and Inspection I found the round Ligaments of the Womb not to be the ways through which the Seed could be carried to the Clitoris nor that there was any Urethra nor any thing like it in the Clitoris not that any Seed could pass through its Slit and therefore of necessity it behov'd me to recant my former Opinion finding the forementioned Reasons and Examples not sufficient to defend it For as to that woman that provoked forth a seminal Matter by the rubbing of the Clitoris 't is very likely that that same viscous Matter flew out of the foresaid Prostates into the Vagina as it is frequent with Men to spend upon rubbing their own Yards and then bursting forth of the Mouth of the Sheath moisten'd the Clitoris which deceiv'd the woman and made her think that the Seed flew out of the Clitoris The same is to be said of other female Rubbers exercising other women as also of Duvals Hermaphrodite whose wife thought he had spent into her body through his extended Clitoris VVhich Error proceeded from hence that while her Husband rubbed the sheath of her womb with his Clitoral Yard the viscous Matter being provoked out of her Prostates by the Pleasure of Frication flew out into her Vagina with which Pleasure the woman being ravished and deceiv'd thought it had proceeded from the Seed ejected into her womb by the Hermaphrodite But all these things being more seriously considered most certain it is that no Seed of women is evacuated through the Clitoris XLVII Thus having describ'd all the Parts of Women serving for Generation here are two Questions to be answered First Whether the Genitals of Women differ from those of Men but only in Situation Secondly Whether a Woman may be changed into a Man XLVIII As to the first Galen seem to demonstrate and teach it in his Book de usu Part. with whom many both Grecians and Arabians take part who unanimously affirm that the Genitals of Women differ only in Situation The one by reason of the colder temper of Women and weakness of Nature being conceal'd within the other by reason of the extraordinrry Heat and Strength of Nature being thrust forth of the Body For that if the womb should be thrust forth it would hang with the inside turn'd the outside and the external smooth and equal part would become the innermost and the inner rugged and unequal side would become outermost and so form a Cod and the Stones that cleave to the sides within the Abdomen would be contained in that innermost Scrotum which Scrotum were to be distinguished with a Seam in the middle as the womb is distinguished within to which the Clitoris being remov'd would form a Yard above it Or if the Mans Cod should be forc'd toward the inner Parts then it must have the form of the womb within the Abdomen and the Stones contain'd therein must cleave to the sides on each side and the Yard drawn in must be hid like the Clitoris XLIX But tho' this most ingenious Contrivance be adorn'd with some probability yet certain it is that the Genital Parts of both Sexes tho' they seem in some things to resemble one another but only in Situation nevertheless they differ very much in many things For 1. in women the Arteries and Veins are much shorter and more twisted than in men 2. They want the Pyramidal Body form'd out of the Veins and Arteries before their entrance into the Stones 3. Secondly they want the Parastates and Seminal Vessels 4. Their Prostates are of a different shape from those of men 5. The Tubes are wanting in men and the Vasa Deferentia are of another sort than those in women 6. The Testicles differ in bigness and shape being much less more moist and lither in women than in men 7. The Substance of mens Stones consists of Seminary Vessels with some few Vasa Sanguifera interwomen one within another but the Stones of women consist of Membranes Vessels Cups Vesicles and other Bodies 8. The Clitoris differs very much from the man's Yard in length and thickness neither is it perforated with any conspicuous hole like the Yard 9. There is no Urethra in the Clitoris 10. The Scrotum differs extreamly from the Substance of the womb as being that which in the womb is thick compacted and nervous and in women with child grows to the thickness of two fingers in the Cod the skin is soft wrinkled and never increases in thickness 11. In Brutes who have a horned womb it is apparent that the womb turn'd inside outside will not form a Scrotum tho' their Males have a Scrotum like the Scrotum of men in their Females nothing like a Clitoris or a Yard was ever yet discover'd or if the Scrotum should be turn'd to the inner parts could the Yard supply the place of a Clitoris seeing that in a Dog a Wolf a Fox and several other Creatures the Yard is inwardly bony So that if it were true that the Genitals in men differ'd only in Situation the same also would happen in Brutes which as is obvious to any man neither is nor can be When it is apparent that the secret Parts of men and women differ not only in Situation but in Substance Bigness and Use. L. As to the latter Whether women may be chang'd into Men Experience seems to confirm it as a thing most certain and the Authority of Histories For there are several Stories of Women chang'd into Men. Pliny writes that in the Consulship of Licinius Crassus and Cassius Longinus there was a Child born at Cassinum of a Virgin which by the command of the Southsayers was carried into a Desart Island He also relates what Mutianus asserts That he saw a Maid at Argos who after she was married became so much a Man with Beard and all other Virile parts that she afterwards married a Wife and that of the same sort he saw a little Boy at Smyrna Pliny adds That he saw in Africa L. Cossicius a Citizen of Trisidis now Tensert who being a Female and married upon the very Wedding-day was changed into a Male. Among our Modern Authors Cardinal Volaterran under Alexander VI. attests that he saw a Virgin who had a Yard that fell down upon her Nuptial day Pontanus tells us of a Woman of Cajeta a Fisherman's Wife that became a Man after she had been fourteen years a Woman and the same thing happen'd to Emilia the Wife of Antony Spensa a Citizen of Eboli in the Kingdom of
and acting it cannot do otherwise than out of that convenient Matter of which it consists it self and where it is inherent that is out of it self to form such Parts of which it contains in it self the Ideas and so by degrees renders the rest of the Matter of the Egg apt and fit which giving way to the Growth of those Forms may be able also to assume their Shape Which I shall endeavour to illustrate by a Comparison As Coles extinguished Straw Turf Wood and other Materials do not take Fire nor flame out unless some subtle Matter having the form of Fire enter 'em and raise the first Idea of Fire which then makes fit the rest of the Matter that it may be able to assume the like form of Fire so there is no Creature of the same likeness raised out of the Egg unless it enter some Egg which bears the Idea of that same Creature which making of it self the first delineation of that Creature at the same time renders the rest of the Matter of that same Egg fit first to increase its Delineation and then assume the form of all its Parts Now this is that same Idea-bearing Spirit ingrafted in the Male Seed and separated from its thicker Mass by the benefit of the Uterine Heat and so infused into the Eggs. XXXI Now the Seed receives those Ideas from all and every singular Part for as from all Bodies infinite subtle Beams issue forth expressing the Figure and external Colour of all those Bodies from whence they flow so also from every the smallest Particles of the Body certain most subtil little Bodies issuing from the smallest Particles of the Body like most spirituous Atoms are mix'd with the said Spirit flowing from them which then has the same Impression of the Body from whence it flow'd and receiv'd the same small forth-flowing Body that lighting upon the proper Subject to which it is inherent it may be effectual out of it self to produce and form a Body like to that from which it received the imprinted Shapes For those most subtle Bodies flowing either from some Body or some part of a Body cannot but have obtain'd a model or fashioning from it such as are the Shapes of the Things within the Bodies out of which they flow And so the seminal Spirit obtains some propriety of those Particles of the Body out of which it flow'd and that not only of the Figure but of the whole Nature XXXII But these Proprieties of the singular Particles are not separated in that Spirit but fall and meet together in every Particle of it and then display themselves again in the Formation In like manner as a thousand Beams of visible things meet together in one Mirror and out of them distinguishes the Figures and Colours of every particular thing And hence it is that every Particle of this Spirit has a power to form the whole Creature Which Efficacy however is more powerful when many Particles are collected together in one Bubble For as a few visible Beams flowing from any thing whatever sufficiently represent the Figure and Colour of it and yet that Figure and that Colour are more apparently more accurately and rightly discovered if many Beams concur to depaint and set it forth as in Concave Glasses so also the particular Particles of this Spirit have a power to form the whole yet is the Fashioning more perfect if many Particles endu'd with the same Power be joyn'd together and execute their work with united force Now if the Particles of this Spirit be collected in the Bubbles not of one but of several Eggs thence the Generation of several Births for the forming Spirit has sufficient Power to form the whole in every Bubble Which is easily observ'd in Birds For the Sperm of a Cock which is injected into the Hen but in a very small Quantity but full of Spirit when it lights into the Ovary is dispersed through all those Eggs which are already come to Maturity and is the sole Cause of enfertilizing the small Particles in each Egg and being agitated by the external Heat and the little quantity of Spirit absconded therein is the efficient Cause of the Chicken and also the Matter of the first Delineation XXXIII Now this same Spirit flowing from the several Particles is mixed with the Blood and is circulated together with it through the whole Body and gives it an aptness to nourish all the Parts For if the Blood had not something in it self like to the several Parts it could not nourish all the Parts and add something alike to every individual Particle The Particles of this Blood which are changed into Seed contain also this same Form-bearing Spirit within 'em which is therefore involv'd within the Seed made in the Stones and that in a considerable Quantity and composes its more noble and primary efficient Part yet such as cannot subsist nor be preserv'd entire without the thicker material Part. XXXIV Here arises a difficult Question how those Parts are generated out of the Seed of which Parts the Parents were destitute long before Generation seeing that no Idea no forming Power or Architectonic Spirit can flow from them I answer that this is done because the Imagination of the Parents supplies that Defect who daily seeing other Infants Boys and grown People born and well shaped with all their Members firmly imagine with themselves that they shall beget the like And so no less imprint the Ideas of the defective Parts in the said Spirit and model both it and the whole Seed no otherwise than if the modelling had proceeded from those Parts For how far Imagination prevails in this particular appears in Women with Child who by the force of Imagination only forming strange Ideas frequently add to the Birth not only the strange Figures Colours and Spots of the things imagined but the things themselves according to their whole Nature Thus have some Infants been born with Horns when the Mother has been so frighted by a horned Beast that she conceived such a deep impression of that Horn that has not only disfigured the Child with the Mold or Colour but with the very Substance of the Horn growing out I my self in the Year 1637 knew a Woman of thirty Years of Age in Gelderland who kept an Ape with a long Tail and took great delight in it This Woman was about a Month gon with Child at what time the Ape of a suddain leaping upon her Shoulders strook her over the Face with his Tail whence the woman conceived such an Idea of the Ape 's Tail and cherished it so strongly in her Imagination that at length she brought forth a Child with a Tail at the end of that Portion of the Back called the Coccyx thinly hair'd and of the same Colour with the Tail of the Ape which the Surgeons having cut off at the Request of the Parents the part gangren'd to the loss of the Childs Life Experience also teaches
Vessels appointed for the Evacuation of the Menstruum's And that that Pleasure which such women are sensible of in Copulation does not proceed from any Egg or Seed slipping out of the Stones into the womb but from the Viscous Seminal Matter which is squeez'd out of the Prostates into the Uterine Uagina LX. From what has been said it is sufficiently demonstrable that Womens Stones were not given 'em only for Ornament according to the Aristotelians which can be none in a part that is always hidden and never conspicuous but for absolute Necessity XLII Now what that Necessity is let us inquire And therefore that something may be produced out of Plants there is equally required both a Fertility of the Earth and a fecundity of the Seed The Fecundity of this Seed consists in the spirituous Blossom the fertility of the Earth in a convenient Heat and Moisture duly moistened and impregnated with Salt and sulphury Particles Unless these two concur nothing can be produced from the Seed of a Plant. For Example Let the best Wheat be thrown into a heap of Salt Iron Lead or dry Sand nothing grows from thence tho' the Seed be fruitful in it self because it does not light into convenient Matter wherein the generative Principle may be dissolv'd and set at work In like manner let the same Seed be cast into Earth where there is too great a quantity of Salt Lime Canker or any such matter endu'd with a corroding and sharp Quality then the Seed is corrupted and extinguished together with its generative Principle and produces nothing but if it be thrown into a fat Earth well dung'd then the Heat assisting the more thin Particles of the terrene Moisture enter the small Pores of the Seed and are intermix'd with its Substance which thereupon swells and so the Germen or generative Principle is dissolved and falls to work and whatever is thence form'd is nourished augmented and increased by the same Moisture melted and mix'd together with the thicker Particles of the Seed being afterwards to receive from the Earth more and more solid Nourishment when once it has taken Root XLIII And thus it is in the Generation of Man The Womb is the Earth first receiving the masculine fruitful Seed But unless that Land be moistened with a convenient dewie Moisture embrace and dissolve that received masculine Seed and send forth it s more subtle engendring Parts through the Tubes to the Eggs contained in the Stones or Ovaries and that the Eggs thus impregnated proceed to the Womb that through its cherishing Heat the generative Principle infused into 'em may fall to work I say unless all this be from the masculine Seed alone tho' never so fruitful there will be nothing generated For nothing is generated from the Male Seed alone tho' most fruitful in its self Now that same Female Albuminous Seed of the Eggs is like the fat moisture of the Earth nay it is the very fat prepared Moisture it self which conveniently receiving the spirituous part of the Male Seed and entering its Pores dissolves it rowses the generative Principle latent therein and excites it to Action Which proceeding into Act presently forms out of its self in a small Compendium the whole that is to be form'd that is the first Delineations of the whole Birth and nourishes it with that agreeable Albuminous Moisture upon which it swims first by Irroration and Apposition till it be brought to such a Solidity and that the Bowels are become so strong that afterwards they may be able to make and prepare for themselves Nourishment carried to the Womb and infused through the Mouth and Navel XLIV Hence it is apparent why Copulation does not follow every time that a man lies with an Empty woman because that if a woman through any Distemper of the Ovaries or their bad Structure or by reason of her years or through any other cause be destitute of Eggs or that the albuminous Matter latent in the Eggs be badly temper'd too sharp too hot too cold or endu'd with any bad quality and so be unfit for the dissolution of the Procreative Male Seed then no Conception can happen because the spiritous procreative Principle of the Male Seed is for the same Reasons stifled and corrupted But this is not the only cause why Conception is hinder'd for it frequently also happens that the Eggs of Women are not come to their just Maturity or through some Impediment of the Passages the generative Principle cannot come to the Eggs nor the Eggs to the Womb or else the Male Seed being weak of its self and destitute of a generative Principle or for that its generative Principle is corrupted and suffocated in the Womb before it can reach the Eggs by reason of the bad temper of the Womb or else from the vitious Humours therein settled for which Reasons there can be no Conception XLV However it be the true manifest and necessary Use of the Male Seed appears from what has been already said as being that without which there can be no Generation of Man no more than Generation of Plants without a fruitful Moisture of the Earth XLVI Here a material Question arises If there be such a necessity of the Female Seed in respect of the dissolving cherishing nourishing Matter whether it have any share in the forming the Birth Hitherto it has been the common Opinion That it has a share as well of the forming Cause as of being the nourishing Matter and that it is mix'd with the Man's Seed and that one Mass is made of those two Seeds mix'd together and that out of that Mass being fermented in the Womb the spirituous procreative Principle is drawn forth by which and out of which the Members of the Birth are delineated and form'd Which Opinion Sennertus very speciously both propounds and defends and of which Ludovicus Mercatus is no less a strenuous Patron who thinks with one Herculean Argument to remove the whole Doubt and to prove the forming Power of the Female Seed Whatever assimilates saith he suffering with Victory of necessity acts but the Son is sometimes made like the Mother therefore the Mother acts in the Generation of the Son XLVII But tho' this whole Argument should be granted it does not follow that the Womans Seed affords any power to the forming of the Birth For there is a great deal of difference between the Mother acting and the Seed of the Mother acting For the Mother acts upon the Man's and her own Seed while she warms cherishes and embraces both in her Womb and so rowses that same procreative Principle into Action But this renders it fit for the Nutritive Matter But neither She nor her Seed contribute any thing to the forming of the Parts but as Mediums by which the latent Power in Male Seed is set at work But if the Womans Seed should act in forming and delineating the Birth then it ought to contain in it self
an active Principle of forming the Parts which might be provoked from power to act out of that alone by the cherishing of the Uterine Heat but it has not nor is any such thing drawn forth out of it as we have prov'd before and is manifest in Wind-Eggs The likeness of the Son to the Mother proves nothing in regard the Cause of it does not proceed from any act of the Seed but is imprinted from another Cause for the most part upon the Birth it self while it is forming and oftentimes after it is form'd and furnish'd with all its Members and sometimes some Weeks or Months after it is form'd For that innumerable Examples of Big-belly'd Women teach us that the various strong Imaginations of the Mother and unusual motions and determinations of the Spirits proceeding from thence do wonderfully change the Birth already form'd and imprint this or that figure upon it like soft Wax while some affrighted by some terrible sight others looking upon Pictures either with delight or abhorrency others earnestly longing for Cherries or other Fruits have imprinted strange Forms and Moles upon the Birth and that not long before Delivery which active power nevertheless neither proceeds from the Seed of the Woman nor can be any way attributed to her the Action being done long after the forming of the Birth XLVIII Besides the said Argument of Mercatus there are three more ponderous produc'd by other Persons 1. Because a Mule is generated between a Mare and an Ass. 2. Because that between a Man and a Beast no Man but an irrational Creature is generated 3. Because a white Woman many times Conceives by an Ethiopian and produces a white Infant Which things seem not to be done but by the forming power of the Female Seed as it concurs with the forming power of the Male Seed XLIX Before I dissolve these Difficulties I judge it reasonable to consider that the Male Seed does not proceed into act neither is there any thing produced out of it like to that from whence it proceeded unless there be a convenient Ferment and Nourishment mixed with it and if there be any Defect or Error or Corruption in either or in both then either nothing or something Vicious is produced out of it which Nature perfects however as far as it can In like manner as we see among Plants that the Seed of Barly and Wheat thrown into barren Ground degenerates into Darnel and other unprofitable Herbs having no resemblance to the former by reason of the Defect of convenient Ferment and Nourishment L. This being premised I come to the Objections and answer to the first that it does not prove that the female Seed concurs with the Masculine as the efficient Cause of Formation But that in the said Case the active Principle of Generation is neither duly produced out of the Masculine Sex nor conveniently proceeds into Action by reason of the Impediments that occur because that the Seed of the Ass is neither in the Egg conveniently enough dissolved and provoked into Act by the Seed of the Mare proportionably to the Nature of that Creature neither is there Nourishment sufficiently convenient afforded to it in the first Formation Hence the Workwoman Nature who never is idle when she cannot form and perfect an Ass begets a Creature next approaching to the Nature of the Ass that is to say a Mule which in respect of the Asses forming Seed is by Nature an Ass but in respect of the first Nutriment afforded in great Quantity by the Mare and participating of the Nature of the Mare causes a bulk of Body bigger than that of the Ass and in some measure resembling that of the Mare LI. To the Second I say That the same Defect happens to the Seed of the Man in the Womb and Eggs of the female Brute and hence Nature instead of a human Birth generates out of it an irrational Monster In like manner as in the Eggs and Wombs of women themselves by reason of the same defect of convenient Ferment of the womans Seed or some Corruption of that or the first Nourishment instead of a Man sometimes out of the fruitful male Seed Moles are generated sometimes Brute Beasts like Frogs half Dogs Dormice Lizzards and such like Monsters of which there are several Examples to be found among Writers of Physical Observations and among some Historians Which Monsters however are not generated by the female Seed as containing in it self any forming Power but through the Defect of the female Seed which being in a bad Condition causes that impediment by which the forming Power of the male Seed is so disturbed and obstructed that it cannot act aright LII To the Third I say That a white Woman may bring forth a white Infant tho' got with Child by a Negro Not through any forming Power in her Seed but through her strong Imagination and Fancy of a white Child and through the same strength of Imagination a Negro Woman may bring forth a white Infant Certainly the Imagination of women conceiving and with Child works wonders not only as to the forming of the Birth but also after the Formation And yet nothing of this can be ascrib'd to the actuating Power of the womans Seed LIII Some there were who thought that in the Mare before mentioned and in other brute Animals the Imagination strongly operates in the forming the Birth Which others as strenuously deny And because brute Animals are void of Reason therefore they will not allow 'em any Imagination but if any thing unusual were begotten in the womb they think it happened from the forming Power of the female Seed LIV. To these Arguments I answer That tho' Brutes may be said to be void of Reason Understanding and Memory yet they have something proportionable to it as is manifest from their Actions the Ox knows his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib The Bee when she brings home her Hony knows her own Apartment from a hundred that are like it and a Dog understands the Commands of his Master and does them And that there is something analogous to Imagination in Beasts Conceiving and bigg with Young is apparent from the Story of Jacob And I my self with several others saw a remarkable Example of this thing In the Year 1626. there came by chance a Dromedary to Montfort which the owner carried about to be shown The Creature was very large round and cleft Hoofs very thick Knees and swell'd to the bigness of a Mans Head This Dromedary by chance and out of the way met a Mare which had been covered about two or three days before by a Stonehorse which took such a Fright at the suddain meeting this Creature that presently starting back she threw the Country Man that rid her and when her time was out she foal'd a Colt of which all the right Thigh before was like the Thigh of a Dromedary with a large round Hoof
and cleft which Colt afterwards grew to be a strong Horse which we saw afterwards for many years working both in the Plough and the Cart. Certainly no Man in his Wits will say that this Error in Shaping proceeded from any efficient forming Power in the Seed of the Mare but rather from the strength of Imagination LV. Thomas Consentinus fancied a quite contrary Opinion touching this Matter for he writes that as well the first Matter from whence as the efficient Cause by which the Birth is form'd lies wholly in the female Seed But that the Mans Seed is neither the matter of the Seed to be form'd neither contains the forming Power in it self nor contributes any thing to Generation but only a certain insensible Substance which only kneads and moves the Matter brought by the Woman With him Deusingius agrees Lib. de Genesi Microcosmi where he most plainly teaches that the Birth is solely form'd out of the female Seed and that it is not only the Matter out of which it is delineated but that there is also in it a vegetable Soul that forms the Birth But that it cannot be produc'd into Act but by the assistance of the male Seed as a kind of Ferment that dissolves its Substance and so setting the latent Soul at Liberty and provoking it to act But this new Opinion is far remote from Truth while it attributes to the imperfect Seed of Women questioned by some whether it deserve the Name of Seed the whole power of forming and the sole matter for the Form For the Seed of a Tree Wheat Beans or Pease which is like the Seed of the Man being cast into its Womb the Earth does not dissolve the Seed or Juice of the Earth by its assisting Heat and produce its like out of it but is dissolved by it and so the spirituous part of it being set at Liberty and proceeding to Action forms out of it self the first Lineaments to be form'd and nourishes and enlarges 'em when they are form'd with the more thick Particles of it self which seem to supply the place of the womans Seed and then with the agreeable and convenient Juice of the Earth The thing is apparent in a Pea or a Bean which being laid in a warm and moist Place do not themselves ferment the moist Air that any thing should be generated out of it but are dissolved by the Air and so the spirituous part being set at Liberty and falling to work in themselves and out of themselves form the thing that is to be form'd and cast forth the first Bud. So it is in the male Seed both of Men and Beasts which being cast into the womb and entring the Eggs with its fructifying part does not within them produce any aptness in the womans Seed to form any thing out of it self but its generative Principle being dissolv'd by the female Seed contain'd in the Eggs containing the forming Power is collected in a small Bubble wherein being set at liberty it forms out of it self what is to be form'd and then the womans Seed included in the Egg which first supplied the place of fermentaceous Juice presently after serves for the first nourishment of the thing form'd Moreover what Deusingius talks of the Seed of a Cock injected into the Ovarie of a Hen that makes nothing against us For that the smallest quantity of the Seed of a Cock is sufficient for the first Lineaments of the Chicken to be form'd out of it For if a human Birth at the first laying its Foundations does not exceed the bigness of a Pismire how much smaller and less must the first Rudiments of a Chicken be and how small a Portion of Seed will its first Delineation require Nor is it true what Deusingius adds that the Cock at one treading infertilizes the whole Ovary and all the Eggs contained in it nay that the very smallest Egg some scarce so big as a Pea are thereby infertiliz'd tho' the Cock never tread Hen more For the Seed of the Cock neither enters nor infertilizes other Eggs than those that are come to a just Maturity The rest that are small and not ripe are no more impregnated by the Seed of the Cock than a Girl of five or six Years can be impregnated by the Seed of a Man For those crude and unripe Eggs are as yet not fit to admit and receive the Seed of the Cock and therefore daily treading is required to the end that those Eggs which every day grow ripe may be impregnated by the Seed of the Cock And hence it is that those Hens that are seldom trod lay many wind Eggs that come to nothing And therefore it is that they who desire many Chickens choose out the Eggs of such Hens as were most frequently trod by a brisk Cock The same Consideration may extend it self to womens Eggs which so long as they are unripe will not admit the generative Principle of the male Seed which is the reason that many young Women of cold Constitutions do not conceive in several Months after they are married because their Eggs are unripe and unfit to receive the generative part of mans Seed which afterwards they do when they come to full Maturity LVI Swammerdam also seems to ascribe both the Matter and the forming Spirit to the Seed of the woman Fecundation or Conception saith he is nothing else but a Communication of more perfect Motion So that the Egg which was nourished and laid in the Ovary after Conception the Ovary being left may live and be nourished after a more perfect manner that it may be thought to look after and maintain it self And in another place he says all the Parts are in the Egg. And assuming to himself the Opinion of Consentinus and Deusingius he asserts that the Seed of man contributes nothing to Fecundity and that neither the Matter out of which the first Delineation is made nor that forming Spirit is in it But if he bring not stronger Reasons than that of may be thought certainly his Argument will be too weak to confirm his Opinion or refute mine already proposed concerning the Seed of Man And indeed how mistrustful he is of his own Opinion he shews ye in these Words of his Fecundation cannot be demonstrated but by Reasoning and very difficultly by Experience LVII These and the like Considerations are the Reasons that the aforesaid Opinion of the forming Power of womans Seed has been dislik'd by many famous Men who therefore judged that the womans Seed concurr'd in Generation as a matter necessary to receive the procreative Part of the female Seed to cherish and give it Liberty and set it at work and to nourish the Embryo first delineated but contributes no Matter to the forming of the Lineaments nor can claim any thing of efficient Cause in forming the Birth Which latter was the Opinion of Aristotle stiffly afterwards defended by Caesar of Cremona as also by Scaliger in these words As
Body of the Embryo already delineated in the Bubble by which without the visible concoction of the Bowels it may be cherish'd and enlarg'd Now this Nourishment could neither be Blood nor Chylus as wanting a greater preparation and concoction before they can nourish and therefore for that purpose the provident Creator has included Female Seed in the Womans Egg like a certain white of a Hen Egg as being a most mild Humour most apt for the first cherishing and moistning Nourishment of the swimming Embryo nearest approaching to the nature of the tender parts already delineated nor having need of much concoction but only a slight preparation and a gentle colliquation and attenuation through the mild heat of the Womb. Thus also Galen writes That the Embryo is first nourish'd by the Female Seed as being that which is more familiar to its nature than the blood since every thing that is nourish'd must be nourish'd by its like As we find that Chickens are first nourish'd in the Eggs with the inner white which is the Seed of the Birds But in regard that in the little Egg which in women falls out of the Ovarie through the Tubes into the Womb there cannot be much female Seed contain'd therefore there is added to it a watery Juice being the remainder of the Mans Seed already melted and attenuated after the prolific Principle being separated from it and driven to the Ovaries which the Egg falling down into the Womb gentlely receives and embraces and penetrating the Pores of its little Stems and by that means entring the inner parts and mingling it self with the albumineous female Juice encreases in quantity the Colliquation where the Embryo swims and also strongly distends and amplifies the little Skins of the Egg that there may be a larger Seat for the Embryo and more Nourishment next approaching the Nature of its Principles But whether that seminal Liquor which flows from the Prostates of women in Copulation be mix'd with the residue of the mans Seed in the Womb or presently flow forth after the Act I cannot hitherto certainly find out Besides the prolific Principle before inclosed in the Egg goes to work much more strongly and vigorously when the thicker dissolv'd part of the mans Seed has entered thorough its Tunicles into the inner parts of it and by mixture of it self has conveniently dissolv'd the albumineous female Seed to make it more fit to rowle the Spirit of the prolific Principle into Act. The same appears also in Plants in whose Seed the prolifâ—…c Principle being included and intangled never proceeds into Act till they have suck'd in the Juice of the Earth through their Husks and Shells which dissolves the inner Substance that resembles the womans Seed and so sets the prolific Principle at Liberty to fall to work And so the first Cherishing and Nourishment of the Embryo is like that Substance out of which it is form'd or at least form'd out of the like Which is observ'd also by Aristotle who says The Matter is the same that constitutes and enlarges the Creature For whatever is added to the delineated Parts while they grow ought to be like that Substance out of which they were fram'd In which Particular Harvey also agrees XIII Nor let any body wonder that the remainder of the masculine Seed dissolved and attenuated should penetrate and enter the inner Parts of the Egg through the Pores of the little Skins of the womans Egg which Skins are very tender and porous at first but composing the Chorion and Amnion so close and firm that they will suffer the Penetration of no Humour For this Penetration may as well happen in a womans Egg as in the Seeds of Plants that through the Pâ—…res of their hard Shells easily imbibe the Moisture of the Earth by which the Rind is then very much dilated which causes the Seeds to swell and wâ—…th that imbib'd Moisture of the â—…arth mixed with the thicker dissolv'd Particles of the Seed the delineated Kernel so soon as shaped is nourished which being brought to that bigness as to want more Nourishment that cast forth Roots like Navils to draw out of the Earth a stronger Nourishment through them And thus it is a in human Embryo and the dissolv'd remainder of the mans Seed mix'd therewith But this Nourishment being almost spent the Womb begins to enlarge it self for the Passage thorough it of the Nourishment to the Embryo as through a Root XIV This foresaid Matter nourishes the Parts two ways First by a close Apposition as the tender delineated Parts are every way moisten'd and increased by it Secondly By the Assimilation of the Aliments concocted in their proper Bowels For that the newly form'd Bowels of the Embryo at first cannot undertake Concoctions nor prepare or make Nourishment which is the reason that the thin Nourishment is afforded by Apposition oâ—…t of the seminal Matter prepared before But soon after the Heart makes Blood of the same Matter for the more plentiful intrinsic Nourishment of the Parts and then to the Nourishment by Application is added another Nourishment by Reception Both these ways at the Beginning Harvey acknowledges Exercit. 9. For says he in all Nutrition and groâ—…ing there is equally necessary a near Application of the Parts and Concoctiâ—…n and Distribution of the apply'd Nourishment neither is the one to be accompted less true Nourishment than the other seeing that it happens by the Access Apposition Agglutination and Transmutation of new Nourishment Neither are Pease or Beans said less to be nourished with the Humor of the Earth which they suck in through their Tunicles like Spuâ—…ges then if they should admit the same Nourishment thoroâ—…gh the Orifices of little Veins c. But at length that seminal Liquor being spent and the Bowels being by this time well grown and corrobâ—…rated and the milkie Juice flowing copiously into the Amnion the Nourishment by Application ceases by degrees and Nourishment by inward Reception that is by the Blood takes place Because that milkie Liquor is not so agreeable to the parts of the Birth as the first seminal Liquor and therefore requires a more perfect Concoction and Alteration into Blood before it can nourish XV. But the Blood being bred in the Heart and imparted to the whole Body cleaves to the small Threads of the Parts first of the Heart then of the Liver Lungs Kidneys Stomach and Muscles c. For there are various thicker Particles in the Blood thin salt sulphury mix'd of which some cleave to and are more convenient for these and are united to them as they are more proper and agreeable to their Nature according to which variety of Nature they undergo several Alterations before they can be Assimilated And the more the Blood grows to these delineated Threads so much the more the fleshy Masses of the Bowels encrease and the rest of the Parts also by degrees are more and more compleated and grow stronger and stronger tho' some later
Mare had been open'd the first or second day there would have been no Seed found in her womb But if she had been dissected after the last Coition by which she conceiv'd without doubt there would have been found Seed in her womb And so would Harvey have found had he light upon Does that had conceiv'd For tho' in such a vast Herd of Deer several perhaps might have conceiv'd it does not follow that he dissected those that were impregnated altho' he might have accidentally fallen upon the one as well as the other 2. While those Creatures after a long chace are wearied frightned and at length kill'd 't is not to be wonder'd at that tho' they should have conceiv'd two or three days before if the Seed scarce yet melted should fall out of the womb the Orifice being open'd in that vast conturbation of Spirits both before and after they are taken For daily Experience tells us that many Women upon terrible Frights have not only cast forth the Seed conceived but even the Birth it self already form'd 3. If Bitches Conies and other Creatures urine and dung while they are killing for fear of death nay if the fear of punishment only work the same effects upon some no wonder that the Females of those Creatures a few days or hours after Coition should shed their conceiv'd Seed out of their wombs while they are killing and so that no Seed should be found in their wombs 4. The Seed included in the womb to the end that something may be produc'd out of it undergoes a great alteration in the womb nor does it altogether retain that form of substance which it had when it was first injected and so perhaps Harvey did not believe it to be Seed either being already melted or else imagining it was not there because so little XXIII From what has been said it appears that Harvey's Experiments cannot prove those things which he labours to maintain by them And therefore it is not for any to suffer himself easily to be perswaded that the Seed is of no use in Conception but that it flows out again from the womb either before or after Conception And therefore I think there is more credit to be given to Galen in this particular who being inform'd as well by his own as the Experiments of others found the thing to be otherwise Moreover I do not believe we ought to deny our credit to rational Women themselves who by speaking satisfie us that in Women that conceive the Seed does not flow forth out of the womb of which dumb and irrational Creatures are not able to give any account Lastly I cannot think there is any credit to be given to the Speculations taken from the sole inspection into brute Beasts there being little of certainty in 'em as being explain'd and wrested rather according to the preconceived Opinion of the Inspecter than according to Truth More than all this Harvey himself writes that about the eighteenth or at most the twentieth day of November he has seen sometimes in the right and sometimes in the left Horn of a Does womb a transparent colliquated matter and crystalline contain'd within its own proper Tunicle and in the middle bloody Fibres and a jumping point Which Matter since it was not rain'd down from Heaven I would sain know what else it could be but the Seed of the Female inclos'd in the Egg together with the jumping point and increas'd by the mass of the dissolv'd Masculine Seed encompassed with the Chorion and Amnion Now that he did not find the same Matter in many others no question the Reason was because he seldom lighted upon those Creatures that had conceiv'd XXIV And therefore there is no doubt to be made but that the Seed after Conception neither flows again out of the womb neither is it according to Aristotle rarified into Spirit and dissipated or that it vanishes any other way but that it is detain'd within the womb and thus with that together with that other Seed contain'd in the Womans Egg the Birth is first of all both cherish'd and nourish'd XXV In the mean time I would not have any man think that I propound things absurd while I affirm that the Birth is delineated and form'd out of the Seed and in the beginning by the same Seed is also nourished and so one and the same Seed serves for two several uses For in the Seed there are two distinct parts some spirituous out of which the Birth is delineated and form'd others thicker and less spirituous from whence is taken the next Matter requisite for the first nourishment of the form'd parts their increase and greater perfection yet the Birth can neither be form'd out of those nor â—…ish'd by them For the same thing does not form and nourish but divers parts of the same thing The same thing happens in the Seed of Man and all Creatures producing living Conceptions as in the Seed of a Plant wherein Theophrastes acknowledges two parts one spirituous upon which the prolific or procreating power depends the other thicker that nourishes the spirituous part by vertue of which the Seed of the Plant springs forth and casts out some leaves tho' not set in the Earth as containing in it self the Nourishment first requir'd But now let us return to the Bubble from whence the first Nourishment of the Embryo led us astray XXVI That the first and sole foundation of the Birth is wrought in this Bubble out of the Crystalline humour contain'd therein and surrounded with a peculiar invisible Pellicle Hippocrates has observ'd by that time the Seed has been six days old for he writes that he has seen the Internal Pellicle or little Skin that is the Bubble whose innermost Liquor was transparent out of the middle of which somewhat thin shot it self forth which he thought to be the Navel XXVII As to the time of Formation there is some dispute about it among Physicians Hippocrates tells us that the Seed being receiv'd into the womb ought to have some appearances upon the seventh day and that if the Abortion thrown out within that time be put into water and diligently view'd all the first foundations of all the parts may be manifestly discern'd therein Others affirm this Formation of the parts not to be accomplish'd so soon as seven days but after a longer time Strato the Peripatetic and Diocles Caristius by the report of Macrobius in his Comment upon Scipio's Dream asserted that the human figure was form'd within five weeks or about the thirty fifth day to the Bigness of a Bee yet not so but that all the Members and all the designed Lineaments of the whole Body appeared in that Epitome Aristotle averrs that the little body of the Birth settles as it were in a little Membrane upon the fortieth day which being broken the Birth it self appears about the bigness of a large Emmet with all the Members distinct and all other things Genitals and
nor can be derived thence from any other part These downy beginnings of the Placenta or Uterine Liver increase by little and little through the affusion of that same Blood to this very Bowel whose substance at the end of the third Month is notably conspicuous Within the inner Membrane is included the whole Colliquation of the Seed together with the Crystalline Bubble wherein the Birth is form'd out of the prolific Principle infus'd into it which being form'd swims upon the Colliquation free and adhering no where to any Membranes and for some time is nourish'd with that alone IV. Afterwards when the increasing Embryo begins to want a more plentiful Nourishment the Extremities of the Umbilical Vessels grow out more and more and are extended toward this Liver which from that time begins to be more manifestly conspicuous to the end they may draw a firmer Alimentary Iuice from thence and carry it to the Birth as the Plants by means of their Roots suck nutritive Iuice from the Earth But how these Vessels cross the Membranes and come to this Liver see Chap. 32. V. Harvey in an Abortion cast forth about the bigness of a Hen-egg observ'd withal in the outward and upper part of the Chorion as it were a thin Slime or a certain Down denoting the first Rudiments of the growing Placenta and in the inner part of the same several Roots and Branches of the Umbilical Vessels but never the Chorion sticking to the womb But the reason why he never saw the Chorion slicking to the womb perhaps might be either because the Matter to be pour'd forth out of the womb for the increase of the Placenta was not yet increas'd to a sufficient quantity or because the fleshic Particle which we have seen sticking to the Chorion in the Expulsion of that Conception was not torn from the womb but from the Chorion and so the Chorion coming forth together with it was not by Harvey seen to stick to the womb But those Roots of the Vessels which Harvey took for the Umbilical Productions seem not to have been the little Branches of the Umbilical Vessels in regard the Navel could not be grown out to that length in that time nor reach so far but were rather little Vessels extending themselves from that same fleshie substance sticking above to the Chorion with which the Umbilical Vessels are wont to intermix themselves See the Abortions in the preceding Chapter VI. By what has been said it is sufficiently apparent that the beginning of the Placenta or Uterine Liver is not generated out of the impurer part of the menstruous Blood flowing from the womb the more pure part in the mean season passing to the Birth through the Umbilical Vein as many have erroneonsly asserted seeing that the first threads of it are delineated out of the Womans Seed as well as the Chorion and Amnion to which afterwards the nourishment is brought not from the more impure but from good Blood pouring in And therefore they were grosly mistaken who judg'd it not to be any Bowel but only a heap of menstruous Blood collected and coagulated without the Vessels and preserv'd in that place for the nourishment of the Birth whereas both in respect of its beginning its fibrous substance and its use it appears no less to be a Bowel than the other Liver seated in the right Hypochondrion Besides that the upholders of this Opinion do not consider that the Blood cannot subsist without Corruption nine Months together out of the Vessels in the womb or any other hot and moist place and daily Experience teaches us what terrible Mischiefs follow upon the Extravasation of the Blood tho' it be good if it stay in the place but a few Months VII Fabricius ab Aquapendente calls this Liver a Fleshie Substance and a Fleshie Mole not that it is simply flesh but a Bowel that has a peculiar and proper fibrous Contexture and a flesh convenient for it self whose first threads are delineated out of the Womans Seed and afterwards a peculiar fleshie Substance thicken'd out of the Vital Blood which first flows from the Mother more plentifully thither through the Uterine Vessels and afterwards is forc'd thither from the Heart of the Birth through the Umbilical Arteries For when the Umbilical Vessels are come to the Uterine Liver a certain spirituous Nectar or Vital Spirit flows out together with Arterious Blood from the heart of the Birth which as it increases nourishes enlivens and excites to action all the Parts of the Birth and its Membranes the spirituous Blood of the Mother assisting and affording the greatest part of the Matter so does it enlarge and nourish this Placenta or Uterine Liver VIII This Liver in a single Conception is alway single and in the Conception of Twins both Births have one common Liver containing the Navels of both but sometimes each Birth has a distinct and proper Uterine Liver However Wharton believes that both Twins have a peculiar Placenta but so contiguous that they seem to be but one But that the Opinion of Wharton express'd by the word always is not generally true Experience teaches us by which it appears that sometimes the contrary happens And therefore we are certainly to conclude That in the Conception of Twins there is sometimes one Liver sometimes two But for what reason and in what cases there happens sometimes one and sometimes two is a Mystery hitherto unreveal'd and unknown to all Practisers which nevertheless we shall endeavour to unfold in the next Chapter when we come to discourse of the State of the Membranes in Twins IX The Substance of it is peculiar to it self soft loose brittle thin furrow'd with several furrows and as it were here and there slightly divided yet in the mean time altogether fibrous being a Contexture of innumerable Threads and diminutive Fibres and infinite little Branches of diminutive Vessels and swelling with coagulated Blood pour'd in not much unlike the looser Parenchyma of the Liver tho' less firm and easily dissolv'd and mangled by a slight attrition And such a sort of Substance as well at other times as particularly in December 1665. we shewed to several Doctors of Physic and Students in a Woman that dy'd after she had been six Months gone And lately in the Placenta's of two live Women from whom we extracted the Births when they could not be deliver'd of themselves which Placenta's after the Extraction of the Birth were separated whole from the Womb and drawn forth together with the Membranes X. It is of a dark ruddy Colour not unlike the Colour of the Spleen somewhat more ruddy seldom paler XI The Shape of the whole Uterine Liver is for the most part Circular sometimes Long or Quadrangular seldom Triangular but unequal in its Circumference But the bigness and thickness various according to the Condition of the Body and the Birth and the Time of the Womans going For in Abortions of thirty
and forty Days it hardly appears about the Roots of the Navel hardly then extended thither But after that the spirituous Blood flowing thither in greater Quantity it grows and enlarges every day till at length it comes to its Perfection about a Foot in Breadth or so much as may be extended between the two Thumbs and fore-Fingers extended in Compass About two or three Fingers thick in the Middle but thinner in the Extremities Nicolaus Hoboken an accurate Inspector into these Placenta's writes that he never saw any one thicker than a Thumbs breadth or very little more Nevertheless we are to observe that there is some variety in the breadth and thickness being found sometimes to be thicker and sometimes thinner in all Secundines XII In the hollow Part next the Birth the Superficies of it is equal and concave like a small Platter Upon the gibbous Side unequal with several Excrescencies with which it fastens it self to the inside of the Womb no other Substance interceeding the fungous or spungy parts here and there slightly swelling out at the time of Impregnation and rests upon it with its open Pores And the Womb also at that time more spungy opening its Pores and the Extremities of its Arteries joyns immediately to the Placenta yet without any mutual Anastomoses of the Veins or Arteries either of the one or the other concerning which several Anatomists have written several Fancies contrary to Truth meerly upon the Score of Conjecture and so it transfuses the Alimentary Blood and milky Juice into this Placenta which after Delivery the said Placenta being torn away and separated for many days together flows from those Openings or little Holes XIII In the Middle or about the Middle and sometimes toward one or the other Side a diminutive little umbilical Gut is sasten'd to it with its Vessels included by means whereof there is a necessary Communication between the Placenta and the Birth of which more c. 32. XIV A Vein and two umbilical Arteries are inserted into it which are intermix'd with Roots in the Substance of it with a wonderful Folding and are thought to joyn together with some Anastomoses But the Ramisications of the Arteries are generally more numerous more serpentine and knotty but less and more ruddy The Ramifications of the Vein less in number but larger and thicker less contorted and of a darker Colour However the bigger part of the Roots is not joyn'd by Anastomoses but the Arteries pour forth the Blood which is brought from the Heart of the Birth into the Parenchyma of the Placenta which together with a good part of the Blood flowing through the small Vessels of the Womb being altered by the Uterine Liver and endu'd with a slight fermentaceous Quality the gaping Roots of the Vein assume and convey to the Birth XV. It has been the common Opinion according to the Sentence of Galen That the diminutive Branches of these small Arteries and Veins are not only joyn'd together by Anastomoses between themselves but also with the Extremities of the Vessels of the Womb and hence after Delivery by their being broken off from the falling Uterine Liver there happens a great Flux of Blood But we observe in Brutes That certain Vessels attracting Nourishment out of the little Placenta's of the Chorion are manifestly extended into the Pores of the little pieces of Flesh swelling out from the Womb but that no Anastomoses descend from the Womb or its Protuberances into the Placentulae of the Chorion nor that there are any Placentulae between the Vessels of these Placentulae and the Womb. Which it is probable to be no less true in human Conception and that no blood-bearing Vessels run out from the Womb into the Placenta but less that they joyn together by Anastomoses with the Umbilicals seeing that the blood descends like Dew only by degrees from the Ends of the Uterine Arteries gaping at the time of the womans being ingravidated where it is prepared for the Nourishment of the Birth as we shall shew hereafter XVI Wharton seems to assert that several Vasa Sanguifera are extended from the Womb it self no less than from the Navel of the Birth into the Placenta however that they are intermix'd with ' em For he says that the Placenta is divided into two Halves easily separable one from the other Of which two Halves the one manifestly looks toward the parts of the Womb and the other towards the parts of the Embryo And that all the Uterine Vessels distributed toward the Placenta terminate in that same half which looks toward the womb and there are consumed into little hairy Strings and do not at all pass thorough the other half Also that the umbilical Vessels which run forward toward that half of the Placenta which is fixed to the Chorion are all exhausted into small Hair in the same half neither do they pass into the opposite Medietie contiguous to the womb But this most famous Person presupposes a Division of the Placenta never to be found and never demonstrable and thence erroneously concludes that the diminutive Vessels running from one place to another reach no farther than the one half whereas there are no Vasa Sanguifera that descend from the womb to the Placenta and for that it is most certain that the umbilical Vessels penetrate through the whole But as for those diminutive Vessels that are derived from the little piece of Flesh affixed to the Chorion at the beginning of the Conception they are distributed through the whole Chorion before the Formation of the Birth and seem to have none or very little Communication with the Placenta Concerning which 't is very much to be doubted whether they proceed from any Continuation of the Vessels of the womb To which Obscurity the most accurate Inspection of the famous Nicolaus Hoboken have given us a very great Light who never could observe any Productions of the blood-bearing Vessels from the womb into the Placenta whenas he has inquir'd into and laid open with great Study and Industry above other men all the Mysteries of the Placenta and the whole Secundine published in a Treatise de Secundin Human. adorn'd with Cuts delineated with his own Hand and exposed to the View and Judgment of all Men. XVII The same Wharton believes that there are also lymphatic Vessels intermix'd with the Veins and Arteries in the uterine Liver and that then enters together with them the Navel of the Birth But he adds that thorough those the milkie Iuice poured forth from the Womb toward the Placenta is conveighed to the Birth But we have prov'd it already that there are no such conspicuous Vessels extended from the Womb to the Birth and that if Wharton by accident saw any little whitish Vessels carried from the Placenta to the Womb through the umbilical diminutive Gut 't is very probable he might be deceived and mistake the milkie Vessels for Lymphatics as differing very little either in shape or thinness
the Name it manifestly appears That Hippocrates and the rest of the Ancients by Cotyledons never meant any Protuberancies of the Vessels or any other fleshie or mamillary Excrescencies or fibrous Ligaments but some certain things that were hollow or else their Cavities themselves And therefore they were all under a gross mistake that took those Protuberancies for Cotyledons XXIII We are now to enquire in what Creatures they are to be found I answer That they are to be found as well in Women as in any other Creatures that produce living Births only different in figure and shape For in Women if we do but accurately consider the Matter there are not many but one Cotyledon and sometimes two in Women that have conceived Twins For indeed the whole Uterine Placenta which is convex toward the Womb hollow toward the Chorion is all together somewhat thick full of Juice round unequal in the circumference exactly resembling the Herb Wall-Pennimort or else the figure of a little Sawcer Of this Womans Cotyledon Hippocrates makes mention Sect. 5. Aph. 45. Those Women who being moderately corpulent miscarry at the end of two or three Months without any manifest occasion their Cotyledons are full of slime and therefore by reason of their ponderosity are not able to contain the Birth but are broken For if great store of flegmatic slimy Humours lye heavy upon the Placenta being soften'd and becoming lank in the gibbous part of it where it sticks to the inner spunginess of the womb of necessity it must be unloosned together with the Birth which by its means sticks also to the Womb. Now Hippocrates speaks of Cotyledons in the Plural Number not that he would have one Woman that has conceiv'd but one Birth have more Cotyledons or Placentae but because he is discoursing in the Plural Number of Women in general who tho' singly they have but one yet many together have several Cotyledons This if many famous Anatomists had more attentively consider'd and among the rest our most quick-sighted Harvey they had not so unwarily deny'd Cotyledons in Women nor rejected so easily the Authority of Hippocrates in that particular And therefore according to the first Resemblance Cotyledons are in Women XXIV But according to the latter Resemblance they are to be found in most Beasts that bring forth living Productions who during their Impregnation have several little pieces of flesh somewhat thick and hard spungy and prominent rising from the Womb in time of Impregnation toward the inner Cavity and sticking close to it and like a Honycomb hollow'd into several little conspicuous Cells containing a certain Alimentary Iuice as is to be seen in Ews Cows and several other Creatures And some there were that took these little fleshinesses of the womb others those little diminutive holes before mention'd for real Cotyledons when as neither the one nor the other have any resemblance with the Cavity of the Hip-bone But those single fleshinesses of the Womb are encompass'd by another thin ruddy soft piece of flesh adhering to the Chorion and furnish'd with the innumerable small Extremities of the Umbilical Vessels entring the little diminutive holes of the protuberant Caruncles of the Womb and hollow toward the little fleshiness of the womb Which thin hollow fleshinesses adhering to the Chorion and embracing the thick protuberant fleshinesses of the womb are the true Cotyledons having a hollowness like the Cavity of the Hip-bone and as the one comprehends the head of the Thigh-bone so these in like manner comprehend the protuberant fleshinesses of the womb and hence they are called Loculamenta or Pigeon-holes that is distinct Places each one of which receives a Caruncle of the womb But these fleshinesses of the Chorion in those Beasts that have 'em supply the place of the Placenta and receive the Juices received by the Caruncles of the womb and conveigh them through the Umbilical Vessels to the Birth For that every one of the thin Extremities of the Umbilical Vessels adhering to them are inserted into the several diminutive holes of the Caruncles of the womb fill'd with a certain nutritive slimy Juice as a Honycomb is fill'd with Honey wherewith several Beasts seem to be nourish'd in the womb Which little Vessels when they are drawn forth out of the diminutive holes of the Caruncles of the womb the said slimy Juice is to be seen sticking to their Roots and is extended out of the holes like small white Threads Nevertheless 't is very probable that that same Juice being condens'd by the Cold in dead Animals becomes so thick as the Lymphatic Juice is congeal'd into a Gelly but that in living and warm Creatures it is not so thick or viscous but thin and fluid to the end it may the more easily glide through the most narrow Vessels into the Cavity of the Amnion and so reach to the Birth But we must observe by the way that those little fleshinesses of the Chorion at the beginning of the Impregnation are difficultly to be separated from the Caruncles of the womb but the Embryo increasing as it were come to maturity are dissolv'd and loosen'd by degrees and at length fall off of themselves and in the delivery are expell'd together with the Birth and the Protuberancies swelling from the womb decrease again by degrees and contract themselves XXV The use of the Uterine Liver in a Woman is partly to support the milkie Umbilical Vessels which attract the milkie watery Iuice out of the Pores or diminutive holes of the womb partly after a peculiar manner to concoct and prepare the Blood flowing as well from the Mother through the Uterine Arteries partly from the Birth through the Umbilicals to render it more serviceable for the nourishment of the Birth This was Harvey's meaning where he says Moreover the Placenta concocts the nutritive Iuice coming from the Mother for the nourishment of the Birth But what alteration or concoction the Blood undergoes in Human concoction that has hitherto not been so clearly understood neither has any one written concerning it For our part we think it very probable that the Uterine Liver dissolves the thicker and salt Particles of the Blood and intermixes it with the sulphury and so makes the necessary bloody ferment for the Blood of the Embryo without which the Blood in the heart of it cannot be well dilated and performs that function alone which in Men born the Liver and Spleen perform together For as in Man born the Arterial Blood is forc'd through the Splenetic Artery into the Spleen and therein concocted after a particular manner is conveigh'd through the Splenetic Branch and the Vena Porta to the Liver to the end it may be mixed with the venal Blood coming from the Mesaraic Veins there to be concocted again after a new Manner and to acquire the perfection of a Fermentaceous Liquor and that obtain'd immediately imbibes the venal Blood flowing from all parts as also the Chylus gliding through the
Subclavial Vein with it's fermentaceous quality so that coming to the Heart it may be there dilated and turn'd into Spirituous Blood In like manner in the Birth the Blood is forc'd out of the Iliac Arteries through the Umbilical Veins into the Placenta to the end it may be mingled with the Blood flowing from the Womb be digested and acquire some slight kind of Fermentaceous power and so it is carryed through the Umbilical Vein to the Liver of the Embryo and flowing through that into the Vena Cava is there mix'd with the Blood and the Chylus generated out of the Liquor of the Amnion suck't in at the Mouth of the Birth flowing from the Vena Cava and so all that mixture being prepar'd and imbib'd with a slight Fermentaceous Quality passes gradatim to the Heart and is therein dilated and made Spirituous Probable therefore it is that as in the Embryo the Lungs are quiet so that the Liver and Spleen do not as yet officiate as in a Man born which is manifest 1. From the bulk of the Liver too bigg for the Body of the Embryo 2. From the Colour of the Embryo too bright and perfectly ruddy which in Men born when it officiates is black and blue XXVI Those Bowels therefore not being able as yet sufficiently to dissolve and prepare them to a fermentaceous height in the Birth by reason of their weak and tender Constitution provident Nature therefore has substituted in their place for the time a Uterine Liver which supplies the Office of both from the time that the Blood begins to flow from the Birth through the Umbilical Arteries into the Uterine Liver till the Delivery For as in the Birth it is requisite the Blood should be less sharp and consequently ought to be concocted not in both but in one Ventricle of the Heart so likewise the Fermentaceous Liquor that is to be mixed with it ought to be less acrimonious and by the same consequence ought not to be prepared and concocted in the Liver and Spleen as in Man born but only in the Uterine Placenta to the end it may be more mild and temperate when it enters the Birth XXVII Now there are four Reasons to be given wherefore the Placenta sticks to the Womb. 1. That thereby the Birth may be more firmly contained in the womb 2. That the watry milkie juices descending from the Womb of the Mother may be conveniently conveyed through the proper Milkiy Umbilical Vessels passing through the Uterine Liver into the Umbilical Diminutive Gutt and thence into the concavity of the Amnion 3. That the Placenta it self may not be nourished only by the Blood of the Birth flowing through the Umbilical Arteries which is very small at the Beginning but also and that chiefly with the Mothers Blood and so may grow the faster and be made fit for the performance of its duty there being a necessity for some dissolution at the beginning of the Salt or Tartarous Particles in the Blood by means of a certain slight formentaceous Liquor to promote more swiftly the Increase of the solid parts Vid. l. 2. c. 12. 4. To the end there may be a more copious Contribution of the Mothers Blood flowing out of the little Vessels of the Womb into the Uterin Liver that that same larger quantity of Blood may be mixed in the Placenta with the lesser Quantity of Arterious Blood flowing thither from the Iliac Arteries of the Birth through the Umbilical Arteries and being there concocted may be endued with a slight fermentaceous Quality and so falling into the Heart may be presently dilated and altered into spirituous Blood For as in Man born to the end the Blood may be made right and good twenty or more parts of the venal Blood are mix'd in the Vena Cava with one part of the Chylus flowing through the Thoracic Ductus Chyliferus before they come together to the Heart So ought it to be done in the Birth Which not having so much Blood of it self to mix with a convenient portion of the Chylus necessarily for the supply of that defect there is required a portion of the Mothers Blood which together with the Arterious Blood of the Embryo flowing thither from the Iliac Arteries being conveniently prepared is communicated continually to the Birth through the Umbilical Vein XXVIII Here it may be objected that that same Blood will flow either into the Umbilical Vessels or into the substance of the Uterine Liver That the first is not true is apparent from hence that there is no Communion by Anastomoses between the Vessels of the Womb and the Umbilicals If the latter should be true then the Extravasated Blood would grow corrupt which would occasion Inflammations Apostemes and other Mischiefs therefore c. Now the former being granted I answer to the latter That the Concoctions of the other Bowels and many other parts instructs us that it cannot be true by any means For the Chylus being pour'd forth into the Glandules of the Breasts is not there corrupted but concocted into Milk the venal Blood pour'd forth into the substance of the Liver acquires a Fermentaceous Quality without any corruption and is carryed to the Vena Cava the Blood also pour'd forth into the Kidneys despoyl'd of a good part of its Serum without any corruption is convey'd to the Vena Cava So also the Blood which flows into the Uterine Liver is not therein corrupted but is concocted after a peculiar manner and undergoes some necessary Alteration which having suffered it enters the Roots of the Umbilical Vein XXIX Beyond all Controversy therefore it is that the Blood flows from the Womb into the Uterine Liver Which we find by the flux of Blood that happens for many days in time of Travail by the tearing away of the Uterine Liver from those open'd extremities of the Vessels of the Womb which before gaped into it XXX But besides the Blood there is a watery Viscous Milkie Liquor which flows from the Womb to the hollowness of the Amnion which is seen to flow forth at the time of Delivery and presently afterwards So Andrew Laurentius relates Anat. l. 1. quest 10. that he had seen several Women in Travail emit a great quantity of milk from the womb Schenkius also reports out of Bauhinus that Capellus the Physician saw a Woman who discharg'd half a Cup full of milk out of her womb and bladder And hence Deusingius concludes that the milkie Juice flows from the womb into the Uterine Liver that is into the milkie Umbilical Vessels passing through that Liver Which Opinion is confirm'd by this for that often in Women in travail about the end of the Flux the Secundines grow whitish and become as it were of a milkie colour which presently ceases through the sucking of the Breasts But whether that milkie Juice flows from the womb into the substance it self of the Placenta is much question'd by some Others say that partly through
the ruddy and bloody colour of the Parenchyma of the Placenta partly for that never in the whole Placenta that milky Humour or any thing like it was to be found by any Anatomists the contrary is to be asserted In this Obscurity the more accurate Dissection of Brutes gives us some light by which we find a certain whitish viscous Humour settled in their Uterine Caruncles into which the Roots of the milky Umbilical Vessels adhering to the little Vessels of the Chorion are inserted and receive that Juice and convey it to the Birth So it seems also probable that some such like milky Iuice in Women flows through some peculiar milky Vessels to the womb into some proper Caruncles riveted into the inner porous substance of the womb it self and that the milky Umbilical Vessels passing through the Placenta are inserted into 'em which receive that Liquor and carry it to the Amnion For as in Brutes certain spungy Excrescencies grow out from the womb receiving that Juice so likewise it is probable that in a Womans womb there are certain little spungy Caverns for the same use tho' not conspicuous as in Brutes For if there be a milky Liquor to be found in the Uterine Caruncles of Brutes which in dead Creatures becomes thick and viscous through the Cold and thence sufficiently to be seen without doubt also within the porous substance of a Womans womb there must be some little Caverns by which that milky Juice flowing from the womb is particularly collected and receiv'd And as from the Veins of the womb and the Arteries gaping toward the Placenta the blood is pour'd into the bloody parts of the Uterine Liver and carried from them through the Umbilical Vein to the Liver of the Birth so it is likely that the milky Juice is carried from the little milk-bearing Cells of the womb into the Umbilical milky Vessels But because those Uterine Cells of the milky Juice have not hitherto been observ'd by any Person this is no proof that they are not there for the Lymphatic Vessels themselves the milky Mesenteries and Pectoral Vessels lay conceal'd for many Ages and yet it cannot be said but that they were there So likewise at this day the Production of the Urinary Passage in the Birth without the Navel and the milky Vessels running toward the Breasts are not conspicuous tho' it be most certain that the Urine of the Birth flows through that passage into the Allantoides seated between the Chorion and the Amnion through this the milky Chylus is carried to the breasts Moreover Anatomists have seldom an opportunity in a breeding Woman to observe the substance or constitution of the womb or of narrowly surveying the Uterine Placenta when whole or if any such opportunity were offer'd no body has hitherto thought of looking after those milky Uterine Cells And besides the Passage of the milky Vessels through the Placenta being broken by reason of the softness of the substance and the flowing forth of the blood cannot be seen To which we may add that in Women for some time dead those milky Cells of the Womb and milk-bearing Vessels of the Womb are impossible to be discern'd as they might be discover'd in the bodies of such as come to a suddain end and presently open'd We must conclude therefore that as in Brutes the Maternal milky Iuice is collected in the little Cells of the Caruncles of the Womb so also in Women that Juice is receiv'd by certain little Caverns of the womb fix'd into its inner substance which is porous in certain places while the Woman is breeding tho' they do not swell out in that manner nor are so manifest as in Brutes For if there were no such things as those little milky Cells to what use should those milky Vessels be as well those of the Mother extended to the womb as the Umbilical Vessels of the birth Which nevertheless that they are both there I do not think is at all to be question'd For that there are Uterine milky Vessels has been found by the more quick-sighted Anatomist sometimes since as we shall shew more at large in the next Chapter So likewise that there are Umbilical milk-bearing Vessels is apparent from hence that there is a milky Juice contain'd in the little Gut flowing from thence to the hollowness of the Amnion which when the whitish Colour sufficiently declares that it is not carried through the Vasa Sanguifera of necessity it must come thither through the milky Vessels extended from the Navel of the birth toward the womb But because this Juice is not so white as the milk of the breasts but of a more watery Colour Wharton therefore will have it to be call'd rather Gelly and that because it is somewhat clammy and clear and being cold congeals like Gelly and that not only in the Amnion but in the little Gut for it is found in both But Gualter Needham will oppose both what has been said and what is to be said in the next Chapter who labours altogether to perswade us that this same milkie or chylous Juice is carried not through any milkie Vessels but through the Arteries together with the blood toward the Womb and there again being separated pure from the blood is emptied into the hollowness of the Amnion As if there were any understanding or provident separating faculty in the Arteries by whose instinct they knew how to carry that milky Juice forc'd into 'em by the heart together with the blood afterwards in the time of Child-bearing and at no other time pure and unmix'd without any other blood directly to the womb and perhaps to the breasts but no where else and there to separate it with so much prudence from the blood and send it from the ends of the Arteries toward the hollowness of the Amnion to the end this thicker and more slimy Juice should flow from those ends but the arterious blood which is much thinner and fluid out of a particular favour should be detain'd in its own Vessels Most stupendious Miracle of Nature But perhaps it may be objected Choler in the Liver Serum Matter Tartar in the Kidneys in spontaneous and procured Loosnesses as vicious Humours are separated from the blood and ejected forth what wonder then that the same should happen to the Chylus as to the womb I answer that those separations of the said Humours from the blood in the Liver Kidneys and other parts are made by the force of the Bowels fram'd to that end of which the whole constitution of the Substance and the Pores is such as likewise the peculiar fermentation proceeding from thence that those Bowels being sound and well of necessity must make those separations and cannot act otherwise in like manner as the peculiar fermentaceous Iuice generated in the Duodenum by the power of the Liver and Sweetbread separates the whitish Chylus from the Alimentary Mass concocted in the Stomach But if the Chylus were to be separated from the arterious blood
where they touch one another grow together and a Monster comes to be brought forth But many times it also happens that the distinct Embryo's are ensolded in distinct Choâ—…ons VII The reason of this was formerly altogether unknown but since the discovery of Womens Ovaries and Eggs it is easily explain'd For as we often see in Hen Eggs two Yolks with their distinct Whites separated by a very thin Membrane included in one hard Shell and from such Eggs impregnated by the Cock and set under the Hen rarely two and well form'd Chickens hatch'd but frequently one monstrous Chicken with four Wings and Feet and two Heads for that the Membranes being broken the two Chickens being hatch'd together grow into one So it may happen in the Eggs of women that two Eggs may be included in one harder Shell which constitutes the Chorion And then if the Membranes of the Amnios are strong enough the Twins remain separated one from the other and Navels issuing from each are inserted both together into one Placenta adhering to the Chorion and at length brought to Maturity come forth apart in the Delivery and when the latter is come forth there follows but one Secundine which contained 'em both in the womb Neither can there be two Placentae because but one Placenta can be fasten'd to one Chorion But if the Membranes of the Amnios were very weak and broken then the Twins immediately resting one upon another grew together by reason of the extream Softness of the bodies and so being joyn'd together come forth monstrous in the birth But if it happen that two distinct mature Eggs impregnated with the male Seed slip out of the womans Ovaries through the Fallopian Tubes into the Womb then each Embryo comes to be included in distinct Membranes Chorion and Amnion and each also of necessity to receive the Navel of each Embryo have a distinct Placenta adhering to its proper Amnion as in Brutes that bring forth several at a time every Embryo has a distinct and peculiar Placentula and come forth apart at the time of Delivery their proper Secundines following each unless by chance the Placentae stick more closely to the Womb and then at length being both together loosen'd both the Secundines follow after the Delivery of the Twins And sometimes we have seen one Twin follow the other not till the next or two days afterward As in Twins so it is when a woman has Conceived three or four Children at a time which Births are here very rare but frequent in Scotland From what has been said also arises the Solution of that Doubt concerning the number of Placentae in Twins when one and when two or more are necessary That is one when Twins are comprehended in one Chorion two when each are included in their proper Chorions Which two nevertheless lye so close many times to one another that they seem to be but one at first sight For the umbilical Vessels of each Twin passing thorough their proper Chorion and Amnion ought to be presently inserted into the Placenta growing in the exterior part of that Chorion to the end that by its means the Embryo may stick to the Womb. But they must not be inserted into the Placenta growing to the Chorion of another Birth as being that which those Vessels do not immediately enter nor so much as tend toward it VIII These two Membranes the Chorion and the Amnios are vulgarly thought to be Productions of the Membranes of the Abdomen of the Birth For that the umbilical Vessels proceeding from the Abdomen of the Birth are included within two Membranes constituting the little Gut Of which the innermost which is the thinner is thought to be produced from the Peritoneum the outermost which is the thicker from the Carnous Membrane These Membranes being dilated to the end of the Navel and expanded about the Birth out of the innermost the Amnion is said to be form'd out of the Exterior the Chorion And this is the Opinion of Harvey Hippocrates also seems to intimate the same thing where he says out of the Navel extended are form'd two Membranes Who also saw in the Conception of a singing Wench a Membrane produced from the Navel which contained the Conception If any one object that these Membranes are generated before the parts of the Birth are delineated I answer that the Threads of the first Delineation tho' they are not visible to the Eye are yet in Being For in a Hen-Egg we observe a little ruddy dancing Poynt which is thought to be the Heart which cannot beat unless it receive something thorough the Veins and force it through the Arteries and yet tho' neither the one or the other are visible yet Reason teaches us that they are in Being In like manner in a human Birth tho' all the first Lineaments are not to be seen yet they are there and the Navel may be produced out of them together with the Membranes infolding the Birth If any one shall say that in a Hen-Egg there are Membranes before the Navel is delineated nay before the Egg is set under the Hen I answer that in an Egg before the Delineation of the Parts all things requisite ought to be in readiness which cannot be contributed by the Hen toward their Delineation as in Creatures that bring forth live Conceptions they are prepared by degrees together with the Delineation For these receive from the Womb of the Dam more Nourishment over and above to supply their Growth from which Nourishment also these Membranes delineated out of the Female Seed receive their Growth These Opinions of Harvey pleased me also formerly but after I saw in the Abortions described C. 29 these Membranes already form'd nay very large and strong before the Formation of the Birth begun while the procreative Matter is collected in the Crystaline Bubble no Threads at all being as yet extended from the Bubble and also in the beginning of the Embryo already form'd a Foundation hardly conspicuous to bud forth out of the belly nor any the least Delineaments of the Vessels extended from it through the Colliquation or dissolv'd Matter toward the Membranes but the Embryo altogether free nor joyn'd to any part swimming upon the Colliquation and both Membranes already sufficiently strong and wrap'd about the whole dissolv'd Matter and furnished with conspicuous Vessels I thought my self obliged to recede from that Opinion and not without reason in regard it was impossible that such strong Membranes so conspicuous and so large should be generated out of any invisible String of which Harvey speaks which never any Person could so much as dream to be form'd out of the Bubble at first collected together IX Therefore these Membranes do not arise from their Beginning but are generated in the Womens Ovaries themselves out of the female Seed as we have said c. 24. and are encompassed with Eggs. Which Eggs being afterwards discharged into the Womb their outward Membranes swell and the
Substance is grateful to the taste neither is there any thing of luxivious or salt in it But it does not only grow thick and viscous by boyling but also the Cold congeals it to a moderate thickness and viscosity by which I have seen this Juice thicken'd in the Umbilical Intestine to the thickness of a perfect Gelly and in the Amnion to the consistency of the white of an Egg. XXIX Now tho' it may seem to be a thing unquestionable that this milky Iuice is carried through some milky Vessels from the Mother to the Womb and from that through the milky Vessels of the Placenta within the hollowness of the Amnion yet from what part of the Mother and from whence these milky Vessels proceed toward the womb has been hitherto discovered by no body that I know of Some by uncertain Conjectures believe that they are extended thither from the Thoracic Chyle-bearing Chanel others from the Chyle-bearing Bag others from the Sweet-bread Of which if any clear demonstration could be made out the Question would be at an end Ent most couragiously endeavours to dispel this Cloud of Darkness Apol. Digress 5. where he writes That this Liquor is deriv'd from no inner milky Vessels but that it flows from the Womans breasts to the womb and that the birth is nourish'd with the Mothers milk no less within than without the womb and for this reason he believes the Teats of brute Beasts to stand so near the womb to the end the milk may flow from them more easily to the womb But as for the passage which way he takes no great care For he writes that the Milk descends from the breasts through the Mamillary Veins and from thence into the Epigastrics joyned to them by Anastomosis and through those flows down to the womb But that he may not seem to contradict Circulation altogether he says That it may happen without any prejudice that there may be a Flux contrary to the usual Circulation through some Veins if there be a new Attractor He adds That it is for this reason that the Milk is generated in the breast so long before delivery that is so soon as the Woman quickens So that if the Milk did not flow to the birth the Woman would be very much prejudic'd and the Blood being detain'd for three or four Months together would be corrupted Lastly he aâ—…nexes the Authority of Hippocrates who says Aph. 5. 37. If the breasts of a Woman with child suddainly fall and grow lank she miscarries For says Ent when the Milk fails in the breast there can be no nourishment afforded to the birth in the womb which for that reason dies and is thrown out by Abortion XXX But tho' these things are speciously propounded by Ent yet there are many things that subvert the learned Gentleman's Argument 1. Because that milky Liquor abounds within the Amnion before any thing of Milk be generated in the breasts 2. Because it is impossible that the blood should be carried upward and the milky Juice downward at the same time through the Mammillary and Epigastric Veins 3. Because that between the Mammillary and Epigastric Veins there are no such Anastomoses as he proposes 4. For that the milky Liquor of the Breasts passing through those blood-conveighing passages would lose its white colour by its mixture with the blood and so it would not be found to be white but red in the Amnion 5. For that the feeble heart of a small Embryo could never be able to draw this milky Juice from the Mothers breasts besides that there is no such distant attraction in the body of Man and whether there be any such at a nearer distance is much to be question'd 6. For that the Milk from the one half of the Womans time till the time of Delivery never remains in the breast but entring the Mammillary Veins together with their blood is carried in the order of Circulation to the Vena Cava as the Chylus reaches thither through the Subclavial Vein which is the reason it is neither corrupted nor does the Woman any prejudice at all 7. As to Hippocrates his affirming the lankness of the breast to be a sign of Abortion for this in a Woman shews that either the Chylus is defective or that it is all carried to the heart and none to the womb or breasts Hence Hippocrates concludes That if formerly the Chylus flow'd in great abundance to the breasts they dry up of a suddain as appears by the lankness of the breasts much more will that fail which is carried in a lesser quantity to the womb for the nourishment of the tender birth and that through much narrower Vessels and so of necessity the birth must dye for want of nourishment and be cast forth by Abortion XXXI From all which it is apparent that milky Iuice let it come from what parts it will to the Womb it does not come from the Breasts and that their Opinion iâ—… most probable who believe it flows from the Chyle-bag the Pectoral Passage and other Internal Chyle-bearing Vessels tho' there has been as yet no clear Demonstration of those Passages XXXII Veslingius either not observing or ignorant of the nourishment of the Birth at the Mouth ascribes to this milky Liquor of the Amnion a use of small Importance For he says that it only preserves the tender Vessels of the Embryo swimming upon it in the violent Motions of the Mother and when the time of Delivery approaches that it softens and loosens the Maternal places by its Efflux to render the passage of the Infant more easie Moreover he thinks it to be the more watery part of the Womans Seed as we have said before Cap. 28. XXXIII The Amnios Urinary Membrane and Chorion at the Caruncle in Abortions describ'd Cap. 29. sticks close one to another where they transmit the Umbilical Vessels toward the Uterine Liver but every where else they lye loosely only at the beginning of the Conception and when at length the Umbilical Vessels have pass'd those Membranes then through the flowing in of the Urine of the birth through the Urachus the Urinary Membrane begins to recede from the Chorion which till that time seemed to be the inner part of the Chorion and between that and the Chorion the urinary serous Humour begins daily to increase as the birth grows so that near the time of Delivery it is there to be found in great quantity XXXIV This Urinary Liquor Riolanus denies to be there and affirms that there is no Liquor to be found without side the Amnios And so Veslingius seems never to have distinctly observ'd it for he says that no Humour can be collected together between the Membranes of the birth by reason of their sticking so close together But Ocular inspection teacheâ—… us that there is no such close Connexion but only a loose Conjunction or Imposion one upon another The whole mistake seems to have proceeded from hence
the Birth to the Placenta and the Venal Blood from the Placenta to the Birth Or the same thing may be try'd after another manner without a Ligature if you squeez the Blood with your fingers through the Vein from the Placenta toward the Birth for so it easily moves but it cannot be forc'd the contrary way by reason of the resistance of the Valves but the Blood is with great difficulty forc'd through the Arteries to the Birth whereas it flows readily and of its own accord to the Placenta XIV Many there are that write several things of the Anastomoses of the Arteries with the Veins and of the Veins with the Arteries quite repugnant to Ocular Inspection seeing that no such Anastomoses can be found in the Placenta Which Hoboken has accurately taken notice of who by the injection of Liquor has perfectly examin'd this matter XV. Now what is to be thought of the union of the Umbilical Veins and Arteries with the Womb let us briefly enquire Ga'en and Aristotle teach us That the Orifices of the Umbilical Vessels are united with the Ends or Orifices of the Vessels of the Wombs So that the Roots of the Umbilical Vein draw Blood from the Veins of the Womb and the Arteries Spirit from the Arteries To which Opinion Aquapendens Sennertus and several other famous Men have submitted their consent Others confirm'd by Ocular Inspection deny this union of the Vessels with whom we also agree For there are several Arguments to shew that there are no Union or Anastomoses of the Umbilical Vessels and the Womb. 1. Because such a Union of the Vessels would bind the Birth so strongly to the Womb as not to be dissolv'd in time of Travail Or if by the violent strainings of the Woman in Labour it should be violently torn away there would happen so many and such pernicious Wounds by the rending of the several united Vessels that the Effusion of Blood would soon be the death of the Woman in Travail 2. Because the Blood may descend by degrees into the Placenta through the gaping Vessels of the Womb to be prepared therein for the growth and nourishment of the Child But never any Anatomist hitherto could observe any farther productions of the Vessels of the Womb either toward or into the Placenta so that whatever has been written concerning this matter has been written by Conjecture 3. Because that such a Union of the Vessels of the Womb and the Umbilicals being granted there could be no use of the Uterine Placenta for the Blood flowing through that continuity nothing of it could either come into the Substance of the Placenta it self or be elaborated therein 4. Because the Umbilical Veins do not proceed to the Womb but spread their Roots only through the Uterine Liver and from thence and not from the Womb immediately assume the Alimentary Blood which is to be carried to the Womb as Plants by means of their Roots suck up their Alimentary Juice out of the Earth 5. Because the Arteries draw nothing from the Womb or its Arteries but convey Vital Blood from the Birth to the Placenta and end there in little Branches 6. Because in the beating of the Umbilical Arteries the measure is altogether different from the Pulse of the Mother 7. Because it has sometimes happened that the Mother being dead the Birth has sometimes supervived in the Womb which could never be if the Birth should receive its Vital Blood from the Arteries of the Mother For the Mothers Pulse failing the Birth must dye either sooner or at the same time XVI Hence the mistake of Vesalius and Columbus is apparent who following Galen thought that the Umbilical Vessels were not only joyn'd together with the Uterine Vessels but also by continuation were deriv'd from them and extended from the Womb to the Birth Which Error is easily evinc'd by this not to repeat what has been already said That in the Abortive Embryo seen and describ'd by us the beginning of the Navel-string did not arise from the Womb but from the Birth Besides that in Chickens the beginning of the Umbilical Vessels manifestly arises from the Chicken it self which being separated into several Branches are extended from the Chicken to the Yolk of the Egg. In like manner as in Vegetables the Roots are not extended out of the Earth into the Plants but out of the Plants into the nourishing Earth which is more apparent in Onions which being hung up without the Earth send forth Roots from themselves XVII From the foresaid Opinion proceeded another as absurd That the Umbilical Veins and Arteries were generated and form'd before the rest of the Bowels as Bauhinus endeavours to perswade by divers Reasons as if the Bowels could not be form'd without blood conveyed from the Womb. Whereas among the more acute Philosophers it is undoubtedly concluded that they are form'd of the Prolific part of the Seed and that after their Formation already finish'd the Nourishment of the said Vessels proceeds to the farther part from those Bowels and hence they first grow to a greater length and are extended to the Placenta XVIII But here some one will make a Query How those Vessels when they have grown out to that length from the Belly of the Birth as to reach the Membranes can penetrate through the Chorion and Amnion to the Uterine Liver I answer 'T is done after the same manner as the Roots of Plants and Trees penetrate into the hard Earth and sometimes enter Walls and Stones which Water cannot penetrate For so the sharp and slender ends of the Umbilical Vessels insinuate themselves by degrees into the Pores of the Membranes and pass through 'em tho' the Humours contain'd within the Membranes cannot pass thorough But afterwards when those Vessels adhering to the Pores grow out more in length the said Pores are also more and more dilated to which the Vessels are already united and indissolubly joyn'd XIX Riolanus makes mention out of Avicen and Varolius before the Generation of the Veins and Umbilical Arteries of two Capillary Vessels which he calls the Dorsal Roots of the Birth which are from each horn of the Womb inserted into the upper and hinder part of the coagulated Seed through which necessary Blood is supplied to the Formation of the Parts in the mean while that the Umbilical Vessels are strengthened and which afterwards vanish when the Foundations of the Parts are laid But that these are mere Figments is apparent from hence because the Birth is neither form'd nor generated out of the coagulated but melted and dissolved Seed and out of the subtile part of that which is call'd the Flower Besides these Dorsal Roots would be to no purpose when the Parts ought to be delineated out of the Prolific Flower only of the Male Seed which is apparent from the Egg wherein tho' there be no Blood contain'd nor can be supply'd from any other place yet the Parts are form'd and
the Situation of the Birth in the Womb. WHen I take out a mature Birth out of a dead Mother I cannot but admire how so large a Body should be contained within so small a Prison and move it self which being once drawn forth no Art of Man can thrust in again Now therefore let us observe how the Birth is contained in the Womb. I. The Situation of the Birth is not always alike but many times found to be various which proceeds partly from the Birth it self partly from the time that the Woman has gone and her growing near the Time of her Delivery The Head is contained in the upper part of the Womb with the Arms and Thighs contracted together the Knees nearest the Elbows the Hands in some plac'd upon the Knees in some upon the Breast in others folded together the Feet are turn'd back inward so that they touch the Buttocks with the Soles rarely with the Heels Whence it comes to pass that the Legs of Newborn Infants are bow'd inward and their Feet in the same manner which fault is easily afterwards amended by swathing by reason of the softness of the parts Sometimes the Birth lies toward the side and assumes to it self an overth wart Situation which is easily perceived by the Woman laying her hand upon her Belly as also by the swelling out of the side and the weight falling that way II. Sometimes one two or three weeks before Delivery the Birth turns it self with the Head downward and lyes much more toward the Lower preparing for its Exit which tumble is performed in a short time though not without some trouble to the Mother who takes that alteration for a certain Sign of her approaching Labour III. About the time of Delivery the Birth changes its Situation several ways while by kicking and moving it self to and fro it seeks to come forth Hence I believe it is that several excellent Anatomists who perhaps have viewed such kinds of Births in Women at such times Deceasing do not agree in the Manner of the Situation of the Womb in the Birth while some describe the Arms others the Thighs or other parts after this or that manner situated in this or that place IV. Fernelius asserts that there is a different Situation of Males and Females affirming that Males lye with their faces toward the Abdomen or inner parts and Females quite the contrary and that hence it is that the Bodies of drowned Women swim with their Bellies downward in the Water and Men upon their Backs Which Opinion Riolanns derides as ridiculous and without reason Charles Stephens reports that Twins observe a contrary Situation and that one looks toward the forepart the other toward the hinder part But this Rule is uncertain as is apparent from hence for that sometimes Twins have bin born with their Abdomens Breasts or Foreheads growing together which could never happen if they lay back to back CHAP. XXXV Of the Delivery I. THe Birth being conceived in the Womb abides within that dark Domicil till it comes to Maturity that is till it has acquir'd strength anough so soon as it is set at Liberty to endure the Violence of the Air and the Alteration of Nourishment But how long it is before it acquire that Maturity and how long it is before it ought to come into the World is disputed among the Learned That there is a certain time prescribed by Nature to all other Animals is vulgarly known so that the Contest is only concerning Man Hippocrates and Aristotle seem to ascribe no certain time to the Birth of Man for they affirm that a Woman may bring forth from the Seventh to the Eleventh with whom agrees the greatest part of the Crowd of Physicians But most commonly Human Births are detained in the Womb nine whole Months together before they come to their just Maturity which Maturity nevertheless may sometimes happen in seven Months So that within both those times Women may be delivered of Sound and Mature Children Such as are born before the seventh Month are not ripe neither can they be preserved alive because they cannot brook the violence of the Air nor Alteration of Nourishment Wherefore says Aristotle The Birth that comes forth sooner than the seventh Month is no way to be preserved alive But because there has happen'd an Exception to this General Rule of Aristotle's I think that instead of by no means he should have written very seldom II. For that some have lived that have been born before the seventh Month the Relations of Physicians testifie Avicen reports that he saw one born within the sixth Month that lived well Cardan writes that the Daughter of Peter Soranus being born in the sixth Month grew up to Maturity Spigelius writes that in Zeland he knew a certain Letter-Carrier who by the Publick Testimony of the City of Middleburgh under the Certificate of the Magistracy was born in the sixth Month so small so tender and weak that he could not endure Swathing but was wrapt up in Cotton to defend him from the Cold. We also knew a Girl that was born within the sixth Month whose Head when she was born was no bigger than a large Apple and the whole Body so small that the Nurse could hardly touch it nor could it be Swathed according to the usual manner which afterwards grew up to a just proportion and is now at this time living about eighteen years of Age. III. Montuus reports that he knew a Cupbearer to Henry King of France who though he were born in the fifth Month yet lived to a florid Age. Francis Vallesius tells us of a Girl born in the fifth Month that he knew when she was entring into her twelfth year In like manner Ferdinand Mena makes mention of two that were born in the fifth Month. But certainly this is to be understood of the end of the first Month. And so all these Examples quoted from Men of Credit and confirm'd by their Testimonies sufficiently demonstrate that sometimes a Child born before its time may be so cherisht and hatched up by Care and Art as to be preserved alive But these are accidents that rarely happen from whence no certain Conclusion can be drawn For it 's a wonder when a Birth so immature so tender and so weak happens to live any time IV. Hippocrates also denies that they can live who are born in the eighth Month Perhaps because he often observed it so to fall out in Greece For which Regius gives this Reason because that the Birth being a certain Critical Evacuation it cannot be done safely and soundly but in a Critical Month such as is the seventh So that if that Crisis of the Birth happen in the eighth Month then of necessity some powerful preternatural Cause must intervene so much to the prejudice of the Infant that it cannot live But if only the Critical Months the seventh fourteenth c. are only to be accounted
wholesom what shall we say to a Birth of nine Months which however is no Critical Month and yet most frequent and most wholesom What to the Tenth Month Certainly there is no Effervescency of the Body of the Infant as there is of the Humours which boyl at certain times and break forth Critically And therefore since there is no solid Effervescency in the solid parts of the Birth neither is there here any bad or good season of Critical Evacuations to be observed and thence no reason that Children born in the eighth Month should be thought less likely to live than those that are born in the seventh seeing that dayly Experience teaches us how that Children born in the eighth Month live as well as they that are born in the seventh For if they are born in the seventh Month and can be ripe so soon why not in the eighth why shall not the latter brook the Violence of the Air and the change of Nourishment as well as the former rather why not better seeing they are more mature In vain do many here alledge the great toil and tumbling of the Birth in the seventh Month more than in other Months by which he is so weakened and tvr'd that he cannot brook the Labour of Expulsion in the Eighth for these are idle Dreams refuted by the Women themselves who assure us that they perceive that extraordinary Motion no more in the seventh than in the sixth or eighth As vainly others fly to the numbers of Days Hours and Minutes confining the Exit of the Child to certain numbers when the incertainty of the days of delivery frequently delude those Numbers Lastly the Astrologers in vain endeavour to reconcile this matter by the benigne or malign aspects of Saturn as if Saturn rul'd always or at least that there were no Children born in the eighth Month but under his Reign whereas such Births frequently happen under the Dominion of other Benign Planets which seem to be secured from Saturn's Injuries by their Clemency and Benignity Besides Asto the Influences of the Stars how unknown and meerly conjectural they are not only the fallacious uncertain and contrary Judgments of Astrologers so frequent in their Writings demonstrate and of what little Prevalency and Efficacy they are experience teaches so that whether they have any power over things here below is not without reason questioned by many And hence though many in explaining the meaning of Hippocrates Concerning the Children born in the eighth Month by him pronounced short-liv'd have laboured very much and have studyed to underprop and adorn his Sentence with many fictions and pretences of Truth yet not only frequent and daily Observation but the Authority and Experience both of the Ancients and Moderns overturns all they have rear'd beyond the Limits of Greece For Galen says they are in a very great Errour that will not acknowledge the eighth Month for a due and natural time of delivery In like manner Aristotle asserts that Children born in the eighth Month live and grow up Nevertheless he adds that the words of Hippocrates may be interpreted in the best Sence But many dye in several places of Greece so that very few are preserved So that if any one there doth live he is not thought to be born in the eighth Month but that the Woman has mistaken her reckoning Pliny writes that in Egypt and Italy Children born in the eighth Month do live contrary to the Opinion of the Ancients and that Vastilia was happily brought to bed of Caesonia afterwards the Wife of Caius Among our Modern Authors Bonaventure saw three safe that were born in the eighth Month. So it is credibly reported that the Learned Vincent Pinelli together with his Sister were born Twins in the eighth Month as was also Cardinal Sfondrati and both his Sons Cardan brings five Examples of great Men all born in the eighth Month who lived and asserts moreover that in Egypt generally they live that are born in the eighth Month. Which if it has befallen so many Princes we may easily conjecture that the same as frequently happen among the ordinary People who seldom reckon so exactly Riolanus relates that in the Iland Naxus the Women are usually brought to bed in the eighth Month and Avicen gives the same Relation of the Spanish Women We find the same to be true in Holland and that it is so likewise in France England Scotland and all the Northern Countries is very probable because we never hear of any complaint against the eighth Month in any of those places V. Now the reason why some are born in the seventh some in the eighth and others in the ninth Month is to be ascribed to the difference of Regions Seasons Dyet Passions of the Mind Temperament of the Seed Womb and Woman her self by means whereof the heat of the Womb increases sometimes later and sometimes sooner So that sometimes there is need of a swifter sometimes a slower Ventilation Paulus Zachias seems to accuse Hippocrates and Aristotle of a Mistake for appointing so many uncertain limits for sound Delivery and believes that there is a certain time for the Delivery of Men as well as of Beasts that is to say the end of the ninth and beginning of the tenth and that all other Births either on this side or on that side are all preternatural occasion'd by some Morbifick Cause which is the reason of so many weak and distempered Children Which if it were true in those that are born before the nine Month Term then certainly the Mother or the Child would be affected with some Morbifick cause either before or after the Birth whereas in Children that come in the seventh Month which frequently happens any such bad affection rarely happens but that the Mother and the Child equally do well as if the Birth had bin delay'd till the end of the ninth Month nor is the Child more sickly or weaker than those that are born at the end of the ninth Month which are many times as sickly and weak as those that are born in the seventh Now as to those that are born beyond that Term it has been controverted among several whether any such thing happen and whether a Woman bring forth after that time In the mean while it is a Rule hitherto held certain environ'd with many probable reasons and the Authority of great Men that some Women may be brought to bed in the eleventh twelfth thirteenth and fourteenth Month and that the Children are duly born by reason of the weakness of the Infant or the Mother the Coldness of the Womb scarcity of Nourishment or some such like cause which may occasion Nature to delay the Appointed time of Birth as many famous Philosophers have perswaded themselves and others Hippocrates expresly asserts that Children are born in the eleventh Month. Aristotle admits the eleventh and no farther They that lye longer than the eleventh Month seem to lye hid that is that the Mother has
Expulsion through unwonted Passages Of which nevertheless Bartholin relates a most Remarkable Story Lib. de insolit part viis Of a Woman that evacuated several little Bones of a Human Birth first of all out of her Navel swelling and dissected next out of an Ulcer in her left Ilium and this not all at once which increases the wonder nor all together but at several times and at several years distance and those so many that it was thought they were enough now for the Bodies of Twins To which Story he adds a long and splendid Explanation and moreover out of several Authors brings many other Examples of corrupted Births evacuated out of the Navel Hypochondriums Ilium's open'd the Fundament and other unusual Passages for which we refer the Reader to Bartholin himself XIII In the mean time there are the Admirable and Stupendious works of Nature seeing that the Birth must of necessity slip into the Cavity of the Abdomen through the broken ulcerated or any other way torn and lacerated Womb or else the Conception in the Tube must have miscarryed thither out of the Tube being broken through the Thinness of the Membrane of the Tube before it could cause those Exulcerations by its corruption in the parts of the Abdomen But because many such Women have been restored to their former health this is most of all to be wondered at that those inward Wounds and Ulcers of the Womb and Tube should heal again of themselves and that the Birth putrifying in that Place should not withal putrify the Guts Bladder Mesentery and other Bowels of the Abdomen and rather hasten the Death of those unfortunate Women than such an unwonted Delivery XIV We are now to return to the Causes of Delivery among which in a natural Delivery we have reckoned the kicking and stirring of the Infant which is assigned to three Causes that is to say the narrowness of the Place the Corruption of the Nourishment and the want of it XV. The narrowness of the Place signifies nothing to the purpose For there are many Women who having before brought forth very large Births afterwards are delivered of a little one and then a great one again Now the Place was big enough for that same little one to have stay'd longer and there was Nourishment sufficient in it for its larger growth where there had bin a great one before Moreover as the Infant grows so its Domicel the Womb enlarges which if any cause obstruct the Birth dies before matur'd and abortion happens XVI Nor can any such thing be prov'd from the Corruption of Nourishment seeing there is no Corruption of it but that it is as equally good at the end as at the beginning If any one affirm the Urine of the Birth to be mixed with the Nourishment we shall remit him to the preceding 30 31 32. Chapters Besides the Birth could not be rendred more vigorous by the corruption of the Nourishment to kick and sprawl but weaker and more infirm Some there are who with Regius add over and above that the Nourishment becomes unpleasant to the Birth by reason of its Corruption and therefore refusing such ungrateful Nourishment it kicks and spurns and seeks to get forth But there can be no Depravation of the Nourishment and therefore this Opinion presupposes some acute Judgment in the Birth to distinguish between the goodness and badness pleasantness and ungratefulness of the Nourishment But what Judgment an Infant has I leave to any one to consider For we find Children new born take Sack Milk Oyl of sweet Almonds Ale Syrups powder of Bezoar c. without any Distinction and therefore 't is not likely it should be able to distinguish the taste of Nourishment in the Womb. XVII Neither can it be defect of Nourishment which causes this sprawling which would rather occasion weakness and immobility for all living things languish for want of Nourishment and motion ceasing by degrees at length they dye Moreover we see many Infants new born that are strong enough and yet for the first two or three days receive little Nourishment which if they had wanted in the Womb they would not have been so strong but weak and languishing and would have been greedy of Nourishment when offered And to this that in many Women with Child that have hardly Bread to eat the Birth doth not only sprawl but is so weak that its motion can hardly be felt in the Womb but let the Mother feed heartily the Birth is refreshed and moves briskly in the Womb. Which is a certain sign that the stronger Motion of the Infant proceeds from a sufficient supply of Nourishment and not from want of Nourishment which would rather retard than promote delivery XVIII Claudius Courveus finding these causes did not promote delivery has contriv'd another which is redundancy of Excrement which he says is sometimes so much that the Birth constrained by necessity of Evacuation never leaves kicking till it get forth Which fiction of Courveus is contrary to Reason and Experience The one teaching us that there is no obstruction to hinder the Birth from Evacuating in the Womb. And it is apparent that very little Excrement can redound in regard the Infant takes no solid Nourishment in the VVomb Then Experience tells us that a new born Infant does not piss all the first day and for three days together many times never evacuates by Stool which it would do as soon as born were the Opinion of Courveus true XIX Therefore there must be another cause of this strenuous kicking and ensuing Labour which is the necessity of Breathing and Cooling For at first the heat of the Embryo is but small shewing it self like a little spark that has no need of cooling but of Augmentation Now this heat encreasing the Actions and Motions of the Birth encrease At length this Heat encreases to that degree that it wants Ventilation and cooling which being deny'd the Infant begins to be more and more disturbed by the heat and through that disturbance vehemently to move and kick and by means of that motion to excite the Uterine Humours to an Effervescency and make way for it self into a freer Air. But that increase of heat happens also in a small Birth which has stay'd its due time in the VVomb as well as in a large Infant So that the cause of Calcitration and delivery is the same in a small as in a large Infant if ripen'd in the VVomb XX. Thus in very hard winter Weather suppose a Man almost nummed and frozen to death should be enclosed and shut up in a narrow close Chamber every way stopped up and there should be a great Fire made in that Chamber First the heat of that place would Excite and Augment the remaining heat of the enclosed Body Hence the enclosed Body would begin to come to himself again and the heat would extreamly refresh and revive him And set at liberty his benumm'd
the kicking and motion of the Birth ceases neither does the VVoman come to be in travail again unless her pains are mov'd by Medicines that procure a strong Fermentation in the Humours Or by the Putrefaction of the Birth or the Dissolution of the Placenta or that the sharp Humours bred by the retention of the Secundines sharply boyl among themselves or that the weight and corruption of the dead Infant give some particular trouble to the VVomb and so by the means of a more copious flowing in of the Animal Spirits excite it to new striving and a more violent Expulsion Of delivery that happens after the Death of VVomen with Child or dying in Labour enough has been said C. 25. The End of the First Book THE SECOND BOOK OF ANATOMY TREATING Of the Middle BELLY or BREAST CHAP. I. Of the Breast in General VVE come now to the Middle Belly the Chambers or Throne of the Royal Bowel to which the concocted and refin'd Nourishments are offered as junkets to make out of them with its princely Blast a wholesom Nectar for the whole Miscrocosmical Commonwealth and distribute it to all the parts through the little Rivulets of the Arteries I. The Middle Belly is vulgarly called Thorax 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to leap because it contain the leaping Heart and it is that Concavity which is circumscribed above with the Clavicles before which is placed the Sternon or Breast-Bone behind with the Bones of the Back the fore parts of which are called the Sternum and Breast the hinder parts the Back II. The structure of it is partly Bony partly Fleshy It ought to be partly Bony to the end the Breast may remain expanded lest there should be a falling by Reason of the softness of the Fleshy parts and so the most noble Bowel the Heart together with the Lungs should be compressed and hindered in their Motion It ought to be partly Fleshy that it may be conveniently mov'd in Respiration which the Heart can by no means want And for the preservation of that Expansion and the more convenient liberty of Motion together it was requisite that it should be composed of several Bones and that those should be joynted together with Gristles and that there should be Muscles not only between each but that they should be covered over with many III. The shape of the Breast is almost round somewhat depressed before and behind and extended to a convenient length IV. The largeness of it is different according to the bulk and size of the Persons and difference of Sex as being of less extent in Women especially Virgins than in Men for that Men having a hotter Heart and Blood and more laboriously employed require a greater Respiration and dilatation of the Lungs that the hot Blood flowing into the Lungs into the right Ventricle of the Heart may be the sooner refrigerated therein But the narrowness of the Breast is never well liked for when the Lungs in Respiration have not sufficient Liberty to move in the hollow of the Breast they often hit more vehemently against the adjoyning Ribbs and thence because they are very soft parts of themselves they become languid and feeble and the Vessels being broken by that same bruising one against another occasion spitting of Blood and the corrupted Blood setling in the spungy Caverns breeds an Ulcer whose companion is generally an Ulcer with a lingring Feaver For this reason great care is to be taken of Infants not to swathe their Breasts too close which prevents the growth of the Ribbs and the Dilatation of the Breast Sometimes it happens in young People that Nature being strong of it self dilates the narrow hollowness of the Breast by bowing and removing some Ribs out of their natural Place and causing a Gibbosity makes more room for the motion and Respiration of the Lungs But to avoid that deformity there are some Artists that by the help of some convenient Instruments do by degrees compress those Gibbosities that they appear no more which is a Cure frequent among us But then I have observed that those Bunch-back People being so cured by reason of the Breasts being reduced to its former streightness become Asthmatick and in a short time spit Blood and so fall into an incurable Consumption And there we advise the hunch-back'd never to seek for Cure Life being more desirable with the deformity than Death with the Cure V. This middle Venter consists of parts containing and parts contained VI. The containing are either common or proper As for the Common See l. 1. c. 3 4. VII The proper containing are the Muscles of the Breast describ'd l. 5. several Bones the Sternum the Shoulder-Blades the Clavicles all described l. 9. The Breasts the Diaphragma the Pleura or Membrane that encloses the Breasts and Entrails the Mediastinum or doubling of the Membrane of the sides VIII The Parts contained are the Heart with its Pericardium the Lungs with a Portion of the Trachea or rough Artery the Greater part of the Gullet a Portion of the Trunks of the Aorta Artery and the hollow Vein the Thymus or Glandule in the Throat with several other smaller Vessels Moreover the Neck because it is an Appendix to this Belly is usually number'd among the parts of this Belly CHAP. II. Of the Breasts and the Milk I. THe two Breasts as well in Men as in Women are spread upon the middle of the Thorax of each side one above the Pectoral Muscle drawing the Shoulder and cover it by that means perfecting the handsom shape of the Body II. These by one general name the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those of Women by a particular name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By the Latins they are called Mammillae and Ubera though some will have Mammae to be proper to Women Mammillae to Men and Ubera to Beasts III. They are but small in Men but of a larger size in Women for the Convenience of giving Suck But among Women likewise there is a difference in the Bigness because that before the flowing of the monthly Courses and in old VVomen they swell out very little or nothing But in middle ag'd Women they are lesser or bigger according as the Women breed or give suck or as they are such that neither breed nor give suck for that the one require larger Breasts than the other In several Parts of India as in the Kingdom of Senega the Women are reported to have such large Breasts that they reach down to their Bellies and being raised up they can fling them over their Shoulders Here at Utrecht we formerly saw a Nurse that had such large Breasts that she could suck her self and if the Child lay upon her Shoulders she could conveniently give it the Nipple Monstrous were those Breasts mentioned by Bartholine in his Hist. Anat. in these words A Woman says he of note in Helsingore carryed about her Breasts so large
and ponderous that they hung down to her Knees and when she sat she rested her weighty Burthen upon her Knees IV. Now the bigness of the Breasts is chiefly to be considered by the Physician when he comes to the choice of a Nurse For this reason Moschius an Ancient Physician writes That a Nurse with moderate Breasts is always to be chosen for that great Breasts do not breed Plenty of Milk and too small denote frigidity But though it may be so generally yet experience tells us 't is no certain Rule For we have known many Women that had very small Breasts yet every time they were with Child their Breasts swell'd to a moderate Bigness and so continued all the time they gave suck yielding great store of Milk but after the Child was weaned fell again Others again we have seen and those not a few that having large Breasts bred a great deal of Milk and it is the common Opinion that great Beasts breed more Milk than small ones This in Cows the Country People pretend to know by Experience who will therefore give more for a Cow that has a large Udder than a small one V. They were formed two in number partly that there might be sufficient Nourishment for a double off-spring partly that if one should prove defective through any distemper or any other accident the other might supply the want VI. They are seated in the middle of the Breast not in the Abdomen as in Brutes for the Convenience of giving Suck that they might be ready for the Infant in the Arms of the Mother The Rabbins by the Report of Buxtorf feign other idle Reasons for their Situation where they are Thus Rabbi Abba that the upper Region of the Breast was ordained for the Breasts that the Child might be discreet and prudent and suck understanding from the Heart of the Mother Rabbi Iehuda alledges it to be done lest the Child should see the privities of the Mother and R. Mathana that he might not suck in a nasty Place VII The shape is Hemispherical the substance soft and white in Women in Cows and other Creatures not so white and sometimes enclining to yellow Riolanus notes that the substance is ruddy under the Armpits in Women with Child and such as give suck which we could never observe VIII They are composed of many Glandulous Bodies different in bigness little Pipes and Chanels meeting together joyn'd and compacted with a good quantity of fatt spread over them which are also swath'd about with a fleshy Membrane and knit with Muscles underneath Riolan and Wharton contrary to ocular Testimony deny this multitude of Glandules and aver that the whole Breast is composed of one sole Glandulous Body divided into no distinct Globes yet in the mean while they grant that in Breasts that are not sound little Globes may be discerned which certainly would not be perceived in Breasts unsound unless they were really in sound Breasts which are less tumid IX There is one large Glandule seated in the middle which the rest that are lesser surround also infinite Folds of milky Vessels are scattered among the Glandules by means of which the Milky juice is not only conveighed to all the said Glandules but also the lesser pour forth their Milk into the great Glaudule Moreover there are larger and copious Pores in the Glandules themselves in which as in so many Cells the Milk is reserved till the time of giving Suck unless it be so thin and so plentiful as to flow out of it self X. Over the great Glandule lies the Teat which is a little round spungy Body cloathed with a thin Skin and penetrable with many little Holes XI In this the Milky Channels of the Glandules terminate and thorough the little holes of it as through a little pipe the Milk is poured by sucking into the Mouth of the Infant XII It is endued with an Exquisite sense of feeling and the gentle handling of it is delightful but a Boysterous rubbing of it painful and besides by handling and sucking it falls and rises like the nut of the Yard XIII The colour of it is red in Virgins more livid in those that give suck but in Women that are past Child-bearing it grows black XIV The bigness of it is various in some as big as a Mulberry in most no bigger than a sweet Bryar berry in others lesser but more prominent at the time of giving suck than at other times XV. The Circle that surrounds it is called Areola pale in Virgins in pregnant Women brown in old Women black XVI The Breasts have five sorts of Vessels 1. Nerves from the upper Intercostals which being carryed to the Teat in great number occasion its quick sence of feeling 2. Arteries for Nourishment the innermost from the Subclavial Branch of the great Artery the outermost from the Axillarie Branch 3. Veins to bring back the Blood remaining after Nourishment far bigger and more numerous than the Arteries and those double running out from the exterior and interior parts of the Breasts to the Subclavials and Axillary Branch of the Vena Cava and discharging themselves into it Through these in Nurses sometimes a copious quantity of Milky matter is carryed from the Breasts to the Subclavial Veins in like manner as the Chylus through the Chylifer Pectoral Channel and for that reason chiefly these Veins are so large and numerous because it is their business to conveigh the Blood remaining after Nourishment but also part of the milky Liquor redundant in Women giving suck to the Subclavial Veins which liquor also remaining after the Child is wean'd is not corrupted in the Breasts but is carry'd thither through these Veins 4. Milky Vessels 5. Lymphatick Channels One of the innermost Arteries and Veins descending from the Subclavials which are called Mammarie creeps on both sides toward the lower parts under the straight Muscles of the Abdomen which are met by as many Arteries and Veins from the lower Belly coming from the Epigastrics which are said to close by Anastomoses with the former under the middle of the said Muscles by means of which as it was formerly believed there is a great Correspondence between the Womb and the Breasts as also that the Blood is carryed from the Womb toward the Breasts to be turned into Milk But the meeting of these Vessels is meerly fictitious for we never could find it our selves neither could any body else ever shew us any such thing Sometimes indeed their ends approach nearer one to another but they never unite Besides that the Circulation of the Blood has long since refuted that Opinion See more concerning this L. 1. c. 5. L. 6. c. 3. XVII That there are Lymphatick Vessels in the Breasts there is no reason for any one to question but whether so numerous as Wharton says he has observed them may be doubted Probable it
is because the Milky Vessels contain a very watery Milky Liquor that he thereby deceived took many Milky Vessels for Lymphaticks which made him describe a great number of those Vessels But those Milky Vessels are filled with a watery juice when the Woman giving suck being a hungry has taken much watery Nourishment and then the Milk that is suckt out of the Breasts proves very watery XVIII The Milky Vessels quite different from the Veins and Arteries are for the most part observed to be intermixed with the Glandules of the Breasts springing from the whole Circumference of the lower part and closing together in the middle of the Breasts which Communion and Continuity nevertheless with the Chylifer Channels absconding within the Trunk of the Body could never be made manifest hitherto by all the diligent enquiry of Anatomists Because that in dead Bodies though but newly hang'd these Accesses or small Channels of Communion lye hid in like manner as the Passages of the Stones into the Parastates and out of the Seminary Vessels into the Urethra and such like Passages through which we find that Nature orders several Translations of humours in living Bodies However there is no question to be made but that in the inner parts they pass no less through the Membranes and Muscles to the Breasts than through the Arteries and Veins And therefore they are not conspicuous but lye hid because the Chylous juice abides not within 'em no more than Urine in the Ureters but by the Compression of the Muscles of Respiration and the parts through which they pass is presently and swiftly thrust forward and passes through them In like manner as the Milky Vessels of the Mesentery the Chylus being empty'd into the Receptacle swiftly vanish and are no more seen before new Chylus causes 'em to swell again which because it stays not long within them affords but a short view of them Nor is it to be wondered at that these small Milky Channels being extended toward the Breast should escape the Eye when the Pectoral Chyle-bearing Channel it self running out indifferent large all the length of the Spine could neither be seen nor found by the most curious and quick-sighted Anatomists of so many Ages which nevertheless in our time rather chance than Art or Diligence discovered Perhaps some such accident may bring to light these Chyle-bearing Channels of the Breasts For that they are there Reason Use and the effects sufficiently demonstrate and Hippocrates describes them under the name of little Veins when he says That in Women after Delivery the little Veins of the Breast become larger to draw the fat Chylus from the Belly from whence the Milk is bred However there is no question to be made but that they are there though the Ocular Testimony of some accurate Anatomists may be wanting for Proof Yet Antonie Everard observes to us that he remarked a manifest deduction of the Milky Vessels to the Breasts for says he some of these Channels arising from the descending Trunk running out above the Muscles of the Abdomen under the Fat afforded matter for the Milk to the Glandulous substance of the Breasts which afterwards form'd little Pipes sufficiently conspicuous out of which the Milk is carryed into the Common Channel and suckt through the Nipple Thus also Pecquet at Monpelier in the year 1654. before the most experienced Riverius found out and demonstrated in a Bitch that gave suck near the third upper Rib a Milky Channel reaching to the Breasts out of which a great quantity of Milk was pour'd forth Which Experiment he often prov'd in Bitches that gave suck by the like Effusion always of great store of Milk out of the Vessels being opened as often as he began his dissection from the outward parts near the first Ribs of the Breast He had also before observed this little Branch to proceed from the forked Separations which however was not inserted into the Subclavial Channel but turned away as it were by stealth toward the Armhole between the Muscles of the Breast Nor was it a lesser small Branch which Theodore Schenkius observed running with a direct course without the Abdomen to the Teats in a dissected Bitch that gave suck which being squeezed pour'd forth its juice into the Nipple Ludovicus de Bills describes in his Belgic Apology certain little Vessels descending from the Lymphatick Circle situated in the Neck toward the Glandules of the Breasts which he thinks to be Milky Vessels but erroneously not distinguishing between the Lymphatick and Milky So that contrary to reason the ocular Testimony of the said Persons ascertains us of the Production of Milkie Vessels to the Breasts As Antony Everard found out in Coneys little Pipes extended from the Descending Trunk to the Breasts which in those Creatures seem to be seated in a lower place so in a Woman certain little Branches seem rather to be extended from the ascending Pectoral Trunk to the Breasts seated in the Breast it self This appeared in our Secretaries Wife four or five weeks gone who happening into our practice while I was more accurately studying this point was complaining that she had very little Milk in her Breasts and that if the Infant suckt any thing hard she felt a pain very troublesom from her Breasts to her Back about the middle Region between the Shoulder-blades but somewhat lower and that she had some slight sence of the same pain as far as her Loyns but when the Child did not suck she felt no pain at all Without doubt these were some Impediments by reason of which the Milky Vessels had not free passage to the Breasts and hence the Child drawing in their upper part and no sufficient Chylus following out of the Pectoral Channel that sucking occasioned some pain from the Breast to the Milky Pectoral Channel as is more especially apparent from hence that though this Woman were in pain upon the drawing of the Infant yet she felt but very little Milk in her Breasts and so was forced to provide another Nurse for the Infant The same I observed in the Wife of a Collegue of mine who being brought to bed in September 1664. complained that she could not endure the drawing of the Infant by reason of the pain she felt at that time extending it self to her back between the Shoulder-blades and thence to the Loyns Afterwards I observed several Examples of the same Nature All which things make it probable that the Milky Mammarie Channels are derived from the Milky Pectoral Channel XIX From what has been said it is apparent how much they are in the wrong who affirm that the Chylus is carryed with the Blood through the Arteries to the Breasts and out of them separated again from the Blood and changed into Milk As Thomas Consentinus with whom Gualter Needham agrees asserts that the Milk is separated from the Blood which is carry'd through the Pectoral and Mammary Arteries Which he endeavours to prove 1. By the manifold
Ramifications of the Arteries which are observed in the Glandules of the Breasts 2. By the Anastomoses of the Epigastrick Vessels with the Mammary Vessels 3. By the extraordinary bigness of the Mammary Arteries conspicuous in Women that give Suck But these Arguments are not so sinewy as to sustain a new Opinion of so much weight for that much more copious Ramifications of Arteries are conspicuous in the Brain and its Membranes in the Lungs and several other parts and yet they shew no sign at all that I know of any Milky or Chylous matter contained in the Arterious Blood In like manner the Anastomoses of the Epigastrick Vessels with the Mammary teach us nothing certain concerning this matter which have been said to have been found by many but were never by any yet demonstrated As for the bigness of the Arteries that does not proceed as he supposes from the plenty of Milk matter but because the Glandules swelling with Milk somewhat compass the ends of the Arteries so that the Blood flowing into them cannot flow out again so freely and swiftly as when a Woman does not give suck and therefore being detained with them in great abundance causes 'em to appear more turgid and swollen than at other times But I wonder Consentine makes no mention of the Veins which in Women that give Suck are much more numerous and bigger than the Arteries Several other Arguments of lesser note are urged by Consentine but because they are diffused in the following discourses here and there I say no more of them at present And thus this new Opinion falls to the Ground That besides the Blood the Chylus also being actually such is carryed and circulated through the Veins and Arteries and afterwards separated again from it XX. The Primary Office of the Breast is to make Milk the secundary Office is to cover the Breast and preserve it from the External Cold and in Women to contribute toward the Beauty of their structure XXI Now the Milk is a white and sweet Iuice prepared in the Breasts for the Nourishment of the Infant XXII As to the matter of the Milk there are great disputes among the Learned For seeing that the spirituous Blood is carryed through the Arteries and the Chylus through the Child-bearing Vessels to the Breasts and for that they are conspicuously full of Veins a Question arises Whether the Milk be bred out of the Arterious or Veiny Blood or Menstruums or out of the best or less pure Alementary Blood or out of the Chylus XXIII Aristotle and Galen affirm that the matter of Milk is the Blood that used to be evacuated at the monthly Purgations Which Opinion they seem to have taken from an Aphorism of Hippocrates If a Woman that is neither with Child nor has brought forth have any Milk her Flowers are stopp'd And these are followed by all the Ancient and Modern Physicians and Philosophers inforced with these Arguments 1. That upon the stopping of the Flowers the Milk breeds not only in Women with Child and delivered but also in Virgins Of which sort of Virgins breeding Milk Vega Gorrheus Schenkius and others produce various Examples 2. Because Women that give suck never have their Flowers or if they flow in great quantity the Milk decreases or dries up altogether 3. Because they whose Flowers cease through Age never have any Milk in their Breasts XXIV But from this Opinion supported by so many Arguments and Authorities these five Absurdities follow 1. That when Milk is bred the Flowers must of necessity stop But quite the contrary we have a thousand times seen Nurses and Mothers that have had their Flowers in great quantity at fixed times without any decrease of their wonted plenty of Milk which all Phisicians in their Practice will testifie as well as my self But the reason why the Courses stop in Women that give suck is not because Milk is generated out of them but because a great quantity of Chylus daily flows to the Breasts and more sparingly to the Heart of the Woâ—… that gives suck whence it happens that there is Blood enough generated for the nourishment of the Body but no redundancy that requires monthly Evacuation 2. That then the Milk would most abound when there is most plenty of Menstruous Blood that stops least when but little And yet in the first Month when that Blood most redounds in Women and is least wasted by the Embryo then is there no Milk bred But in the last Months of a Womans time when the grown Birth chiefly consumes the superfluous Blood and there is least redundancy of it then the Milk breeds in the Breast Moreover in Childbed-Women when the Menstruums flow plentifully there is yet great store of Milk in their Breasts and that increasing nevertheless the Menstrua do not stop 3. That there should be so much Milk generated as there is Redundancy of the said Blood And yet there is no Man but easily observes the inequality of that proportion of a small quantity of Blood that redounds every Month and of the great quantity of Milk drawn from a Woman every day And then again what shall we say of Sheep Cows Goats and such like Animals that never have any Menstruous Blood and yet every day yield great quantities of Milk 4. That Milk should only breed in Ripe Women that either have or may have their Flowers But new-born Infants not only Female but Male evince the contrary Out of whose Breasts we have seen Milk to flow for some days nay for some weeks together or else easily squeezed out with a slight compression of the Finger And the same thing Cardan observed and Schenkius reports to have been seen by Camerarius and indeed any body that will may observe it in new-born Infants Dry old Women also are an Argument to the contrary whose courses generally stop by reason of their Age of whom nevertheless the writers of Physical Observations besides Aristotle relate that several have had great store of Milk Boden also Henry ab Heer 's and others give several examples of the same thing 5. That Milk never breeds in Men because they have no redundancy of menstruous Blood But yet Aristotle and Avicen testifie the contrary Who both teach us that Men many times give a great quantity of Milk They that have travelled the new World report that they have found some Countries there where the Men had the greatest store of Milk and gave the Children suck Which Testimonies of these Experiments Vesalius Eugubius Alexander Benedict Bartholine Stantorellus Cardan Gemma and several others confirm by Examples Nor will that distinction here avail which Bauhinus Spigelius and Ludovicus Mercatus alledge that the same Mens Milk is no true Milk but a juice like to Milk and therefore to be distinguished from Milk For it is not probable that so many Eye-witnesses all prudent Men that understood what they did could be so deceived as not understand when they tasted
Milk Besides that it is bred in the Breasts and differs nothing at all from Womens Milk neither in colour smell taste or substance and the Children are as well nourished with it as with Womens Milk as the Histories testifie XXV Others to avoid all the aforesaid difficulties alledge that it is not necessarily bred out of the Menstruous Blood but out of some redundancy of the Alimentary Blood But these Men while they endeavour to shun Carybdis fall into Scylla For several Arguments altogether destroy this Opinion 1. It is impossible that a Woman that gives suck should live with so much loss of Blood For take but from any Man for a few days together a pint or half a pint of Blood it cannot be done without an extraordinary Emaciation of the Body destruction of the strength and vigour of the Body and hazard of Life Or if an excess happen in the flowing of Courses it overweakens the Party to a high degree Now is it probable that a Woman should yield so many pints of Milk bred out of the Blood every day for whole Months and years together without any emaciation or decay of Strength or Health If you answer that they are sometimes so weakned that they are forced to wean the Child I answer that does not happen by reason of the great quantity of Blood changed into Milk but because the Chylus is carryed in too great quantity to the Breasts and there is changed into Milk while the lesser Portion is carryed to the Heart and passes into Blood the consequence of which defect must necessarily be Emaciation and weakness of the Body 2. If the Seed which is generated out of the Blood being evacuated in a moderate quantity debilitates the whole Body shall not the Milk much more enervate the natural strength being daily drawn out in great quantity But this is not done 3. If after any great and often iterated Evacuation of the Blood decay of strength Cachexy Dropsie and other cold Distempers follow shall Women that give suck with whom this continual Evacuation of Milk lasts for whole years together be free from those Dissempers and enjoy a more sane habit of Body 4. If every suddain alteration be dangerous why when Women wean their Children at what time plenty of Milk fails of a suddain and by consequence also the evacuation of Blood ceases why I say do they not fall into some pernicious Plethora Which however never happens You will say perhaps that some Women eat less at that time I answer that they are not without an Appetite for all that nay and that most Women eat as well and as much after weaning as before If you say that same superfluous Blood is evacuated at the monthly Periods that evacuation is too thin and rare in respect of the whole Quantity of Blood changed into Milk which before was wasted every day 5. If the Blood that flows into the parts in greater quantity through the Arteries and distending the parts causes stronger Pulses therein why does not that happen in the swelling Milk-bearing Vessels of Women wherein nevertheless there is no stronger Pulsation perceived 6. If the Blood flowing plentifully to the Breasts should be extravasated therein and tarry till changed into Milk it would not be changed into Milk but into Matter and breed an Aposteme as happens in Impostumations of the Breast 7. By the Laws of nature there is no return from Privation to Habit. Shall the Chylus alone be excepted from this general Rule and lose its whiteness and all its other qualities so to pass into Blood afterwards to quit again the qualities of Blood and reassume its former qualities of Blood Whether the Blood now concocted for the nourishment of the solid Part shall lose its more perfect condition and be changed into a Milky substance to be again concocted into Blood by the Birth Nature does nothing in vain neither does she tread the same path backward and forward in any of her Operations Neither does the motion of Concoction run retrograde to Crudity but only advances to the greater perfection Can a Ripe fruit grow green again to be ripen'd again So the Blood made out of the Chylus cannot run retrograde into a Milky Chyle to be concocted again into Blood Some one will say perhaps with Plato That nature uses here deceit to alienate Man from seeding upon Blood otherwise that Milk differs nothing from Blood but in Colour But what need any such Artifice to delude new-born Infants who while they suck never see what colour the Milk is on Or if they did were not able to distinguish one from the other Why is not the same abuse put upon Lyons Wolves Tygers and Leopards to whom cruelty is natural Neither let any Man object that while the Seed is generated the Blood in the same manner passes into a substance again to be changed For then it is not changed into a Chylous or any other Cruder or worser Substance to be again reduced into Blood but into a far better out of which not only some parts must be nourished but the solid parts of the Birth are to be generated and formed 8. Seeing that the nourishment swallowed requires several hours time to change it into Blood how comes it to pass that Nurses presently after they have eat and drunk presently after feel a copious quantity of Liquor flow to the Breasts before any Blood could be generated out of the said Nourishment What is the reason that the Milk attracts to its self immediately and retains the faculty quality and odour of what the Nurse swallows whereas no such thing can be perceived in the Blood nor in the parts nourished with the Blood thus if you give a purge to the Nurse the Physick sooner purges the Infant than the Nurse Perhaps indeed by long Use and Time and the many times â—…repeated eating concoction and preparation of the same thing some such alteration or quality may be imprinted in the Blood and the solid parts nourished by it as in that beautiful Damosel fed with Poyson that was offered to Alexander whose Body by long use and feeding upon Poysons became so venemous that she infected and killed all that lay with her Now that Milk easily imbibes the qualities of the meat which the Nurse swallows Walter Charleton proves admirably well For says he Beyond all others is that Experiment for the demonstration of the Milky Ways For let the Nurse drink Milk but slightly tinctur'd with Saffron and within half an Hour after more or less the Milk that is milk'd out of her Breasts shall have the Smell Taste and Colour of Saffron He also reports an Observation out of Prosperus Marinus concerning a Roman Woman out of whose Nipple the Surgeon drew a little Branch of Succory which she had eaten the day before and so proves that not only the Chylus but thicker Substances may sometimes also pass together with the Chyle to the Breasts Thus Aristotle reports that
sometimes swallow'd hairs come to the Breasts and Nipples an Example of which Alsaharavius reports that he saw in a certain Woman 9. If a Woman go long without Meat or Drink till she be very hungry and dry Milk will not breed in her Breasts tho' there be no want of Blood in the Vessels Which tho' Bartholine denies from the Observation of Hogheland Yet I have osten seen it to be true with my own Eyes And if at that time the Infant suck it shall not draw any Milk for want of Chyle in the Milky Vessels but Blood from the Ends of the little Arteries and Veins open'd at that time more then usually by the vehement drawing of the Child till the Woman eats and drinks again and new Chyle come to the Stomach Of which we have a manifest Example in a Lady of this Town who in the Year 1650 gave Suck but not being able to eat or drink for three or four Days together by reason that her Husband lay dangerously ill she not only had no Milk in her Breasts but upon the strong drawing of the Infant it was found that pure Blood follow'd out of her Nipples Afterwards when her Husband recover'd and that her Grief abating she began to eat and drink well and good Chylus came again into her Stomach she had immediately plenty of Milk in her Breasts A certain Sign that that Milk was not generated out of the Blood out of which however otherwise it might have been made before when there was Chylus which nevertheless was at that time suckt out of the Breasts pure and ruddy and not chang'd into Milk XXVI To these Arguments it may be perhaps Objected That a Cow for the first days after it has Calv'd sends forth a Bloody Milk which is a Sign that Milk is generated out of the Blood I answer That at first presently after the Birth the Milky Pores of the Breasts are not yet so dilated that Chylus sufficient may be able to flow through them to the Dugs and then the little Veins of the Udders are open'd by the drawing of the new Calv'd Creature and a small quantity of Blood flowing out of those Veins dyes the Milk of a Ruddy Colour but when the Milky Pores are sufficiently open'd and dilated and that the Chyle flows freely to the Dugs there is no farther Violence done to the said Veins by drawing and then that Mixture of Blood ceases and the Milk breeds in great quantity XXVII There seems one Difficulty more remaining How it comes to pass if the Milk be not made out of the Blood that in Creatures which give Suck the Arteries but especially the Veins are much larger and more swollen in the Breasts than in those Creatures that do not give Suck But to this we have answer'd already in the Question Whether the Chylus be carry'd to the Breasts by the Arteries and where the Vessels of the Breast are enumerated XXVIII Conringius to avoid these Rocks without Shipwrack affirms the Milk to be made of the more imperfect and crude Blood which is not yet concocted to perfect Redness nor very Spirituous or much Circulated through the Heart by the evacuation of which the Natural Strength is not much injur'd which by reason of its Serosity easily slips to the Teats and is quickly augmented by Drink But there are five Difficulties to be Objected against this 1. That the Chylus assoon as it is dilated in the Heart presently acquires perfect Redness so that the Blood which is bred therein may be said at first to be less Spirituous indeed but not less red than other Blood that has oftner circulated through the Heart Of which more c. 12. 2. That the cruder part of the Blood by reason it is more thick cannot be carry'd so swiftly through the Vessels and be separated from the more refin'd Blood and flow to the Breasts alone not being able to move it self apart and separating it self from the rest of the Mass. 3. That in Nurses that feed upon wholesome Diet the Milk is not very serous but fat and thick whereas otherwise by reason of its Crudity it would be always serous 4. That upon suck the more spirituous and thinner parts would more easily follow than the crude and thicker and hence would arise a swift decay of the Strength 5. That our Bodies are not truly nourish'd with serous and thin Blood as is apparent in a Flegmatic Cachexy and Anasarca but with fat and well concocted Nourishment such as Milk is as is apparent from hence for that Children so long as they suck and are nourish'd with Milk-Diet are better nourish'd and grow more than after they are wean'd and for that Milk also greatly nourishes grown People upon whom otherwise serous and crude Nourishment brings a Cachexy or else they are evacuated for the most part by Urine and Sweat nor do they contribute much to the strength of the Body All which things instruct us That no Blood whether Menstruous Alimentary or Crude can be the Matter of Milk And therefore this Doctrine inculcated for so many Ages is to be rejected and we are to seek another Matter for its Generation XXIX This Matter Wharton and Charleton the better to find out and describe divide into two Parts one Chylous the other Spermatic and this they say is much less in quantity than the other The one they say is transmitted to the Dugs through the Arteries of the Breast but that this is carry'd thither through the Nerves But here they are under a double Mistake First Because they do not consider that there is no Chyle nor Chylous Humor contain'd in the Arteries because the Chylus when it passes the Heart there loses its own Form and takes the Form of Blood and never returns to Chylus again Secondly Because they think that the Visible and thick Alimentary Humors pass through the Invisible Pores of the Nerves which we have at large refuted l. 1. c. 16. and l. 8. c. 1. XXX Hieronymus Barbatus describes a quite different Matter of the Milk while he endeavors to prove by many Reasons that Milk is neither made of Blood or Chylus but only of the Serum as being that wherewith he thinks that all the Spermatic Parts are nourish'd for that the Serum swimming upon the Blood by the heat of the Fire thickens into a Jelly whence it is apparent that it is not only chang'd into Milk but agglutinated to the Parts that are to be nourish'd Which last Assertion which is the Foundation of the Learned Gentleman's Argument is contrary to Experience For that Serum swims upon the cold Blood drawn from the Vein being set in the Sun or to the Fire will exhale to Dryness but never turn to a Jelly unless it be faulty The Lymphatic Iuice which as he thinks differs nothing from the Serum thickens to a Jelly but how much that differs from the Serum see l. 1. c. 13. Lastly Tho' Milk be not made
Whereas if that Milk in the Woman mention'd by Hippocrates should be made by the Menstruous Blood restagnating then all Women when their Courses stop'd or stay'd would always have Milk in their Breasts when it rarely happens but among salacious and prurient Women excited by much lascivious Titillation and venereal Thoughts and consequently the motion of the Animal Spirits which loosen the Breasts and open the Pores of the Chyliferous Passages and so make free way for the Chylus to the Breasts In like manner as by libidinous contrectation and sucking the Chylus may be carry'd to the Breasts of some Men who can never be suspected of Menstruous Evacuation and there be turn'd into Milk and of such men giving Suck there are various Examples among the Physicians of which Bartholine has collected some together l. e. Anat. Reformat c. 1. After the same manner is the Story of Mesue's Woman to be explain'd who spit Blood when the Milk fail'd in her Breast which Blood was stopp'd when her Milk came again Because the Chylus that was wont to flow to the Breasts flow'd to the Heart where there happen'd to be too great a quantity of Blood which for that reason burst out of the vessels of the Head and Lungs and was evacuated at the Mouth But afterwards the greatest part of the Chylus flowing to the Breasts and the Milk returning then upon the ceasing of the Repletion the spitting of Blood likewise ceas'd Here also lastly may be objected the Example of Cows who having been foddered all the Winter with Hay at length coming to feed upon Grass nevertheless their Milk does not alter and grow fat till two or three Weeks after and it contributes another somewhat ruddy colour and grateful Taste to the Butter which would come to pass the first or second day if the foresaid Proposition were true seeing that the Chylus is altered at the beginning I answer First That what is alledged is not true for it is not three weeks time before the alteration of the Milk but the first second or third day and it is manifestly apparent in the Colour and Taste of the Butter made the fourth day tho it be not perfectly conspicuous at the beginning because the preceding Chylus was not then wholly wasted but mixt with the latter Besides the very Substance of the Udder cannot be so soon dispos'd to give such a sudden Alteration to the Milk seeing that Disposition depends upon the Blood which nourishes that Substance hence it follows that as that Nutrition so the great Alteration of the Disposition proceeding from it procures its Effect by degrees but not in one or two days XXXVIII This Opinion of ours concerning the Chylous Matter of Milk Wharton seems to prove but in part for he joyns to it another Matter of which never any man hitherto makes mention For he affirms the Milk to be made partly out of Chyle and partly out of a certain Iuice flowing from the Nerves which is mingled with that Chylus But seeing there is no such Cavity in the Nerves through which such a manifest thick fatty whitish Iuice can be thought to pass but only invisible Porosities through which no such plentiful Iuice which is to be turn'd into Milk can possibly flow to the Breasts of Women that give Suck 't is apparent that no Liquor can come from the Nerves for the Generation of Milk Which is manifest from hence for that through the copious Conflux of that Animal Liquor through the Nerves to the Breasts there would be a great dissipation and waste of Animal Spirits in Women that gave Suck and an extraordinary decay of Strength whereas Women are more chearful better in health when they give Suck than at other times XXXIX These things being thus affirmed there remains a Notable Question to be examin'd that has so deterr'd most Learned men that they have rather chosen to pass it over in silence than to meddle with it What it is that forces the Chylus that was wont to flow to the Heart through the Chyliferous Channels to the Breasts for the Generation of Milk Deusingius believes That the Menstruous Blood through a certain singular Quality contracted from the Womb rarefies and as it were ferments all things in the Body and causes a Disposition proper for the generation of Milk This he says is communicated to Infants by the nourishing heat of the Womb. But that in Men and Virgins it is occasion'd by the frequent handling of the Breasts in like manner as in little Kids whose Dugs being compress'd by the hands there presently follows Milk But these plausible Reasons fall upon the Rocks by me formerly propos'd and suffer a total Shipwrack Nor is that any thing truer which Deusingius adds That the Chylus is forc'd toward the Breasts in Women with Child by a compression of the Stomach and Sweet-bread made by the growing Infant For which why does not the same thing happen in other Tumors without the Abdomen and when the dead Birth sticks in the Womb at what time there is the same compression Some will say perhaps That there is not the same Lactific Disposition infus'd by them into the Breast Which is of no moment for if the aforesaid Compression of the Stomack were requisite to concur with such a Disposition then such a Compression ceasing from the Birth after Delivery no Chylus would come to the Breasts and so there would be no Milk generated therein much less in Virgins and Men that give Milk in whom such a Compression by the Birth could never happen But these things being all contrary to Experience fall without refutation Some have recourse to the Providence of Nature others to other invalid Reasons and thus this Mystery has hitherto remain'd in obscurity But for the better discovery thereof we are first to consider That besides the Chylus and an apt Conformation of the Breasts there is requir'd toward the Generation of Milk a free passage of the Chylus to the Breasts which we easily conceive in Infants newly born by reason of the softness and the loose Porosities of the Parts But what should open that Passage in People grown to maturity which had been stopp'd up for many years he that can tell this unlooses the Gordion Knot Suck or handle the Breasts of a hundred Men Virgins and Women that do not give Suck as long as you please you shall not find the Milk come to all perhaps not to any or only to one or two But why not to all Because say you the Breasts of the rest are not sufficiently loose or porous But the same Women when afterwards with Child evince these reasons in whom there is then to be found a sufficient laxity of the Dugs XL. Therefore there is another cause to be sought after which I take to be a strong Imagination and an intent and frequent Cogitation of Milk of the Breasts and of their being suckt which works wonders in our Bodies not
by frequent Circulations and Attenuations in the Heart render'd still more Spirituous XV. In the mean time certain it is That the Chylus passing through the Heart and therein dilated loses the Form of Chylus and at the very same moment assumes another that is to say the Form of Blood XI But here arises a weighty Question Whether the whole Chylus in its passage through the Heart loses altogether the Form of Chylus and assumes the Form of Blood in such a manner as that no Part of it remains Chylus This Doubt was started by Gualter Needham who says That the Chylus dilated in the Heart remains a considerable part of it actually Chylus and that it circulates through the whole Body being mix'd with the Blood and is again separated from the Blood in several Parts for private Uses especially in the Amnion and Breasts XVII This Opinion of his he proves from hence For that frequently crude and indigested Chylus has been drawn from the Arms â—…of such as have been let Blood The same Opinion also the Observances of other Physitians seem strongly to confirm of which Bauschius has collected several in his Germanic Ephemerides 1. Of a Girl afflicted with a continual Fever whose Blood at three several Blood-lettings appear'd Milky 2. Of a sick Patient out of all whose Veins when open'd there always issu'd forth white Blood 3. Of a certain Virgin who upon a Suppression of her Courses after she had eaten her Breakfast about Seven a Clock was let Blood at Eleven and the Blood that came from her was purely white and being warm'd upon the Fire harden'd like the White of an Egg. 4. Of an Apothecary of Cambray who being prick'd in the Arm the Blood look'd red as it came forth but was white in the Porringer 5. Of a certain Person troubl'd with the Itch. 6. Of a Woman that gave Suck that lay ill of a Malignant Fever 7. Of a Woman with Child sick of a Fever 8. Of another Woman with Child And 9. Of a Maid that was troubl'd with a Suppression of her Courses from all which Persons upon their being let Blood there flow'd a white Liquor together with the Blood And Regner de Graef mentions two Stories of white Blood seen by himself XVIII But though such a long Series of Observations seems to confirm Needham's Opinion yet because those Examples are quite from the Matter it is impossible they should be able to support it For all those Cases concern unhealthy Bodies only from whom a whitish Matter issu'd forth together with the Blood Concerning which Matter there has been a sharp Dispute between the Physicians to those Patients whether it is to be call'd Flegm or Chylus whether Milk or Matter and many uncertain Conjectures have been made about it When as it is well known by daily Practice that by reason of some certain Infection of the Blood proceeding from the bad concoctions of the diseased Bowels many times upon opening a Vein the Blood will look sometimes whitish or yellowish and sometimes of another Colour Moreover if any thing of a Chylus should be mix'd with it and circulate with it then would it sometimes be seen to flow out with the Blood upon opening a Vein which was never yet seen by any Person And in my own Practice I have order'd innumerable Persons both Men and Women some with Child and others that have given Suck to be let Blood but never could observe the least drop of Chylus in the Blood that has been drawn forth Neither did any of those eminent Physicians with whom I discours'd this Point ever see the same Neither can any man produce an Example of a Man sound in Health out of whose Veins being open'd Chyle ever flow'd with the Blood or was ever separated from it Perhaps it may be objected That Reason shews us and Experience confirms it That in big-belly'd Women and such as give Suck if they are in perfect health the Chylus is separated from the Blood and pour'd forth into the Breasts of the one and into the Amnion of the other which could not flow thither but out of the Sanguiferous Vessels carry'd toward those Parts To which I answer That the Chylus that is carry'd to the Breasts and Amnion as also that which flows through the Womb and Bladder was never infus'd into Blood-bearing Vessels or mix'd with the Blood and so neither can be carry'd through the one nor separated from the other but flows to those Parts through other quite different conceal'd Parts of which Passages we have sufficiently discours'd l. 1. c. 18. 31. c. 2. of this Book Besides all which Reason is altogether repugnant to this Opinion For when the Aliments and Alimentary Humors lose their first Forms by reason of the Concoction of the Bowels and assume another Form the same thing cannot but happen to the Chylus concocted in the Heart For Example An Apple being eaten and concocted in the Stomach is altogether depriv'd of its Form and is made into Chylus which is no more an Apple and of which no particles can be again reduc'd to the Form of an Apple So the Chylus being dilated in the Heart cannot but by its strong and sudden Effervescency presently lose all its Form of Chyle and receive the Form of Blood which though it be rawer at the beginning than the rest of the Blood frequently circulated and dilated in the Heart yet is it Blood wherein there is not the least Form of Chylus remaining But some will say That Crudity presupposes that some particles of that Chylus are not altogether chang'd into Blood but still retain the Form of Chylus and are so mix'd with the Blood I deny it for that is not call'd crude Blood wherein all the Particles of the Chylus are not sanguify'd but that which is not reduc'd to a just Spirituosity and Maturity And hence the Blood which is made first of all out of the Chylus dilated in the Heart though it be cruder yet it is not a Chylous and Flegmy part of the Blood wherein there are no Particles of the Chylus remaining only it wants as yet a just Spirituosity in some measure In like manner as the Seed which is made of the Blood becomes to be crude and unfruitful in Old Men not that there are any Particles of Blood in it that are not as yet chang'd into Seed but because that Seed by reason of the weakness of the Spermatic Parts is not yet reduc'd to a just Spirituosity and Maturity For no man how quick-sighted soever observ'd any Particles of Blood in crude Seed much less shall be able to separate any Blood from it Thus an unripe Apple is call'd crude not that any Earthy or Arboreous Particles are conspicuous in it or any way separable from it but because the Spirit latent therein is not yet reduc'd to such a Thinness and Maturity as to put forth it self which Maturity it afterwards acquires by the Heat of
the Body it self of the Stomach XI 2. The Left-hand Gastric which is carried toward the Right-hand to the upper Parts of the Ventricle and to the Pylorus Besides these there proceed also from the Splenic Branch but at the lower Part. XII 1. The Postic Epiplois to the lower Part of the Caul and annexed to the Colon it self XIII 2. The Sinister Epiplois to the Lower and Left-side of the Caul XIV The remainder of the Splenic Branch approaching the Spleen enters its Parenchyma after that a little before its entrance at the upper Part it has sent forth a Short Arterious Vessel to the Left-side of the bottom of the Stomach and the Left-hand Gastro-epiplois which being supported by the upper Part of the Caul crawls along the Left-side of the bottom of the Stomach affording little Branches to the fore and hinder Part of it as also to the Caul this Branch entring the Spleen is distributed through the Substance of it with several Divarications XV. The Mesenteric Artery which also accompanies the Roots of the Vena Porta proceeds from the forepart of the Trunk sometimes single sometimes divided into two Branches presently after its Exit Of these the uppermost rising below the Coeliac is extended through the whole upper part of the Mesentery where it constitutes the Mesaraics as also into the Jejunum Ileon and part of the Colon to the Right-hand Kidney XVI The lower rising below the Spermatics near the Holy-bone enters the lower Region of the Mesentery and is distributed with several Branches into the Lest part of the Colon and the streight Gut and lastly descending to the Podex constitutes the Inner Hemorrhoidal Arteries Through the said Branches proceeding from the Mesenteric the Arterious Blood is caried for the Nourishment of the Intestines and the Mesentery it self Nor are they to be credited who upon Galens Authority affirm that the Mesenteric Arteries suck in the thinner part of the Chylus For the Heart continually forces the Blood through the Arteries from its self to the Parts but receives nothing through them from the Parts Nor can the two contrary Motions of Expulsion and Reception be allowed at the same time in the Arteries Which Mistake proceeded from hence that Galen did not understand the milky Vessels but judg'd them from their white Colour to be Arteries The Branches proceeding from the Trunk of the Aorta before its Division which follow the Stocks of the Vena Cava are several XVII 1. The Emulgent Artery of each side one rarely more to each Kidney which begins about the Conjunction of the first and second Verteber of the Loyns The Right a little lower the Left a little higher and slit into two three or four Branches enters the Kidneys of its own side Rolfinch writes that the Extremities of this unites after many Fashions with the Extremity of the Emulgent Vein by Anastomose's which is no way probable Vide l. 2. c. 18. XVIII 2. The Spermatics both proceeding from contiguous beginnings of which the Right surmounts the Trunk of the hollow Vein rarely the Right-hand One proceeds from the Emulgent though the Left in Women has been observed so to do Each of these uniting with the Vein of its own Side presently after their Rise scarce two Fingers breadth from the Emulgent in Men descend through the Process of the Peritonaeum to the Testicles in Women so soon as they approach the Testicles they are divided into three little Branches of which the first is inserted into the Testicles the second enters the bottom of the Womb with many little Sprigs and the third is distributed into the Tube and Ligament of the Womb. XIX 3. The Lumbars which are not only distributed to the Muscles adjoyning to the Loyns and Peritonaeum but in the hinder Part where the Trunk of the great Artery rests upon the Vertebers are carryed through the holes of the Vertebers of the Loyns to the Spinal Marrow which some think thence ascend to the Brain all the whole length of the Pith together with the Veins adjoyning XX. 4. The Upper Muscula of each side one which runs out to the sides of the Abdomen and its Muscles CHAP. VI. Of the Arteries rising from the descending Trunk of the Aorta after its Division within the Peritonaeum I. THE Trunk of the Aorta descending when it comes to the Region of the fifth Verteber of the Loyns ascends the hollow Vein and is divided into two Branches called Iliac Now at the Division it self comes forth the sacred Artery which passing the Holes of the Os Sacrum with little Sprigs opens it self into its Marrow Every Branch not far from its Biforcation is again divided into the inner and outer Branch From the inner Iliac Branch which is the lesser proceed three Stocks II. 1. The Inferior Muscula which proceeds to the Muscles called Glutei constituting the Buttocs as also to the Extremity of the Iliac Muscle and Psoa About the first beginning of this Artery sometimes from each Trunk a Branch runs out to the skinny Parts of the Pubes Ilion and Abdomen III. 2. The Hypogastric which is large and at the lower Seat of the Os Sacrum proceeds to the Bladder and the Neck of it and the Muscles covering the Share-bone and with some Root-strings runs to the Podex where it constitutes the External Hemorrhoidals But in Men it is carried through the two hollow Bodies of the Yard to the Nut. In Women it is distributed through the bottom of the Womb and the Neck of it with a numerous attendance of Root-strings IV. 3. The Umbilical Artery which ascending near the sides of the Bladder and inserted into the doubling of the Peritonaeum proceeds to the Navel from whence it passes forth again while the Birth is in the Womb and runs into the Uterine Cheeskake But in a Man born after the Navel-string is cut it ceases any more the conveyance of Blood and therefore becomes more solid and harder and is extended like a string from both the Iliac Arteries to the Navel The remainder of the inner Branch assuming a Scien or Graft of the External Branch is dispeirsed into the Muscle possessing the hole of the Share-bone and the Muscles adjoyning From the outer Iliac branch two sprigs go forth V. 1. The Epigastric which winding upward without the Peritonaeum ascends the streight Muscle of the Abdomen in the inner Part and is met above the Region of the Navel by the descending Mammary and with the Extremities of which it is thought to unite by Anatomists which is a mistake as is prov'd already cap. 3. and lib. 1. cap. 5. VI. 2. The Pudenda Arteria which sends forth on each side a remarkable Artery into the Sinewy or Fungous Bodies of the Yard and in Women into the Clitoris Hence it is carry'd inward along the Commissure of the Share-bone to the Privities and Groins and their
it and the Kernel laid upon it is inserted into the Left side of the Trunk of the hollow Vein a little below the Emulgent The Right proceeding from the same Parts most commonly approaches the higher and middle Emulgent Channel but seldom both enter the Emulgent and more rarely the hollow Vein III. 3. The Emulgent large but short and both right and left These each of them adhere with their stringy Roots to the Kidney of it's own side which meeting at length about the middle and hollow Part of the Kidney break forth out of it sometimes with one two three and sometimes more Branches after their egress concurring into one short and broad Channel which descending somewhat obliquely opens with a broad Orifice into the Trunk of the hollow Vein the Left in a place somewhat higher then the Right At the Orifice of the Emulgent gaping into the hollow Vein stands a remarkable Valve looking upward from the Inferior Part of the Orifice and granting a free Influx of the Blood out of the Kidney into the hollow Vein but preventing the reflux of it into the Emulgent There is great variety in the Number of the Emulgents which though most commonly are from each Kidney yet sometimes two many times single by themselves many times meeting half way fall into the Vena Cava and only one rises from one Kidney and two from the other Sometimes a Branch descends from the Breast to the Emulgent which is believed in this place to intermix with the Roots of the Azygos and here and there to unite Sometimes a Branch slides down to the Emulgent from the Loins and Spinal Pith. Seldom any Branch is extended thither from the Succenturiated Kernel Sometimes also little Branches gape into it from the Neighbouring Parts for Nature often varys in these particulars IV. 4. The Spermatic or Seminal of each side one a Right and Left Riolanus writes that sometimes in Lustful Persons that have been hang'd for Adultery he has often found these Veins double especially on the Right side But there is no certain Reason why men should be more Lustful for that and therefore I question his Assertion The Right-hand Vein enters the higher Part of the Trunk it self below the Emulgent of the same side which has been often observ'd by Galen and Vesalius At its enterance into the hollow Vein it bunches forth with somewhat a thick Prominence which Riolanus believes to proceed from the Valve distended by the ascending Blood and looking toward the hollow Vein This Valve by reason of its extream smallness and slenderness can hardly be shewn but reason perswades us it must be there there being a necessity of some obstacle to prevent the Blood from flowing back from the hollow into the Spermatic Vein To which end 't is probable that all the Veins gaping into the Vena Cava are so furnish'd unless the Iliac and Sub clavial whose Valves are more remote The Left Seminal enters the middle Left Emulgent at the lower Part guarded with a Valve at the Orifice From this another Branch is sometimes sent forth to the Trunk of the Cava But Nature varies in the Spermatic Veins for that their ends sometimes enter the Cava on both sides sometimes the Emulgent on both sides and the Left enters the Cava and sometimes though rare the Emulgent and Cava on both sides with a forked end These Veins rise in Men without the Abdomen from the Testicles themselves and the Warty substance from which they carry back the Blood remaining after nourishment of the Parts and generation of Seed to the hollow Vein In Women they rise within the Abdomen partly from the bottom of the Womb and neighbouring Membranes with innumerable stringy Roots partly they rise up from the Testicles Besides it has been observ'd by some that three or four Roots are extended further from the Spinal Piâ—…h V. 5. The Lumbaries two three or four which enter the Trunk of the Cava at the hinder seat looking toward the Vertebres so that their ingress cannot be perceiv'd but by raising the Cava They proceed from the Lumbary Muscles and the Spinal Pith between four Vâ—…rtebres of the Loyns through the holes of the Nerves perforated on each side and receive on each side a little Branch inserted into the involvings of the Marrow and descending all along the whole length of it through those Mâ—…ninx's that enfold it This Riolanus believes at its beginning to be united by Anastomosis with the beginning of the Root of the ascending Jugular which seems not probable VI. 6. The two Illiacs large Veins which about the fifth Verteber of the Loyns and the beginning of the Os Sacrum enter the end of Trunk of the Cava so that the Cava seems to rest upon these two Veins as upon two Thighs A little above their Ingress into the lower Belly beforethey are united with the Cava they are guarded with a large Valve looking upward which transmits the ascending but stops the descending Blood These Iliacs discharge into the Cava the Blood of all the Inferior Parts brought to them out of the lesser Veins which are under them CHAP. VII Of the Veins which open into the Iliacs I. TO Each of the Iliacs about the same place where it approaches the Cava The Upper Muscle extends it self which proceeds from the Peritonaeum and Muscles as well as of the Loyns and Abdomen Hither also reaches the Sacred Vein sometimes single sometimes double which â—…uns forth from the Membranes investing the Marrow through the Holes of the Os Sacrum II. A little lower a large Vein but short enters the Iliac call'd the Lower Iliac into which only two lesser Veins enter III. 1. The middle Muscula at the outer Seat which with its Roots adheres to the Inferior Muscles of the Thigh possessing the Seat of the Hip as also to the Skin of the Buttocks and the Adjacent Parts IV. 2. At the inner Seat the Hypogastric which is larger then the first sometimes double to which most of the Veins of the Hypogastrium are carry'd 1. In Men several little Branches from the Yard and Bladder 2. In Women several Branches from the Bladder but more from the Bottom and Neck of the Womb. 3. The External Haemorrhoidals from the Streight Gut or the Podex 4. A Branch from the Parts adhereing to the Hole of the Share-bone which perforating the Tenth Muscles of the Thigh and Peritonaeum reaches hither V. Where the Iliac admits this Inferior Branch in a place somewhat lower it receives from above the Epi gastric adhereing with its Roots to the Womb Skin of the Groins and Muscles of the Epigastrion especially the streight ones To the Roots of these are joyn'd the two Mammary Roots under the Muscles of the Abdomen near about the Navel thence ascending to the Teats but not United with the Epigastrics by Anastomosis whatever Laurentius Fallopius Bauhinus and other Anatomists Write
spungy for the more easie passage of the Vapors VI. The thickness of it is various according to the variety of Ages nor is it always the same in the same Age. For the diversity of Regions also causes a great difference Thus Herodotus relates that the Skulls of the Persians are very thin and brittle and easily crack'd those of the â—…gyptians very strong and thick hardly to be broken with the fall of a large Stone Moreover the Skulls of tender People are less thick and hard than in labouring Folks enur'd to Hardship The cause of which Carpus believes to be for that tender People always keep their Heads cover'd from heat and cold but Husband-men Sea-men and the like are used to go bare-headed Winter and Summer for which reason he advises not to cover over much the Heads of Children which are strengthened by being left bare and rendred more sit to endure external Injuries VII The Cranium consists of two Tables or Slates the External and Internal thinner in Women than in Men. Of which the one is thicker and smoother the other harder hollowed with several Furrows to give way to the Vessels creeping through the hard Meninx from which Meninx some remarkable Vessels insinuate themselves near the Ears into the Plates of the Skull and moisten the space between And the Reason why the Cranium is made of a double Table least any Conâ—…usion of the Head should easily penetrate the whole Cranium by which means sometimes one Table is only broken the other remaining entire VIII In the middle between these Tables lies hid a certain spungy and cavernous Substance containing a marrowy Juice somewhat bloody for the Nourishment of the Cranium which is made out of the Blood flowing through the small Arteries which pass through the little Holes of the Tables And this is that Blood which when the Skull is trepann'd when you come to the Diplois flows forth somewhat ruddy Concerning this Blood Riolanus has 〈◊〉 worthy to be observed by all Practitioners From these Caruncles says he that is the spungy little Caverns seated between each Table being very much contus'd the Blood being squeâ—…z'd and putrifying ulcerates the Bone outwardly appearing entire but the matter sweating forth from the inner Table putrifies the Brain it self Wherefore if in scraping the Cranium you perceive the Blood to distil forth never think for that reason that the Blood penetrates the second Table because the Blood flows from the foresaid middle Space This middle Spungy space between the double Tablature of the Cranium by Hippocrates and the Anatomists is call'd Diploe though Galen rather chooses to call the External and Internal Table both taken together Diploe This middle space is sometime bigger sometimes less sometimes scarcely discernable where both Tables seem to unite and constitute the simple and pelucid Cranium Bartholinus reports that he dissected a Cranium wherein this middle Space was altogether wanting and all the Cranium seem to consist all of one Table perhaps because the Bones being dryed and contracted through Age it did not manifestly appear or else because the Cranium was only dissected in that Part by Bartholin where both the Tables unite together and left the other spungy Part untouch'd For Anatomists rarely cut the whole Cranium into small Parts Hippocrates making mention of some certain Caruncles means that middle spungy Substance of the Cranium which Fallopius not perceiving seeks after other particular Caruncles in that spungy Substance but erroncously for Hippocrates by those Caruncles means no other than that spungy Substance for that there are no other Caruncles in that Substance But sometimes it happens that in Wounds and grievous Contusions of the Head that a spungy Hyposarcosis grows out from that middle space which nevertheless was no more in that spunginess before than the flesh in the Pyramidical Body near the Testicle before the Sarcocele Burstness In this spungy middle Space especially where the Persons are infected with the French Disease a certain vitious Humor gathers together which in time growing more sharp and virulent corrodes the Tables themselves but more frequently the exterior as being less hard and causes dreadful Pains in the Periosâ—…eum and Pericranium sometimes we have seen both the Interior and Exterior corroded and so the whole Cranium perforated Which Palmarius Riolanus and Benivenius confirm by their own Observation CHAP. IV. Of the Commissures of the Bones of the Cranium THE Bones of the Cranium are joyned together with various Commissures which some call generally Sutures Others more properly distinguish into Sutures and Harmonies I. A Suture is a certain Composure of the Bones like things sow'd with Seams distinguishing and conjoyning the Bones Which in the upper part of the Head resembles two Saws with their Teeth clapt together In the Cranium there are many Sutures alike both for Number and Situation both in Men and Women con trary to Aristotles Opinion The Skull is seldom seen without Sutures And probable it is that in young People it is never without Sutures for that such a Skull as it would be less apt to resist external Injuries and it would hinder the Growth and Distention of the Head with the rest of the Body Yet Aristotle tells of Skulls that have been seen without Sutures and among the Neoterics Vesalius Fallopius Coiter Iohannes à Cruce Alexander Benedictus and others assert the same and as is shewn at Helmstadt and the Monastery of the French at Heidelbergh which were perhaps the Skulls of old Men in which those Sutures were dry'd up such as I have two by me at this present and as have been many times seen in other places And thus we are to understand Herodotus Arrianus and Arrian concerning the Heads of the Moors and Ethiopians by them reported to be without Sutures not that they were without Sutures when they were young but were afterwards so hardned by the extream Heat of the Air and driness of Age that the Sutures united II. These Sutures are twofold some proper to the Skull others call'd Illegitimate III. The real Sutures resembling the Teeth of two Saws clapp'd one into another and hence call'd Serratae These I say will sometimes part asunder and give way to Humors and Vapors molesting the Brain as in those Hydrocephalics troubled with redundancy of â—…erous Humors IV. The Illegitimate Sutures lying upon the Bone like Scales are therefore call'd Squamous But these Commissures are rather to be referred to Harmony than Suture or else to the middle between both and therefore are not unduly called Harmonical Sutures The real Sutures are three V. The first which is foremost is the Coronal because it surrounds the Fore-part of the Head like a Crown This runs forth from one Temple to the other Transverse above the Forehead and joyns the Bones of the Forehead with the Bones of the hinder Part of the Head VI. The Second which is the hindermost opposed to this
the latter Branch because it has no other communion with it than by one Root common to both This deceived Eustachius and Riolanus who perceiving the beginning of the second Branch sprouting forth under the former write that they saw new Teeth lying hid under the first Now the Reason why the latter Branch thrusts out the former is by reason that the Hole is so narrow that it will not admit two Branches together which however sometimes it does and then the latter Branch is joyned to the former at its beginning Only because the first Branch grows out of order and defaces the Beauty of the Mouth therefore generally it is either drawn or fil'd away In the same manner it has sometimes happen'd that old Men have had new Teeth spring up from the remaining Roots of the old ones Of which Ioubert produces an Example in a toothless Lady of seventy years of age most of whose Teeth came again but small and weak And Sennertus also relates another Story upon the Authority of George Tithscard a Silesian Physitian of an old Matron almost seventy years of age who bred twenty new Teeth with the same Pain and the same Symptoms as happen in young Children At Utrecht there lives an old Woman at this time of fourscore years of age who having lost all her Teeth had four of her cutting Teeth grew again but two years since And you shall find many other Examples of this nature in Pliny Naevisanus and Alexander Benedictus However it is to be understood that in these ancient People the Roots of the Teeth remain entire though the Basis of the Teeth that advances it self above the Gums were quite eaten away and perished XI About one or six and twenty or thirty years of age the two farthest Cheek-teeth break forth with great Pain the Materials of which remain so long hidden in the little Holes of the Jaw imperfect before it could acquire Perfection of Substance These are generally call'd Double Teeth or the Teeth of Understanding because they shoot forth at the time when a Man arrives to his most solid Understanding XII The Teeth have also this peculiar above the Nature of other Bones that their Growth and Increase is not prefixed but grow continually all a Man's Life-time so that what is dayly worn away by Mastication and Chewing renews again which is apparent if the Tooth to which the opposite Tooth being drawn upon which it usually lights be not worn away for then it grows to such a length as to fill the opposite Hole Or if the Tooth shooting forth out of its Hole transversly toward the foremost or hinder Parts exceeds the Row of the Teeth For then if it shoot forward the Tooth will perforate the Lip it self if backward it will hinder the Motion of the Tongue Thus I knew two young Ladies who had each a sharp Tooth which shot forth from the inner Root of the upper Cutting-tooth and grew to that length that it perforated the Tongue with an extraordinary Pain and hindred the Speech for which Reason I caused them both be to drawn And thus Pliny Eustachius and Alexander Benedict are to be understood when they write that they saw Teeth growing out of the Palate as Meaning-teeth which shooting forth from the Root of some upper Cutting-teeth through the Membrane of the Palate extend themselves toward the inner Parts of the Mouth However there are certain Limits beyond which the Teeth never grow notwithstanding that they are sometimes longer than ordinary XIII The Teeth are placed in the Iaws in one single Row Seldom two Rows are seen as Pliny reports of Laodice the Daughter of Mithridates and Trimarchus the Son of Nicholes But more rarely three Rows which Rhodiginus reports of Hercules and Columbus observes in his own Son Phaebus In Tigers and Elephants three Rows are common In like manner the Monster call'd a Manticora and the Fish call'd a Moraxus are said to have three Rows of Teeth Sometimes indeed it happens in Men that here and there one of the Fore-Teeth may stand in a double Row which comes to pass when the Teeth shed and that a new Spring grows from the same Root which growing upward fixes it self before another Tooth either not shed or not pull'd out XIV The Bigness of the Teeth is of a moderate Size yet some are broader some narrower some longer some shorter XV. The Number in all People is not the same someâ—…imes fifteen or sixteen in each Jaw yet some have more some fewer and they that have fewest have generally the broadest Hippocrates Galen and Aristotle prefer the greater Number before the smaller as betokening long Life perhaps denoting the Plenty of the first Matter and the Strength of the forming Faculty or else because the Nourishment is better prepared for Concoction by the Mastication of more then few Teeth It rarely happens what Plutarch testifies of Pyrrhus King of the Epirotes and Pliny concerning the Son of Prusias King of Bithynia and what others write of Eryptolemus King of Cyprus the Poet Pherecrates and Sicinius that instead of Teeth they had one continu'd Bone distinguished only with Lines such a one as Bartholin testifies he saw in a certain Barbarian and Melanthon in a certain Virgin at the Court of Prince Ernest of Luneburgh The Teeth differ both in Shape and Use. XVI Some are broad sharp and cutting therefore call'd Incisorii by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to cut the first that appear seated in the forepart of the Mouth and furnished with one single Root ending in a sharp Point These are four above and below sometimes three seldom two where they are very broad so that they fill the whole Space between the Dog-Teeth XVII Others are very sharp and strong and deeply rooted called Canini or Dog-teeth by Aristotle and Galen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 two in each Jaw next to the Cutting-teeth on each side which break what the other cannot cut These the Vulgar call the Eye-teeth and account it a dangerous thing to draw them believing that their Roots reach to the Eyes whereas the uppermost hardly pass beyond the lower Brim of the Wings of the Nose with their Roots and the lowermost are far distant from the Eyes Others with Laurentius and Riolanus believe that some portion of the Nerve moving the Eye is carryed to these Teeth which is nothing so Riolanus and Spigelius observe that the Roots of the Fore-teeth and Dog-teeth are frequently observed to be crooked and that such Teeth cannot be drawn without pulling away some Part of the Case XVIII Others are obtuse and large as the Grinders called Mollares and Molitores which grind the Meat like Grindstones The Germans and the English too call them the Cheek-teeth The number of which is not in all People the same generally ten in each Jaw five of a side to which if you add the Wisdom-teeth
the rest though the Articulation of these be broader then that of the others because that the Motion of the Spine in bending Extention and Obliquation is first to be performed in that place In these Vertebres of the Back we are to take notice of certain Cavities invested with a Gristle which are wanting in the rest two in the transverse Processes which the eleventh and twelfth however want and two in the Body it self to receive the Processes of the Ribbs IX The Vertebres of the Loyns are five seldom more or less Fallopius writes that he has many times observed that the number of the Vertebres of the Loyns varies according to the number of the Vertebres of the Back So that if there be eleven Vertebres of the Back there are six of the Loyns if thirteen in the Back then only four in the Loyns if twelve which is usual then no more then these five But that this is no constant Rule appears by a Skeleton in the Custody of Dr. Pelt in Utrecht wherein there are twelve Vertebres of the Back and six of the Loyns of a considerable bigness These Vertebres surpass in thickness and bigness all the rest and are provided with many little holes for the ingress and exit of small Arteries and Veins and they are joynted together with an intervening glutinous Gristle yet so that the conjunction of these is looser then of those of the Breast for the more easie bending the Body They have hinder Processes shorter and less pointed but broader and thicker then those of the Breast and ascending somewhat upwards but the lateral Processes are somewhat longer In the mean time they differ somewhat in joynting from the Vertebres of the Breast for that these are carried upwards with ascending Processes into the Cavities of the upper Vertebres those are joynted with lower Processes at the side somewhat lower into the Processes of the next Vertebre But the twelfth Vertebre is not joynted into the upper Processes as the other Vertebres of the Breast but into the lower as the Vertebres of the Loyns X. Certain Hebrew Writers have feign'd a certain Bone between the last Vertebre of the Loyns and the Os Sacrum which they call Lus of which they scribble Wonders which Bauhinus has Epitomiz'd in these Words The Hebrew Writers saith he Assert that there is in the Body of Man below the Eight Rib a certain Bone which cannot be corrupted or annihilated either by Water Fire or any other Element nor can it be broken by any external force which Bone God will at the last Iudgment water with Celestial dew and then the rest of the Members shall unite together into one Body which being inspired with the Breath of God shall be again enlivened This Bone they call Lus not Luz which they say is seated in the Spine of the Back behind the eight Vertebre at the Bone of the Thigh The Author of this Fable is Rabi Uskaija who liv'd in the Year of our Lord 210. who wrote a Book entitled Be Reschite Rabba being a Comment upon the Pentateuch But these are all Fictions and Fables though Agrippa seems to favour them in his Occult Philosophy XI The Os Sacrum remarkable for its thickness and strength stands immoveable under the Vertebres and like a Basis supports the structure of the Vertebres impos'd upon it Within-side it is smooth and hollow without-side convex and hollow of a Triangular figure Upon each side at the upper Part it has a plany place rough and unequal where it is fastened to the Illion Bones by means of a Gristle It consists of five or six Bones resembling the Vertebres which being broad at the beginning grow narrow by degrees and though in Infants and Children they may be easily separated in men grown they unite into one Bone Fallopius observes in Children new Born that the Parts of this Bone consists of three Particles like the rest of the Vertebres which are afterwards so united that there is no more Division to be seen It is perforated with holes not lateral as the Vertebres but transverse seated at the Exit of the Nerves forward and backward on both sides to the Conjunctions of the Parts of which this Bone consists which within are much larger and bigger then without It has small Processes and Spines for the most Part looking upwards so that the lowermost hardly appears XII The Bone of the Coccyx so called because it resembles the Cuckows-bill consists of three or four little Bones from a larger Base tending donward in a point by degrees and bending within for the conveniency of sitting Fallopius observes that this consists of three Bones whereas the Os Sacrum consists of six but when the Sacrum consists but of five then the Coccyx consists but of four In Children it is altogether Gristly till the seventh year afterwards it begins to be consolidated into a Spungy substance and of four Particles to be united into one Bone This Coccyx adheres to the Os Sacrum like an Appendix and is joyned to it with a loose Connexion by means of a glutinous Gristle that it may be able to give way in the delivery and the exoneration of thick and hard Excrements and to prevent its being injur'd by any violent Concussion Spigelius and Riolanus believe that if the said knot happen to be over loose it causes a falling of the Fundament in Children of which nevertheless there may be a more usual and manifest reason given The use of it is to support the streight Gut and the Sheath of the Womb in Women which is fastened to that Intestine A Pendulous Gristle grows to the Joynt of it This Coccyx Bone it being bent outward in length it grows dry becomes a Tayl as we saw it in the Year 1638. in an Infant new born half an Ell long like the Tayl of an Ape which was occasioned by the Mothers being frighted by an Ape with a Tayl after she had gone but three Months Thus Pliny tells us of some men that have woolly Tayls in some Parts of India And Paulus Venetus that in the Kingdom of Lambri there are a sort of Savage People with Tayls like Dogs above a handful long These Testimonies Harvey very much confirms by the following Story A Chyrurgion says he a very honest Man my Friend returning from the East-Indies told me that in the Island of Bornea in the Mountanous Parts remote from the Sea there are a sort of Men with Tayls of which number he saw a Virgin that was taken with great difficulty with a fleshy thick Tayl about a Span long which she clapt between her Buttocks and covered therewith her Podex and Privities CHAP. XIII Of the Ribs TO the Spine above adhere the Ribs the Os Sternon the Clavicles and Scapula's below the nameless Bones I. The Ribs that fortifie the Breast are by the Greeks call'd Pleura II. These are reckoned to be twelve on each side seldom more or less Galen
Scapula The first extended through the middle of its Body and reaching the top of the Shoulder by reason it something resembles a Thorn called the Spine of the Scapula and the Crest the Extremity of which being connexed with the Scapula by the Modern Anatomists is call'd Acromion or the Point of the Shoulder I say the Moderns for that the Ancients seem to differ something in the Description of the Acromion For Rufus Ephesius says that the Acromion is the coupling it self of the Iugular and Scapula-bone Eudemus says that it is a small little Bone which in Children is altogether gristly and though this Gristle hardens in time into a Bone yet till the eighteenth year contrary to the Custom of other Bones it retains much of its Gristly Substance and sometimes grows so slightly together with the Spine of the Scapula that in the middle Age it may be easily separated as Galen reports happened to himself and that he was a Witness of in another Person Hippocrates also takes notice of this Bone and of its Luxation in which place he adds that in the Acromion there is something in Man which is different from other Creatures From both Parts of the said Spine a little Furrow extends it self by Riolanus called the Interscapuliâ—…m the one above the other below The second is lower less and sharp not unlike a Crows-bill and hence called Coracoides by others from its Form Sigmoides keeps the Bone of the Shoulder in its Place and prevents it from sliping toward the Fore-Parts For the Actions of the Hand tending all toward the Fore-parts the Shoulder would soon be dislocated unless the Bone were retain'd by the Coracoides which contributes so much security to this Joynt that there rarely happens any Dislocation in the Fore-part of the Shoulder which Hippocrates observed once and Galen testifies that he saw four times at Rome and which I saw some years in an old Man that put his Shoulder out of joint by a fall which I set again The third is the shortest of all called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Neck within its own Cavity strengthened with a Muscle receives the Extremity of the Shulderbone being enlarged with a thick gristly Brim encompassing the Lips This in new born Infants consists of a more obtuse and shorter but gristly Bone which grows longer as the Child grows in years To these there are some proper Additions as well as some peculiar Ligaments with which the Scapula is fastned to the Clavicle and Shoulder-bone According to the large or lesser Bulk of the Scapulas the Shoulders are either broader or narrower Broad-shouldered Men are thought to beget more lusty Children The narrowshouldered more weakly The uncertainty of which Opinion dayly Experience teaches us Therefore says Peter Forestus This is an Observation among the Women that broad-shoulder'd Men beget a great many Children And therefore my Sister-in-law who had twenty Children by her Husband would never marry her Daughters to broad-shoulder'd Men. Riolanus reports that the French Virgins have generally the right Omoplate higher than the Left for which he says it is a hard thing to give a Reason In our Low-Countries I observe that they who in their Childhood and Youth most violently exercise their Right-arm their Right-Scapula stands more out from the Ribs than the Left CHAP. XVI Of the Nameless Bones TO the Spine at the lower Part adhere the Anonymous or Nameless Bone of which one of each side is knit to the sides of the Os Sacrum by the means of a Gristle with a strong Ligament They are called Nameless because they alone want a Name whereas all the rest have Names given them I. Each of these are constituted of three Bones the Ilion the Hip-bone and Share-bone firmly knit together with Gristles which in Infants may be parted with a thin Knife and the bounds of those Divisions remain conspicuous till seven years of Age afterwards the Gristle drying up they unite into one Bone which being joyn'd on both sides with the Os Sacrum makes the Bason or that Cavity wherein the Womb Bladder and part of the Intestines is contain'd II. The Ileon-bone so called from the Intestine next to it is the upper and broadest Part of the Nameless Bone It has a remarkable Spaciousness and somewhat concave taking its Name from the Rib. It is semicircular but uneven whose extream Parts before and behind are by some called Spines Brows and Lips but the outermost Part of the Bone is called the Back This Bone besides the foregoing Gristle is fastned with a strong Ligament membranous and common to the Os Sacrum III. The Hip-bone or Ischium is the lower and outer Part of the Nameless-bone thick and firm In this there is a large profound and smooth Cavity cover'd with a Gristle call'd the Acetabulum and Pyxis into which the Globous Extremity of the Thigh-bone is fixed out of which if it happen to slip it causes a Dislocation which Nature willing to avoid has sasten'd these Bones with a double Ligament proceeding from the Os Sacrum The Gristly Process of this Cavity enlarging the Acetabulum is called the Eye-brow which is bigger behind than before to the end that when we sit the Thigh may be the more commodiously bent into an acute Angle But it fails where the Cavity looks toward the Share-bone by reason of a Blood-bearing Vessel passing that way which brings Nourishment to the Joynt But in the inner Cavity there is a Hollowness somewhat rough and unequal to which that Ligament obstinately adheres which binds the Head of the Thigh-bone to the inner Part of the Acetabulum Also two Protuberances are to be observed one internal from whence the second or Right Muscle extending the Leg derives its beginning The other External which is sharp and into which the Ligament is inserted which rises from the fifth Process of the Os Sacrum IV. The Share-bone called Os Pubis and Pectinis is the foremost and thinner Part of the Nameless Bone which is pervious with a large Hole seated between the Hollowness of the Hip and its own Fore-parts and by means of a Gristle is firmly knit with its own Pare and hollow'd above for the Descent of the Crural Vessels This Hole affords a Seat to two Muscles of the Thigh withoutside to the External withinside to the Internal Obturator or to the second and third circumvolving Muscles which are distinguished one from another by a strong Ligament that stretches under the Hole which Connexion aforesaid of the Share-bones between themselves with a Membranous Ligament Veslingius affirms and Riolanus denies Now as to these inferior Bones there is a difference to be observed between them in Men and Women 1. The Os Sacrum in Women is hollowed much more outward to give more room for the Birth in time of delivery for which reason the Huckle Bone adheres to it with a looser Connexion then in Men. 2. The lower Parts of the Hip-Bones and Share bones in
Women are produced farther outward and make the Bason larger 3. The Ilium Bones are much larger and more hollowed and their Spine more advanced to the Sides in Women than in Men. 4. The Gristle that fastens the Share-bones to the end it may be the better distended in Women is twice as thick and twice as loose as it is in Men especially if they have brought forth Children moreover the Line by which the Share-bones are joyned is shorter in Women than in Men. Here two Questions arise The first Whether the Share-bones are moved The second How it is possible a mature and large Birth should come forth in delivery through the narrow Passages of the Bason every way beset and stuft with Muscles and other Parts V. As to the first Question Spigelius Cajus and Riolanus maintain the Affirmative who avouch these Bones to be moved upwards and downwards by the help of the Muscles which they say is apparent in venereal Congress and Leaping But they should have said that these Bones are moved either of themselves by the help of the Muscles inserted into them or by accident as in some measure they follow the Motion of the adjoyning Parts The first is false seeing these Bones are immoveably joyned together by Symphysis except only at the time of Delivery at what time the Gristles being moistned and loosned they become somewhat moveable and give way a little one from the other The latter is true for upon the Motion of the Thigh Back and Loyns it is certain that these Bones move with the whole Nameless Bone but not separately by themselves VI. As to the second Question if the Birth be but small it may pass through those narrow Passages without any great Trouble as daily Experience evinces For at the time of Delivery the general Parts through the plentiful Afflux of Humors become so loose soft and slippery that they will admit the whole Hand of the Midwife or Chyrurgion But if the Birth be large and that the Womans Parts are naturally streight of themselves then the Delivery proves tedious and painful and the Share-bones the Ligaments and Gristles being moistned will open somewhat wider nay the Gristly Connexion of the Os Sacrum with the Bones of the Ilium will be so loosned that they manifestly give way one to another which Dehiscency of the said Bones the first that observed among the Ancients were Hippocrates Avicen and Aetius among the Moderns Pineus and several other eminent Physitians Alexander Benedictus writes that if the Birth be large those Bones open of themselves and the Pecten and the Os Sacrum consent to the Expulsion also that those Bones after Delivery return by degrees to their natural Place and that the resistance of one or more of these is the cause of difficult Labour though the rest answer the whole Fernelius among the Causes of difficult Labour reckons the firm Compaction of the Share-bones Gortheus asserts that the very Hips of Women in Travel are divided which causes violent Pains in the Loyns and Hips However though these Bones are divided and gape yet they are not dislocated for they would never recover their Pristine Estate But this confirmed Opinion of the Ancients and Moderns Columbus Rodricus a Castro Volcher Fuchsius C. Stephanus Cordeus but chiefly Laurentius endeavours to refel contrary to all the Documents of Experience the most certain Mistress and Instructress in all things Pareus professes he thought the Bones of the Ilion and Share-bones could not possibly be divided in Delivery but he was convinc'd by the Dissection of a Woman hang'd fourteen Days after she was brought to Bed in whom he found the Ilion divided from the Os Sacrum and the Share-bones distant half a Fingers breadth from one another Bauhinus produces two remarkable Observations concerning this Matter And Riolanus reports that he has thirty times observed in Women that have dy'd in Child-bed that the Gristle which binds the Share-bone has been divided the breadth of the Little-finger and that you might by handling feel the Gaping of the Share-bones and that before Dissection he has perceiv'd the Share-bones moveable by lifting up one Thigh and observed that one advanced it self above the other Says Harvey Upon my own Experience I assert that the Share-bones are oft loosened in Labour their Gristly Connexion being softned and the whole Region of the Hypogastrion enlarged to a Miracle not from the Effusion of any Watry Substance but of their own accord as the Baggs open to shed the ripe Seeds in Plants Spigelius asserts the same upon the Experience of several Dissections And upon the Dissection of a Woman that dy'd in Child-bed I my self publickly shew'd the Share-bones so far divided one from the other that you might put your little Finger between them Which is the reason that Women in Labour frequently complain of sharp pains about their Share-bone and the Os Sacrum and that the said Gristles are thicker then ordinary in Women that have often lain in and that old Virgins in whom these Gristles are dry'd if they happen to Marry and bear Children have hard Labours Lastly because that although the rest of the Gristles of the Body grow dry and in many Parts become Bony yet in Women they never grow dry nor harden into Bones Riolanus writes that this deduction of the Ilion Os Sacrum and Share-bone not only happens in difficult but also in the most easie Labours which however I believe is much to be question'd For that I have observ'd more then once Women that have been suddainly brought to Bed of little Children yet mature Births with little or no pain either in their Beds or sitting in their usual Chairs and that without the help of a Mid-wife in whom I could not perceive the least Divulsion of the said Bones which otherwise by the Distension of the adjoyning Membranes must have caus'd great Pains nor is it probable that these Bones can be parted asunder but by some strong and violent Effect of a large Birth striving for Passage For that same Gristly Connexion is too strongly knit to be easily distended CHAP. XVII Of the Bones of the Arm that is to say of the Shoulder and Elbow THE Bones of the Hand belong either to the Shoulder the Elbow or the External Part of the Hand I. The Shoulder-bone is one Bone great strong round and uneven in the hinder Part toward the Elbow somewhat depress'd and flat The upper Part of the Bone has a great and Globous Head fortified with a Muscle by means of which it is joynted with the Scapula by that sort of Diarthrosis which is call Arthrodie but because the Cavity is not conveniently proportionated to receive the Head hence the Lips of it are enlarg'd with a surrounding Gristle A little lower round about the Head are several manifest Holes through which the Blood-bearing Vessels penetrate inwardly for the Nourishment of the Marrow Riolanus writes that there is a wide Hole in the
Number of all the Bones THE Sesamoides Bones resembling the Grains of Indian Wheat are certain very round small Bones somewhat flat and spungy within They adhere at the Joynts to the Tendons of the Muscles that move the Fingers and Toes and with them in the boyling of dead Carkasses and the Purgation and Denudation of the Bones are utterly lost unless great care be taken to preserve them In Infants they are Gristly afterwards by increase of years they grow bony and being overspread with a Gristle reaches to the seat of another Bone I. Their bigness varies according to the difference of the Bones to which they stick In the Hands they are bigger then in the Feet except in the great Toe to which the biggest is fastened at the head of the Metapedion Bone which lyes under the Tendon of the Muscle moving the first Bone of the great Toe having another much less joyned to it But this biggest of all which resembles the half part of a Pea both for shape and bigness is by the Arabians called Albadaran Of which the Iews fain many Fables as they do of the Bone Lus. III. The Number of these Bones is not always the same for sometimes twelve are found in each Hand and Foot sometimes fewer sometimes more Neither is it probable that their Number is alike in all People but rather that they are not all to be found being so very small in all Carkases To these are to be added the Sesamoides lying hid in the Ham of which this is peculiarly to be observed that they do not grow to the Tendons of the Muscles as the other Sesamoides do but to the Heads of the two first Muscles moving the Feet IV. Now for the satisfaction of the curious as to the number of all the Bones as they are found in People of ripe Years they are reckon'd to be Two Hundred Fifty Six Seven of the Skull two Sieve-like Bones eight of the Ears eleven of the upper Jaw thirty two Teeth in the whole Spine twenty eight Twenty four Ribs Three of the Sternon Two Clavicles two Omoplates Three Hyoides Bones Two Nameless Bones Six of the Shoulder and Elbow Twenty four of the Hands Eight of the Thigh and Leg Four little Bones in each Ham Fifty two of the Feet and four great Sesamoides in each great Toe To which if you add the prefixed Number of the lesser Sesamoides twenty four in the Hands and as many in the Feet as also the little Bone in each Hand which is found at the connexion of the Bone of the Wrist with the Bone of the Metacarp and the little Bone in each Foot at the side of the Cube-form'd Bone as also the two Spungy Bones of the Nostrils the Number of all the Bones will amount to Three Hundred and Ten. For I omit the subdivisions of the Bones which are rarely to be found in People of ripe years CHAP. XXII Of the difference of the Bones of Men and VVomen THE Bones of both Sexes agree in most particulars in some few things they differ I. Generally the Bones of Women are less then those of Men as well in their weight and thickness as in their length breadth solidity and hardness II. In the head the Sagittal Suture more frequently extends to the top of the Nose in Women then in Men. The Larynx is lesser in them and the Thyroides Gristle Protuberares less III. The fore-part of the Thorax in Women is somewhat flat not raised as in Men for the more convenient seat of the Breasts In Women that have large Breasts the Thorax is often more narrow and for the most part accuminated by reason of the weight and bulk of the Breasts Womens Ribs are less broad less hard and less strong then in Men. The Clavicles in Women are less Arched then in Men for the Beauty oâ—… the Neck and Breast The Sternon Bone at the lower Part is also broader then in Men and the lower Bone which is somewhat split together with the Sword resembling Gristle fastened to it forms a large hole for the egress of the outer Mammary Veins VI. The Os Sacrum in Women is more bow'd to the Exterior Parts and shorter but broader then in Men. The Huckle-bone is more moveable and more loosly connexed and sometimes bowed more backwards The Ileon Bones are for the most Part larger and more hollowed without-side for the Womb big with the Birth to rest upon and this largness of these Bones is the reason of the largness of the Womans Buttocks Both Oval holes in the Share-bone are narrower and a Part of the Share-bone near the Simphysis is broader The Spine of the Share-bone near the Simphysis with the other of the same kind is more produc'd in Women and bends outward The Tuberosities of the Ischion stand at a farther distance one from another The Commissure of the Share-bone in Women is filled with a Gristle three times thicker and softer and it is also made with a shorter Line to the end that the delivery approaching the intervening Gristle being softened and loosened the Share-bones may the more easily open In the Joynts the Structure of the Bones is alike in both Sexes Nevertheless these differences are not always to be found nor in all People For sometimes effeminate or ill-shap'd Men have many Bones like those in Women and the Bones of a strong Virago differ very little from those of Men. However this rarely happening does not overturn the general Rule CHAP. XXIII Of the Constitution of the Bones in Infants I. IN Infants all the Bones of the Skull are very thin and soft so that a slight Compressure will make them give way nor are the two Tables with the Middlemost Diplois to be discerned in them till after the first year The Saw-toothed Sutures are not seen in them but appear like loose Harmonies In the Top of the Head at the meeting of the Sagittal and Coronel Suture there is a gaping which instead of Bones is closed with a thick and tough Membrane which is afterwards dry'd up to a bony hardness In this Part the Pusation of the Brain is both seen and felt vid. cap. 6. The Bones of the Fore-head are thicker then the rest and are two provided with no Cavities The Bone of the hinder Part of the Head is extreamly thin contrary to what it is in Persons grown up and may be separated into many Parts vid. cap. 4. and 6. In the Temple-bone a lineal Harmony discriminates the Scaly from the Rocky Part being drawn beyond the hole of the Ear between the Mastoides Apophysis The Auditory Passage is Gristly till the sixth Month afterwards grows bony however it 's fore-circle cannot be divided from the rest of the Bone till the seventh Year But at the Basis it is found Gaping and as it were like a Window till thirteen years of Age and more The Cavity of the Ears are very narrow and the wonderful Structure of the
Vessels Muscles 446 455 The Eye-brows 448 F. The Face 440 Fat 13 Fat folke less fit for Venery 207. Why less active 334 The Feet and the Parts of them 493 Females whether begot by the Left Stone 148 Fermentation 27 The Fibres in general Flowers in Women the cause of them 168 The Tendril Fold 132. The Net-resembling Fold in the Womb 176. The Choroides Fold 398. It s progress and use ibid. The Forehead 441 The Fornix 397 398 The Frog-Distemper 486 Frontal Muscles 441 Function of the Brain 420 Function of the Parts 3 G. Gelâ—… Animals grow fat 207 Genitals of Men and Women how they differ 185 Glandules of the Kidneys 120. Of the Mesentery 49. How passed by the Milky Vessels 59. Of the Breasts 282. Of the Larynx 369. Of the Gullet ibid Of the Tongue 483 Glissons Experiment 82 Gonorrhea the Cause of it 143. Gonorhea simplex the Cause of it 192 The Gristles in general 610 Gristle Scutiform of the Larynx 367 Angular and Guttal of the same 368 The Gristle of the Ear 464 Growth 341 The Gullet its Connexion Vessels Substance 370 c. Its Motion 371 Gums 478 The Guts 42 H. Hare of the Eye-lids 447 Hair its generation 374. The roots of it a Heterogeneous Body its form efficient Cause 375. First Original 376. Variety of Colours whence 377. Whether part of the Body 381. Whether it contributes to the strength of the Body 383 Hang'd People how kill'd 358 The Hand 493. And the Parts of it 494 Dr. Harvey's Opinion touching Conception 213 215 217. Concerning the Uterine Liver 236. His Opinion and two questions concerning the Birth 276 The Head in general 373 Heart in general 305. c. Its motion 312 c. The true Cause 316. Unnatural things bred therein 324. The Office of the Heart 329. Glissons new Opinion ibid. The Helix 463 Heat of the Blood 335 Hermophradites 183 Hernia varicosa Carnosa 133 Herophiius's Wine-press or the Forâ—…ular 385 Histories of Conception 217 c. The hollow Vein and Veins united to it above the Diaphragma 540. Below the Diaphragma 54â—… The Horny Tuincle 45â—… The Huckle-bone 589 Humors whether Parts of the Body 4. The four Humors always in the Blood 342 Humors of the Eye 459. Whether sensible 462 Hunger what and whence it proceeds 29 The Hymen whether or no 177. Whether a sign of Virginity 178 The Hyoides-bone 480 Hypothyroides Muscle 368 I. Ideas how imprinted in the Seed by Imagination 197 Jejunum Gut why Empty 110 Imagination of the Face of it 292 Indications of the Ancients taken from the Ear 463 Infants Bones how constituted 606 The Infundibulum or Funnel 413 Jugular Kernels 376 K. The Kidneys 116. Their Vessels 117 Their Substance 119. Malpigius's Discoveries ibid. Their use 120. Observations three 121. Whether they concoct Blood 125. Whether Wounds in the Kidneys be Mortal 126. Deputy Kidneys what 127 Kicking of the Infant in the Womb the Cause of it 275 276 L. The Labyrinth 468 The Lachrymal Kernel 415 The Lachrymal points 417 Larynx its Figure Vessels Bulk Substance Gristles 367 Laurentius Bellinus's fleshy Crust 482 Learned men deceived by Old womens tales 273 Ligament Ciliar 459 Ligaments in general 611. Of the Head of the Iaws Hyoides Bone and Tongue 612. Of the whole Trunk ibid. Of the Scapula's Arm and Hand 613. Of the Leg and Foot 614 Likeness of Features whence 198 Liquor in the Amnion what it is 250 c. The Liver 78. Whether a Bowel 79. Worms and Stones in it 85. The functions of it 108 109 112. The Office of the Liver 83. Sometimes joyned with the Lungs 185. Glisson's Experiment 82 The Long Marrow 406. It s difference from The Spinal Marrow ibid. The Lucid Enclosure 397 Lungs their bigness substance c. 350. Preternatural things in them 351. The colour in a Child before it is born 352 Division Lobes 353. Several Observations concerning them 354. Their motion 362 c. Lympha what 74 75. Difference between it and the Serum 76. Whether nutritive 348 Lymphatic Vessels 69. Of the Liver 81. Lymphatic Iuice the use of it ibid. Lymphatic Vessels in the Testicles 137 Of the Lungs 357 M. Males whether begot by the Right Stone 148 Malpigius's Observations of Blood 349 Materials of the Hair 378 Maxillary Kernels 376. Processes 408 The Mediastinum 303 Melancholly 342 Membranes in general 519 Membrane of the Muscles 17. Of the Drum 465 Meninxes of the Brain Dura Mater its Holes Vessels c. 384 385. Pia Mater 387 407 The Mesentery 48 The Mesenteric Milkie Vessels 58 Milk what 285 c. Whether Animal Spirits the matter of it 291 Mesue's Story concerning Milk ibid. Observation concerning it 293. Why dry'd up upon Weaning 294 Milkie Vessels to the Bladder of the Womb 122. To the Vice-Kidneys 123. Milkie Utrine Vessels a question concerning them 252. Milkie Vessels of the Breasts 283 Monstrous Births the reason 247 Mother Fits the cause of them 171 Whether from the Sweetbread juice 172 The Mount of Venus 179 Muscles 17. c. Of the Eur 464 466. Of the Cheeks Lips and lower Iaw 477. Muscles in general 497. Of the Head 503. Of the Arms and Shoulders 505. Of the Scapula 506. Assisting respiration 507. Of the Back and Loins 509. Of the Abdomen 510. Of the Radius 511. Of the Wrist and hollow of the hand ibid. Of the Fingers and Thumb 512. Of the Thigh 513. Of the Leg 515. Of the Foot 516. Of the Toes 517 The Mirtle-form'd Caruncles in Womens Privities 178 N. The Nails 607 The Nameless Bones 597 The Nameless Tunicle 457 Navel string what It s Situation 256. It s use 257 The Neck 372. Strength of the Body judged by it 372 The Nerves in general 548 c. Of the Neck 557. Of the Breast and Bâ—…ok 559. Of the Loins 560. Proceeding from the Os Sacrum 561. Of the Arm and Hand 561. Of the Thighs and Feet 563 Nerves within the Cranium 410. Second third fourth fifth Pair 414 415. Turn-again Nerves ibid. Of the Nostrils 472 Net The wonderful Net 413 Nose It s Figure Bigness Bones and spongy Bones 470 Nostrils 471 The Nut of the Yard 151. Of the Clitoris 181 The Netform'd Tunicle 459 The Nymphe Their Substance Vessels Use and Observation concerning them 180 O. Oesophagus vid. Gullet Old Men whether they grow shorter 342 The Orbicular Bone in the Ear. 467 Order to be observed in Dissecting the Brain 419 Organs of Hearing 463 Organs of Smelling 470 Original of the Principles of the Blood 337 The Os Sacrum 589 Oval Hole in the Heart 327 The Oval Window in the Ear. 468 Ovaries in Women first discovered 156. How the Eggs descend from them to the Womb 159. Womens Stones to be rather called Ovaries 158 P. The Palate 478 The Perastates 139 Pannicle fleshy 16. 383 Parenchyma of the Liver 84 Part of the Body what 3 Net Organs 4 Principal which ibid. Subservient which 8 Noble which ibid. Ignoble which ibid. Parts
containing 17 Parts contained 21 Parts of the Face in general 475 Parts serving for Generation in Men. 130 Parts adjoyning to the Yard 154 Parts secret of Women 154 Parts of the Body in what Order form'd 220 Parts of the Birth in the Womb how they differ from a Man grown 269 Parotides Kernels 376. 464 Particles Salt of the Arterial Blood how separated from the White particles in the Stones 137 Passage from the Tympanum to the Jaws 467 The Pericardium 304 Pericranium 383 Periostium 384 The Periwincle or Cochlea of the Ear. 468 Pia Mater vid. Meninx The Pincal Kernel 401 The Pipe of the Navel-String 263 The Pituitary Kernel 412 The Pleura 302 The Porta Vein 536. And Veins united to it 537 The Preputium 152 Pre-eminency of the Brain 398 The Prostates 143. Their Liquor and how to be discerned 144. Their Use. 145 Psalloides or the Brawny Body 397 The Pudendum of Women the Lips of it 179 Pulmonary Artery and Vein 326 355 Pulses 317. Their Use. 318 Q. Quality of the Blood 336 Qualities of Spittle 487 Quantity of the Blood 336 R. The Rainbow of the Eye 458 Refrigeration of the Lungs Mauro Cordatus Malpigius and Thraston's Opinion concerning it 360 361 Respiration in the Womb all deceived that have wrote of it 278. What it is 357. Charltons Error concerning it 359. Whether a Man might live without it 364. Stories relating to the Question 365 The Ribs 592 Riolanus Mistaken 256 268 S. The Salival Channels 485. Other Salival Vessels 486 Of Savours 290 c. Sclerotic Tunicle 456 Scapula Bones 596 The Scyth or Falx 385 The Scrotum 138. Signs of Health taken from it ibid. The Seed 138. Whether threefold 146. How it passes the invisible Pores 146 149. The Matter of it 188 c. When well made 191. Two Parts of it 193 c. Seed-bearing Vessels 135 Seed of Women various Errors concerning it 159 The Serum what 115 Seminal Vessels 142. Their Substance c. 143 Serous Humors between the Chorion and Urinary Membrane 255 Sesamoides Bones 664 Sheath of the Womb 175. It s Use 176 Shoulders 372 Sight defined 462 Skin defined 11 Its Substance Difference Temper Figure Motion Nourishment Vessels Pores Hair Colour Use ibid. Whether the Instrument of Feeling 11 Smelling defined 472. The Cause ibid. Where it lies 473 Snakes taken out of the Brain 398 Soul whether in the Womans Seed or in the Mans only 225 c. Not ex traduce 226. Not present at the first Delineation of the Parts 227. A vegitable Soul in Men as well as in Beasts 228. The Seat of it 229. What it is 231. Whether the Soul be nourished 234. We are all at a loss concerning the Soul 235 Sound the Generation of it 469 Spermatic Vessels 131. Their Progress 132. Error of Anatomists concerning them 133 Spermatic Vessels in Women 155 Spirits whether Parts of the Body 4 Double Spirits raised out of the Blood 334 c. Spittle defined 487. It s strange Composition 488. It s Use. ibid. Spleen 97. Its Vessels 99. Why not quick of Feeling 102. It s Substance ibid. Unusual things found in it 103. Whether it separate Melancholy from the Chylus 104. Malpigius's Experiment 105. The true Action of it 106. The Functions of it 108 The Sternon Bone 594 Sternothyroides Muscle 368 The Stirrup of the Ear. 467 The Stomach 23 Stones in the Stomach 27 The String of the Drum 465 Subclavial Arteries 526 Subclavial Veins 542 The Sweet-bread 51. Three Observations 49. It s Office 53 Sweet-bread Iuice the Use of it 54. The Generation of it 57. It s Effervescency 58 T. Taste defined 489. The primary Organ of it ibid. Where Taste lies 189 Tears discoursed of 448 c. Teats in Women their exquisite Sence 282 The Teeth 584 Temper of the Blood 336 Temperaments of the Body whence they proceed 343 Temper of the Body judged by the Hair 378 The Testicles in Men 134. Their Vessels 135. Their Use 136. Their Tunicles 137. Their Action 146 Testicles in Women 156. Their Figure Tunicles Difference from Mens their Substance 157. Preternatural things therein ibid. The Thymus 303 Thyro-artenoides Muscle 369 The Tongue 480 c. Its Motion 483. Its Vessels Nerves Muscles 482 483 The Tonsils 369. 485 The Torcular 385 Tubes in Women what 159. Their Membranes Figure Vessels Valves 160. Births conceived and formed in them 162. The same demonstrated by Observations 163 V. Valves treble pointed 325. Valves Sigmoides 326. Half-moon Valves ibid. Varolius's Bridge 403 The Veins in General 533. Veins of the Head 542. Of the Arms 543. Opening into the Iliacs 545. Of the Thigh and Foot 546 Venters three 8 Venter Lowermost 9 Ventricles of the Brain 397 Ventricle vid. Stomach Ventricles of the Heart 325. Their Vessels 325. Right Ventricle of the Heart ibid. The Use of it 327. Left Ventricle of the Heart 326 The Vertebres in Specie 589 Vessels of the Ear 464. For sundry uses of Hearing 469 Vital Spirit 335 The Vitrious Humor of the Eyes 461 The Vitrious Timicle ibid. Vivific Spirits whether in the Blood 331 Umbilical Arteries their Use. 259 Umbilical Vein its Use. 257 Union of the Vessels in the Heart of the Birth 327 The Urachus 261. Observation concerning it 262. The Urine flows from the Birth through it 262 The Ureters 128 The Urethra 150. It s Nervous Bodies 151 Urinary Membrane in Women 247 Urinary Passage in Women 182 The Urine Bladder 129 Urine Ferment what it is 168 The Uterine Liver or Cheeskake 235. It s Substance Colour Shape Vessels c. 237 c. Use 242 The Uveous Tunicle 458 The Uvula 479. It s Use. ibid. W. The Watry Humor of the Eyes 460. The Use of it 461 Wharton's Error concerning the Tonsils of the Larynx 370 The White Line 18 Willis's Opinion of the Soul 232 c. His Absurdity 234 Wind-Eggs in Women a Question concerning them 161. The Opinion of Wind-Eggs confirmed 162 The Wirtzungian Channel 52 The Womb and its Motion 164. Situation Substance Membranes ibid. Bigness Weight Shape Hollowness Horns 165. Connexion Ligaments whether it can fall 166. Whether inverted in the Fall 167. Its Vessels ibid. Its Office 169. It s Motion 170 173 Women that have Conceived without Immission of the Yard 153. Whether they may be turned into Men 185. Observations upon this Question ibid. and 186. Whether they have Seed 189. Whether they Cause Formation 201. Whether necessary for Generation 204 c. Women whether they may be castrated 164 The Writing-Pen within the Skull 407 Y. The Yard 149. Whether a living Creature ibid. Its Vessels 152 FINIS A TREATISE OF THE SMALL-POX AND MEASLES A TREATISE OF THE SMALL-POX AND MEASLES CHAP. I. Of the Small Pox and Measles in General FOrmerly the Arabians and most famous Physitians annexed to their Discourses of the Pestilence and other Contagious and Epidemic Diseases their Treatises of the Small Pox and Measles we therefore led by their Authority are of opinion that the
superficial contiguous or disjoyn'd white or ruddy livid violet or other colored soft or hard high or low quick or slowly coming forth External or Internal CHAP. III. Of the Causes of the Small Pox. THE Causes of the Small Pox are External or Internal Concerning which there are various and great Contentions among the most Eminent Physitians so much the more vainly eager because of little or no use in regard that whatsoever be the cause of the Distempers the cure is still the same Avicen and most of the Arabians the first most accurate Describers of these Diseases refer the material Cause to the Impurity of the Mothers Blood slagnant in the Woman with Child and with which the Birth was nourished in the Womb. Which Corruption they write lyes dormant so long in the Body till by vertue of some specific efficient Cause it be provoked to a fermentaceous Effervescency and being powred forth into the Mass of the Blood it sets it all in a boiling Condition and by that means separates that Defilment adhering from the Birth to some minute Particles of the Body and being so separated pushes it forward together with the Particles of the Blood so defiled by it to the Extream Parts of the Body and there raises up those Wheals as in new Wine the Heterogeneal Parts are separated from the Homogeneal Parts of the Wine by Fermentaceous Ebullition Avenzoar seems to differ somewhat from Avicen for observing that the Birth in the Womb without hazard of Life can hardly be nourished by the impure menstruous Blood restagnant therein but with some other Blood good of it self only by reason of its Fellowship with the menstruous Blood defiled by its Superior Corruption and farther that Men in the Womb must be nourished either with some such menstruous Blood or some other impure Blood and for that reason contracted that Impurity from the first Nutrition of the Parts Hence it was that the Arabians believed that all Men were subject to the Small-Pox in regard that Impurity was again to be separated from the Parts So that if that Specific Fermentaceous Effervescency be strongly and efficiently performed at the first coming of the Small-Pox then that Impurity becomes totally evacuated and then the Person to whom that Disease happens lives free from that Distemper all the rest of his Life as when Butter is once by a strong Churming separated from Milk turning sowr no Churming how violent soever can separate any more Butter from it But if that Effervescency be not violent enough that Impurity happens not to be totally expelled and so the same Person when the Reliques of that Defilement ferment again upon some other Cause may happen to have the same Distemper a second and third time but rarely a fourth Duncanus Liddelius stoutly defends the Opinion of the Arabians which is also followed by Fracastorius Amatus Forestus and several other Physitians and among the rest by Thomas Willis Lib. de Feb. c. 15. Where among other Reasons for greater Confirmation he adds these Words In the Womb of Woman says he as in most other Creatures there is generated a certain Ferment which being communicated to the Mass of Blood gives it Vigor and Spirit and causes it to swell at certain Periods of Time and procures an Expulsion of the Superstâ—…ous Blood But at the time of Conception when the Flowers cease to â—…low the chiefest Part of this Ferment is expended upon the Birth and the Particles of it heterogeneous from some of the rest as it were somewhat of foreign Substance are confused with the Mass of the Blood and Humors where they lye dormant a long time Afterwards being stirred and provoked by some evident Cause they ferment with the Blood and make it first boyl and then congeal from whence various Symptoms of this Disease arise Gentilis rejects this Opinion of the Arabians not believing the Birth to be nourished in the Womb with any Impure Blood nor that so much Impurity could abide for so many years in Men grown up and old People when they are seized with the Small-Pox after so many Purgations by Sweat Fevers Itches and other intervening Diseases besides the Cure of the Great Pox nor can he think but that Women must be cleared of those Impurities in so long a time by their monthly Evacuations Mercurialis complies with Gentilis who also asserts that the Small Pox is a Hereditary Disease and consequently that there is hardly any Man who can escape them because all Men are born of Parents vitiated by this Distemper and he endeavours to confirm this Opinion of his by several sinewy Reasons which however Daniel Sennnertus overthrows by others much the stronger Fernelius observing something occult in the Productions of the Small Pox besides the various Reasons propounded by Gentilis and others affirms that they are produced by sâ—…me Celestial and hidden Causes which when Infants and Children are less able to withstand than People grown up Hence he says it happens that the one are much more Subject to this Disease than the other But this Opinion of Fernelius is notably refuted by Mercurialis Lib. de Morb. Puer Sennertus grants the Small Pox to rise and be thrust forth by some certain and determined putrid Ebullition of the Humors but he will have this Ebullition to arise from three Causes from the Malignant Air from the Mothers Blood and vitious Nourishment and labours in a large Explanation of his this his own and the Opinion of the Arabians and Fernelius But to speak the truth none of these Opinions please me Not that of the Arabians because besides the Reasons alledged by Gentilis there is this one more For that seeing that Defilement contracted from the Mothers Blood is asserted to be common to all Men there would be no Man excused from this Disease which is contrary to Experience when several that have liv'd to an extream old Age never had the Small-Pox in their Lives as we have known several in our own Family Besides if the Impurity of the Menstruous Blood communicated to the Birth were the Cause of the Small-Pox why are not those Women themselves subject to it whose Flowers stop beyond the Course of Nature especially they who never had their Courses in all their Lives yet for all that were fruitful and had several Children of which Women there are several Examples to be found in Trincavellius Guainerius Bertinus Marcellus Donatus Ioubert Fabricius and several others Besides that private Defilement of every Woman could very hardly infect others by Contagion or excite a latent Contamination in the Bodies of others to a like Ebullition If you say it may then give me a Reason why all they that fit by and attend upon People when the Pox is come forth and endure their Stenches are not infected with the Small Pox though they never had them before Why has not that Contagion infected me that am near seventy years of Age who have visited thousands in the height
Suffumigations because it not only corrects the Corruptions of the Air and extinguishes the Contaminations that adhere to it Moreover to the end the contagious Contaminations flying about in the Air may be the better avoided Children and others that never had the Small-Pox are to be warned from visiting not only People that lye sick of the Small-Pox or Measles but also those that attend them in their Sickness or converse with them upon any occasion whatever nor will it be safe to come near the Houses where they lye sick The next thing requisite is a good Diet and Meats of wholsome Juices and easie of Digestion to which are most agreeable for Sallets and Sauses Sorrel Vinegar Juices of Limons and Oranges green Grapes pickled red Goosberries sowr Cherries and the like But on the otherside abstain from Meats of hard Digestion and bad Nourishment from tart Meats and much seasoned with Spice Salt and dry'd in the Smoak Garlic Onyons early Fruit also use Moderation in Eating Overfulness being no less prejudicial than too much Fasting For Drink use Ptisans or small Ale and for them that drink Wine they must be allowed to drink small Wines moderately To the more Delicate it will not be amiss now and then to give Juleps of Decoctions of Barly Juice of Citron Sirrup of sowr Cherries Violets Limons and such like things that have a pleasing and acceptable Taste On the other side abstain from strong Wine Brandy strong Hull and Margaret-Ales and from all other strong and spirituous Drinks Let the Exercises of the Body be moderate avoiding those that are too laborious and overheat the Body and such as are too easie Sleep moderately likewise The next thing to be considered is going to Stool in which respect besides the usual goings to Stool Care should be taken to purge the Body gently from superfluous Humors at least once a Week and that with Pillulae Russi or Pills of Aloes Rosatum Leaves of Senna Rhubarb Tamarinds and such like Medicaments for grown People but let Children take Syrup of Cychory cum Rheo or laxative Syrrup of Corrents and the like but avoid strong Purges which disturb the Humors and the whole Body Care also must be taken that the monthly Evacuations of Virgins and Women that are not with Child observe their exact Periods and that there be no Stoppage of the Blood as to those who are troubled with Hemorrhoids at certain Intervals take care that such Blood have its due Evacuation As to Plethorics and such who have an abundance of Blood Blood-letting will be very requisite if the Age of the Person will bear it and there be no other reason to forbid it Tranquility of Mind and Courage are also in this Case of great Importance More especially let a Man take care to avoid violent Commotions of Mind as Anger Fear Frights and fixing the Thoughts upon the Small-Pox and it's Deformity CHAP. VII Of Therapeutic Cure and first of Dyet IN the Cure of those that are sick of the Small-Pox the Physitian must aim chiefly at two things The first is to assist Nature in the Expulsion of the Morbific Matter and to remove all Impediments that hinder her Operations in that Particular The other is to remove Accidents and to take care least by that Expulsion the Internal or External Parts receive no prejudice and for the obtaining of these Ends we must have recourse to the three Instruments of Physic Dyet Chyrurgery and Pharmacy There is a most exact Dyet to be observed in this Disease in regard that many times by that alone the Cure is effected and Errors committed in that are often punished with Death Here also the Air is greatly to be considered let the Patient lye in a little Chamber close shut and free from any Wind to the end he may the more easily breath and that the stinking Vapors being the more easily discussed may the less offend him Let the Air be tepid and as little of Cold come in as may be if it be Winter or a cold Season the Air is to be corrected with lusty Fires More especially take care that no Cold get into the Patients Bed For should the least Cold come to him while he is in a Sweat or a moist Breathing or if the Patient himself by tossing and tumbling should throw of the Cloaths and check his Sweat it frequently happens that the Pox fall in again and vanish or sink into the Skin to the great Hazard of Life For which reason the Patient must not be shifted till after the fourteenth Day for fear of striking in the Pox again to the irrecoverable Ruine of the Patient Far better it is to suffer the Shifts of the Patient moist with Sweat to dry of themselves with the Heat of the Bed and for the Patient for some Days to bear with the Stench of the Sweat and the Pustles coming forth than to change his Linnen and be the Cause of his own Death But if there be an urgent Necessity for the Patient to change his Linnen then let him have the same fowl Linnen that he put off just before he fell sick or that have been worn before by some other sound Body For I have often observed clean and newly washed Linnen to have been very prejudicial to sick People which I am apt to believe proceeds from the Smell of the Soap which the Linnen in some measure retains Moreover great Care is to be taken that the Shift be well warmed by the Fire and that no Cold comes to the Patient while he puts it on However this is certain 't is better not to change Linnen at all but to change before the fourteenth Day is a thing not to be done without extream Hazard Nor is there any reason for any Man to be afraid of any bad Smell which the Linnen contracts from the Sweat and broken Pustles for that we never found it to be prejudicial to any that were ever sick of the Distemper Lastly we thought fit to observe here that the Heads of those that are sick of the Small-Pox are not to be bound and wraped up in Linnen Caps either too hard or too warm for from thence arise two Inconveniences 1. Because the Heat of the Head being thus increased the Pox break out thicker in the Face and Head than if it be more slightly covered 2. Because that under Caps bound hard to the Head the Pox rise larger flatter and very broad nay many times under those streight Caps they are so ulcerated that after a troublesome Cure they leave very ill-favoured Scars behind For which reason I always order the Head to be slightly covered with just Linnen enough to keep it from the Cold and by no means to bind it on hard Convenient Administration of Dyet avails also very much to the Cure of the Distemper At first a very slender Dyet more especially from the beginning of the Disease to the seventh or fourteenth Day chiefly of a little Barly-broth or an
Years of Age finding her self not well ordered me to be sent for She had a slight Fever and complained of Melancholly at her Heart which caused her frequently to sigh and heaviness of her Head with an inclination to sleep Now in regard the Small Pox was then very rife I had presently a suspition of her Distemper Thereupon when she told me that she had been at Stool that day and that it was a good while before her Monthly Period would be up presently I let her Blood in the Arm and took away eight Ounces of Blood for she was Plethoric after which she found her self as she said somewhat better Ten hours after Blood-letting certain red Spots began to appear upon her Breasts and Hands but few and small Thereupon about the Evening I prescribed her this Diaphoretic â„ž Treacle of Andromachus Diascordium of Fracastorius an Ê’ s. Salt of Wormwood Confection of Hyaciâ—…th an ℈ j. Treacle-water and VVater of Carduus Benedict an â„¥ j. Mix them for a draught When this had caused her to Sweat moderately all Night the next day the Pustles came forth higher and the Fever together with the anxiety vanished altogether Thereupon we gave her a Decoction of Figs in Ale to drink and thus in a few days she reovered with these few Remedies not having had above three or four in her Face and very few upon the rest of her Body ANNOTATIONS WHat is to be thought of Blood-letting in this Disease and when it is to be made use of we have sufficiently Explained cap. 8. And I have particularly observed that if in Plethorics it be timely made use of before any Eruption of the Small Pox then it comes forth more easily and not so thick and the Patient recovers sooner And therefore when you meet with Young Girls that are nice of their Beauty I think it very beneficial to let Blood in time seeing that then fewer and lesser Pox come out in the Face But because the Physitian is seldom sent for till the Pox begin to come forth hence it is that Blood-letting cannot be made use of HISTORY XII A Little Son of Nicholas ab Harvelt began to grow ill in August but in regard that I was sent for at the beginning and had presently a suspicion of the Small Pox I gave him a little Treacle-water with a little Bezoar-stone and Saffron for the Child was not above three Years old and other ungrateful Tastes would not have gone down and to preserve his Eyes I ordered his Eye-lids to be anointed with Saffron mixed with Womans Milk The Aunt who had the care of the Child in my absence mixes a greater quantity then is usual with the Milk and not only anointed his Eyes but all his Face twice a day Which caus'd a strange Disfigurement of the Child whose Face was all over yellow with the Saffron In the mean while the Child sweat very well and still took now and then three spoonfuls of Treacle-water which preserved him in a moderate heat and drank for his drink the simple Decoction of Figs. The next day some very small Spots began to appear here and there upon his Skin but the third day the Small Pox came out very thick over all his Body except his Face where none at all nor the least sign of any were to be seen yet the Child was never the worse in regard they came out so thick over all the rest of his Body The Fever then went off and so the Child was perfectly recovered without having his Face so much as touched ANNOTATIONS The Saffron gently astringent repels and drys but whether being outwardly applied it hinders the coming out of the Pox or whether through any other Specific and occult quality it has that effect I am uncertain and much question But we saw the effect of it not only in this Child but also in three or four more For the Childs Aunt when she had told what had happened up and down to other Women there were several that would needs try the Experiment with the same good success And whether it will have the same success always at other times when occasion offers we shall try our selves HISTORY XIII THE most Noble the Lady Lucas an English Woman bred up in her House a Young Lady her Brothers daughter about six or seven Years of Age So soon as she began to be Fevourish anxious and drosie by my advice she had given her a little Powder Liberans Harts-horn burnt Bezoar-stone and Saffron with an ounce of Treacle-water which caused her to Sweat well with some ease For her drink she drank the Decoction of raw Harts-horn as it is prepared for Gellies and frequently the simple Decoction of Figs In the mean time the Lady Lucas every day twice or thrice washed the Face of our Patient with that same sort of Cinnamon-water which our Apothecaries generally sell which is made of Cinnamon distilled in Borrage-water and diligently kept the Young Lady in a continual breathing heat The second day toward Evening the red Spots began to appear the third day the Small Pox came out very thick every where except upon her Face where there was not one to be seen So that the Lady continued the Lotion of the Childs face for some days In the mean while the Fever going off our Patient was perfectly cured without the least Sign of the Small Pox upon her Face ANNOTATIONS THe same Lady gave the same advice also to the Lady Couper who having washed the Faces of three of her Children that lay Sick of the Small Pox with Cinnamon-water not one of them had any Sign of them in their Faces Whether the same success will always attend upon others will be manifest by the frequent Tryal upon others In the mean time it is to be considered whether upon hindering the Small Pox from breaking out in the Face there may not be some danger least the Menixe's and Brain should receive some prejudice HISTORY XIV THE Lady Ruchabor about twenty four Years of Age so Beautiful that she was the Admiration of many in the Month of August was taken with a Fever and the Small Pox so that her Head was wonderfully swell'd when she had made use of several Remedies by my Advice and the Small Pox came out very thick over all her Body and had pepper'd her Face at length after the Fever went off and that the Swelling of her Head was quite fallen I ordered her Face to be frequently fomented with Mutton Broth. But she not contented with that to preserve her Beauty by the advice of some Ignorant Women caused the ripe Pustles to be opened with a Golden Needle and the Matter to be squeezed out but mark the Event she that perswaded her self she should have no Pits when she recovered had her Face so disfigured with Scars and Pits that of one that was most Beautiful she became very deformed and a Thousand times bewayl'd that Foolish act of pricking the Wheals ANNOTATIONS
After she had taken this at first she voided common Excrements Soon after she felt an extraordinary Pain in her Left-side which presently removed from thence to the Guts which Pain weakned her to that degree that she went away sometimes in a Swoon Not long after she voided a certain black Water like Ink in so great quantity that she fill'd three whole Chamber-pots to the top From hence she felt an extraordinary Ease and the Pains of her Left Hypocondrium went almost quite off Four days after I gave her the same Purge again upon which she voided again a great quantity of black Water but not so black as before neither was it so black as the former as not being much unlike the Lye in which our Country-women boils their Linnen Spinnings After this Evacuation she was terribly griped in her Belly wherefore about Evening I prescribed her Methridate Democ Ê’j with five Drops of Oyl of Aniseseed in a Draught of heated Wine After the use of these Medicines the Patient grew indifferent well and in regard she began to loath Physic to that degree that she could not endure to hear the Name of Physic we were forced to defer the rest of the Cure till May only ordering her to observe a proper Diet. But in May she drank three Apozemes again was three or four times purged and took her Electuary and so was restored to her pristin Health ANNOTATIONS THis Woman for two years before had lost her monthly Evacuations and from that time the Distemper of the Spleen began to seize her more and more till she became altogether Melancholy Whence it is very probable that the failing of her accustomed Evacuations that fling off many other Excrements of the Bowels was the Cause of the Accumulation of this Melancholy Humor in the Spleen and Neighbouring Parts which now wanted the usual passage of Evacuation through the Womb. Therefore says Sennertus The accustomed Evacuations of the Hemorrhoids and Courses being suppressed conduce very much to accumulate vitious Humors in the Spleen Thus we have seen in our Practice that Women after their Purgations have left them have fallen into several Diseases because the noxious Humors that were evacuated with the menstruous Blood were then retain'd in the Body And therefore when Womens Purgations fail through Age they ought to purge often to the end the excrementitious Humors that want to pass through the Womb may be drawn to the Guts As to the black Evacuations it is indeed a Wonder how these melancholy Humors heap'd together in our Patient could be retain'd in the Body without doing any more harm and could be changed into a Blackness like Ink. Besides Hippocrates tells us that black Stools are dangerous and mortal Tho Petrus Salius well advises the Physitians not always to fear those black Stools wherein there is nothing many times of dangor For if the Spleen be out of order this Matter gathers together about the Bowels in great abundance and in those Veins which are common to them which if it be in great quantity it gathers also about the Mesentery and Sweet-bred which are as it were the Sink of the whole Body and then when it grows burthensome to Nature is expell'd to the great Ease of the Patient by the Expulsive Faculty excited either of its self or by Medicaments the Evacuations of which are black However that Melancholy Matter so collected is not always expelled through the Guts but also to the great benefit of the Patient sometimes by Urine which Mercurialis also testifies Nor are you to wonder says he that Diuretics are by me preferred above other Medicines since Reason tells that Melancholy and Splenetic Persons have black melancholy Blood With which agrees the Authority of Aristotle in his Problems but chiefly of Hippocrates who gives us the Story of Byas the Fisty-Cuffer who was cured of a Swelling in his Liver by a Flux of Urine For which reason they that undertake the Cure of the Spleen must make it their Business to provoke Urine for which we have a remarkable Story which Valetius relates in Holler I knew says he a Religious Person whose Liver swell'd three or four times a year but chiefly at the beginning of Spring and Fall and while that bunchy Tumor lasted he was infested with Hypochondriac Pains black and blew over his whole Body and growing worse and worse by degrees But at length coming to make black Water like to Ink for five or seven days he recovered his former Health the Tumor and Pain of the Hypochondrium vanishing And now for these twelve or fifteen years he has had these Profluvium's of black Urine whereas before he had the Hemorrhoid which though they swell'd indeed were nâ—…r so open OBSERVATION XV. A Wound in the Leg. ANdrew Ioannis a Cook hapening to be drunk and finding his Chamber-door shut set his Foot to the Door with all his force so that after he had broke it his Leg past through the Slit with the same swiftness and rak'd the middle of his Leg withinside toward the Calf to that degree that though the Solution of the Continuum were not very broad yet it reach'd to the very Periosteum and by reason of the Contusion in the Part swell'd very much A certain ignorant Chyrurgeon had had him in hand for some days but his Pains increasing my Advise was desired By this time his whole Leg was swell'd very much and began to look of a greenish Colour among the Black and the Blew with most acute Pains and the Colour sufficiently demonstrated that the Fore-runner of Mortification would soon contract a Gangrene which I found to have been occasioned by the Ignorance or Mistake of the Chyrurgeon for he having thrust in a hard Tent into the Wound as far as the Periosteum had stop'd it so close that no Moisture could come forth For he had laid a defensive Plaister over it as broad as my hand composed of Bole Armoniac and other astringent things then had wrap'd his Leg from the Knee to the Foot in a Linnen Roller dip'd in Water and Vinegar and had swath'd all this extreamly hard pretending by this means to prevent a Tumor and Inflammation To say truth the Wound was plainly raw and ill colour'd without any Digestion so that upon drawing forth the Tent only a little watry Corruption came forth All these things I threw away and to prevent a Gangrene took care to have the Wound wash'd with Spirit of Wine that no Tent should be put in but only that a Linnen Cloth four double should be laid upon it and that the whole Leg should be fomented with the following Fomentation â„ž Betony Thyme VVoorm-wood Sage Hissop Rosemary Flowers of camomil Elder Melilot Roses an Handful j. Seeds of Cumin and Lovage an â„¥ j. s. Laurel Berries Ê’ij VVhite-wine q. s. Boil them to three Pints add to the Straining Spirit of VVine lb j. This Fomentation being wrapt warm about his Leg the next Night his Pain was much
abated and much of the watry Corruption run out of the Wound Within two days after the Swelling of his Leg palpably fell and returned to its natural Colour and threw out the Corruption well concocted and so being dressed as it ought to be the Cure was easily compleated ANNOTATIONS THings put into a Wound that ought not to be are utter Enemies to Nature endeavouring Consolidation especially if they compress any nervous Body Membrane or Tendon or the Periosteum Hence terrible Pains Tumors Inflammations and other Mischiefs proceed and therefore all such things as are foreign to Nature are to be taken away as Paraeus Pigius and other Chyrurgeons tell us Thus hard and thick Tents which inwardly offend and distend the Wound or else stop it quite up or compress the Nerves Membranes or Periostea are not to be thrust into Wounds as being those things that hinder the Operation of Nature Suppuration Erection of the Matter and Consolidation and beget Pains Inflammations and other Mischiefs Thus we have seen by the Ignorance of Chyrurgeons some Men tormented with Pains others thrown into Fevers Syncope Convulsions Mortifications and Gangrenes As it had like to have befallen our Patient who beside other ill Simptoms was very near a Gangrene and had it not been in time prevented upon the Approach of the Mortification he had hazarded the loss of his Limbs or his Life Hence Felix Wirtius in Wounds of the Hands and Joynts rejects the Use of Tents which Opinion Hildan refutes who says that Tents are necessary in the nervous Parts to keep the upper Lips of the Wound open and give passage for the Corruption By which Doctrine it appears that he praises those Tents which do not offend the inner Part of the Wound but only keep the upper Parts open But the Chyrurgeon as to our Patient had committed a great Error in this very Particular for he had distended the inner Parts of the Wound with a thick and hard Tent and had compress'd the Periosteum and prevented the Concoction and Efflux of the Corruption OBSERVATION XVI Suppression of Urine THE Wife of Gerrard Anthony a Taylor had layn in in May and in three days after she was brought to Bed had not made Water which was an extraordinary Pain to her and had brought her so low that she could hardly speak The Mid-wife declared that she was very well laid but that presently after her Evacuations were stopp'd that something hard was to be felt on the other side in the lower part of her Belly Hence I guessed that there was some Superfoetation or Mole which remain'd behind For the Cure of which and to provoke her Urine and Purgations withal I prescribed this Apozeme â„ž The Roots of Stone Parsly Masterwort Valerian Sea-holly Cammock an â„¥ s. Round Birthwort sliced Licorice an Ê’ij Leaves of black Ribs Mâ—…gwort Peny-Royal Water-Nasturtium an one Handful Water-Parsly with the Whose two Handfuls Savine Flowers of Camomil an half a Handful White-wine q. s. Boil them for an Apozeme to a Pint and a half â„ž Of the said Apozeme Ê’iij Oyl of Amber distilled by descent Drops xx Make a Draught This she took hot the first time This she took after three hours again upon which several Motions of Child-bearing supervening she brought forth a round Mole about the bigness of a Childs Head which had the perfect Eyes of a Man This being thus luckily expell'd her Urine and Purgations followed and she was presently delivered from the imminent danger she was in ANNOTATIONS MOles are of different kinds some within others without the Birth some very dangerous and troublesome to the Woman others less hazardous some without any Form others resembling some Shape or other some having Life others without Life Sometimes they presage something of Good for though they do not hinder the Birth yet they are very prejudicial both to the Birth and the Mother Which our Patient confirmed by her own Example who had certainly dy'd had not the Mole expell'd by Medicaments made way for her Urine and Purgations OBSERVATION XVII A Dysentery GErard Vossius our Neighbour had been troubled with a Dysentery for some days he was miserably tormented with cruel Pains in the Guts and many times he voided Excrements that were all bloody and mix'd with a tenacious Slime he slept not at all his Stomac was gone he was very thirsty and he had a Fever which though not vehement yet was continual Though the young an were not above thirty years of Age and very strong yet he was brought so low by these Mischiefs that in a few days he was reduced to an extream Imbecility The sixth of February I gave him the following Purge which brought away much Choleric Matter â„ž The best Rhubarb somewhat burnt Ê’ij Mirobans Indian Citrine an Ê’j Leaves of Senna cleansed Ê’iij Aniâ—…eseed Ê’j White Poppy Ê’ij Plantain Water q. s. Let them boil for half an hour Add to the Straining Elect. Diaphanicon Ê’j s. Mix them for a Draught In the Evening after his Purging I gave him this Bolus â„ž Terra Sigillata Nicholas's rest an ℈ j. Mithridate Damoc. ℈ ij Mix them for a Bolus The next day the following Apozeme was prepared of which he took three times a day and once at mid-night â„ž Barley cleansed â„¥ j. Roots of Snake-weed Tormentil Pomegranate Rinds an â„¥ s. Leaves of Oak Plantane Sanicle Pimpernel Great Sanicle Snake-weed an one Handful Seed of small Roses Ê’vj Heads of white Poppies noiij Raisins with the Stones â„¥ v. Common Water 〈◊〉 iiij Boil them to the Consumption of the half for an Apozeme In the Hours intervening he took often in a day a small quantity of this Electuary â„ž Nutmegs Trochischs of Terra Sigillata an Ê’s Harts-horn burnt red Coral prepar'd Lapis Hematitis Mastich an ℈ j. To these being pulverized add Conserve of Red Roses â„¥ j. s. Miv. ciâ—…on Rob. Acaciae an Ê’iij Nicholas's Rest Ê’j s. Syrrup of sower Pomegranates q. s. Mix them for a Conditement I ordered him to bear with his Thirst as much as he could which he the more ready yielded to in regard that after drinking especially of Ale he found himself most cruelly griped and therefore instead of Ale I prescribed him this Amygdalate for his usual Drink â„ž Barly cleansed â„¥ j. s. Seed of the smallest Roses â„¥ j. Of white 〈◊〉 Plantain and Lettice an â„¥ s. Common Water 〈◊〉 iij. boil them to the Consumption of the Half â„ž The Straining aforesaid sweet Almonds blanâ—…h'd â„¥ v. white Poppy Seed Ê’iij The four greater Colt-seeds Ê’j s. Make an Amygdalate according to Art to which add Syrup of Poppies â„¥ j. Of Red Roses Ê’j s. The ninth of February I gave him ℈ iiij of Rhubarb a little burnt and powdered in a little Ale the tenth and thirteenth I repeated the Apozeme and the twelfth the Conditement And thus by the use of these Medicines the Flux ceasing the Patient regain'd his Health by degrees and by the help of convenient
a Salt and sharp Defluxion that fell upon his Lungs a short while after in Coughing he spit a great quantity of Blood and not long after this same spitting of Blood he also spit Corruption More then this there was mixt with his Spittle a white Viscous and very Tenacious white slime which he spit forth every day with a great quantity of Matter and Blood This Disease was accompanied with a slight Fever but not continuous The Patient was all over consumed away and so hoarse that he could hardly speak he also complained of an inward oppressive Pain in his right Lung and said that he was sufficiently sensible that what he spit forth ascended from that side of his Breast sometimes he was almost Suffocated with Coughing by reason of the Tenacious Matter sticking in his Throat for the cure of this Distemper I gave him many and various Remedies for a long time to stop the Catarrh abate and lenify the Cough promote Expectoration drying and Vulnerary Medicins Decoctions of Guaiacum China and Sassaperilla Haly's Powder against a Consumption Looches and other proper Medicaments but all in vain at length when these things nothing availed but that the Ulcer grew worse and worse and the Patient grew averse from taking any more Physic his Body being become as lean as a Skeleton and his strength more and more failed him we were constrained for some time to give over the use of Physic In the mean time to repair his strength and support Nature I ordered him to drink a Draught of Goats Milk newly Milked from the Goat and Blood-warm beginning with a less quantity till he came to a Pint after he had continued to take this Milk for two or three Months his Cough began to abate and his Lungs to dry up he spit little and gathered strength every day Therefore still continuing the use of it the Ulcer in his Lungs was perfectly consolidated and he luckily escaped a most dangerous Consumption neither did he perceive any thing of evil in his Breast for several Years till twelve Years afterwards he relapsed into the same Distemper through a Defluxion of sharp Rhums and in regard I then lived at Nimeghen and for that other Physicians did not prescribe him proper Medicins he died altogether consumed and emaciated ANNOTATIONS A True Phthisis or Consumption is a very dangerous Disease which few escape Sometimes by long use of Medicines the Mischief may be asswaged for a time and Life may be somewhat prolonged but the Patients are very rarely perfectly cured and yet in the foresaid Patient we prevailed so far that he liv'd Eleven Years after the Cure in perfect Health Now that Milk contributes very much to the Cure of a Consumption is confirm'd by the Testimonies of Galen Rhasis and several other Ancient and Modern Physitians Therefore says Sennertus speaking of a Consumption The most proper Medicines here to be made use of are such as answer all our ends such as consolidate the Ulcer restore the Emaciated Body and mitigate the heat of the Fever Of which the chiefest is Milk then which as Galen affirms there can be nothing more prevalent given to Cure Consumptions And then again Among Nourishments Milk obtains to be preferred above all others It nourishes the Body extreamly affords good Matter to the Blood tempers the Acrimony of vitious Humors cleanses the Ulcer with its serous Part with its Cheesy part it contributes Consolidation and with its Buttery Part it moistens and resists the dryness of the Body The same Commendation Riverius gives to Milk in his Treatise of Physical Practice But in the use of Milk several things are to be considered 1. With whom it does not agree 2. When and how it is to be given 3. What quantity 4. How it is to be corrected 5. What Milk is convenient 1. Grato tells for what Persons Milk is not convenient in these words Let Practitioners in Physic observe three Conditions in the Prescription of Milk first that there be no weakness nor pain in the Head For Hippocrates tells us it is not good for such Secondly That the Fever be not very violent For it is almost impossible but that Milk must corrupt in the Stomac of a Person troubled with a violent Fever Thirdly That the Bowels be not distended with Wind. And of this opinion also is Sennertus Secondly Milk must be taken upon an empty and clean Stomac else it grows sowr and corrupts Also it is to be taken newly milked and warm or suckt from the Teat For if it be cold it gathers filth if it be boyled it becomes thick viscous and ungrateful After the Patient has taken it let him not sleep nor take any other meat or drink as Wine Vinegar or Stale-beer before the Milk be sufficiently corrupted in the Stomac Thirdly Let the quantity be small at first about four or five Ounces that the Stomac may accustom it self to it by degrees then increase it to half a Pint and so to a Pint. For it is to be always given in such a quantity that the Stomac may be able to bear and concoct it And therefore you must ascend from the less to the greater quantity first once then twice then three times a day Fourthly To prevent the Milk from curdling or growing sowr in the Belly a little Sugar may be mixt with it Riverius praises the mixture of Sugar of Roses which however is not necessary where there is no fear of Coagulation Other Physitians mix Honey with it but we do not approve that Mixture Fifthly In the last place there is some choice to be made of the Milk That womans Milk says Mercurialis is certainly the best there is no body will question For this without doubt is most agreeable to the Nature of our Bodies And Zacutus of Portugal says that he perfectly cured a Consumptive Person with the use of it And such another Cure Valleriola relates So Plater tells us that he had seen several recovered by sucking Womens Milk from the Teats Among which there was one that not only recovered but gathered so much strength that because he would not want Milk for the future he got his Nurse with Child again Next to Womans Milk are Asses Cows and Goats Milk Asses Milk is thinner more serous and 〈◊〉 to cleanse the Ulcer Cows Milk lâ—…ss serous but more nourishing Goats Milk differs not much from Womans Milk It drys and consolidates very much By the use of this our Patient was cured OBSERVATION XXXI Vomiting MOnsieur de Guade a Captain in the King of France's Army was taken with a Vomiting which lasted for three days together nor would any Vomitories or any other Remedies given him do him any good I found that what he Vomited up was a frothy kind of Flegm which the Patient himself affirmed to be Salt with which there was a little Choler intermixed however he did not Vomit up very much but little often and with violent straining We gave him twice or thrice
laid bare at that time we could perceive nothing for the Blood but the next day we discovered two apparent Fissures in the Cranium and upon one side a small Particle about half a Fingers length somewhat depressed which Particle was every way sever'd and broken from the Bone Therefore in the next firm Part we made a perforation with a Trepan and took out half an ounce of Blood which had flow'd out of the little broken Veins between the Cranium and the thick Meninx and there had shelter'd it self which being wiped off we laid a little rag dipped in Honey of Roses upon the Meninx and having filled the Wound without side with dry Wooll we covered it with Emplaster of Betony The sixth of February some little Blood came forth but after that none at all in the mean time we kept his Belly loose with a gentle Purge thus we ordered the Wound till the twelfth of February and covered his Head with a quilt of Cephalic Herbs and other things afterwards we began to lay the following Powder mixed with Honey of Roses upon the Meninx ℞ Sanguis Draconis Frankincense Aloes Myrrh an ℈ j. Fine Barley Flower ℈ j. s. Make it into a very fine Powder The eighteenth of February the flesh began to grow from the inside of the Meninx The first of March the Meninx was covered with flesh The sixteenth of March a little Scale was separated from the upper Bone of the Skull laid bare and at the beginning of April the Man being perfectly cured went abroad ANNOTATIONS THE suddain Consternation of this Person as it were Apoplectic was a certain sign of the Skull being depress'd which depression could never have been made without a Fracture or a Fissure And though for the following days the Patient felt nothing in his Head in regard such a depression and Fissure could not happen without breaking some of the little Veins it was better to open the Skull and take out the Extravasated Blood then to expect the Symptoms of it when Corrupted and Putrified For a very little Blood though no more then a dram yet Putrifying upon the Meninx may cause terrible Symptoms and Death it self OBSERVATION LIII The Head-ach PEtronel de Kuijck a Country-Woman about threescore Years old complained in February of terrible Pains in her Head as also of Catarrhs falling upon her Eyes Teeth Shoulders and other parts that she had been troubled all the Winter and felt a very great cold at the top of her Head as if the fore part of her Head had been dipped in cold Water Therefore having prescribed her a hotter and Cephalic Diet I Purged her with Pill Cochiae and Golden Pills then I ordered Linnen-cloths four doubled and dipped in Spirit of Wine warmed and gently squeezed to be laid over all the upper Part of her Head and to continue so doing for some days which done that Diuturnal Pain together with her Catarrhs all ceased within a few days then for prevention and preservation I prescribed her a Quilt to wear upon her Head ℞ Marjoram one little Handful Rosemary Sage Flowers of Melilot Lavender an one little Handful Nutmegs Cloves an ℈ ij Make a Powder for a Quilt ANNOTATIONS IN these cold Maladies of the Brain besides general and internal Medicines proper Topics are very beneficial so that many times they alone at the beginning of the Distemper contribute very much to the Cure In which case we made use of Spirit of Wine with good Success the Fomentations of which are highly commended by Arculanus Plater commends Dill Forestus Cammomile however they are made use of in Head-achs proceeding from cold Causes Aetius applaudes Goats dung bruised and laid on Morning and and Evening Others dry up cold superfluous humors after this manner ℞ Millet-seed lb j. common Salt lb s. Leaves of Majoram Rosemary Sage Flowers of Lavender Melolet an one small handful Seeds of Anise Fennel Dill Cummin an ʒ ij Lawrel Berries ʒiij These being fryed in a Frying-pan let them be put into little bags and while they continue warm let the head be first dried and then well rubb'd with them for half an hour Aetius prefers Vervein with the Roots and creeping Time boyl'd in Oyl for the Cure of all Head-aches proceeding from cold and thick Humors He also recommends Hog-lice boyl'd in Oyl for the same purposes P. Aegineta writes of a Woman who was very famous for cuing Head-aches either with or without a Fever by this means She boyl'd the green Roots of Asses Cucumers cut very small and Wormwood in Oyl till they grew soft and with this Oyl and Water she moistened and watered the Head and then clapt the Root bruised with the Wormwood upon it Which Medicine is highly recommended by Avicine who prescribes it after this form ℞ Common Oyl common-water an lb j. Leaves of Wormwood M. j. s. Root of Asses Cucumers ʒ ij Let them boyl together OBSERVATION LIV. A Hickup ANtonetta N. a poor Woman desired me to see her Daughter a Maid about twenty four Years of Age she had been troubled for ten days with a continual violent and troublesome Hickup and none of the old Womens Remedies would do her any good when I understood her Womb was well I judg'd that the Malady proceeded from some sharp Matter firmly Impacted in the Tunicles of the Stomach therefore I gave her first a light Vomit which gave her three or four Vomits but no release from her Hickup Thereupon I prescribed her this following little Bag. ℞ Flowers of Mint camomil Dill an M j. of red Roses Melilot an M. s. one white Poppy Head cut small Nutmeg Aniseed an ʒj of Dill and Cumin an ʒj s. cut and bruise them grossly and make a Linnen bag about the bigness of two hands breadth This Bag I ordered her to boil for half an hour in new Milk and common Water an lbj. s. and to take ever and anon a Draught of this Decoction and after she had gently squeezed the Bag to apply it hot to the Region of her Stomach which when she had continued to do but for one day her Hickup left her ANNOTATIONS SAys Hippocrates A Convulsion is caus'd by Repletion or Emptiness and so is a Hickup But for the most part a Hickup proceeds from Repletion seldom from Emptiness as Galen testifies Under the word Plenitude are comprehended also whatever matter sticks close to the Tunicles of the Stomach and twiching and gnawing them with its Acrimony whether sharp tough Humors Pepper or any other thing A Hickup if it last long is very troublesome but it seldom uses to continue long Yet M. Gatinaria tells a Story of a Doctor of Law who was troubled with a Hickup for twelve days together and Forestus makes mention of an old Woman that Hickupp'd many times for half a year together To suppress this Hickupping those Medicaments are most proper which loosen and remove the sharp and biting humors from the Tunicles of the Stomach such are Vomiting Medicines
then for his Cough and the Pain in his Breast I prescribed him the following Emplaster to be laid over all his Chest which in a short time first abated and then perfectly cured his Cough and difficulty of Breathing to a wonder â„ž Castor the best Saffron Nutmegs Cloves Storax Calam. Bezoin an ℈ j. s. Reduce them to a fine Powder and mix therewith Gâ—…m Armoniac Galbanum dissolved in Wine Emplaster of Meltlot Oxycroceum an Ê’ v. Make a Plaister to be spread upon a thin peice of Leather Before I laid on this Plaister I purg'd his Body The next day being the twenty second of November I prescribed him this Decoction to take every Morning a good draught and Sweat a little and in the Evening to take another draught but because he was so weak no Sweating was expected â„ž Lig. Guaiacum â„¥ xii Bark of the same Salsaperil an â„¥ iij. Sassafrass-wood Licorice sticed an â„¥ j. s. Common-water lb. xii Macerate them near the fire twenty four hours Then boyl them in a Vessel close shut to lb. v. Roots of Elecampane â„¥ j. Carduus Benediot M. ij Rosemary Scordium Baum Germander Groud-Ivy Marjoram Centaury the less an M. j. Stoned Raisons of the Sun â„¥ vj. Make a Decoction The twenty eight of November he was purg'd again and he took the same Decoction again adding â„¥ j. s. of China-root but he Sweat with a great difficulty and very little because of the extremity of the cold Weather By the fifth of December the Pains in his Shoulders and Head were much abated so that he slept quietly at Nights and felt himself much better however the sharpness of his Urine still continued and a slight Gonorrhea where we went on as we begun for his Cough and weakness of his Stomach I prescribed him this Tablet â„ž Dry root of Elecampane Ê’ j. English Saffron ℈ s. Calamus Aromaticus Florence-Orrice Benzoyn an ℈ j. Flower of Sulphur ℈ ij sliced Licorice ℈ j. s. Reduce them in a very fine Powder and with fine white Sugar dissolved in Fennel-water make them into Tablets The tenth of December he purged with our Antipestilential Pills for his Body was soon moved The seventeenth of December he took Decoction again which made him Sweat plentifully because perhaps the long use of the Decoction had made Nature more prone to Sweat and now all the Symptoms began to vanish by degrees his Appetite returned and in regard the Patient felt no more Pain we forbore any more Physic and thus by this easiy course the Gentleman was perfectly freed from that detestable Disease But his Genitals had contracted such a Debility from a long continu'd Gonorrhea that his Venereal abilities were quite decayed nor could be restored by any Provocatives whatever The Year following 1638. in Feburary returning to his wonted excess of taking Tobacco the Pain in his Breast his dry Cough and difficulty of breathing likewise returned which by his abstaining from Tobacco and the application of the foresaid Emplaster were again absolutely removed OBSERVATION LXV A Diarrhaea A Dutch Gentleman having drank in the Evening too large a quantity of new Wine all that Night was Tormented with violent Pains in his Belly the next day he was taken with a loosness which seemed at first to give him some ease but afterwards increasing within two days was changed into a Dysentery then the Gentleman afraid of his Life sent for me I presently gave him the following Purge â„ž The best Rubarb Ê’ij Leaves of Senna cleans'd Ê’iij Myrobolan Cheb Ê’ij Seeds of Anise ℈ ij Decoction of Barley q. s. Make an Infusion To the straining add Syrup of Succory with Rubarb â„¥ j. Mix them for a Draught This brought away much Choleric Matter and strangely eased the Gripes of his Belly the next Evening I gave him the following Sudorific which caused him to Sweat much that Night afterwards he Sweat quietly and both the Pain and the Flux ceased and his former Health returned â„ž Treacle of Andromachus Ê’j Philonium Romanum ℈ j. Of our Treacle-water Stone-Parsly-water an â„¥ j. Mix them for a Potion ANNOTATIONS MUST or new Wine as Diascorides and Galen testifie is difficulty concocted and begets Wind. Hence Crudities Oppilations of the Bowels and Griping of the Guts Many times the excessive drinking of it causes a Suppression of Urine as it befel my self once in France Sometimes it begets Cholic pains Sometimes it causes a Dysentery as it happen'd to our Patient Hence it happens that our Germans little accustom'd to Must when they go into France and swill it too immoderately are troubled with Diarrheas dangerous and many times mortal Dysenteries especially such as had eaten great plenty of Grapes before OBSERVATION LXVI An Uterine Suffocation JOan Segers a Widow in the flower of her Age left with Child by her Husband that dyed some Months before was delivered of a Son in August This Woman during her Month having been too busie about her House in the third week was taken with an Uterine Suffocation so that she thought her Matrix ascended up to her Throat and this Suffocation was accompanyed with Murmuring and Pains of the Belly and Sides The Woman had not slept in three whole days and nights nor could she either sit or lye still in a place for a quarter of an hour I conjectur'd that these Suffocations proceeded from Wind or Cold receiv'd into her Body through her Womb. In the Evening therefore I gave her the following Potion which caus'd her to sleep a little and put off the greatest part of the Symptoms â„ž Flowers of Cammomil M. s. Lovage seed Ê’j s. Wild Carot seed Ê’ s. White-wine q. s. Let them boyl a little â„ž Of the straining â„¥ ij Roman Philonium Mithridate of Damoc an Ê’ s. Oyl of Amber distilled by descent drop ix Mix them for a Potion The next day though she was much better yet because the Symptoms were not absolutely ceas'd and for that she had not gone to Stool in three days I gave her a gentle Purge which done this Emplaster was laid to her Navel â„ž Castor Pulveriz'd Benzoyn an ℈ j. s. Galbanum dissolved in Vinegar Tacamahacca an Ê’ij s. Mix them and spread them upon a peice of Leather of a hands breadth In the Evening going to Bed she took ℈ ij of Amber powdered with a little Wine She slept quietly and heard no more of her Symptoms ANNOTATIONS ERotis in a Suffocation and Dislocation of the Womb commends the Root of Lovage boyl'd and bruis'd with Hogs-grease and laid to the Navel but I believe the raw root bruis'd to be better Mercatus recommends Tacamahacca or Caranna alone or an Emplaster of Great Treacle Angelica and Agnus Castus seed Montagnana extols for a great Secret and a present Remedy the following Emplaster laid upon the Navel â„ž Mugwort Feverfew Lignum Aloes an ℈ s. Galbanum Ammoniac dissolv'd in Vinegar an Ê’j s. Wax q. s. For a Plaister But he more highly applauds the following Emplaster â„ž
very proper in such cases â„ž Conserve of Roses â„¥ ij s. Rosemary Flowers â„¥ j. Lavender Flowers â„¥ s. Galangale Cubebs Xyloaloes an ℈ j. Aniseed Ê’s Cinnamon Ê’j Calamus Aromaticus Ê’ij Ginger condided â„¥ s. Pine Apples prepared Ê’vj Make these into an Electuary with Syrup of preserved Citron I restored a lost Appetite and a Stomach overwhelmed with Crudities by the use of this Powder â„ž Roots of Zedoary Galangale Calamus Aromat an Ê’j VVhite Ginger Ê’s Cinnamon ℈ ij Cremor Tartar Ê’ij Make a Powder the Dose Ê’s or ℈ ij in the Morning after Dinner and Supper in a Draught of generous VVine Monsieur de Spieck generally made use of this â„ž Root of Calam. Aromatic VVhite Ginger Galangale an Ê’j For a Powder But these kind of Stomachical Electuaries Powders Tablets c. every Physician ought to prescribe according to the Disposition of the Patient Horstius makes use of this Powder â„ž Coriander-seed prepared â„¥ j. s. Anise Fennel-seed an â„¥ s. Ginger Galangale an Ê’j s. Lignum Aloes Ê’s Cinnamon Ê’j Fine Sugar the weight of all the rest for a Powder OBSERVATION LXXIV The Stone RUtger Schorer a little Boy had a small Stone which fell down into his Bladder with extraordinary Pain but being afterwards expelled into the Passage of the Yard because it was too big to pass it stuck in the middle of the Pipe and stopped the Urine Several ways were tried in vain to get it out so that at length to add to the Pain there appeared an Inflammation of the Part by which we found that there was no way but Incision to get it forth Wherefore after the Chyrurgeon had pulled up the Skin somewhat toward the Glans he opened the Ureter on that side where the Stone stopped and took out the Stone and so the Wound was presently consolidated without any hurt to the Child ANNOTATIONS THis sort of Operation mentioned by Aetius Grumelenus and Paraeus seems difficult and dangerous but yet is very secure Plato also recites two Examples of Stones cut out of the Ureter And though some are afraid of a Fistula upon such a Wound yet I never knew any such Consequence OBSERVATION LXXV Nephritic Pain THE Son of Lieutenant St. George about eighteen years of age who had been always troubled with Gravel from his Infancy and had often voided little Stones in Ianuary was so tormented with a Stone that stuck in both Ureters that he knew not where to turn himself For Cure I prescribed him this Apozem â„ž Roots of Fennel Saxifrage an â„¥ s. Licorice scraped Ê’vj Herbs Althea Mallows an m. j. Cammomil Flowers m. j. s. Cleansed Barley â„¥ j. Seeds of wild Carrots Mallows Nettles Burdock an Ê’j Four greater Cold-seeds an Ê’j s. Fat Figs n o ix Dates xi New Milk Common VVater equal parts Biol them and make an Apozem to lbiij This being taken the same and the next day the Pain ceased after he had voided a small Stone and much Gravel The next Month he was troubled with the same Pains but then by taking the said Decoction the Stone was easily brought down through the Ureters into the Bladder but then when it came into the Yard it was so big it could not pass but obstructed the Urine with most cruel Torture which the Father not being able to bear there being no Chyrurgeon to be sent for with a Razor made a small Wound underneath the Urinary Passage where the Stone stuck which done the Stone spurted out and the Urine followed in great quantity The Wound was consolidated afterwards sooner than we imagined with the Application of a few Plaisters OBSERVATION LXXVI Milk in a Virgin 's Breast A Certain Noble young Lady about twenty years of age a Virgin of eminent Chastity in the Month of February complained of a Pain in her right Breast which was also full of Milk When I had diligently examined the place affected I felt a hardness in the middle of the Breast about the bigness of a Pidgeons-egg which pained her upon Compression I also understood from her self that her Purgations had been suppressed for four Months together In order to the Cure I prescribed her first a convenient attenuating Diet then after I had purged her Body I gave her some Apozems to move her Evacuations and three or four days before the time of the Period I opened a Vein in the Heal by which means the Evacuation succesfully ensued which having continued three or four days the Swelling in her Breast fell down nor did any more Milk come forth However in regard the Hardness remained with some Pain I laid this Oyntment spread upon Linnen upon the place affected shifting it once a day â„ž Honey Populeon Oyntment Virgins Wax an â„¥ j. first melt the Wax then mix the rest and stir them with a Spatula till they are cold This Topic very much abated and within four days the hardness came to Suppuration After the Apostem was broken and had cast forth much white Matter within a few days the same Topic cured her ANNOTATIONS CErtainly had not this Lady been a Person eminent for her Chastity she might easily have incurâ—…ed the Scandal of lost Virginity among the Vulgar For rational Physicians will not deny but that upon menstruous Obstructions Milk may sometimes be generated in the Breasts of Virgins For says Hippocrates if a Woman that neither is with Child nor ever brought forth has Milk that Woman labours under a Suppression of her Courses And I remember the same Case in a young Lady of Montfort whose Chastity was above the reach of Scandal who was cured upon the forcing down her Purgations To which purpose Bartholin thus writes Even in Virgins many times Milk may be generated if the Breasts are full of Sperituous Blood and that there happen withal a menstruous Suppression in regard the glandulous Substance concocts more than is necessary for the Nourishment of the VVoman But 't is no wonder that such things should happen in young Virgins that have their Flowers when it is known that the same thing happens to old Women For Bodin reports a Story of an Infant that sucking a dry old Woman upon the Death of her Mother at length drew Milk out of her Breasts and was nourished with it to sufficiency Nay I have seen Milk more than once milked out of the Breasts of Infants not above two years old which is also attested by Cardan and Camerarius But more wonderful it is that Milk should be generated in the Breasts of Men as Aristotle testifies of a certain Lemmian Slave and Abensina who saw Milk milked from the Breasts of a Woman enough to make a Cheese Several other Stories also there are in several other Authors of Men giving Milk too tedious to relate OBSERVATION LXXVII Epileptic Convulsions A Little Son of Iohn ab Udem an Infant of seven Months old was twitched with Epileptic Convulsions almost without intermission for two days together so that nothing but Death was expected
Obstruction of the Spleen JUstin de Nassau a Noble Youth about six Years of Age about the end of April began to be troubled with an obstruction of his Spleen which within a Fortnight encreased to that degree that the hard Spleen bunched out almost half as big as a Mans Fist when I came I felt the Boy 's Spleen with my hand and perceived the Child otherwise chearful then grown Melancholy like an Elder Person but in regard he loath'd Physic I only prescribed him a proper Diet and ordered him only Ê’ s. of Tartar Pulverized every Morning and Evening in a little Broth I also order'd the following Emplaster to be laid upon his Spleen which after it had lain on ten days and then but once shifted the hardness vanished and the obstruction was dissipated â„ž Gum Ammoniac Galbanum dissolved in Vinegar an â„¥ j. Emplaster of Melilot Ê’iij Mix them and spread them upon red Leather OBSERVATION LXXXII A Suffocation of the Womb. GOdefrida ab Essem a Woman about thirty Years of Age had been troubl'd with an Uterin Suffocation for which she had taken in vain several things that had been given her by Midwives and other Women her Fits increasing I was sent for and found her somewhat red in the Face but altogether senseless only she breath'd and that but very little neither The Woman cry'd out her Womb was got up to her Throat which was Impossible but indeed I felt a certain hardness in the upper Region of her Stomach that moved up and down from one side to the other about the bigness of a Mans Fist therefore because she was not in a condition to swallow any thing I ordered her Temples and the inside of her Nostrils to be rubbed with Oyl of Amber distilled by descent Then I ordered the Midwife with her middle Finger smear'd with three or four grains of Civet to fret the sides of the Matrix within side while another Woman with all her strength forced down the hardness and thus within a quarter of an hour the Woman after she had ejected a putrid sort of Seed came to her self again nor had she ever after any more Fits ANNOTATIONS THat sweet Odours applyed below draw down the Womb not only the Authority of Authors but Experience tells us Therefore Galen says that perfumes which heat and loosen do good because they heat Those that heat attenuate also and loosen by which means what is thick and difficultly moveable is easily Purged out through the open Pores Moreover that they have a faculty to dispel Wind which is very troublesome in Uterine Suffocations Aegineta advises the pouring of most Odoriferous Oyntments iâ—…to the Womb and Aetius would have the Womb fumigated with Spices that have a faculty of loosning sweating and expelling Wind. However care is to be had how you hold these sweet Odours to the Nose least you encrease the Suffocation by oppressing the Head In this case some Physitians make use of many sweet Scents but for my part I only make use of Musk mixt with a little Oyl of Lillies and many times order a Woman to fret and sitillate the inside of the Orifice with Musk only which has produced wonderful Effects Frication with the Finger alone helps to a miracle and is commended by Galen Avicen Valesco de Tarenta Simon Betreino though indeed there is nothing like present Copulation where it is to be done with allowance so that indeed for a Woman in the same Condition with our Patient there is no such Remedy as a Husband Thus Duretus being call'd to a Woman under a Hysterical Suffocation and finding her in a Fit as cold as Ice and her Husband by order'd him to have to do with her which he did and the Woman presently recovered OBSERVATION LXXXIII An Erysipelas or St. Anthony's Fire in the Thigh MOnsieur Kelfken Consul of Nimeghen had an Erysipelas in his right Thigh with which he had been formerly often troubl'd he was threescore Years of Age and had a very foul Body He had laid upon the Erysipelas Linnen rags dipt in Vinegar and Water of Elder-berry Flowers which somewhat abated the Erysipelas only certain little Blisters rose up here and there as he was wont to have when he used the same Vinegar and Water before upon these Blisters after he had prickt them with a Needle he laid a Leaf of green Tobacco but after it had lain on for three or four days the Skin was more and more exulcerated and a certain gangrenous Particle began to appear upon which the Gentleman sent for a Chyrurgeon who easily cut out that gangrenous Part sticking in the Skin and then endeavoured with various Plaisters to cure the solution anointing the whole Thigh because of the Erysipelas with Galens refrigerating Oyntment and this course he took for six Weeks but when he could do no good I was sent for I found the Patient full of watry and Flegmatic Humors which falling Salt upon his Thigh caused that continual Exulceration this made him loose of Body and his Stomach was indifferent but he had such an Aversion to Physic that he would swallow nothing when I look'd upon his Thigh I found the Plaisters were the cause of the Exulceration of the Neighbouring Parts which by reason of their Fatness and Density they were not able to retain or suck up the Salt and sharp Humors flowing into them the Humors were forced to flow to the Neighbouring parts which they corroded therefore deeming it the best way to perform the Cure with Cataplasms which by reason of their softness might suck and dry up the flowing Humors I prescribed the following Cataplasm without any Oyliness or Fatness â„ž Pomegranate Rinds Flowers of Pomegranates an â„¥ j. Leaves of Oake of Plantain Egrimony Sanicle an Mij Pimpernel Flowers of red Roses an Mj. common water l. iiij boil them to the Consumption of half â„ž Leaves of Oake M. iiij of Egrimony Plantain an Mj. s. Powder them together then ada Bean Flower â„¥ ij of the said Decoction q. s. boil them a little and make a Cataplasm This being oftentimes shifted cured the Ulcer but about three Months after a new Defluction fell upon the Thigh causing a large fiery Erysipelas now unless it were one Purge and one Decoction of China Sarsaperil c. He would take nothing inwardly thereupon the foresaid Cataplasm was laid on which did very well for a time but then a new Defluxion happening with a large Erysipelas the Pains encreased the Ulcer enlarg'd it self and a little after the part gangren'd and there appeared a blackish gangrenous Particle in the outer side of the Thigh about the bigness of a Doller the Chyrurgeon therefore washed the part affected with lukewarm Wine anoynted it with cleansing oyntment of Parsley and laid on the same Cataplasm which caused the gangrenous Particles to fall out then the Ulcer being well cleansed the Cataplasm alone was laid on in the mean time for the more convenient Evacuation of the Humors
ordered him to take dry Wormwood Mj. Lesser Centaury Mij Carduus Ben. Flowers of Cammomil an Mj. s. and to cut them all small and then boil them in three Pints of Small Ale for a quarter of an hour and then to squeeze it out strongly and to take of the Straining warm twice upon the Fit-Day and thrice upon the Intermitting-day and when that was done to make more but this Decoction served the turn for the Ague vanquished by this Medicine lasted not above four Fits after which time the Patient was fully cured and his Stomach returned ANNOTATIONS THis Decoction by which this Patient was freed from a long Ague though it did not consist of many costly far-fetch'd Ingredients or prepared by laborious and pompous Chymistry yet was compounded of such Simples as are chiefly celebrated for the Cure of Agues For Wormwood Carduus and Centaury the less manifestly open all Obstructions of the Bowels concoct and remove Crudities cut thick Matter and resist Putrefaction and expel noxious Humors by Urine and Sweat and are so well known among the Vulgar to have these Vertues that they are able to be their own Physicians in the Cure of Agues by the use of Powder of Carduus Wormwood-wine and Decoctions of Centaury I added Flowers of Camomil by reason of the Wind which troubles the Hypochondriums and therefore of great benefit in Agues Camomil says Galen discusses and dissolves Agues where there is no Inflammation of any Bowel especially such as proceed from choleric Humors or thickness of Skin For which reason by the wise Egyptians it was consecrated to the Sun and was looked upon as a Remedy against all Agues but in that mistaken for it only cures such Agues as I have mentioned and those concocted Though it helps the rest which are Melancholy and Flegmatic and proceed from the Inflammation of the Bowels For against those it is also a potent Remedy when they are once well concocted Wherefore Cammomil is most grateful to the Hypochondriums But though Galen tells us here that Cammomil is only to be used after Concoction of the Matter yet in regard that of it self it is very prevalent to promote that Concoction cuts thick Humors opens Obstructions removes Crudities discusses Wind and provokes Sweat and Urine therefore it is thence apparent that it may be given with success before the Concoction of the morbific Matter Thus Sennertus reports that Iohannes Anglicus was wont to give Cammomil promiscuously as well before as after Concoction and that he always found it very advantagious and therefore it was no wonder that our Patient succeeded so well with those four most noble Febrifuges boiled together and that the morbific Matter was so speedily concocted discussed and expelled OBSERVATION XCVI Thunder-struck IN the Year 1637 upon the twenty fourth of August rose a most terrible Tempest with horrid thunder and Lightning At that time a Servant of a Country-man of Nimeghen was abroad in the Field gathering in Harvest having with him a Girl an old Woman with a Child and a Cart with one Horse they terrified with the Tempest fled and the old Woman with the Child crept under the Cart while the Servant and the Girl were endeavouring to bridle the Horse In the mean time a violent Thunder-clap struck the Servant the Girl the Cart and Horse the old Woman and the Child receiving no harm The Beam of the Wagon made of strong Wood was broken into Shivers the Horse fell down dead of a suddain and yet nothing of hurt appeared outwardly the Girls Right-thigh and Leg were both struck by the Thunder so that all the Parts appeared black blew and purple besides that her Peticoat and Smock were torn into long Rags the Girl also was thrown to the Ground and lay speechless for two hours The Servant was maim'd over all his Body especially upon his Right-side from which Side his Doublet Breeches Drawers and Shirt were not only torn but shivered into long Rags and retained a vehement stink of Fire as if they had been burnt for Tinder His Right-shoo made of very strong Leather was rash'd into long Thongs and cast thirty Paces from his Foot By such a vehement Stroke the young Man being lay'd prostrate upon the Ground fell into a Swoon and was carried home for dead This Fit lasted for two hours and then he came to himself I saw the Man and viewed his whole Body and found his Right-side from Head to Foot all of a Colour between black and purple his Skin flead off in some places there was also a very great Contusion and a burning fiery Heat joyned with it The Patient spoke very little only complained of a violent Pain of his whole Side an extraordinary Heat of his Heart a Compression of his Breast and Difficulty of Breathing he could not move the Joynts of his Right-side and remained so disabled for two months Being asked what he first felt he answered that at the very moment that he was struck he thought his Heart had been burnt with a red hot Iron neither could he draw his Breath which was the reason that he fell down as if he had been stifled I gave him several things and applied several Topics to the Parts affected but nothing availed against that aethereal Fire till at length the Patient by Divine assistance was cured without the help of any Medicaments The old Woman that with the Infant escaped under the Cart related that she smelt a most horrible Stink when the Stroke was given and felt such a violent Heat as if her Head had been in a Bakers Oven so that for the time she could hardly draw her Breath ANNOTATIONS WIth what a violent force and how wonderfully Thunder sometimes strikes inferior things both antient and modern Testimonies sufficiently convince us In the Year 1626. eight days before Easter rose a very great Tempest with Thunder and Lightning at what time with one Clap of Thunder four Houses and six Barns were quite overthrown in Blockland near Montfort and above three thousand Trees not only broken but torn up from the Roots and cast at a great distance from their Holes neither Men nor Beasts receiving any harm In the Year 1628 a Country Man was killed in the Fields near Bodegrave with a Flash of Lightning his Bones being broken to bits yet neither his Skin or Flesh endamaged In France at Poitou in a certain Tower we saw the Rafters burnt the Lead being untouched nor was the Fire quenched without a great deal of trouble In the Year 1638 at Nimeghen in the Walk called the Calves-wood above a thousand Birds were kill'd at one time by the Lightning and while the same Tempest lasted some Oxen were killed by the Lightning having their Bones broken and several Trees were thrown down and broken having their Leaves scorched and parched by the Flame Cardan reports that in the Year 1521 the Castle of Millain was almost demolished by Lightning at what time a hundred and thirteen Men were
Molestation of the Animal Actions with a cold Rhuminess of the whole Body in which Distemper the Patient keeps that Posture of Body wherein they were when first taken III. The Brain of this Woman was affected not the whole but in that Part where the common Sense lies and that by a vitious Humor or Vapor translated thither from the Womb. IV. The Antecedent Cause is a vitious and viscous Humor or thick Vapor generated or collected in the Womb and thence conveighed to the Head through blind Channels which adhering to the common Sensory and Parts adjoyning and involving them of a sudden hinders the determination of the Spirits from the common Sensory and so constitutes the containing Cause of this Catalepsis V. Now because the whole Brain is not affected but that sufficient Spirits are generated therein whose Influx into the Nerves is not hindred by any Compression or Obstruction of the beginning of the Nerves hence it comes to pass that those Spirits flowing into the Parts designed when the common Sensory is already possessed of a sudden by that vitious Humor or thick Vapor are not determined to other Parts but copiously flow to those Parts to which they were determined just before the Catalepsis Which is the reason that the several Parts remain in that Posture wherein they were before the Fit and that the Eyes Arms and Thighs remain as it were fixed VI. Now the reason why the Patient stands being set upon her Legs and why her Members being moved this way or that remain in the same Situation is this because the Situation of the Muscles being changed the Influx of the Spirits is also changed and the Pores before open through which the Spirits flowed are shut but others which were shut before are opened so that the Spirits which copiously flowed before into these the Situation being altered flows into those Muscles into which they still also flow till the Situation be altered VII Respiration is performed after the same manner as in those that sleep and remains unhurt partly because of the remarkable largeness and broadness of the Pores and the mainly necessary use of the Respiratory Nerves partly because of the Customary and continual Determination to the Respiratory Nerves VIII The Fit ceases upon the discussing or dissipation of that Humor or Vapor which possesses the common Sensory And the Fit returns when any Vapor or Humor of the same Nature suddenly takes possession again of the same common Sensory IX This Distemper is very dangerous because the most noble Part is affected and because those vitious Humors or Vapors are not easily dispiers'd But in this Patient there was great hopes of Cure in regard the Malady was not generated in the Brain but arose from another Place Besides that the Fits being short we thence judge the common Sensory to be seized not so much by a tough and viscous Humor as by a thick Vapor which is more easily attenuated and dispelled However in regard this thick Vapor may condense into a tough Humor to the hazard of a more durable Catalepsis and loss of Life it self therefore the Cure is not to be delay'd X. The Method of Curing is 1. To discuss that thick Humor or Vapor possessing the common Sensory 2. To purge the Womb and remove the Obstructions of it and prevent a new Generation of that depraved Humor 3. To prevent the assent of that Humor or Vapor to the Head 4. To strengthen the Head that it may no more admit of those Humors or Vapors but may be able forthwith to dissipaâ—… and expel them XI In the Fit let this Sternutory be blown up into the Nostrils that the Expulsive Faculty being provoked the Vapor or Humor may thereby be violently removed â„ž Root of white Hellebore ℈ j. s. Pellitory Leaves of Marjoram Flowers af Lilly of the Valley an ℈ s. Black Pepper Corns n o vii Castoreum gr iiij Then anoint the Nostrils Temples and Top of the Head with this Liniment and put a little Cotton dipped in it into the Ears â„ž Oil of Thyme Rosemary Sage Caroways Castoreum Amber an ℈ s. Martiate Oyntment Ê’j Then let this little Bag be hung about the Neck â„ž Castor Assa Fetida Camphor an ℈ j. s. Sow them into a thin silk Bag. And in the mean time omit not the giving of a strong Glister XII If after all this the Fit remain apply Cupping glasses with and without Scarrification to the Necks Scapulas and Shoulders with dolorific Ligatures and painful Frictions of the Thighs and Feet Then leÌ„t this little Bag boil a little while in Wine and then squeez'd be laid warm upon the top of the Head â„ž Flowers of Rosemary Marjoram Thyme Calamint Flowers of Camomil and Stoechas an M. s. Seeds of Cummin Caroways Lovage an Ê’j s. Lawrel-berry Nutmegs an Ê’j For a little Bag. XIII The Fit being gone off give this purging Draught â„ž Leaves of Senna â„¥ s. White Agaric Ê’j Seed of Lovage ℈ ij Decoction of Barley q. s. infuse them and add to the Straining Elect. Hiera Picra Ê’ij XIV The Body being thus purged open a Vein in the Ancle and take away six or eight ounces of Blood XV. Then let the Patient drink three or four times a day a Draught of this Apozem â„ž Roots of Fennel Valerian Dittany Aromatic Reed Male Pyony an â„¥ s. Herbs Marjoram Nipp Calamint Rue Peniroyal Water Trefoil Baum an M. j. Flowers of Camomil Melilot Stoechas an M. s. Seeds of Lovage and wild Carrots an Ê’ij Iuniper Berries Ê’vj Water q. s. For an Apozem of lbj. s. XVI These Medicaments are to be often repeated as occasion requires And as for the regular Course of living let the Air be temperate and pure perfumed sometimes with Rosemary Baum Thyme Rue Lovage Castor and the like The Diet of good Juice and easie Digestion as such as corroborates the Brain and Womb. The Drink small and without Setling Sleep and Exercise moderate and let all the Patients Evacuations be regular and in due time either spontaneous or procured by Art HISTORY X. Of Giddiness A Woman of thirty years of age fat and lusty of a flegmatic Constitution having many times been troubled so soon as Winter was over with a heavy Pain in her Head and Noise in her Ears at length in the Spring time was taken with a Giddiness that often went and came first more mild then more vehement at what time she thought all things turned round so that sometimes she could hardly stand upright but fell down unable to rise till the Giddiness ceased which presently returned if she looked upon Wheels that ran round Flame or Smoak ascending upward upon any rapid Stream or from any Precipice Her Appetite and Digestion were good her Evacuations were regular and in Season and all the Bowels of the middle and lower Belly seemed to be in a good Condition I. CErtain it is that the Seat of this Affection was in the Brain in regard that Annoyance
and Authors report that some Pounds of the seminal Matter has been taken out of the Testicles of one who died of that Distemper I have seen several who have had that Disease of which two of them dyed by the force of the Malady I desired them both to be opened which was done And in both the Testicles were extreamly swell'd In the first the right Testicle as bigg as twice a mans Fist doubled and being opened there was near â—… Pint of seminal Matter which ran and was squeezed out of it In the other the right Testicle in like manner was tumified and is big again as the former and as black as Soot stinking extreamly so that the Surgeon judged it a Gangreen Salmon Womens Testicles were made for absulute Necessity What this Necessity is A Comparison between the Womb and the Earth Why a Woman does not conceive every time she is lain with The Male Seed is that without which there can be no Generation Whether the Womans Seed be the cause of Formation It follows not that the Womans Seed affords any Power to form the Birth Three other more weighty Arguments The Male Seed does not proceed into Act unless there be a fit ferment mixed with it The Answer to the former Arguments To the first Argument Answer to the second Argument Answer to the third Argument Another 〈◊〉 An Answer thereâ—…o * Gen. 30. The Opinion of Consentinus and Deusingius confuted The Opinion of Swammerdam refuted Whether the Seed of women be a Matter necessary for Generation The Seed of the Woman contains in it self no forming power The Opinion of Hippocrates The Opinion of Veslingius Harvey's Opinion At what Age the Seed is generated The growth of the Body whence Why Children do not generate Seed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Why gelded Animals grow fat An Observation in gelt Deer In gelt Persons or Beasts the Spirits become less sharp and subtle and so less fit for animal Actions Why fat People less fit for Venery Why in a Plethory the Body becomes unweildy weak slothful drowsy sleepy c. Conception Where it is made The Orifice of the Womb must be closed after Conception Whether the Seed of both Sexes concurs Aristotle's Opinion about the menstruous Blood exploded The deteâ—…sion of the Seed The Colliquation of the Seed In the small Bubble only is the forming of the Embryo Delineation performed solely by the Seed Aristotle's Errour in affirming that all the parts are form'd not out of the Seed but out of the Blood There can be no blood before the Organ that makes the blood is form'd It is a peculiar and appropriated 〈◊〉 that is requisite for the Embryo How the residue of the mans Seed enters the Bubble A twosold 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Blood bred in the Heart cleaves to the small Fibres of the Parts First of the Heart then of the Liver Lungs Kidneys Stomach Muscles c. The Heart acts sanguifies and beats first of all How the Embryo is nourished Whether the Seed 〈◊〉 ouâ—… 〈◊〉 after 〈◊〉 Harvey's Opinion that the Seed flows out again Deusingius his Opinion Harvey deluded both himself and Deusingius Harvey's Experiments examin'd first that the Seed might fall out and so no conception That Harvey's Experiments prove not what he labours to maintain The Seed after Conception flows not out of the womb Thâ—… Fâ—…tus is form'd of the Seed and nourish'd by the same The Birth is form'd in the Bubble The time of Formation First History The Second History The Third The fourth The vanity of some men who pretend to shew dry'd Abortments since scarce any thing can be discern'd before the fortieth day The Birth not form'd of the whole mass of Seed First Observation concerning the Bubblâ—… of Riolanus The discourse concerning the Bubble illustrates the Proposition The second Observation of Riolanus The third Observation The fourth Observation The Colliquated Matter Bubble proceeds both from the man and womans Seed In one Birth but one only Bubble In what Order the Parts are form'd All the Parts form'd together An Objection here answered Whether the Brain in the Embryo makes animal Spirits and performs animal Actions Whether the Child in the Womb sleeps and wakes Another 〈◊〉 What is the Architectonic Vertue What the Architectonic Power iâ—… various Opinions about it The opinion of the Platonists Plotinus makes a distinction between the Architectonic Vertue and the Platonic Soul of the World Opinions concerning this Plastic Vertue Whence the Seed has its Soul An objection that the forms of animated Being are indivisible answered How Aristotle and his Followers are to be understood Whether that Soul which forms the Birth be in the Man's Seed only or in the Womans also The Opinion of Parisanus â—…hether 〈◊〉 Soul be Rational See also Bartholinus's Anatomic Controversies upon the same Subject The Soul not ex traduce That the Soul is not Rational The Rational Soul not present when the parts were first delineated * This savours too much of Calvin's Doctrine for the usual Doctrines of Original Sin are made the great foundation of that horrible Proposition concerning Reprobation the consequences of which reproach God with Injustice they charge God foolishly and deny his Goodness and his Wisdom in many Instances For as a learned Divine of the Church of England says 1. If God decrees us to be born sinners Then he makes us to be sinners and then where is his Goodness 2. If God damns any for that he damns us for what we could not help and for what himself did and then where is his Iustice 3. If God sentence us to that damnation which he cannot in justice inflict where is his Wisdom 4. If God for the sin of Adam brings upon us a necessity of sinning where is our Liberty and why is a Law imposed against sin 5. If God does cast Infants into Hell for the sin of others and yet did not condemn devils but for their own sin where is his Love to Mankind 6. If God cause the damnation of so many millions of persons who are no sinners on their own stock and yet swears that he desireth not the death of a sinner where then is his Mercy and where his Truth 7. If God has given us a Nature by derivation which is wholly corrupted then how can it be that all which God made is Good where then is his Providence and Power and where the Glory of the Creation But since God is all Goodness and Iustice and Wisdom and Love and that he governs all things and all men wisely and holily and that he gives us a wise Law and binds that Law on us by Promises and Threatnings I think there is reason to assert these things to the Glory of the Divine Majesty Thus far that excellent Person Salmon The Corporeal Soul makes Conclusions and acts after its own manner but far inferior to the Rational Soul The Matter illustrated from Holy Scripture An Answer to such as object that there cannot
perpetual Cough but of necessity had been bred in the Vessels and might yea must have been contain'd there a long time V. In the Year 1649. I dissected a Stone-Cutters Boy that dy'd of an Asthma in whose Lungs I found a great Quantity of Stone-dust suck'd in with the Air and stuffing almost all the Vessels insomuch that I seem'd to cut through a heap of Sand so that the Vesicles being fill'd with Dust could not admit the Air which was the occasion of the poor Fellow's Death The next Year two like Cases happen'd of Stone-Cutters that dy'd after the same manner and were by me dissected in our Hospital At the same time the Master Stone-Cutter reported to us that while the Stones are cut there flies into the Air such a subtile Powder from the Stones as was able to penetrate the Pores of an Oxe's Bladder that hung up blown and dry'd in his Shop so that about the end of the Year he found a handful of Dust at the bottom of the Bladder which Powder was that which kill'd so many Stone-Cutters that were not very careful how they preserv'd themselves from that Dust. So that if such a Quantity of Dust penetrates by drawing in the Breath into the Vesicles of the Lungs there is no question but Air runs through all those Vesicles We saw a Third that dy'd of an Asthma who was wont to cleanse Feathers for Beds whose Lungs were stuff'd full of the Dust that usually gathers among those Feathers VI. The said Bladdery Substance is cloath'd on the outside with a thin and porous Membrane which most Physicians and Anatomists believe to be deriv'd from the Pleura But I am of Opinion that it is deriv'd from the exterior Tunicle of the Vessels entring the Parenchyma and hence it is very dull of Sense The Porosity of it easily appears if the Lungs be strongly blown up with a pair of Bellows for by that means the Pores are often dilated so wide that they may be manifestly discern'd by the Eye though the Air blown through them does not go out again as appears from hence for that the Lungs being distended by the blowing in of the Air if you tie a convenient Knot at the upper part near the Aspera Arteria it retains the Air till it become quite dry'd up Hence we easily judge the Constitution of these Pores to be peculiar that is such that they will permit nothing to pass forth from the inner Parenchyma but such things as lie next the Lungs on the outside in the capacity of the Breast seem rather probable to emer the inner parts of it if they be not over-thick But if this Distention by Wind be violent and such as 't is probable never happen'd to any living yet by that is the Porosity of the said Tunicle made manifest though larger in some in others lesser and from that Diversity it comes to pass that not in all such Empyics or such as are troubl'd with Impostumes in the Lungs the corrupt Matter enters the Lungs out of the Cavity of the Breast and is evacuated by Spittle or Urine without doubt because in many by reason of the thickness of the Matter the Pores are not wide enough I remember at Nimmeghen I open'd the Breasts of six or seven Empyical Persons between the Ribs for the evacuation of the filthy Matter and having evacuated the Matter to some I us'd bitter abstersive Injections which I Syring'd in to cleanse the Lungs the bitter taste of which they did not only perceive in their Mouths but also spit out a good part of it which was a certain Sign that the Pores of the Tunicle of the Lungs were so narrow in those diseased Persons that they could not admit any thicker Matter but only thin Liquors Riolanus considering these Pores the better to explain the manner how the thick Matter is evacuated out of the Cavity of the Breast by Spittle pretends that the Air freely insinuates it self into the Capacity of the Breast through the Spaces between the Gristles and that through them the Steams and purulent Matter contain'd returns and yet no Air issues forth through the Pores of the ensolding Membrane into the Cavity of the Breast Which Opinion Helmont maintains with many Arguments and Bartholine refutes l. De Pulmon Sect. 4. For though Experience tells us that many times Matter and injected Liquors are suck'd up through the Pores by the Lungs yet the same Experience tells us that the Air breath'd in does not issue forth again through those Pores into the Cavity of the Breast For many times with a pair of Bellows we have blown up the Lungs taken out of a Beast newly kill'd but we have observ'd that the Vessels of the whole Parenchyma were very much distended by the Wind but that no Air issu'd forth through the Pores or would so much as stir the Flame of the Candle but if the least Incision were made into the Tunicle presently we found the Wind to operate upon the Flame Which is a sign that those Pores are so plac'd and as it were fortify'd with Valves as to admit some Liquors from without but not to send forth any intrinsic Air. VII The Colour of the Lungs in sound People is like that of Ashes or Vary-colour'd but in diseas'd Persons especially such as took too much foul Tabacco in their Life-time I have found it of a blackish Colour Also in one that was a Slave to Tabacco and Brandy and afterwards dy'd of a long Asthma I found all the Lungs not only of a blackish Colour but dry'd up to an indifferent hardness with some small Ulcers scatter'd here and there full of Matter not fluid but thick and dry In another great Tabacco-taker I found the Lungs of the same black Colour full of Ulcers but not dry'd up VIII Most Anatomists write that the Lungs in the Birth are of a red Colour and a thicker Substance so that being cast into the Water they sink quite otherwise than in Men of ripe years in whom they are altogether Spungy and of an Ash-Colour or Vary-colour'd and somewhat enclining to white Which seems a thing so constant to Swammerdam that he reports how that in the opening the Breast of the Birth he always found the Lungs plainly contracted and of a red Colour and without any Air in the inside The same thing Harvey also asserts but Charleton absolutely denies who writes that he has many times try'd but found no difference of Colour between the Lungs of the Birth and a Man born But there is a Mistake on both sides which is easily remov'd if the times of the Birth be rightly distinguish'd for I have observ'd by Ocular View that till the Fifth Month and a half or thereabout the Lungs are red and indifferently thick but afterwards somewhat soster looser and of a Colour somewhat palish and variegated and that it is to be found such in dissected Births In December 1665. I dissected a Woman
Seven Months gone and found the Lungs of the Birth inclos'd in the Womb less turgid than in Men born but different in Softness and Colour In Novemb. 1666. In a mature Birth dead in the Womb a little before Delivery a Colour somewhat redder than in grown People but somewhat variegated and of an Ash-Colour and such a Softness and Sponginess of the Substance that the Lungs swum when they were cast into the Water But in regard that Lightness and Spunginess of the Lungs which prevents its Swimming and somewhat changes the Colour arise from the Air contain'd in the Bladdery Substance the Question is How that Air enters the Lungs the Birth not yet breathing That Air is bred in the Lungs themselves out of the most subtile Vapors rais'd by the Heat out of the moist Substance of the Blood and so acquiring an Airy Tenuity After which manner likewise that same Air is generated which possesses the Cavity of the Abdomen and that which is found in the Guts of the Birth unborn But this small Quantity of Air in the Lungs which is neither sufficient in Quantity nor sufficiently thick and cold and can never suffice to refrigerate and condense the Blood which is forc'd from the Right Ventricle of the Heart into the Lungs can never serve for the Use of Respiration only by diminishing by degrees the thickness of the Lungs it renders them so fit for Respiration that the Infant may be able to breath assoon as born which otherwise it would not be able to do of a sudden unless the breathing Organ were first prepar'd by degrees for its performance in that manner IX The Lungs are divided into the Right and Left Part by the means of the intervening Mediastinum each of which many have taken and describ'd for different Lungs which is the reason they never use the Word Lung but Lungs in the Plural Number Some rather chuse to call the two several Parts the two Lobes of the Lungs but there is no necessity of cavilling about the Plural or Singular Number so we agree about the Thing it self Every one of these Parts is again divided into the upper Lobe which is shorter and the lower Lobe which is larger rarely into three Lobes Yet in Dogs especially Hounds there are several Lobes The several Parts resemble in shape the Hoof of an Ox on the outside gibbous where they look toward the Ribs on the inside hollow where they so tenderly embrace the Heart X. Beside the foresaid Division of the Lungs Malpigius by accurate Inspection has found out another That the whole Body of the Lungs consists of many little Lobes mutually joyn'd together I have observ'd saith he in his first Epistle to Borellus a more wonderful and more remarkable Division For the whole Bulk of the Lungs consists of infinite little Lobes enclos'd within a proper Membrane furnish'd with common Vessels growing to the Branches of the Rough Artery Now these little Lobes may be discern'd if the Lungs being half blown up be held to the Light or Beams of the Sun for then certain Spaces appear as it were diaphanous which if you follow with a slight Incision you shall separate the little Lobes adhering on both sides to the rough Artery and the Vessels and shall find them involv'd in their proper Membrane the Air being breathed in through the rough Artery which may be separated by diligent Incision and shines against the Light But these little Lobes will more clearly appear by an elaborate Dissection of the Spaces after a gentle boyling of the Lungs XI The Lungs are fasten'd in a hanging posture from the Rough Artery insinuating it self into the middle of its Substance and by means of that Artery adheres to the Neck Fallopius writes That only in Man they are naturally fasten'd to the Clavicles and uppermost Ribs But Riolanus has several times observ'd them altogether separated from the Ribs and Clavicles which has been also more than once observ'd by me my self But from the Pleura they are for the most part found to be free I say for the most part because many times they are also fasten'd to it sometimes in the whole Circumference sometimes in some particular Parts with fibrous Knittings and in Dissections I find this Connexion in near the third part of Bodies open'd For we meet with many Bodies wherein the Lungs are fasten'd to the Pleura with innumerable little Fibres Nay many Bodies wherein the outward Membrane it self of the Lungs adheres the greatest part of it immediately to the Pleura In our Hospital and Anatomy-Theatre I have shewn many Bodies Bodies wherein the Lungs have stuck so close almost in every Part to the Pleura that they could not be separated without a forcible dilaceration which Men neverthelefs in their Life-time never 〈◊〉 of any Difficulty or Inconvenience of Breathing Whence it appears how little Truth there is in what Massa Riolanus Bartholinus Lindan and some others write that for that very reason Difficulty of Breathing becomes diuturnal and incurable In Novemb. 1660. I dissected the Body of an arch Thief that was hang'd who had liv'd in Health without any difficulty of Breathing whose Lungs on both sides were so closely fasten'd every way not only to the Pleura but to the whole Diaphragma and Mediastinum that they could not be separated without much Dilaceration But though such a Connexion of the Lungs happen to many men after they are born for I never heard that any man was born with it and continue without any detriment to Health yet in Beasts especially those of the larger sort as Horses Cows Sheep Goats c. this Bowel uses to be free from the Pleura and scarcely ever grows to it unless the Pleurisie Inflammation of the Lungs or some other Disease with an Exulceration preceding so that in whatever Beast that is kill'd such a Connexion appears such an Accident is suspected to have been the Effect of some such Disease XII In Practice I have observ'd this worthy taking notice of 1. That those in whom I judg'd by certain Signs that their Lungs stuck to the Pleura more easily and frequently fell into the Pleurisie than others during which if a Suppuration happen'd they more readily and sooner spit up a Bloody Matter from the Side affected But that in others whose Lungs were free from the Pleura they were less frequently troubl'd with the Pleurisie which if it came to Suppuration was rately cur'd by spitting up of Matter but for the most part turn'd into an Empyema The Reason is this because that in the first case the Matter may immediately flow out of the Aposteme of the Pleura into the Substance it self of the Lungs annex'd to it and together with the Pleura perhaps by reason of its Vicinity and immediate Connexion be somewhat also enflam'd and so be spit forth In the latter Case it cannot but flow into the Cavity of the Thorax or Breast out of which there