Selected quad for the lemma: woman_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
woman_n	conceive_v	seed_n	womb_n	1,446	5	10.0770	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08062	The nature of man A learned and usefull tract written in Greek by Nemesius, surnamed the philosopher; sometime Bishop of a city in Phœnicia, and one of the most ancient Fathers of the Church. Englished, and divided into sections, with briefs of their principall contents: by Geo: Wither.; On the nature of man. English	Nemesius, Bp. of Emesa.; Wither, George, 1588-1667.	1636 (1636)	STC 18427; ESTC S113134	135,198	716

it all the dregs of the blood and is nourished thereby The bladder called the gall which receives the choller drawes unto it selfe the sharpnesse which remained in the juyce of our food The reines doe as it were straine out that thin humour which is like whey and the sharpnesse also which temaineth in that humour After all which the blood becomming pure and good is distributed for a nourishment unto all other parts of the body by such veines as are dispersed abroad into every mēber By this meanes every part of the body drawing blood unto it retaineth and converteth so much thereof as is proportionable into it own substance the rest it sendeth to the next part and so to the next that it may yeeld nourishment unto them Thus all the body is in every part nourished and hath growth and continuance by the blood which is distributed from the liver And this part is termed irrationall and said not to bee obedient unto reason because that which it performeth is not executed according to our choice or as we our selves will but naturally and according to it owne nature CAP. 24. I. Of the pulses and of their offices II. Of the excellent and usefull disposition of the sinowes the veines and arteries and of the severall fountaines of these III. Of the mutuall benefit and assistance also which these three are to each other THe motion of the Pulses is called a vitall power For having beginning from the heart and especially from the left portion thereof which is called the place of the spirits it distributes unto every part of the body an ingraffed and a vitall-heat by meanes of the arteries even as the liver distributes food by the veines If therefore the heart be inflamed above the due measure which nature doth require the intire living-creature is forthwith brought into an unnaturall heat and is in like maner cooled if the heart be cooled beyond a just proportion because the vitall-spirit is dispersed from the heart by the arteries into every part of the body For it is ordered in such maner that for the most part these three the veine the artery and the sinew bee so divided that they goe all together proceeding from the three principall parts which governe the intire living-creature From the braine which is the fountaine both of motion and of sense proceeds the sinew From the liver which yeeldeth a beginning to the blood and the nourishing-faculty comes the veine which is the vessell wherein the blood is caried And from the heart which is the root of our vitall-faculty comes the artery which is that vessell wherein the spirits are conveyed These three accompany one another and receive profit and assistance each from other For the veine administers a certaine nourishment of blood to the sinew and to the artery The artery imparts naturall heat and vitall-spirits to the veine and therefore it is not possible to finde either an artery altogether voide of a thin kinde of blood or a veine without spirits of a vapoury nature The artery is forcibly opened and contracted againe with a certain harmony and proportion having the beginning of that motion from the heart And when it is opened it sucks and draws a thin kinde of blood from the veines that are neare unto it which blood being resolved into exhalations becommeth a nourishment to the vitall-spirits when it is closed againe it empties the sowltry heat which is in it by certaine invisible pores throughout the body even as the heart sends from it selfe the sowltry heat which oppresseth it by evaporations both at the nostrills and the mouth CAP. 25. I. Of the propagating or generating faculty and how farre the same is in mans power II. The instruments of propagation and their offices III. The opinions of Aristotle Democritus and Galen concerning the seed of the Woman EVen the faculty of generatiō pertaineth also to that part of the soule which is not obedient unto reason For we yeeld seed in our dreame or sleepe whether we will or no and our desire of copulation is so naturall that the desire is moved in us even against our wills But the act it selfe is indeed and without question in our owne power and pertaineth to the minde for it is brought to passe by those instruments which are serviceable to the naturall-appetite and to abstain from our appetite or to master the same was by God naturally placed in our power and may be so continued if timely endeavour hath not beene omitted The instruments of a potentiall generation are first the veines and arteries For in these the first humor that is not fully perfected into seed is ingendred and the blood there changed even as milke in the dugs And forasmuch as they were first made of seed this humour is a nourishment unto those vessels and the veines and arteries doe concoct the blood into a moisture like unto seed that they might be nourished thereby And when they have due nourishment that serveth for generation which remaineth For it is first caried up into the head by a large circuit and from thence brought downe againe by two veines and two arteries Therefore if a man cut the veines which are about or neare the eares it makes the living-creature unfit for generation Of these veines and arteries is compacted that folded skin which riseth like a swollen veine in the Cod and where this moisture comming neare unto the nature of seed falleth into either of the Testicles There is one veine and one artery full of seed In these it is perfected and is driven forth by the folded seminall veine which is behinde the Testicles by a winde That winde proves that an artery sends it forth and that it is caried by a veine may appeare by those who are overmuch addicted unto Venerie For they that use carnall-copulation overmuch therby wasting their seed and that seminall humour which commeth near unto the nature of seed if they further provoke themselves pure blood is then strained from them Women have the same parts which men have this only is the difference men have them outwardly and they inwardly But Aristotle and Democritus were of opinion that the seed of the woman is no way usefull in the generation of children For they conceive that which proceeds from the woman to bee a sweating of the place rather then any seed of generation But Galen condemning Aristotles opinion affirmes that women have their seed also and that the mingling of both seeds together is the cause of conception and thereupon saith hee their accompanying together in that act is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a copulation Yet he judgeth not the seed of the woman to be so perfect as the mans but to be moister and somewhat lesse concocted and as it were a nourishment unto the seed of the man Of that seed those parts are composed which are about the utmost places of the wombe and which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 skin wrapped about

the skin wherin the infant lieth and ordained for a vessell to receive the superfluities of the childe In all sorts of living-creatures the Female takes the male when shee may conceive and such as are able to conceive at all times as hens doves and women are at all times desirous to accompany the male But women only accept of the males company when they have conceived for all other creatures usually reject the male after conception As for hens they are daily trodden because they do lay almost every day Women as they bee at their own liberty in other things so they are at liberty also to accompany with men after conception whereas living-creatures void of reason are governed not of themselves but by nature admitting such a measure and such times as are dictated unto them by a naturall instinct CAP. 26. This Chapter mentioneth other divisions of the faculties belonging to a living-creature DIvision is made of those faculties which pertain unto a living-creature in another maner For it is affirmed that some faculties are mentall some naturall and some vitall They which are mentall are in our owne choice and election they which are not in our election are naturall and vitall The faculties belonging unto the minde are two the motion of appetite and of sense To the motion of our appetite these faculties are appertaining Progression from place to place the motion of the whole body speech and respiration For it is in our power to doe or to omit these things But the naturall and vitall faculties are not in our power for they goe forward nill we will we as the faculty of nourishing of growing and of propagation all which are naturall faculties and so doth likewise the facultie of the pulses which is vitall As for the instruments of these faculties mentioned by others wee have already treated of them wee will therefore speake of the instruments of those things which belong unto our appetite or choice CAP. 27. I. Of the motion proceeding voluntarily from us of the place where it assumeth beginning and the instruments which it useth II. The wise providence of the Creator in uniting together things naturall mentall c. THe motion which belongeth to our assent or choice and proceedeth voluntarily from us taketh beginning from the braine and from the marrow of the chine which is it selfe a part of the braine The instruments thereof are the sinewes that spring from these the ligaments and muscles The composure of these muscles is flesh and the strings in the blood which are like sinewes and grisles wrapped up together with sinewie-strings And some are of opinion that they are sensible because that sense proceedeth from the sinewes where withall they are folded up The grisly-end of the muscle is compounded both of a ligament and of certaine small sinewes yet this grisly-end differs from a sinew in this that every sinew hath sense in it and is round and somewhat tender and assumeth also his beginning from the braine whereas this grisly end is more hard sometime also flat having likewise his originall from the bone and is in it selfe void of sense The hands are an instrument ordained to lay hold of things and so convenient for the exercise of arts above other members that if the hands or but the fingers only should be taken away wee are made unapt for almost every art And therefore man onely received hands from his Creator because he onely is indued with reason which makes him capable of arts The feet are instruments ordained for going for by them wee remove and passe from place to place And man can sit firmely without a prop because he only makes two right-angles by the bowing of his legs the one inward the other outward Whatsoever things therefore in man are moved by sinewes and muscles belong to the minde and hee hath a free liberty in the use of them Among these as we have already shewed the senses and the voice are to be accounted and therefore this hath beene hitherto a discourse probably setting forth as well those things which are mentall as those which are naturall For the Creator according to his exceeding wise for-sight hath folded up things mentall with such as are naturall and things naturall with such as appertaine unto the minde And whereas the avoiding of superfluities belongs to the expulsive faculty which is counted one of those that is naturall that wee might not behave our selves filthily in avoiding our excrements without regarding the time the place and such other circumstances as are comely he hath appointed the muscles to bee as it were Porters to order our evacuations and of things which were of themselves meerely naturall hee hath made them to be mentall and such as depend upon the rule of the minde And thereupon when wee are provoked unto any evacuations we are able if cause bee to containe them very often and very long Certaine sinewes which bee soft and sensible are sent downe both from the middle-pan and also from the two former pans of the braine Other sinewes which are harder and serve us for motion proceed from that brain-pan which is in the hinder part of the head and from the marrow of the back Among these those are the harder which come from the spinall-marrow and of them those are the hardest of all which proceed from the lowest parts of the marrow of the back For by how much farther the marrow of the chine descendeth from the braine so much the more hard is the chine-marrow of it selfe and the sinews also which doe spring from the same And as we have received the senses double so the sinewes have a twofold springing also from us For every joynt of the chine sends forth a couple of sinewes one issuing toward the rightside and another toward the left yea and almost our whole body is divided also into two parts the one on the right and the other on the left side Thus likewise are our feet our hands the seats of our senses and other parts divided CAP. 28. I. Of respiration of the instrument of the use and of the causes of that faculty II. Of the composure and use of the Lungs and of such other parts as are assisting to respiration III. Of those parts of a living-creature which are made for themselves alone for others and for themselves or altogether for others HERE wee will treat of respiration which is also a worke belonging to the minde For by the muscles the breast is opened which is the principall instrument of respiration Our sighing also and our thick drawing of breath when any great sorow happeneth unto us is an evidence that the operation hereof belongeth unto the minde Moreover the variations and alterings of our breathing whensoever need requires are in our power For if we be grieved in any part serviceable to respiration or in such parts as are moved by the motion of any of these as the midriffe the liver the spleene the stomach the