Book I.

Of Prodigious and Monjtrous births.
fl - - - 1 - 11 ' ' - - " ’
fo many dull, ftupid, forgetful, foolifh, mad, and unreafonable peo¬ ple ; for all proceeds from diforderly and unftafonable venery, or, from the corrupt faulty feed of the Parents, are derived on their pofterity.
Therefore let every man Confider how Cruel they are to their children, that bring fuch mifehiefs upon them, and chiefly they xowinthe are here underftood that are conceived in the fourth Moon, that is f°Toncai’d W^en womens courfes are upon them, at what time they fhould not commonly, dare to copulate with men ; For the children they then conceive Fiji againfi wrant all thofe gifts and properties, that children, begot at feafona- tbe Moon. bje tinieS3are endowed with. They are fit for nothing that is good and vertuous 5 or to perform any noble actions . And if they do any thing well, they have nofuccefle in what they undertake, and ne¬ ver fee any profperous end. For they are by Nature imperfeft, and their natural faculties are fhort > which help men in their bufineffe, not by their own, but their Parents faults, who un- decently in procreation violated natures laws. Whence it is that many things are wanting in them, or elfe given them fparingly and withfomeill qualities, that others obtain bountifully; and they fuffer no leffe lofle in their minds ; For they want almoft their com¬ mon fenfes, and areextream dull, without that fharpnefte of wit, quicknefle of Invention, counfell and prudence that others have.
’ . In former years a woman that was an Iflander took Phyfick of me, of a thing fhe married a Sea-man, and conceived by him, her belly began to done » fweli to fuch a vaft magnitude, that one would think it would never
hold to carry the burthen. When nine Moneths were paft, that makes three quarters of a year, the Midwife was cal’d ; firfl with much a do fhe was delivered of a rude lump, which I conceive was a fuperfastation after a lawfull conception, there were faff ned to it on both fides two handles, like to arms for the length and the fafhion ofthem ; It panted and feem’d to be alive, as fponges and Sea-fifh sea fan- calM silica in Dutch Elfchcvre, which flote in the Sea in Summer ges* in infinite numbers, and being taken out of the Sea, they run abroad, and being long handled they melt, with a burning and pricking left behind them; whence they had their name. After this a Monfter came forth of the Womb with a crooked beck, and a long round neck, with brandifhing eyes, and a pointed tail, and it was very nimble footed. So foon as it came to the light, it made a fearful noyfe in the room, and ran here and there to find fome fecret place to hide itfelf: atlaft the wemen with cufhions fell upon it and leeches in ftrangled it. This kind of Monfter, becaufe like a Leech it fucks the a womans blood from the child, they call it a Leech, commonly a Sucker. At 0 h laft this woman extreamly tired and almoft ready to die, brought forth a Man-child, of which the Monfter had fo eaten up the fkfh* that fo foon as it was chriftned, it had very little life remaining in it. But the woman hardly reftoredtoher ftrength, reported the whole truth to me, of all the pains fhe endured ; and I preferibed unto her a wholefome courfe of life, and toreftore her forces, for fhe was grown very feeble and lean, Thefe and many fuch like things
fhould
•* ■**
25;
Chap. fy what means he that will yn ay get a Boy or a Girle.
{hould teach all men and women tg ufe all decency, and orderly proceedings in their mutual embracings , led Nature lliould be Lecherous wronged thereby. In which refped fome Jafcivious people are much people are to be condemned, who think they may do what they lilt when they mA‘ * ufe copulation, and will no wayes have their plealure bounded.
For taking no care whether their ltomachs be fuller empty, or the meat be raw ordigeded, whether it be day or night, regarding no opportunity of time, obey nothing but their own lulls, and boaft themfelves to be fo lufty, chat they will never be weary with copu¬ lation $ but thefe infatiable Lechers feerp to me to be ignorant for what end the genital parts were given toman, fincethey ufe them not to get children, and propagate their kind, but for obfeene pur- pofes, for barren pleafure- but at lad they pay for their unruly lull, when their parts and joynts are tormented with Gowts and Aches.
CHAP. IX.
By what means h( that will) may get a Boy or a Girle 5 And by the ty<> whence Hermaphrodites are bred , and people of both Sexes.
IF any one would have a Boy or a Girle, he rauft fird know for God is the certain, that the fucceffe and happy beginnings of thofe things frl1 e*uIe arc to be obtain’d by Prayer from God, who is the principall caufe of every effeft. Fot fometitties though the naturall faculties of Man be as they fhould be, yet are men and women barren, and want Children, which God chreatenech by Ho[eai to thofe that defile ch- 9- bar- themfelves with unlawfull copulation, or feek for to be fruitful! from any other but from God. Becaufe (faith he) they went to Beel- phegor , that is, the Idol of PriapM , and were addicted to falthineffe, they fhall not conceive ; their glory fhall fiye away as a bird from the womb, from the birth, and from the conception. I will give them a barren womb, and dry breads, their root fhall wither, and they (hall bring forth no fruit ; and if they do bring forth, I will deftroy the mod dear of their Children. Which mud teach us all, that it God be offended, all means are vain, and the fuccefle will be unprofitable. God threatens the like in Ezekiel tofuperditious ch. 8. women 5 becaufe they wept for Adonis^ Venus's, Lover, who was latry rent by a Boar about the privities, and bis Statue was fetup, and .they adored him. But if God be not angry with men, and lets Na- bamnnefs. ture have her ordinary courfc, we may ufe outward means, and help Natures wcaknefie, if from any fecret caufe one be hindfed From Children. , - ' -
Wherefore there are two things efpecially that perfect copula- w\Hl pc.^ ti'onj' and that help to beget Children : Fird, the genital humour fctisgene - .which 'proceeds p&rtly from the brain and the whole body, and tm’ partly from the Liver, the fountain of blood. Then the fpirit that comes by the Arteries from the Heart, by force whereof the yard is . ~ (j erected 3
2 6 By what means be that will , may get a Boy or a Girle. Book I.
erected, and grovves (tiff, and by the force whereof the feed is eject¬ ed. To this may be added the appetite and defire of copulation, which is excited either by Imagination, or by fight and feeling of handfome women. Whofoever wants thefe helps, or hath them feeble, mult to loon as may be ufe means to reftore nature, and to correct this errour, and repair the forces, as when there is a luxa- ^ simUi- tionor disjoynting in any part. For as we fee barren fields grow tuck from fruitfull by tilling and mans induftry, and unfruitfull Trees and Has Miry. piancs by pruning and dunging grow very plcntiiull in fruit 5 So in deeding this ground r he Ph.yfical art is much to be obferved, that with great skill cures the defers of Nature, and reftores this barren field to bring forth fruit again, as it were, by dunging ir, when the heart of it was almoft quite worn out. So it rellorcs the faint hear, and the weak fpirits, coldneffe and drinefle of the genital parts, and reduceththeweakncfteof the nerves to their temperament: and ic doth farther do all things that may ferve to remove all impediments of procreation of Children. But fince that dyet may change the Elementary qualities,and may’alter the unhappy ftate of the body to a better, ic is ncceftary that fuch people fihould cat onely fuch meat
V’^feVd as CTla^e tlie£n fruit^V for propagation 5 Amongft fuch things Zdfiwup as ftir up.vencry, and breed feed for generation, are all meats of venery. good juice, that nourifh well, and n^ake the body lively and lull of lap, of which faculty are all hot and moift meats. For thefubftance of feed, as (falen faith, is made of the pure concotted, and windy teqlnJL Superfluity of blood. There is in many things a power to heap up feed . feed and augment it, other things are of force to caufe ere&ion,and
drive forth the humour. Meats that afford matter, arc Hen- eggs, Phcafants, Thrufhes, Blackbirds, Gnat-fappers, Wood-cocks,young Pigeons, Sparrows, Partridges, Capons, Pullets, Almonds, Pine- Nuts, Raifins, Currans, all ftrong Wines, that are fweetand plea- fant,efpecially made of grapes of Italy, which they call Mufcadei, But the genitals are erected and provoked, by Satyrium, Eryngo’s, Creftes, Eryfimum, Parfnips, Hartichokes, Onions, Turncps, Rapes, Afparagus, candid Ginger, Galanga, Acorns, Scallions, Sea fhel- fiih.
Col um« j4nd Rocket that if next Priapus fety
IO* 7 hat makes the man his wife with Child he get 1
'a fit sim - Thefe, as many more, will make men lufty. For as we fee Guns
cf)argc fine powder is put in the pan, and fire is given with a Linftock,and the bullet is forced out with a violent noife ; fo in this work two things rauft needs concur, that our labour be not loft, namely, that there be plenty of feed, and a force of a flatulent fpirir, whereby the feed may be driven forth into the Matrix. But it thefe Engines be broken, or nothing worth, or the Gumpowder be adulterated and naught, they can have no force to break down walls and Trenches, and Ramparts, nor do they roar horribly, bur make a fmall hilling, and empty noife, as bladders of boys at play dp, when they are blown
MP«
1
Chap. 8. By what means he that will , may get a Boy or a C trie. 2 7
up. Hence fome of our lafcivious women will fay, thar iuch men that trouble their wives to no purpofe, do thunder, but there follows rhe w0- no rain, they do not water the inward ground of the matrix. They nms Fro - have their veins puffed up with wind,but there wants feed. Where- vevb' fore if husbands will win their wives love by elpeciall fervice, they HowWives muft be well prepared to enter this conflid 5 for if they fall fhorc, a repUafed. they fhall find their wives fo crabbed and touchy, that there will be no quiet. But when they are well provided, they muft take the op¬ portunity of doing their bufinefle well. And that is when the monethly terms are over 3 For that fink hinders their feed from co¬ agulating and fermenting, and makes the womb unfit to conceive.
When therefore the Terms are over, and the womb is well cleanfed, they muft ufe no unlawful copulation, or violent concuffions in be¬ getting children, and when the work is over, the woman muft gently and foftly lye down on her right fide, with her head lying low,& her body, finking down, and fo fall to flecp. For by this means the feed when a Boy will fall to the right fide, and a boy will be made. Yet the time of begot. the year, the Climate, the age of both parties, the heating dyet, are of great concernment here. For the Summer, if it be not too hot, is fitteft for the conceiving of boys, becaufe the feed and menftruall blood receive more heat from the Ayr about them. Alfo a hot Coun¬ trey, ripe years, and lufty, and hairy bodies are fitteft to beget boys.
Alfo there are many things that by a fpeciall and hidden quality are fit for this purpofe. So UWercury, that is divided into male and fe- vjbatberbz male, is held to be moft effe&uall in producing Children of the fame canW* kind with it, fothat the decovtionof juice of the Male drank four dayes from the firft day of purgation, will give force to the womb to procreate a male Child : but the juice of the Female drank for fo many dayes, and in the famemanner,will caufe a female to be born, efpecially if the man lye with his wife when the Terms are newly over. I think it is, becaufe the one purgeth the right fide of the matrix,and the other the left, and fofters it with heat. So it comes to pafie, that the cold humour being taken away, the woman is made fit for conception. For as in boggy and watry grounds the Aslmlil - feeds of Plants are drown’d, nor do they eafily grow forth, fo b y the fuperfluity of a cold humour the feeds of men are choked, that the force and faculty of the womb can make no fex nor form of them.
Sefeli of Marfilea is of the like effetft, Sage, Nutmegs, Cinamon,
Caflia Lignea, Zedoary, Lignum Aloes, Mafterwort, Calamint,
Clary, Dittany, Elecampane, Orris root, juice of Motherwort, and Wbatthl„gt innumerable things of this kind, that difeufs winds, and wipe away purge the fuperfiuous moyfture, and prepare the womb as till'd grounds for to fow the feeas on. So other things by other forces caufe that the Jp0m^ matrix be not fo flippery, that the feed may flick the faller. Of this kind are Amber, lhavings of Ivory, Storax Calamita, Harts-horn, Sumach, Blatta Byzantina, Myrtil feed, Witwalls, Cyprcfle Nuts, Frankincenfe, with the bark, Maftick, Spoonwort, Avens, Cinque* foil, red Rofcs : whereof fome applyed outwardly, others taken in¬ wardly, ftrengthen the womb, and confume fuperfiuous moyfture,
G 2 bind
28
By what means he that will, may get a Boy or a Cirle, Book I*
A dry ma¬ trix what' is pood for
# u *
n»
Avicenna his Count el for Copula¬ tion.
Avicenna his opinion explain’d.
Emutgent
veins.
what begets Herma¬ phrodites.
Irregular copulation is detetta- ■klc.
bind clofc the gaping of the matrix, and make it hold the Seed $ and becaufe the women on this fide the Alps for the rnoft part are fubjeft to fits of the mother, and fuch dileaiesof the womb, they had need life thefe things before others. But if the pares be overdryed and burnt, they muft ufe moderately moyftning means, both Meats and Phyfick. But they that would be commended for their wedlock a&ions, and not be without Children, they muft obferve this rule, to lie with their W ives at diftance of time, not too ofcen,nor yet too feldome, for both thefe hurt fruitfulnefle alike. For to cje&rimmo*- derately weakens a man, and fpends bis fpirits ; and to forbear lon¬ ger than it is convenient, makes the feed mcffiedfuall and not manly enough. Alfo we muft confider the opportunity of this matter* when it isbeft to copulate, and what fex you conceive in your mind to beget.
Avicenna, nobafe fellow, nor an Authourof theloweft rank, de- feribes the time and manner of procreating a fex : when (faith he) the terms are [pent, and the womb is cleanfed , which is commonly in five dayes , or 7 . at moft ; if a man lye with his Wife from the firfi day jhe is purged to the fifth, fhe will conceive a ejltale ; but from the fifth to the eighth day, a female $ Again, from the eighth day to the twelfth, a male again \ but after that number of dayes, an Hermaphrodite. Though he brings no probable caufe of thefe effects, yet methinks it feems to be very probable. For the firft dayes the womb being cleanfed, and the fordid humour perfectly purged forth,the matrix hath more heat, whereby the man and the womans feed ftick fafter together, and is directed to the right fide of the womb, by the attra&ive force of the Liver and the right Kidney, from which alfo in thofe dayes hoc blood is derived for nutriment of the Child that fhall be. For the lefc parts, as being cold and benummed, and void of blood, can¬ not contribute any thing fo foon as the terms are purged ; but blood is drawn later, and more fparingly from the veins of the left fide, which are called the Emulgent veins, that creep about the Milt, and the left Kidney; fo that at length after the firft day untill the eighth day lome blood comes forth of them, whereby the Child is to be nourilhed. So that when thofe .parts perform their office, and the right fide parts doceafe, by reafon of the feituation, and cold nutriment, a female is begot. After the eighth day the parts on the right fide do their office again, and blood comes from them to nourifh a male. After this circuit of dayes, becaufe the menftrual blood flowes, without diftin&ion from all parts, and the matrix is made too moyft with cold humours flowing unto it, and the feed joyns to neither fide, but flotes in the midft of the womb betwixe both : The feed of both Sexes confounded make an Hermaphro¬ dite, which conception takes its form and forces fometimes from the left, fometimes from the right fide, andufeth the help of them both. Hence Hermaphrodites are begot ; which name is fo call’d from CMercury and Venus . Sometimes this vicious and infamous conception is begot by undecent copulation, when the woman be- Tides Natures cuftomc lyes uppermoft, and the man under hcr/ome- • - dines
' . s I
Chap. io. whether the Child be nourijhed with the menflrual excrement.
2 9
times to the great hurt of their health; for by that copulation turn’d the wrong way, they become fubjed tp Ruptures, andHer- niaes, el'pecially if they be full with, meats.
».
whether the Child be nourijhed with the menflrual excrement j and whe¬ ther Maids mat conceive before they have their Terms .
their health have had no! terms at i ask, Whether when a Maid is fit for a Man, and fhe never had her courfes, (he can conceive ? lome are or opinion it cannot be, that one can conceive but after her terms are over : and this feems to me to be the truth. For when the helps be wanting that fur- ther conception, and the matrix wants the humour fhould feed the Childs how can a woman conceive > But our Matrons cfpe- A similitude cially Midwives, reafon thus from Trees : as no Plant wants fruit fy™ that. bears flowers ; apd np Tree is barren that yields blofloms, but 1 tn* ' every Tree is unfruitfuli that wants flowers : fo young Maids that have np courfes conceive not, nor do their wombs fwell, though they receive the feed. But women in years bear Children whentbe court no longer after their terms are ftopt. For fince the flux of this then
excrement affords matter to generation of Mankind, the feed of *
man, like runner and lpaven, heaping this up within it felf, it fol¬ lows, that a woman cannot conceive either before that humour begins to run, nor after that it leaves off to run any longer, becaufe the nutriment for the Child is wanting.
But here arifeth another queftion : whether the menftrual bloud wbatufeof iH be a profitable Excremenr, and fit to feed the child ^ or onely wm * a filthy matter, which at let times is voided as a fink. I know that Pliny and many more think fo, who fuppofe that the menftru- all bloud is venemous and mqnftrpus, and they do wonder¬ fully rayfe this opinion. So Juvenal taking an argument from hence to fpeak againft women, ftirsup men to hate them, and SatjGi doth purpofely write a whole Satyr againft them, that defpifing them, they fhould never marry. I know indeed that the flux of the Terms is a fowl thing, and what harm may come by it, if this fink be ft opt longer then it fhould be, and that Mofes did well, as itvit. i8.*£ God commanded him, to forbid all men to lie with women that DeMt-29, time that they were defiled with this Excremenr. So he drives from the company of men, thofe that have Gonorrheas, that is fluxes of bloud, and commands them to be purified. And Eflaias to exprefle extream foulnefle to be abhorred. All our right eoufnefle (faith he) is as a menflruow rag , &c. Which though it be true, and and the great Law-giver, by Gods order, did moft juftly forbid \uimmtn* ' it, that noman fhould defile himfelf with fowl copulation, or be
polluted
3 o whether the child he nourished with the menfirual excrement . Book 1,
J!u - — . — - - - - - _____________ - - - - -
polluted thereby •, yet this proves not that this flux is fuperfluous, and doth not ferve for thechilds nutriment.
For Hippocrates the Authour of Phyfick, and galen a great lover of it, do rightly profefle in many places that the menfirual bloud feeds the child, and that the child grows by receiving that flow ingout of the veins. So Blood, faith he, and genital feed are the beginnings of our Generation, which arife from the very principles, as from a root. The Mood is as fit matter that obeys the t Artificer , the feed is as the mrkmafier. Again, in comment . Aphorif- L.i.Aph.u. The/nehfiruall blood is one principle of our Generation, and is by na¬ ture moifi. Hitherto belongs that Aphorifm of Hippocrates. If a Woman with child have her courfes , the child cannot be well , For the blood is taken thus from her, that is direded to the womb from all the bo¬ dy, to feed the child. If therefore the courfes running away, wea¬ ken the child, and defraud him of his nourifhment, it muft needs be that they do good when they are ftopt, and ferve to feed the The Breads fin child all the while it is in the womb. If they do no good, and the 7hu™mTem hath no nutriment from them, I pray what is the caufe that the courfes are ftopt in women with child, and fuch as give fuck, and that without any hurt to them? There can be no other caufe given but that they are confumed to make plenty of milk or to feed the child. But to explain this queftion the more fully* The Authoms I fhall fet down this dilemma ; If the courfes confer nothing to dilemma of the feed the child, then women may conceive though they want their mombiy terms. COurfes, for nature can draw blood from the veins to feed the child : But if they do help to feed and increafe the child, they can- Hlfi. Amml. noC c0nceive unleflc they do run.* Arifiotle excellently unties this knot 5 Women ( faith he) conceive naturally after their terms are over, and they that want their terms are commonly barren ; Yet it may be that fome may conceive that have them not, namely as many as have fo much humour colle&ed in their wombs, as ufeth to remain with thofe that are purged. For fome have the humour remaining in the womb, but not fo much as to break forth and run out, yet enough to feed the child. For many when the courfes run do conceive, but they cannot conceive afterwards, for their Ma- trix'prefently after purgation clofeth, and the places are no longer Devulfi. open, galen clearly explains the fame in thefe words. The vef- fels of the Matrix that penetrate into the inmoft^ part , from whence flow the terms, when the woman is about to conceive open their orifices ; But the time of conception is when the terms begin, or at leaft end. For though the reft of the time of purging thefe orifices are open, yet the woman can by no means conceive, becaufe the feed cannot ftay in the womb, but is waiht away by ; the blood that runs in fo plentifully. But when the terms end or
begin, the orifices are open, and the menftrual blood runs not by ftreams, but gently forth, by little and little, as by a dewy hu¬ mour fweating in, whereby the Matrix is moiftned j whence it is that the feed fticks to the roughnefte of the womb, and nourifh¬ ment enough follows by the dropping of bloud that flowes thi¬ ther
JL
Chap, i o. Whether Maids may conceive before they have their Terms.
3 1
fhy u'lwcs conceive not.