ARISTOTLE's Masterpiece COMPLETED, In Two PARTS: The First Containing the Secrets of Generation, In all the PARTS thereof.  
TREATING, Of the Benefit of Marriage, and the Prejudice of Unequal Matches, Signs of Insufficiency in Men or Women; Of the Infusion of the SOUL; Of the Likeness of Children to Parents; Of Monstrous Births; The Cause and Cure of the Green-Sickness: A Discourse of Virginity. Directions and Cautions for Midwives: Of the Organs of Generation in women, and the Fabric of the Womb. The Use and Action of the Genitals. Signs of Conception, and whether of a Male or Female. With a Word of Advice to both Sexes in the Act of Copulation. And the Pictures of several Monstrous Births, etc.  
The Second PART, being A Private Looking-Glass for the Female Sex.  
Treating of the various Maladies of the Womb; and of all other Distempers incident to Women of all Ages, with proper Remedies for the Cure of each.  
The whole being more Correct, than any thing of this Kind hitherto Published.  
LONDON, Printed by B. H. and are to be Sold by most Booksellers. 1697.   


The Effigies of a Maid all Hairy, and an Infant that was ●orn Black by the Imagination of theIr Parents, etc.    


יהוה  

I've Read this Useful Tract, and therein find  
The lively Strokes of Aristotle's Mind:  
And they that do with Understanding Read,  
Will find it is a Masterpiece indeed:  
For on this Subject there is none can Write,  
(At least so well) as that Great Stagyrite.  
He Nature's Cabinet has open laid,  
And her Abstrusest Secrets here displayed:  
Here modest Maids and Women, being Ill,  
Have got a Doctor to advise with still:  
Where they mayn't only their Distempers see,  
But find a Sure, and Proper Remedy  
For each Disease, and every Condition;  
And have no other Need of a Physician:  
For which Good End I'm sure it was designed;  
And may the Reader the Advantage find.  W. Salmun.    

The Introduction.  
IF one of the meanest Capacity were asked, What was the Wonder of the World? I think the most proper Answer would be, MAN: He being the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or Little World; to whom all things are Subordinate: Agreeing in the Genus, with things Sensitive; all being Animal; but differing in the Species, for Man alone is endued with Reason. And therefore the Deity, at Man's Creations, (as the Inspired Penman tells us) said, Let us make Man in our own Image, after our Likeness. The Words in the Hebrew are, Tselem and Demuth, which are Translated Image and Likeness, they have 
* August. Lib. de Gen. imperf. cap. 16. Omnis Imago s●milis est ei cujus imago est, nec t●menomne quod simile est alicui, etiam imago ejus est. Expositio ergo fortasse est cum additum sit, ad imaginem. Calvin in Gen. 1.26.  but one meaning, and signify one thing, as if the Lord had said, Let us make Man in our Image, that he may be (as a Creature may be) like us; and the same his Likeness may be our Image. Some of the Fathers do distinguish, 
† Ambros, Lib. de Dig●. Hom. Cap. 2, & 3. Lombard. lib. 2. Dist. 16. d.  as if by Image, the Lord had meant the Reasonable Powers of the Soul, Reason, Will, and Memory; and by Likeness, the Qualities of the Mind, Charity, Justice, Patience, etc. But Moses himself Confoundeth this Distinction (if you compare these Scriptures, Gen. 1 27. & 5.1. Coloss. 3.10. Ephes. 4.24.) And the Apostle, where he saith, He was Created after the Image of GOD in Knowledge, and the same in Righteousness and Holiness. Wherefore of the Greeks he is called, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of turning his Eyes upwards towards him, whose Image and Superscription he bears. Whence the Poet Writeth,  

See how the heavens high Architect,  
hath framed Man in this Wise,  
To Stand, to God, to Look Erect,  
with Body, Face and Eyes.   
And Cicero saith all Creatures were made like Moles to root upon the Earth, except Man, to whom was given an Upright Frame to Contemplate his Maker; and behold that Mansion prepared for him above.  
Now to the end that so Noble and Glorious a Creature as Man, might not quite Perish, it seemed Good to the Almighty Creator, to give unto Woman the Field of Generation, for a Receptacle of Human Seed; whereby that Natural and Vegetable Soul which lies Potentially in the Seed, may by the Vis Plastica, or Plastic Power, be reduced into Act; that Man, who is a mortal Creature, by leaving his Offspring behind him, may become, as it were Immortal, and Survive in his Posterity.  
And because this Field of Generation, the Womb, is the place where this Excellent and Noble Creature is formed, and that in so Wonderful a manner, that the Royal Psalmist, (having meditated thereon) Cries out, as one in an Ecstasy, I am fearfully and wonderfully made! It will be highly necessary to Treat largely thereon in this Book, which to that end is divided into Two Parts: The first whereof Treats of the manner and parts of Generation in both Sexes: (For from the mutual Desire they have to each other, which Nature has implanted in them to that end, (and that Delight which they take in the act of Copulation) does the whole Race of Mankind proceed:) And a particular account of what things are Previous to that Act, and also what are Consequential of it; and how each Member concerned in it, is Adapted and fitted for that Work to which Nature has designed it: And tho' in uttering of these things something may be said, which those that are Filthy and  may make a bad use of, and wrest it to an occasion of stirring up their Bestial Appetites, yet such may know this was never intended for them; nor do I know any Reason that those Sober Persons, for whose Use this was meant, should want the Help hereby designed them, because Vain and Lose Persons will be ready to abuse it.  
The second Part of this Treatise is peculiarly designed for the Female Sex; and does largely not only Treat of the Distempers of the Womb, and their various Causes, but also give you proper. Remedies for the Cure of them: For such is the Ignorance of most Women, that when by any Distemper those Parts are affected, they neither know from whence it proceeds, nor how to apply a Remedy; and such is their Modesty also, that they are unwilling to ask, that they may be informed: And for the help of such is this designed; for having my Being from a Woman, I thought none had more Right to the Grapes, than she which Planted the Vine. And therefore observing that among all Diseases incident to the Body, there are none more Frequent, and none more Perilous, than those which arise from the ill State of the Womb, for through the evil Quality thereof, the Heart, the Liver, and the Bra●n are Affected, from whence the Actions Vital, Natural and Animal are Hurt, and the Virtues Concoctive, Sanguificative, Distributive, Attractive, Expulsive, Retentive, with the rest, are all Weakened; so that from the Womb comes Convulsions, Epilepsies, Appoplexies, Palsies, Hectic Fevers, Dropsies, Malignant Ulcers, etc. And to be short, there is no Disease so bad, but may proceed from the evil Quality of it. How necessary therefore the Knowledge of these things are, let every Vnprejud●ced Reader Judge: For, that many Women labour under them, through their own Ignorance and Modesty, (as I said before) woeful Experience makes manifest. Here therefore, as in a Mirror, they may be acquainted with their own Distempers, and have suitable Remedies, without applying themselves to a Physician, against which they have so great a Reluctance.   

ARISTOTLE's MASTERPIECE COMPLETED:  

PART I. OF THE Secrets of Generation, In all the PARTS thereof.  

CHAP. I. Of Marriage, and at what Age Young Men and Virgins are capable of the Marriagebed, and why they so much desire it: Also how long Men and Women are capable of having Children.  
THERE are very few (except some professed Debauchees) but what will readily agree, That Marriage is Honourable, being Ordained by Heaven in Paradise; and without which no Man or Woman can be in a Capacity honestly to yield obedience to the first Law of the Creation, Increase and multiply. And since it is Natural in young People to desire those mutual Embraces proper to the Marriagebed, it behoves Parents to look after their Children; and when they find them inclinable to Marriage, not violently to restrain their Affections, and oppose their Inclinations, (which instead of allaying them, makes 'em but the more impetuous) but rather provide such suitable Matches for them as may make their Lives comfortable: Lest the crossing of their Inclinations should precipitate them to commit those Follies that may bring an indelible stain upon their Families.  
The Inclination of Maids to Marriage, is to be known by many Symptoms: For when they arrive to Puberty, (which is about the Fourteenth or Fifteenth year of their Age) than their Natural Purgations begin to flow: And the Blood, which is no longer taken to augment their Bodies, abounding, stirs up their Minds to Venery. External Causes also may incite them to it; for the Spirits being brisk and inflamed when they arrive at this Age, if they eat sharp salt things and Spices, the Body becomes more and more heated, whereby the Desire to Venereal Embraces is very great, and at some times almost insuperable: And the use of these so much desired Enjoyments being denied to Virgins, is many times followed by dismal Consequents, as a green Weasel-colour, short Breathe, Trembling of the Heart, etc. But when they are married, and their Venereal Desires satisfied by the Enjoyment of their Husbands, those Distempers vanish, and their former Beauty returns, more gay and lively than before. Also their eager gazing at Men, and affecting their company; sufficiently demonstrates that Nature prompts them to desire Coition; which their Parents often neglecting or refusing to provide, by procuring them Husbands, they break the Bounds of Modesty, and satisfy themselves in unlawful Embraces. The same may be observed in young brisk Widows, who cannot be satified without that Due Benevolence which they were wont to receive from their Husbands.  
At Fourteen Years of Age, commonly the Menses in Virgins begin to flow, at which time they are capable of Conceiving, and so continue generally to Forty-four; at which time for the most part they cease bearing, unless they be very healthful and strong of Body, and have always been addicted to Temperance; such indeed have born Children till Fifty-five years; but this rarely happens, altho' the Menses flow a longer time in some Women than in others; but many times such Efflux proceeds not from a natural Cause, but by reason of some violence offered to Nature, or some other Morbific matter, which often proves of fatal consequence to the Party: And therefore those Men that are desirous of Isue, must marry Women within the Age aforesaid, or blame themselves if they meet with disappointments: Tho' if an old Man, not worn out by Diseases and Incontinency, marry a brisk lively Lass, there is hopes of his having Children to Threescore and Ten; nay, if extraordinary lusty, even till Fourscore.  
Hipocrates is of Opinion that a Youth, at Sixteen years, or between that and Seventeen having much vital strength, may be capable of getting Chi'drens; and also that the Force and Heat of Procreating Matter constantly increases till Forty-five, Fifty, and Sixty-five, and then gins to flag, the Seed by degrees becoming unfruitful; the natural Spirits being extinguished, and the Humours dried up: Thus it is in general; but as to particulars, as I have before mentioned, it often happens otherwise: Nay, it is reported by a credible Author, That in Sweedland a Man was married at a hundred years old to a Bride of Thirty, and had many Children by●●r, but looked so fresh, that such as knew him not, took him not to exceed half that Age.  
I Campania, where the air is clear and temperate, men of Fourscore years old usually marry young Virgins, and have Children by them; which shows that age in men hinders not Procreation, unless they be exhausted in their Youth, and their Yard shrivelled up. If any would know why a Woman is sooner Barren than a Man, they may understand that the natural Heat, which is the Cause of Generation, is more predominant in the latter than in the former: For since a Woman is more moist than a Man, as her Monthly Purgations demonstrate. as also the softness of her Body; it is also apparent, that he doth exceed her in her Native Heat, which is the chief thing that concocts the Humours into proper Aliment; which the Woman wanting grows fat, when a Man through his Native Heat melts his fat by degrees, and his Humours are dissolved, and by the benefit thereof they are elaborated into Seed: And this may be also added, That Women generally are not so strong as Men, nor so wise and prudent, nor have so much Reason and Ingenuity in ordering of Affairs; which shows that thereby the Faculties are hindered in their operation.   

CHAP. II. How to get a Male or Female Child, and of the Embryo and Perfect Birth, with the fittest time for Copulation.  
WHEN a young Couple are married, they naturally desire Children; and therefore make use of those means that Nature has appointed to that end; But notwithstanding their Endeavours, they must know the Success of all depends on a Blessing from on high, for Children are the Blessing of the Lord; and not only so, but the Sex, whether Male or Female, is from his disposal also; tho' it cannot be denied but secondary Causes have an influence therein, especially two: First, The Genital Humour, which is brought by the Arteriae Preparantes to the Testes in the form of Blood, and there Elaborated into Seed by the Seminifical Faculty resident in them: To which may be added, the desire to Coition, which fires the Imagination with unusual Fancies; and by the sight of a brisk charming Beauty may much inflame the Appetite. But if Nature be enfeebled, there are fit Artificial Remedies to restore it, viz. Those Meats that most conduce to the affording such Aliment as makes Seed abound, and restores the Decays of Nature, that the Faculties may freely operate: For as Dung and good manuring restores Ground that is worn out, and heartless, even so proper Diet operates to the restoring the Coldness and Dryness of the Genital Parts, and reduceth the weakness of the Nerves to their Temperament, and removes Impediments obstructing the Procreation of Children.  
Then since Diet altars the evil state of the Body to a better, it is necessary that such 〈◊〉 are subject to Barrenness should eat such Meats only as may render them fruitful; and such ar● all meats of good Juice, that nourish well, a●● make the Body lively, and full of Sap, of which faculty are all hot moist Meats: for according to Galen, Seed is made of the pure concocted and windy superfluity of Blood; whence we may conclude there is in many things a power to accumulate Seed, as also to augment it, and other things of force to cause Erection; as Hen-Eggs, Pheasants, Woodcocks, Gnatsappers, ●hrushes, Blackbirds, young Pigeons, Sparrows, Partridges, Capons, Almonds, Pine-Nuts, Raisins, Currant, all strong Wines taken sparingly especially those made of the Grapes of Italy; but Erection is chief caused by Styrium, Eringoes, Cresses, Erysimum, Parsnips, Artichokes, Turnips, Rapes, Asparagus, Candied Ginger, Gallinga, Acorns bruised to Powder, and drank in Muscadels, Scallions, Sea-Shell-Fish, etc. But these must have time to perform their Operation, and you must use them for a considerable time, or you will reap little benefit by them. The Act of Coition being over, let the Woman repose herself on her Right Side, with her Head lying low, and her Body declining, that by sleeping in that posture, the Cell on the Right Side of the Matrix many prove the Place of Conception, for therein is the greatest Generative Heat, which is the chief procuring cause of Male Children, and rarely fails to answer the expectation of those that experience it, especially if they do but keep warm, and without much motion, leaning to the right, and drinking a little Spirit of Saffron, and Juice of Hyssop in a Glass of Mallago or Alicante, when they lie down and rise, for the space of a Week. Now the fittest time for the Procreation of Male Children is when the Sun is in Leo, and the Moon in Virgo, Scorpio, or Sagitarius.  
But for a female Child, the woman must lie on the left Side, strongly fancying a Female in the time of Procreation, especially if she drink the Decoction of Female Mercury, four days from the first day of Purgation; the Male Mercury (both Herbs so called) having the like Operation in case of a Male Child; for the Decoction of these Simples do purge the one the right, and the other the left side of the Womb, and thereby both open the Receptacles, and make a way for the Seminary of Generation: And the best time to beget a Female is, when the Moon is in wane, in Libra or Aquarius, for than they will be of a gentle affable temper, very fa●r, and perfect in all their Members. Avicenna describes the time of Procreation thus; When the Menses are spent, and the Womb is cleansed, which is commonly in five days, or seven at most, if a Man lie with his Wife from the first day she is purged, to the fifth, she will conceive a Male; but from the fifth to the 8th, a Female; & from the 8th to the 12th, a male again But after that Number of Days, peradventure neither distinctly, but both in an Hermaphrodite.  
In a word, They that would be happy in the fruit of their Labour, must observe to use Copulation at a due distance of time; not too often, nor yet too seldom; for both these are alike hurtful; and to use it immoderately, weakens a Man, wastes his Spirits, and debilitates the Seed. And thus much for the first particular: I shall now proceed to the second; which is to let the Reader understand how the Child is form in the Womb, what accidents it is liable to there, how nourished, and when brought forth.  
There are various Opinions concerning this matter; therefore I shall for the satisfaction of the Curious, show what the Learned say about it: Man consists of an Ouum; or Egg, which is impregnated in the Ovaria, or Testicles of the Woman, by the more subtle part of Man's Seed; but the forming Faculty and Virtue in the Seed in from a Divine and Heavenly Gift, it being abundantly endued with a Vital Spirit, which gives shape and form to the Embryo; so that all the parts and bulk of the Body which is made up in the space of many months, and is by degrees form into the comely Figure of a man, do consist in that, and are adumbrated thereby: Which is incomparably expressed by the Royal Psalmist, in Psal. 138. I will praise thee, O Lord, because I am wonderfully made Thou knowest all my Bones when I was fashioned in the secret place, and when I was wonderfully form in my mother's Womb. Thy Eyes beheld me yet unmade, & in thy Book were all my Members written, which day by day were fashioned. And the Physicians have assigned four different times, wherein this Microsm, or little world, is framed and perfected in the womb.  
The first is presently after Coition, being perfected in the first Week, if no Efflux happen, which sometimes fall out through the ●●●ippe●●ness of the Matrix, or the head thereof, that shifts over like a Rose-bud, and opens on a sudden by reason of Cold, or overhard Labour.  
The second time of forming is assigned to be, when Nature makes a manifest mutation in the Conception, so that all the substance seems Congealed Flesh and Blood, which happens about 12 or 14 days after Copulation; and though this Concretion or Fleshy Mass abound with hot fiery Blood, yet it remains undistinguishable, having no form or figure, and may be termed an Embryo, and compared to Seed which is sown in the Ground, which through kindly Heat and Moisture grows up by degrees into a perfect form, either in Plant or Grain; or as when a Potter fashions a Vessel out of a rude lump of Clay.  
The third time assigned to make up this Fabric, is when the principal Parts show themselves so as to be discerned; as the Heart, from whence proceeds the Arteries; the Brain, from which the Nerve, like many small Threads, ru● through the whole Body; and the Liver, whose office it is to separate the Chile from the Blood brought to it by the Vena Portae. The two first are the Fountains of Life, that Nourish every part of the Body; in framing which, the Faculty of the Womb is busied from the time of Conception to the Eighteenth Day of the first Month  
But Lastly, About the 28 or 30th day, the outward parts are seen tightly elaborated and distinguished by Joints, and then the Child gins to grow, from which time, by reason the Limbs are divided, and the whole frame is perfect, it is no longer held and Embryo, that is, a Conception that springs forth, but a perfect and absolute Child. Males for the most part are perfect by the 30th day, but Females seldom, till the 42 or 45 day; and the reason is, That the heat of the Womb is greater in producing the Male than the Female: And for the same reason a woman going with a Male Child, quickens in 3 Months; but going with a Female, rarely under 4: at which time also its Hair and Nails come forth, and the Child gins to stir kick, and tumble in the Womb; so that the motion is plainly perceived, and then the Women are troubled with Nauseating and Loathing of their Meat, and oftentimes greedily long for things contrary to Nutriment; as Coals, Rubbish, Chalk, Lime, Starch, Oatmeal, raw Flesh and Fish, etc. which Desire proceeds from a former contraction of evil Humours, occasioning impure Blood in their contained Vessel within, and oftentimes Abortion and Miscarriages; some Women have been so extravagant that have Longed for Hob. Nails, Leathen, Man's-Flesh, Horseflesh, and other unnatural (as well as unwholesome) Foods, for want of which they have Miscarried, or the Child has continued dead in the Womb for many days, to the eminent hazard of their Lives. But I shall now proceed to show by what means the Infant is sustainld in the Womb, and what posture it there remains in.  
There have been various Opinions about the way by which in the Womb the Foetus is nourished, some affirming, by Blood only from the umbilical Vein; others by Chyle, received in by the Mouth; but the Truth is, it is nourished diversely; according to the different degrees of Perfection that an Egg passes from a Concep●ion to a Foetus, ready for the Birth.  
But before we proceed, we will explain what we mean by this Ouum, or Egg. You must know then, that there are in the Generation of the Foetus two Principles, Active and Passive: The active, is the Man's Seed, elaborated in the Testicles out of the Arterial Blood, and Animal Spirits. The Passive Principle is a Ouum or Egg, impregnated by the Man's Seed. For to say that Woman has true Seed, is erroneous. But the manner of Conception is thus: The most Spirituous part of Man's Seed in the Act of Generation, reaching up to the Ovarium or Testicles of the Woman (which contain divers Eggs, sometime more, sometimes fewer) impregnates one of them, which being conveyed by the Oviducts to the bottom of the Womb, presently gins to swell bigger and bigger, and drinks in the moisture that is plentifully sent th●ther, after the same manner that Seeds in the Ground suck the fertile moisture thereof to make them sprout.  
When the parts of the Embryo begin to be a little more perfect, and the Chorion is so very thick that the Liquor can't soak through it, the umbilical Vessels begin to the formed, and to extend the side of the Amnios, which they pass through, and also through the Allanteides and Chorion, and are implanted in the Placenta, which gathering upon the Chorion, joins it to the Vterus. And now the Arteries that before sent out the Nourishment into the Cavity of the Womb, open by the Orifices in to the Placentae, where they deposit the said Juice, which is drunk up by the umbilical Vein, and conveyed by it, first to the Liver of the Foetus, and then to the Heart, where it's more thin and Spirituous part is turned into Blood, whilst the grosser part of it descending by the Aorta, enters the umbilical Arteries, and is discharged into its Cavity, by those Branches of them that run through the Amnios.  
Assoon as the Mouth, Stomach, and Gullet, etc. are form so perfectly that the Foetus can swallow, it sucks in some of the grosser Nutritious Juice that is deposited in the Amnios, by the umbilical Arteries, which descending into the Stomach and Intestines, is received by the Lacteal Veins, as in Adust Persons.  
The Foetus being perfected at the times before specified in all its parts, it lies equally balanced in the Womb; as in the Centre, all on a Head, and being something long, is turned round, so that the Head a little inclines, and it lays his Chin on its Breast, his Heels and Ankles upon its ●uttocks, its Hands on its Cheeks, and its Thumbs to its Eyes; but its Legs and Thighs are carried upwards, with its Ha●s bending, so that they touch the bottom of its Belly; the former, and that part of the Body which is over against us, as the Forehead, Nose, Face, are turned towards the Mother's Back, and the Head inclining downwards towards the Co●yx or Rump-bone, that joins to the Os Sacrum, which Bone, together with Os Pubis, in the time of the ●i●th part, and is loosened; whence it is, that Male Children commonly come with their Faces downwards, or with their Heads turned somewhat Obliqne, that their Faces may be seen; but the Female Children, with their Faces upwards, tho' sometimes it happens that Births follow not according to Nature's Order, but Children comes forth with their Feet straddling, their Necks bowed, and their Heads lying Obliqne with their Hands stretched out, which greatly endangers themselves and the Mother, giving the Midwife great trouble to bring them into the World; but when all things proceed in Nature's Order, the Child, when the time of Birth is accomplished, is desirous to come forth of the Womb; and by inclining himself, he rolls downward; for he can no more he obscured in those hiding places, and the heat of the Heart cannot subsist without external respiration; wherefore being grown great, he is more and more desirous of Nutriment and Light; when coveting the Etherial Air, he by struggling to obtain it, breaks the Membranes and Cover, whereby he was restrained and fenced against attrition; and for the most part, with bitter pangs of the Mother issueth forth into the World, commonly in the ninth Month; for then the Matrix being divided, and the Os Pudis being loosened, the Woman strives to cast forth her Burden, and the Child does the like to get forth, by the help of its inbred strength, and so the Birth comes to be perfect; but if the Child be dead, the more dangerous is the Delivery, tho' Nature, as a kind Commiserator, often helpeth the Woman's Weakness herein: But the Child that is quick and lively, labours no less than the Woman.  
Now there are Births at Seven or Eight Months, and some Women go to the Tenth Month. But of these, and the reason of them, I shall speak more largely in another place.   

CHAP. III. The Reason why Children are like their Parents, and what the Mother's Imagination contributes thereto; and whether the Man or Woman be the Cause of the Male or Female Child, etc.  
LActantius is of Opinion, That when a Man's Seed falls on the left side of the Womb, it may produce a Male Child; but because it is the proper place for a Female, there will be something in it that resembles a Woman; that is, it will be fairer, whiter and smother, not very subject to have Hair on the Body or Chin; it will have long lank Hair on the Head, the Voice small and sharp, and the Courage feeble: And on the contrary, That a Female may perchance be gotten if the Seed fall on the Right Side; but then through the abundance of Heat she will be big boned, full of Courage, having a Masculine Voice, and her Chin and Bosom hairy, not being so clear as others of that Sex, and subject to quarrel with her Husband for Superiority, etc.  
In case of Similitude, nothing is more powerful than the Imagination of the Mother, for if she fasten her Eyes upon any Object, and imprint it in her Mind, it oft times so happens, that the Child in some part or other of its Body has a representation thereof: And if in the Act of Copulation the Woman earnestly look upon the Man, and fix her Mind upon him, the Child will resemble its Father: Nay, though a Woman be in unlawful Copulation, yet if she fix her Mind upon her Husband, the Child will resemble him, though he never got it. The same effect of the Imagination is the cause of Warts, Stains, Moldspots, Dashes; tho' indeed they sometimes happen through frights or extravagant Longing: Many Women big with Child, seeing a Hare cross them, will through the strength of Imagination bring forth a Child with a hairy Lip. Some Children are born with flat Noses, wry Mouths, great blubber Lips, and ill-shaped Bodies; and most ascribe the reason to the Imagination of the Mother, who has cast her Eyes and Mind upon some ill-shaped and distorted Creatures: Therefore it behoves all Women with Child to avoid such sights, if possible, or at least, not to regard 'em. But tho' the Mother's Imagination may contribute much to the Features of the Child; yet in Manners, Wit, and Propension of the Mind, Experience tells us, That Children are commonly of the same condition with their Parents, and of the same Tempers. But the Vigour or Debility of Persons in the Act of Copulation, many times causes it to be otherwise: For Children got with heat and strength of desire, must needs partake more of the Nature and Inclinations of their Parents, than those that are begotten when their Desires are more weak and feeble; and therefore the Children that are begotten by Men in their old Age, are generally less strong and vigorous, than those begotten by them in their Youth.  
As to that share which each of the Parents have in begetting the Child, we will give the Opinion of the Ancients about it.  
Though it is apparent (say they) that the Seed of Man is the chief Efficient and beginning of Action, Motion, and Generation, yet the Woman affords Seed, and effectually contributes in that particular to the Procreation of the Child, is evinced by strong Reasons. In the first place Seminary Vessels had been given her in vain, and Genital Testicles inverted, if the Woman wanted Seminal Excressence; for Nature doth nothing in vain: therefore it must be granted they were made for the use of Seed and Procreation, and fixed in their proper Places, both the Testicles and Receptacles of Seed, whose Nature is to operate, and afford Virtue to the Seed. And to prove this, there needs no stronger Argument (say they) than that if a Woman do not use Copulation, to eject her Seed, she often times falls into strange Diseases, as appears by young Women and Virgins. A second reason they urge, is, That altho' the Society of a lawful Bed does not consist altogether in these things, yet it is apparent that the Female Sex is never better pleased, nor appear more blithe and jocund, than when they are often satisfied this way, which is an inducement to believe that they have greater Pleasure and Titilation therein, than a Man; for since Nature causes much Delight to accompany Ejection, by the breaking forth of the swelling Spirit, and the stiffness of the Nerves, in which case the Operation on the Woman's part is double, she having an enjoyment both by Ejection and Reception, by which she is more delighted in the Venerial Act.  
Hence it is (say they) that the Child more frequently resembles the Mother than the Father, because the Mother contributes most towards it: And they think it may be further instanced from the endeared Affection they bear them; for that besides their contributing Seminal matter, they feed and nourish the Child with the purest Fountain of Blood, until its Birth, which Opinion Galen confirms, by allowing Children to participate most of the Mother, and ascribes the difference of Sex to the Operation of the Menstrual Blood; but the reason of the Likeness he refers to the power of the Seed; for as Plants receive more nourishment from fruitful Ground, than from the Industry of the Husbandman, so the Infant receives in more abundance from the Mother than the Father: for first, the Seed of both is cherished in the Womb, and there grows to perfection, being nourished with Blood. and for this reason it ●s (say they) that Children for the most part love their Mother's best, because they receive most of their substance from their Mother; for about nine Months, and sometimes ten, she nourisheth the Child in the Womb with her purest Blood; then her love towards it newly born, and its likeness, do clearly show that the Woman affordeth Seed, and contributes more toward the making of the Child than Man.  
But in all this the Ancients were very Erroneous; for the Testicles (so called) in Women do not afford any Seed, but are two Eggs, like those of Fowls, and other Creatures; ●either have they any such Office as those of M●n, but are indeed Ovarium, wherein these Eggs are nourished by the Sanguinary Vessels dispersed through them, and from thence one or more (as they are fecundated by the Man's Seed) separated, and are conveyed into the Womb by the Ovi deuces. The truth of this is plain; for if you boil them, their Liquor will have the same Colour, Taste and Consistency, with the Taste of Birds Eggs: If any object they have no Shells, that signifies nothing, for the Eggs of Fowls, while they are in the Ovary, nay, after they are fallen into the Vterus, have no Shell: And tho' when they are laid, they have one, yet that is no more than a Fence which Nature has provided them against outward Injuries, while they are hatched without the Body; whereas those of Women being hatched within the Body, need no other Fence than the Womb, by which they are sufficiently enough secured.  
And this is enough, I hope, for the clearing of this point. As to the third thing proposed, viz. Whence grows the kind, and whether the Man or the Woman is the Cause of the Male or Female Infant?  
The primary cause we must ascribe to God, (as is most justly his due) who is the Ruler and Disposer of all things, yet does He suffer many things to proceed according to the Rules of Nature, which are carried by their inbred motion, according to usual and natural Course, without Variation. Tho' indeed by Favour from on high, Sarah conceived Isaac; Hannah, Samuel; and Elizabeth, John the Baptist: But these were extraordinary things, brought to pass by a Divine Power, above the Course of Nature, nor have such instances been wanting in latter Days: And therefore passing over such Supernatural Causes, that have their peculiar Effects, I shall proceed to speak of things natural. The Ancient Physicians and Philosophers say, That since there are two Principles, out of which the Body of Man is made, and which render the Child like the Parents, and to be of one or the other Sex, viz. Seed, common to both Sexes, and Menstrual Blood, proper to the Woman only: The Similitude (say they) must needs consist in the force and virtue of the Male or Female Seed, so that it proves like one or other, according to the plenty afforded by either; but that the difference of Sex is not referred to the Seed, but to the Menstrual Blood, which is proper to the Woman, is apparent; for were that force altogether retained in the Seed, the Male Seed being of the hottest quality, Male Children would abound, and few of the Female would be propagated: Wherefore the Sex is attributed to the Temperament of the Active Qualities, which consist in Heat and Cold, and to the Nature of the matter under them, that is, to the flow of the Menstrual Blood: Now the Seed (say they) affords both force to procreate and form the Child, and matter for its Generation, and in the Menstrual Blood there is both matter and force; for as the Seed most helps the material Principles, so also does the Menstrual Blood the potential Seed, which is (saith Galen) Blood well concocted by 〈◊〉 Vessels that contain it; so that Blood is not only the matter of generating the Child, but also Seed, in possibility that Menstrual Blood hath both Principles.  
The Ancients further say, That the Seed is the strongest Efficient, the matter of it being very little in quantity, but the potential quality of it is very strong: Wherefore if the Principle of Generation, according to which the Sex is made, were only (say they) in the Menstrual Blood, then would the Children be all, or mostly, Females; as, if the efficient force was in the Seed, they would be all Males: But that since both have operation, in Menstrual Blood, Matter predominates in quantity; and in the Seed, Force and Virtue. And therefore Galen thinks the Child receives its Sex rather from the Mother, than from the Father, for altho' his Seed contribute something to the material Principle, yet it is more weakly. But as for Likeness, it is referred rather to the Father than the Mother: Yet the Woman's Seed receiving strength from the Menstrual Blood, for the space of Nine Months, over-powers the Man's, as to that particu'ar; for the Menstrual Blood howing into the Vessels, rather cherishes the one than the other; from which it is plain, the Woman affords both matter to make, and force and virtue to ●●●fect the Conception, tho' the Female's 〈…〉 fit Nutriment for the Male's, by reason of the thinness of it, being more adapted to make up Conception thereby; for as of soft Wax and moist Clay the Workman can frame what he intends, so (say they) the Man's Seed mixing with the Woman's, and also with the menstrual Blood, helps to make the form and perfect part of Man.  
But, with all imaginable Deference to the Wisdom of the Ancients, give me leave to say, That their Ignorance in the Anatomy of Man's Body, has bewildered 'em in the Paths of Error, and led them into great mistakes: For their Hypothesis of the Formation of the Embryo from a Commixture of Seeds, and the Nourishment of it from the menstruous Blood, being wholly false, their Opinion in this case must needs be so also.  
I shall therefore conclude this Chapter, and only say, That although a strong Imagination of the Mother may sometimes determine the Sex, yet the main Agent in this case is the Plastic or Formative Principle, which is the Efficient in giving Form to the Child, that gives it this or that Sex, according to those Laws and Rules that are given to it by the wise Creator of all things, who both maketh and fashioneth it, and therein determines the Sex according to the Counsel of his own Will.   

CHAP. IU. A Discourse of the Soul of Man, That it is not Propogated from the Parents, but is Infused by its Creator; and can neither Die nor Corrupt; and at what time it is Infused. Of the Immortality thereof, and certainty of the Resurrection.  
MAN's Soul is of so Divine a Nature and Excellency, that Man himself cannot in any wise comprehend it, it being the infused Breath of the Almighty, of an Immortal Nature; and not to be comprehended, but by him that gave it. For Moses, by Holy Inspiration, relating the Original of Man, tells us, That God breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life, and he became a living Soul. Now, as for all other Creatures, at his Word they were made, and had Life; but the Creature that God hath appointed to set over his Works, was the peculiar Workmanship of the Almighty, Forming him out of the Dust of the Earth, and condescending to breathe into his Nostrils the Breath of Life; which seems to Denote, more Care, and (if we may so term it) Labour used about Man, than about all other Creatures, he only partaking and participating with the Divine Nature, bearing the Image of God, in Innocence and Purity, whilst he stood firm; and when by his Fall, that lively Image was defaced, yet such was the Love of his Creator towards him, that he found out a way to Restore him; the only begotten Son of the Eternal Father coming into the World to destroy the works of the Devil; and to raise up Man from that low Condition to which his Sin and Fall had reduced him, to a State above that of the Angels.  
If therefore Man would understand the Excellency of his Soul, let him turn his Eyes inward, and look into himself, and search diligently his own Mind, and there he shall find so many admirable Gifts, and excellent Ornaments, that it must needs strike him with Wonder and Amazement, as Reason, Understanding, Freedom of Will, Memory, and divers other Faculties, that plainly show the Soul to be descended from an Heavenly Original; and that therefore it is of an infinite Duration, and not subject to Annihilation. Yet by reason of its many Offices and Operations, whilst in the Body, it goes under sundry Denominations. For when it enlivens the Body, it is called the Soul; when it gives it Knowledge, the Judgement or the Mind; when it recalls things past, the Memory; whilst it discourseth and discerneth, Reason; whilst it contemplates, the Spirit; whilst it is in the Sensitive parts, the Senses: And these are the princip●● Offices, whereby the Soul declares its. Pow●● and performs its Actions. For, being placed in the highest part of the Body, it diffuseth its Force into every Member; not propagated from the Parents, nor mixed with gross Matter, but the infused ●reath of the Almighty, immediately proceeding from him; not passing from one to another, as we the Opinion of Pythagoras, who held a Transmigration of the Soul: But that the Soul is given to every Infant by Infusion, is the most generally received and Orthodox Opinion; and the Learned do likewise agree that this is done, when the Infant is perfected in the Womb, which happens about the 45th day after Conception, especially for Males, that are generally born at the end of Nine Months, but in Females (who are not so soon form and perfected through the defect of heat) not till the 50th day.  
And altho' this day in all cases cannot be perfectly set down, yet Hipocrates has given his Opinion, when the Child has its perfect form, when it gins to move, and when born, if in due season: for in his Book of the Nature of Infants, he affirmeth, That if it be a Male, and he be perfect on the 30th day, and move at the 60th, he will be Born at the seventh Month; but if he be perfectly form on the 35th day, he will move one 70th, and be born in the 8th Month. Again, if he be perfectly form on the 45th day, he will move on the 90th, and be born in the Ninth Month. Now, from these passing of Days and Months, it plainly appears, That the day of Forming being doubled, makes up the day of moving; and that day three times reckoned, makes up the day of Birth.  
As for Example, where 35 perfect, the Form, if you double it, it makes 70, the day of motion; and three times 70 amounts to 210 Days, which, allowing 30 Days to a Month, makes seven Months; and so you must consider the rest. But as to a Female, the Case is different, for it is longer perfecting in the Womb, the Mother ever goes longer with a Boy than a Girl, so that the Account differs; for a Female form in 30 Days, moves not till the 70th day, and is born in the 7th Month; when she is form in the 40th day, she moves not till the 80th day, and is born in the 8th Month; but if she be perfectly form on the 55th day, she moves on the 90th, and is born on the 9th Month; but she that is form on the 50th day, moves on the 100th day, and then will she be born in the 10th Month. And I have more largely treated hereof, that the Reader may know the reasonable Soul is not Propagated by the Parents, but is Infused by the Almighty, when the Child hath its perfect Form, and is exactly distinguished in its Lineaments.  
Now, as the life of every other Creature, as Moses shows, is in the Blood, so the life of Man consisteth in the Soul; which, although subject to Passion, by reason of the gross 〈…〉 posure of the Body, in which it has a 〈…〉 ●●●●rary Confinement, yet it is immortal, and cannot in itself corrupt or suffer change, it being a spark of the Divine Mind, and renders him Immortal; and that every Man's has a peculiar Soul, plainly appears by the vast difference between the Wit, Judgement, Opinion, Manners, Affections, etc. in men. And this David observes, when he says, God hath fashioned the Hearts and minds of all men, and has given to every one it's own Being, and a Soul of its own Nature. Hence Solomon rejoiced, that God had given him a happy Soul, and a Body agreeable to it. It has been disputed amongst the Learned, especially Philosophers, in what part of the Body the Soul resides: and some are of Opinion, that its residence is in the middle of the Heart, and from thence communicates its self to every part; which Solomon in the fourth of his Proverbs seems to assert, when he says, Keep thy Heart with all Diligence, because Life proceedeth therefrom But many curious Physicians, searching the works of Nature in Man's Anatomy, etc. do affirm, That it's chief Seat is in the Brain, from whence proceeds the Senses, Faculties and Actions, diffusing the operation of the Soul through all parts of the Body, whereby it is enlivened with Heat and Force; but it doth communicate particular force to the Heart by Arteries, Carotides, or sleepy Arteries, that part upon the Throat; the which, if they happen to be 〈◊〉 ●●e, or cut, cause Barrenness, and if stopped, an Apoplexey: for there must necessarily be some ways, through which, the Spirits Animal and Vital, may have intercourse, and convey Native Heat from the Soul. For tho' the Soul has its chief seat in one place, it operates in every part, exercising every Member, which are the Soul's Instruments, by which she shows her power: but if it happen that any of the Organical parts are out of Tune, the work is confused, as appears in Idiots, Madmen, etc. Tho' in some of them, the Soul by a vigorous erecting of its Power, recover its innate Strength, and they become right, after a long dispondency of Mind: But in others, it is not recovered again in this Life. For as Fire under Ashes, or the Sun obscured from our sight by thick Clouds, afford not their full Lustre, so the Soul overwhelmed in moist or morbific matter, is darkened, and Reason thereby overclouded; and altho' Reason shines less in Children, than in such as are arrived to maturity, yet no man must imagine that the Soul is an Infant, and grows up with the Child; for than would it again decay; but it suits itself to the weakness of Nature, and the imbecility of the Body wherein it is placed, that it may better operate. And as the Body is more and more capable of receiving its influence, so the Soul does more and more exert its faculties; having force and endowments at the time it enters the form of the Child in the Womb, for the substance of it can receive nothing less. and thus much to prove that the Soul comes not from the Parents, but is infused by God. I shall next prove its Immortality, and thereby demonstrate the certainty of its Resurrection  
That the Soul of Man is a Divine Ray, infused by the Sovereign Creator, I have already proved, and now come to show, That whatever immediately proceeds from him, and participates of his Nature, must be as immortal as its Original; for altho' all other Cretures are endued with Life and Motion, yet want they a reasonable Soul; and from thence 'tis concluded, That their Life is in their Blood, and that being Corruptible, they Perish, and are no more. But Man being endued with a reasonable Soul, and stamped with the Divine Image, is of a different nature; and tho' his Body be Corruptible, yet his Soul, being of an immortal Nature, cannot Perish, but must, at the dissolution of its Body, return to God that gave it, either to receive Reward or Punishment: Now that the Body can sin of itself, it is impossible, because wanting the Soul (which is the Principle of Life) it cannot act nor proceed to any thing, either Good or Evil; for could it do so, it might sin, even in the Grave: but 'tis plain, that after Death there is a cessation, For as Death leaves us, so Judgement finds us.  
Now Reason having evidently demonstrated the Souls Immortality, the Holy Scriptures do abundantly give Testimony to the Truth of the Resurrection; as the Reader may see by perusing the 14th and 19th Chapters of Job in the Old Testament, and the 5th of St. John's Gospel, in the New Testament. I shall therefore leave the further discussing of this matter to Divines (whose proper Province it is) and return again to treat of the Works of Nature.   

CHAP. V Of Monsters, and monstrous Births, and the reason thereof, according to the Opinions of the Ancients; also, whether Monsters are endued with reasonable Souls, and whether Devils can Engender, is briefly here discussed.  
BY the Ancients Monsters are ascribed to depraved Conceptions, and are defined to be Excursions of Nature, which are vicious one of these four ways, viz. In Figure, Situation, Magnitude, or Number.  
In Figure, when a Man bears the Character of a Beast, as did the Monster in Saxonia, which was born about the time of Luther's Preaching.   monstrous birth 
In Magnitude, when one part doth not equalise with another, as when one part is too big, or too little for the other parts of the body; and this is so common amongst us, that I need not produce a Testimony for it.  
In Situation, as if the Ears were on the Face and the Eyes on the Breast or Legs, of this kind was the Monster born at Ravenna in Italy, in the Year 1512.   monstrous birth 
In Number, when a Man hath two Heads, or four Hands: Of this kind was the monster born at Zarzara, in the Year 1540   monstrous birth 
I proceed to the Cause of their Generation, which is either Divine or Natural. The Divine cause proceeds from the permissive will of God; suffering Parents to bring forth such abominations, for their filthy and corrupt Affections, which are let lose unto Wickedness, like brute Beasts that have no Understanding. Wherefore it was Enacted amongst the Ancient Romans, That those which were any ways deformed, should not be admitted into Religious Houses. And St. Hierom in his time was Grieved to see the Deformed and Lame offered up to God in Religious Houses. And Kekerman, by way of inference, Excludeth all that are misshapen, from the Presbyterial Function in the Church: And that which is of more force than all, God himself Commanded Moses not to receive such to offer Sacrifice amongst his People; and he renders the Reason, Leu. 21.18. Lest he Pollute my Sanctuaries: Because the outward Deformity of the Body is often a sign of the pollution of the Heart, as a Curse laid upon the Child for the Parent's Incontinency. Yet there are many born depraved, which ought not to be ascribed unto the infirmity of the Parents. Let us therefore search out the Natural Cause of their Generation: which (according to the Ancients, who have dived into the Secrets of Nature) is either in the Matter, or in the Agent, in the Seed, or in the Womb.  
The matter may be in fault two ways, by Defect, or by Excess. By Defect, when as the Child hath but one Arm. As in the following Figure.   monstrous birth 
By Excess, when it hath three Hands or two Heads. Some monsters also are begotten by Woman's unnatural lying with Beasts, as in the Year 1393, there was a monster begotten by a Woman's Generating with a Dog: which monster from the Navel upwards had the perfect Resemblance of its Mother, but from the Navel downwards, it resembled a Dog. As you may here see.   monstrous birth 
The Agent, or Womb, may be in fault three ways. First, in the Formative Faculty, which may be too strong, or too weak, by which is procured a depraved Figure. Secondly, in the Instrument or place of Conception, the evil conformation or evil disposition whereof, will cause a monstrous Birth. Thirdly, in the imaginative power at the time of Conception, which is of such force that it stamps the Character of the thing imagined upon the Child: So that the Children of an Adultress may be like unto her own Husband, tho' begotten by another man; which is caused through the force of the Imagination which the Woman hath of her own Husband in the Act of Coition. And I have heard of a Woman, who at the time of Conception beholding the Picture of a Black-more, conceived and brought forth an Aethiopian. I will not trouble you with any more humane Testimonies, but I will conclude with a stronger Warrant. We read in Gen. 30.31. how Jacob having agreed with Laban to have all the spotted Sheep for keeping of his Flocks, To augment his Wages took Hasel-rods, and peeled white Strikes in them, and laid them before the Sheep when they came to Drink, and they coupling there together, whilst they beheld the rods, Conceived and brought forth spotted Young.  
The Effigies of a Maid all Hairy, and an Infant that was born Black by the Imagination of their Parents, etc.  
And certain it is, That oftentimes monstrous Births happens by means of undue Copulation: For some Men and Women there are, That having been long absent from each other, and having an eager desire to enjoy one another, consider not (as they ought to do) what their Circumstances are; and if it happen that they come together at the time when the women's Menstrues are flowing, will notwithstanding proceed to the Act of Copulation, which is both Unclean and Unnatural; and the issue of such Copulation does oftentimes prove monstrous, as a just Punishment for their lying together, when Nature bids they should forbear: And therefore, tho' the men should be never so eager for it, yet Women knowing their own Condition, should at such times refuse their Company. And tho' such Copulations do not always produce monstrous Births, yet the Children then gotten are generally Heavy, Dull and Sluggish, and defective in their Understandings, wanting the Vivacity and Liveliness which Children gotten in proper Seasons are blessed withal.  
It Remains that I now make some Enquiry whether those that are born monsters have reasonable Souls; and are capable of a Resurrection: And here both Divines and Physicians are generally of Opinion, That those who according to the Orders of Generation, deduced from our first Parents, and proceeded by natural means from either Sex, tho' their outward Shape may be deformed and monstrous, have notwithstanding a reasonable Soul, and consequently their Bodies are capable of a Resurrection, as other men's and Woman's are: But those monsters that are not begotten by men, but are the product of a woman's Unnatural Lust, in copulating with other Creatures, shall Perish as the brute beasts, by whom they were begotten, not having a reasonable Soul, or any breath of the Almighty infused ●●to it. And such can never be capable of a Resurrection: And the same is also true of Imperfect and Abortive births.  
Some are of Opinion, That monsters may be engendered by some Infernal Spirit. Of this ●ind was Egidius Facius, speaking of a deformed monster born at Cracovia. And Hieroni●us Cardanus, writeth of a maid which was ●ot with Child by a Devil, she thinking it ●ad been a fair young man. The like also is recorded by Vincentius, of the Prophet Mer●●n, that he was begotten by an evil Spirit.  
But what a Repugnancy would it be both to religion and Nature, if the Devils could be●et men, when we are taught to believe, That ●ot any was ever begotten without humane Seed, except the Son of God. The Devil then being a Spirit, having no Corporeal Substance, has therefore no Seed of Generation: To say that he can use the Act of Generation effectually, is to affirm that he can make Something of Nothing; and consequently to affirm the Devil to be God, for Creation solely belongs to God alone.  
Again, If the Devil could assume to himself a dead Body, and enliven the faculties of it, and make it able to generate, and some affirm he can, yet this Body must bear the Image of the Devil; and it borders upon Blasphemy, to think that God should so far give leave to the Devil, as out of God's Image to raise up his own Diabolick Offspring. In the School of Nature we are taught the contrary, viz. That Like begets like; therefore of a Devil cannot Man be born. Yet it is not denied but that Devils transforming themselves into humane shapes, may abuse both men and women, and with wicked People use carnal Copulation. But that any such Unnatural Conjunction can bring forth a humane Creature, is contrary both to Nature and Religion.   

CHAP. VI A Discourse of the happy State of Matrimony, as 'tis appointed by God; and the true Felicity that redounds thereby to either Sex; and to what End it was Ordained.  
WIthout doubt, the uniting of Hearts in holy Wedlock, is of all conditions the happiest; for then a Man has a second self to whom he can unravel his Thoughts, as well as a sweet Companion in his Labour; he has one in whose Breast, as in a safe Cabinet, he may repose his inmost Secrets, especially where Reciprocal Love, and inviolate Faith is centred; for there no cares, fears, jealousies, mistrust or hatred, can ever interpose; for what Man, ever hated his own Flesh? And indeed a Wife is no less, if rightly considered; for as our grand Father Adam well observed, she is, or aught to be esteemed of every honest Man, Bone of his Bone, and Flesh of his Flesh, etc. Nor was it the least care of the Almighty, to ordain so near a Union, and that for two causes, the first for increase of Posterity, the second to bridle and bound Man's wandering Desires and Affections; nay, that they might be yet happier, when God had joined them together, he blessed them, as 'tis in the 2d. of Genesis, Columela, contemplating on this happy State, tells us out of the Oeconomy of Xenophon, That the Marriage Bed is not only the most pleasant, but profitable course of Life, that may be entered on, for the preservation and increase of Posterity: Wherefore, since Marriage is the most safe, sure and delightful station of Mankind, who is exceeding prone, by the dictates of Nature, to propagate his like, he does in no wise provide amiss for his own Tranquillity, who enters into it, especially when he comes to maturity of Years, for there are many abuses in Marriage, contrary to what is ordained; the which, in the ensuing Chapter, I shall expose to view; but to proceed.  
Seeing our blessed Saviour and his holy Apostles, detested unlawful Lusts, and pronounced those to be excluded the Kingdom of Heaven, that polluted themselves with Adultery and whoring, I cannot conceive what face Persons can have to colour their impieties, who hating Matrimony, make it their study how they may live licentiously; but in so doing, they rather seek to themselves torment, anxiety and disquietude, than certain pleasure, besides the hazard of their Immortal Souls; for certain it is, that mercenary Love, or as the wise Man calls them, Harlot's Smiles, cannot be true and sincere, and therefore not pleasant, but rather a Net laid, to betray such as trust them, into all mischief, as Solomon observes by the Young man, void of Understanding, who turned aside to the Harlot's House, As a Bird to the Snare of the Fo●ler, or as an Ox to the Slaughter, till a Dart be struck through the Liver. Nor in this case can they have Children, those endearing Pledges of Conjugal affection; or if they have, they will rather redound to their shame than comfort; bearing the odious Brand of Bastards; Harlots likewise are like Swallows, singing in the Summer Season of Prosperity, but the black stormy Winter of Adversity coming, they take wing, and fly into other Regions, that is, seek themselves other Lovers; but a virtuous chaste wife, fixing her entire Love upon her Husband, and submitting to him, as her Head, and him, by whose direction she ought to steer in all lawful courses, will, like a faithful Companion, share patiently with him in adversities, run with cheerfulness through all Difficulties and Dangers, though ne'er so hazardous, to preserve or assist him in Poverty, Sickness, or whatever other misfortune may befall him, acting according to her Duty in all things. But a proud imperious Harlot, will do no more than she list, even in the Sunshine of Prosperity: And is like a Horseleech, ever craving, and never satisfied, still seeming displeased, if all her Extravagant cravings be not answered, not regarding the Ruin and Misery she brings upon him by that means: tho' she seems to dote upon him, using to confirm her Hypocrisy, with Crocodile's Tears, Vows and Swoonings, when her Cully is to departed for a while, or seems bu● to deny her immoderate Desires; yet th●s lasts no longer than she can gratify her Appetite, and prey upon his Fortunes. Remarkable is the Story that Conradus Gessner tells us of a young Man travelling from Athens to Thebes, who met by the way a beautiful Lady, as to his Appearance she seemed, adorned with all perfections of Beauty, glittering with Gold and precious Stones, this seeming Fair One Saluted him, and invited him to her House not far off, pretending to be exceedingly enamoured of him; and declared she had a long time waited for an opportunity to find him alone, that so she might reveal her Passion to him. The young Spark went with her, and when he came to her House, he found it, to appearance, built very stately, and very well furnished, which so far wrought upon his covetous Inclination, that he resolved to put off his intended Journey, and yield to her Enticements: but whilst she was leading him to see the pleasant Places adjoining to the House, came by a Holy Pilgrim; who seeing in what danger the Youth was, resolved to set him in his right Senses, and show him what he imagined real, was quite otherwise; so that, by powerful Prayer, the mist was taken from before the Youth's Eyes, who then beheld his Lady Ugly Deformed, and Monstrous, and that  had appeared glorious and beautiful, was only trash. Then he made her confess what she was, and her design upon the young Man, which she did, saying, She was a Lamiaes, or Fairy, and that she had thus enchanted him, on purpose, to get him into her power, that she might devour him. This passage (whether true or not) may be fitly alluded to Harlots, who draw those that follow their misguiding Lights, into places of danger, till they have caused them to shipwreck their Fortunes, and then leave them to struggle with those storm of Adversity that they have raised. Now on the contrary, a Loving, , and even-tempered Wife, seeks what she may, to prevent such danger, and in every condition strives to make him easy. And in a word, as there is no content in the Embraces of a Harlot, so there is no joy greater than in the reciprocal affection, and endearing Embraces of a loving, Obedient, and Chaste Wife; nor is that the principal end for which Matrimovy was Ordained, but further, that Man might follow the Great Law of his Creation, by the increase of his Kind, and replenishing the Earth: For this was an Injunction laid upon him even in Paradise before his Fall. To conclude, a virtuous Wife is a Crown and Ornament to her Husband, and her price is above Rubies; but the ways of an Harlot are Deceitful.   

CHAP. VII. Of Errors in Marriage, what they are, and the Prejudice of them.  
BY Errors in Marriage, I mean the Unfitness of the Persons Marrying, to enter into that state; and that both with respect to their years, and the Constitution of their Bodies; and therefore those that design to enter into that Condition, aught to observe their Ability, and not run themselves upon Inconveniencies; for those who marry too young, may rightly be termed to marry unseasonably; not considering their Inability, nor examining the force of Nature: For divers there are, before they are ripe for the Consummation of so weighty a matter, who either rashly of their own accords, or by the instigation of Procurers and Marriage-brokers, or else forced thereto by their Parents, who covet a large Dowry, take upon them this Yoke, to their great prejudice; by which means some before the expiration of a year, have been thereby so enfeebled, that all their vital moisture was exhausted, and who have not been restored again without great trouble, and the use of Medicines. Wherefore my Advice is, That it is no way convenient to suffer Children, or such as are not of age, to marry or get Children: But whosoever proposes to ma●ry, must chief observe this, that he choose one for h s Wife that is of an honest Stock, and descended from temperate Parents, though her Dowry be not so large as he might expect; that he observe her Conversation, and find th●t she is chaste, well bred, and of good manners. For if a Woman hath good Conditions, she hath Portion enough. That of Alcamena in Plautus is much to the purpose, where a young Woman is brought in, saying, I take not that to be my Dowry, whi●h is called so; but Chastity, Modesty, and a settled Desire to fear GOD, to love my Parents, and agree with my Kindred; to obey my Husband, be bountiful, and to do good to such as are Virtuous and Honest: And I think she was in the right on't; for such a Wife is more precious than Rubies.  
'Tis certainly the Duty of Parents to be careful in bringing up their Children in the ways of Virtue; and to have regard to their Honour and Reputation, and especially of Virg●ns, when grown up to be marriageable: For, as has been before noted, if through the too much severity of Parents, they be crossed in their love, many of them throw themselves into the unchaste arms of the next alluring Tempter that comes in their way; being through the softness and flexibility of their Natures, and the strong Desires they have to pursue what Nature powerfully incites them to, easily induced to believe men's feigned vows of promised marriage, to cover their shame; and then too late their Parents repent of that severity which has brought an indelible stain upon their Families.  
Another Error in Marriage is the Inequality of years in the Parties married; such as for a young man, who to advance his Fortune, marries a Woman old enough to be his Grandmother, between whom, for the most part, Strifes, Jealousies, and Discontents, are all the Blessings crown the Genial Bed, it being impossible for such to have any Children. The like may be said, though with a little more excuse, when an old doting Fellow marries a young Virgin, in the prime of her youth and vigour, who whilst he vainly strains to please her, is thereby wedded to his Grave. For as in green Youth 'tis unfit and unseasonable to think of Marriage, so to marry in Old Age is altogether the same: For they that enter upon it too soon, are soon exhausted, and fall into Consumptions, and divers other Diseases; and those that procrastinate, and marry unseemly, fall into the like ill conveniencies on the other side, having only this Honour, of old Men they become young Cuckolds; especially if their Wives have not been trained up in the Paths of Virtue, and lie too much open to the Importunity and temptation of lewd and debauched men. And thus much for the Errors of rash, inconsiderate and unseasonable Marriages.   

CHAP. VIII. The Opinions of the Learned concerning Children conceived & born within Seven Months, with Arguments upon the Subject, to prevent Suspicions of Incontinency, and the bitter Contests that may arise between Man and Wife, on that Account. To which is added Rules for knowing the Disposition of Man's Body by the Genital Parts.  
MAny bitter Quarrels happen between Men and their Wives, upon the Man's suspicion that his wife comes too soon; and by Consequence that he could not be the Father, whereas it was only want of Understanding the secrets of Nature that brought the Man into that Error; and which had he known, might have cured him of his Jealousy and suspicion. To remove which, I shall endeavour to prove, that 'tis possible, & has been frequently known, that Children have been born at Seven months. The Cases of this nature that have happened, have made work for the Lawyers; and they have left it to the Physicians to Judge, by viewing the Child, whether it be a Child of 7, 8, 9, or 10 months. Paul the Counsellor has this Passage in his nineteenth Book of Plead, viz. It is now a received truth, that a perfect Child may be born in the seventh Month, by the Authority of the learned Hipocrates. And therefore we must believe, that a Child born at the end of the seventh month, in lawful matrimony, may be lawfully begotten. Galen, in Chap. 6. of his third Book, is of Opinion, that there is no certain time set for bearing Children; and that from the Authority of Pliny, who makes mention of a Woman that went thirteen Months with Child: But as to what concerns the 7th month, a Learned Author saith, I know several married People in Holland that had Twins, born in the 7th month, who lived to old Age, having lusty Bodies, and lively minds; wherefore their Opinion is foolish, and of no moment, who assert That at seven months a Child cannot be perfect and long lived, and that he cannot in all parts be perfect till the 9th month: and thereupon this Author proceeds to tell a passage from his own knowledge, as follows: Of late, saith he, there happened a great divers disturbance amongst us, which ended not without Bloodshed: and was occasioned by a Virgin, whose Chastity had been violated, descending of a Noble Family, of unspotted Fame: Now several there were who charged the Fact upon a Judge who was Precedent of a City in Flanders, who strongly denied the Fact, saying, that he was ready to swear that he never had Carnal Copulation with her, and that he would not father a Child that was none of his: and further alleged that he verily believed that it was a Child born in seven months, himself being many miles distance from the mother of it when it was Conceived, whereupon the Judges before whom the hearing was, decreed, That the Child should be viewed by able Physicians, and Experienced Women, and that they should make their report; who having made diligent inquiry, all of them with one accord, concluded the Child (without respecting who was the Father) was a Child Born within the space of seven months, that it was carried in the mother's Womb but 27 weeks, and odd Days, but if she would have gone full 9 Months, the Child's Parts and Limbs would have been more firm and strong, and the Structure of the Body more compact, for the Skin was very lose, and the Breastbone that defends the Heart, and the Gristle that lies over the Stomach, were higher than naturally they should be, not plain but crooked, and sharp ridged, or pointed, like those of young Chickens hatched at the beginning of the Spring. And being a Female Infant, it wanted its Nails upon her Fingers, and the outmost Joints of her Fingers, upon which from the Musculous or Cartilaginous matter of the Skin, Nails that are very smooth do come, and by degrees harden, she had instead of Nails a thin Skin or Film: as for her Toes, there was no appearance of Nails about them, for they wanted the heat that was communicated to the Fingers from the nearness of the Heart. These things being considered, and above all, one Gentlewoman of Quality that assisted, affirming that she had been the Mother of 19 Children, and that divers of them had been born and lived at 7 months, they without favour to any party made their report that the Infant was a Child of 7 months, tho' born within the seventh Month, for in such cases the revolution of the Moon ought to be observed, which perfects itself in 4 bare weeks, or somewhat less than 28 Days; in which space of her revolution, the Blood being agitated by the force of the Moon, the Courses of the Women flow from them, which being spent, and the Matrix cleansed from the Menstrual Blood which happens on the 5th Day, then if on the 7th Day a Man lie with his Wife, the Copulation is the most natural, and then is the Conception best, and a Child then gotten may be born in the 7th Month, and prove very healthful: So that upon this report, the supposed Father was pronounced Innocent, upon Proof that he was 100 mile's distance all that month in which the Child was begot: And as for the mother, she strongly denied that she knew the Father, being forced in the dark, and so through fear and surprise was left in Ignorance.  
As for Coition, it ought not to be had unless the Parties be in Health, lest it turn to the disadvantage of the Children so be gotten, creating in them, through the abundant ill Humours, divers languishing Diseases; wherefore Health is not where better to be discerned than by the Genitals of the Man, for which reason Midwives, and other skilful Women, were formerly wont to see the Testicles of Children, thereby to conjecture at their temperature and state of Body, and Youngmen may know thereby the signs or symptoms of Life and Death: for if the Cases of the Testicles be lose and feeble, and the Cod's fall do ●n, it denotes that the vital Spirits, which are the props of Life, are fallen: But if the secret Part be wrinkled and raised up, it is a Sign all is well: But that the Event may exactly answer the Prediction, it is necessary to consider what part of the Body the Disease possesseth: for if it chance to be the upper part that is afflicted, as the Head or Stomach, then will it not so well appear by the Members, which are unconcerned with such Grievances; but the lower part of the Body exactly sympathising with them, their Liveliness on the contrary, makes it apparent; for Nature's force, and the Spirits that have their intercourse, first manifest themselves therein, which occasions Midwives to feel the Genitals of Children, to know in what part the grief is resident, and whether life or death be portended thereby, the Symptom being strongly communicated by the Vessels that have their intercourse with the principal seats of life.   

CHAP. IX. Of the Green-sickness in Virgins, with its Causes, Prognostics, and cure: Together with the chiefest occasion of Barrenness in Women, and by what means to remove the Cause, and render them fruitful.  
THe Green Sickness is so common a Distemper in Virgins, especially such as are of a Phlegmatic Complexion, that 'tis easily discerned, showing itself by discolouring the Face, making it look green, pale, and of a dusky yellow, which p●oceeds from raw undigested Humours; nor only doth it appear to the Eye, but sensibly afflicts such as it possesses, with difficulty of breathing, pains in the Head, Palpitation of the Heart, unusual beat and small throbing of the Arteries in the Temples, Neck and Back, many times casting them into Fevers, if the Humour be very vicious, also loathing of Meat, and the distension of the hypocondriac part, by reason of the Inordinate Efflux of menstruous Blood to the greater Vessels, and of the abundance of Humours; the whole Body is often troubled with Swelling, or if not, at least the Thighs, Legs, and Ankles, all above the Heels: And also there is a Weariness of the whole Body, without any reason for it.  
The Galennical Physicians affirm, that this Distemper proceeds chief from the Obstruction of those Vessels that are about the Womb, occasioned by the abundance of gross, viscous and and crude Humours, arising from several inward causes; but there are also outward causes, which have a share in the Production of it, as taking cold on the Feet, drinking of Water, intemperance in Diet, and also the eating of things contrary to Nature, viz. raw, or burnt Flesh, Ashes, Coals, Old shoes, Chalk, Wax, Nutshells, Mortar, Lime, Oatmeal, Tobacco Pipes, etc. which occasion not only a Suppression of the Menses, but likewise obstructions through the whole Body. Therefore the first thing necessary to eradicate the Cause, is, Matrimonial Conjunction, and such Copulation that may prove to the satisfaction of her that is afflicted; for by that means the menses will begin to flow according to their natural and due course; and the Humours, being dispersed, will soon waste themselves, and then no more matter being administered to increase them, they will vanish, and a good temperament of Body will return: But in case this best Remedy cannot be had so soon as necessity requries, then let her be let Blood in the Ankle and if she be about 16, you may likewise do it in the Arm, but let her bleed but sparingly, especially if the Blood be good. If the Disease be of any continuance than is it to be eradicated by Purging, Preparation of the humour being first considered, which may be done by the Virgins drinking Decoction of Guaicum, with Dittany of Crect, But the best Purge in this case ought to be made of Aloes, Agarick, Senna, Rhubarb: And for strengthing the Bowels, and opening Obstructions, Chalibiat, Medicines are chief to be used. The Diet must be moderate, and sharp things be by all means avoided. And for the freeing of the Humour take Prepared Steel, Bezoar Stone, the Root of Scorzonera, Oil of Crystal in small Wine, and let the Diet be moderate, but in no wise let Vinegar be used therewith, nor upon any other occasion. And in so observing, the Humours will be dilated and dissipated, by which Means the Complexion will return, and the Body be lively and full of Vigour.  
And now since Barrenness daily occasions discontent, and that Discontent creates Difference between Man and Wife, or by immoderate Grief frequently casts the Woman into one or other violent Distemper; I shall in the next place treat thereof.  

Of Barrenness.  
In times past, before Women came to the marriage Bed, they were first searched by the Midwife; and those only which she allowed of as fruitful, were admitted. I hope therefore it will be thought a needless labour, to show how they may prove themselves, and turn the stony ground into a fruitful soil.  
Barrenness is a deprivation of life and power which ought to be in the seed, to procreate and propagate; for which end both man and woman were made.   

Causes of Barrenness.  
It is caused by overmuch heat or cold; that drying up the seed, and making it corrupt; this, extinguishing the life of the seed, making it waterish and unfit for Generation. It may be caused also by the not flowing or overflowing of the Courses, by Swell, Ulcers and Inflammations of the Womb; by an excrescence of flesh growing about the mouth of the Matrix: by the mouth of the Womb being turned unto the back, or side: by the grossness and fatness of the body, whereby the mouth of the matrix is closed up, by being pressed with the Omentum or Caule; and the matter of the seed is converted into fatness. Or if she be of a lean and exhaust body, to the World she proves Barren, because though she doth conceive, yet the fruit of the Womb will whither before it comes to perfection for want of nourishment. Aetius and Silvius, ascribe one main cause of Barrenness to compelled copulation; as when parents enforce their daughters to have Husbands contrary to their liking, therein marrying their Bodies, but not their Hearts, and where there is a want of Love, there for the most part is no Conception; as appears in Women which are deflowered against their will. Another main cause of Barrenness, is attributed to the want of a convenient moderating quality, which the Woman ought to have with the Man, as if he be hot, she must be cold: If he be dry, she must be moist: But if they be both dry, or both moist of constitution, they cannot propagate; and yet simply considered, of themselves they are not Barren; for he or she which before was as the Barren figtree, being now joined with an apt constitution, becomes as the fruitful Vine. And that Man and Woman being every way of a like constitution, cannot Procreate, I will bring Nature itself for a testimony, who hath made Man of a hotter Constitution than Woman, that the quality of the one may moderate the quality of the other.   

Signs of Barrenness.  
If Barrenness does proceed from overmuch heat, she is of a dry body, subject to anger, she hath black Hair, quick pulse; her purgations flow but little, and that with pain; she Loves to play in the courts of Venus. But if it comes by cold, then are the signs contrary to those even now recited. If through an evil quality in the Womb: Make a suffumigation of red Storax, Myrrh, Cassia wood, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and let her receive the fume of it into the Womb, covering her very close; and if the odour so received passeth through the Body up into the Mouth and Nostrils; of herself she is fruitful: But if she feels not the fume in her Mouth and Nose, it argues Barrenness one of these ways; that the Spirit of the seed is either through cold extinguished, or through heat dissipated. If any Woman be suspected to be unfruitful, cast natural Brimstone, such as is digged out of the Mine, into her Urinal, and ●f Worms breed therein, of herself she is not barren.   

Prognostics.  
Barrenness maketh Women look young, because they are free from those pains and sorrows, which other Women are accustomed to bring forth withal. Yet they have not that full perfection of health which fruitful Women do enjoy, because they are not rightly purged of the menstruous blood and superfluous seed, the retaining of which two, are the principal cause of most Uterine Diseases.   

Cure.  
First the cause must be removed, and then the Womb strengthened, and the Spirits of the seed enlived  
If the Womb be overhot; Take Syrup of Succory with Rhubarb, Syrup of Violets, Endive, Roses, Cassia, Purslain. Take of Endive, water Lilies, Borage flowers, of each a handful Rhubarb, Myrobolans, of each 3 Drams; with water make a Decoction, add to the straning of the Syrup Laxative of Violets one ounce, Syrup of Cassia half an Ounce, Manna 3 drams, make a potion. Take of the Syrup of Mugwort one ounce, Syrup of Maiden hair 2 ounces, water of Succory, Borage, Fennel, of each 3 ounces: Pulu. Elect. Triasand. one dram, make a Julep. Take Pru. Solut. Elect. Ros. Mesuae, of each 3 drams Rhubarb one Scruple, and make a Bolus. Apply to the reins and privities, fomentations of the juice of Lettuce, Violets, Roses, Mallows, Vineleaves, and Nightshade. Anoint the secret parts with the cooling unguent of Galen.  
If the power of the seed be extinguished by cold: Take every Morning two spoonfuls of Cinnamon water, with one Scruple of Mahridate. Take Syrup of Calamint, Mugwort, Bettony, of each one ounce; water of , Feverfew, Hyssop, Sage, of each 2 ounces; make a Julep. Take Oil of Aniseed one Scruple and half, Diacymini, Diacalaminthe, Diamosci, Diagalangae, of each one dram; Sugar, 4 ounces, with water of Cinnamon make Lozenges; take of them a dram and half twice a Day, two hours before Meals. Fasten cupping-glasses to the hips and belly. Take of Stirax, Calamint, one ounce, Mastic, Cloves, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Lig. Aloes, Frankincense, of each half an ounce; Musk 10 Grains, Ambergreese half a Scruple, with Rose-water make a Confection: Divide it into four equal parts: Of one part make a Pomum Odoratum to smell on, if she be not hysterical. Of the second, make a Mass of Pills, and let her take three every night. Of the third, make a Pessary, dip it in Oil of Spikenard and put it up. Of the fourth, make a suffumigation for the Womb.  
If the Faculties of the Womb be weakened, and the life of the Seed suffocated by overmuch humidity, ●●owing to those parts; Take of Betony, Marjorum, Mugwort, , Balm, of each one handful; Roots of Asrum, Fenel, Ellecampane, of each two drams; Aniseed, Cummin, of each one dram; with Sugar and Water a sufficient quantity; of which make a Syrup, and take three ounces every other morning.  
Purge with these Pills following: Take of Digridion, two grains; Specierum de Castorei, one scruple; Pill Foetid. two scruples, with Syrup of Mugwort make six Pills; Take Spec. Diagemmae, Diamosci, D●ambrae, of each one dram; Cinnamon, one dram an half; Mace, Cloves, Nutmeg, of each half a dram; Sugar six ounces; with Water of Feverfew make Lozenges, to be taken every morning. Take of the Decoction of Sarsaparilla, and Virga Aurea, not forgetting Sage; which Agrippa, wondering at the operation of, hath honoured with the Name of Sacra Herba, a holy Herb: And it is recorded by Dodonaeus in his History of Plants, Lib. 2. Cap. 77. That after so many Egyptians were dead, the surviving Women, that they might multiply the faster, were commanded to drink the Juice of Sage. Anoint the Genitals with Oil of Aniseed and Spikenard. Take Mace, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Styrax, Amber, of each one dram; Cloves, Laudani, of each half a dram; Turpentine a sufficient quantity, make Trochisks to smother the Womb. Take the Roots of Valerian and Ellecampane, of each one pound, of Galangale two ounces, Origan, Lavender, Margerum, Betony, Mugwort, Bay leaves, Calamint, of each three handfuls; with Water make an incession, in which let her sit after she hath had her Courses.  
If Barrenness proceeds from Dryness consuming the matter of the Seed; Take every day Almond-milk and Goats-milk extracted with Honey. Eat often of the Root Satyrion condited, and of the Electuary of Diasatyrion. Take three Wethers Heads, boil them until all the flesh comes from the bones, then take of melilot, Violets, Cammomile, Mercury, Orchis, with their Roots, of each an handful; Fenugreek, Linseed, Valerian Roots, of each one pound: Let all these be decocted in the aforesaid Broth, and let the Woman sit in the Decoction up to her Navel. Also take of Deers Suet half an ounce, Cow's Marrow, Styracis liquideae, of each two drams, Oil of sweet Almonds two ounces; with Silk Cotton make a Pessary. Make Injections only of fresh Butter, and Oil of sweet Almond.  
If Barrenness be caused by any proper affect of the Womb, the Cure is set down in the Second Part.  
Sometimes the Woman proves barren when there is no Impediment on either side, except only in the manner of the Act: As when in the Emission of the Seed, the Man is quick, and the Woman too slow; whereby there is not an Emission of both Seeds at the same instant, as the Rules of Conception require, (according to the opinion of the Ancients.) Wherefore to take away this Inconvenience, Mulier preparari ac disponi debet molli complexu, lascivis verbis oscula lasciviora miscenda. If this doth not suffice; before the Act of Coition, foment the private parts with the Decoction of Betony, Sage, Hyssop, and Calamint; and anoint the Mouth and Neck of the Womb with Musk and Civet.  
The Cause of Barrenness being removed, let the Womb be corroborated as follows.  
Take of Bay-berries, Mastic, Nutmeg, Frankincense, Cypress Nuts, Laudani, Galbani, of each one dram, Styracis liquid, two Scruples, Cloves half a Scruple, Ambergris two grains, Musk six grains, then with Oil of Spikenard make a Pessary.  
Take red Roses, Lapidis Haematitis, White Frankincense, of each half an ounce; Sanguis Draconis, fine Bole, Mastic, of each two drams; Nutmeg, Cloves, of each one dram; Spikenard half a scruple: With Oil of Wormwood make a Plaster for the lower part of the Belly. Let her eat often of Eringo Roots condited; and Make an Injection only of the Juice of the Roots of Satyrion.  
The aptest time for Conception is instantly after the Menses are ceased, because then the Womb is thirsty and dry, apt both to draw the Seed, and to retain it, by the roughness of the inward superficies. And besides, in some, the mouth of the Womb is turned unto the back or side, and is not placed right, until the last day of the Courses.  
Excess in all things is to be avoided: Lay aside all Passions of the Mind: Eat Study and Care, as things that are Enemies to Conception; for if a Woman conceives under such circumstances, how wise soever the Parents are, the Children at the best will be but foolish, because the animal Faculties of the Parents, viz. the Understanding and the rest (from whence the Child derives its Reason) are, as it were confused, through the multiplicity of Cares and Cogitations. Examples hereof we have in learned Men, who after great study and care instantly accompanying with their Wives, often beget very foolish Children. A hot and moist Air is most convenient, as appears by the Women in Egypt, which usually bring forth three or four Children at one time.    

CHAP. X. Virginity what it is, in what it consists, and how violated; together with the Opinions of the Learned about the mutation of Sexes in the Womb, during the Operation of Nature, i● framing the Body.  
THere are many ignorant People, that boa●● of their Skill in the knowledge of Virginity, and some Virgins have undergone har● Censures through their ignorant Determinations: And therefore I thought it highly necessary to clear this Point, that the towering Imaginations of conceited Ignorance may be brought down, and that the Fair Sex (whose Virtues are so illustriously bright, that they both excite our Wonder, and command our Imitation) may be freed from the Calumnies and Detractions of Ignorance and Envy, that so their Honours may continue as Unspotted, as they have kept their Persons Uncontaminated, and free from Defilement.  
Virginity, in a strict sense, does signify the Prime, the Chief, the Best of any thing, which makes men so desirous of marrying Virgins; imagining some greater pleasure to be enjoyed in their Embraces, than in those of Widows, or such as have before been lain withal: Tho' not many years ago, a very great Person was of another mind, and thought (to use his own expression) that the getting of a Maidenhead was such a piece of Drudgery, as was more proper for a Porter than a Prince; but this was only his Opinion, for most Men, I am sure, have other Sentiments. But to our purpose,  
The curious Enquirers into Nature's Secrets, have observed that in young Maids, in the Sinus Pudoris, or in that place that is called the Neck of the Womb, is that pendulous production vulgarly called the Hymen, but more rightly the Claustrum Virginale, and in French the Button de Rose, or Roses Bud; because it resembles the Bud of a Rose expanded, or a Clovegilliflower, from whence it derived the word Defloro, to Deflower; and hence taking away of Virginity, is called Deflowering a Virgin; most being of opinion, that the Virginity is altogether lost, when this Duplication is fractured and dissipated by violence; and when it is found perfect and entire, no penetration has been made. And it is the opinion of some learned Physicians, that there is not either Hymen or Skin expanded containing Blood in it, which divers imagine in the first Copulation flows from the fractured Expanse.  
Now this Claustrum Virginale, or Flower, is composed of four Caruncles, or little Buds like Myrtleberries, which is Virgins are full and plump, but in Women flag and hang lose; and these are placed in the four Angles of the Sinus Pudoris, joined together by little Membranes, and Ligatures like Fibres, each of them situate in the Intesticles or spaces between each Caruncle, with which in a manner they are proportionably distended, which Membranes being once defacerated, denote Devirgination; and many inquisitive and yet ignorant Persons, finding their wives defective herein the first Night of their Marriage, have thereupon suspected their Chastity, concluding another had been there before 'em. Now to undeceive such, I do affirm, That such Fracture may happen divers accidental ways, as well as by Copulation with Man, viz. By violent, straining, coughing, or sneezing, stopping of Urine, and violent motion of the vessels, in forcibly sending down the Humours, which pressing for Passage, break the Ligatures or Membrane, so that the entireness or fracture of that which is commonly taken for the Virginity or Maidenhead, is no absolute sign of Dishonesty; tho' certain it is, that 'tis more frequently broke in Copulation, than by any other means.  
I have heard that at an Assize held in Rutland, a young Man was tried for a Rape, in forcing a Virgin, when after divers questions asked, and the Maid swearing positively to the matter, naming the time, place, and manner of the action, it was upon mature deliberation resolved that she should be searched by a skilful Chirurgeon, and two Midwives, who were to make their Report upon their Oaths, which after due Examination they accordingly did, affirming that the Membranes were entire, and not dilacerated, and that it was their Opinion for that Reason, that her Body had not been penetrated, which so far wrought with the Jury, that the Prisoner was acquitted; and the Maid afterward confessed she swore against him out of Revenge, he having promised to marry her, and afterwards declined it: And thus much shall suffice to be spoken concerning Virginity.  
I shall now p●●●● to say something of Nature's Operation, 〈◊〉 ●he Mutation of Sexes in the Womb.  
This point is of much necessity, by reason of the different Opinions of Men relating to it. Therefore before any thing positive can be asserted, it will be altogether convenient to recite what has been delivered, as well in the negative, as the affirmative. And first, Severus Plineus, who argues for the negative, writes thus: The Genital parts of both Sexes, are so unlike other, in Substance, Composition, Situation, Figure, Action and Use, that nothing is more unlike; and by how much all other parts of the Body, (the Breasts excepted, which in Women swell more, because Nature ordained 'em for suckling the Infant) have an exact resemblance, so much the more do the Genital parts of one Sex, compared with the other differ; and if their Figure be thus different, much more is their use. The Venereal Appetite also proceeds from different causes; for in Men it proceeds from a desire of Emission, and in Women, from a desire of Reception, in Women also the chiefest of those parts are concave, and apt to receive, but in Men they are only porous  
These things considered, I cannot but wonder (added he) how any one can imagine that the Genital Member of Female Births should be changed into those that belong to Males) since by those parts only the distinction of Sexes is made, nor can I well impute the reason of this vulgar Error to any thing but the mistake of unexpert Midwives, who have been deceived by the evil conformation of the parts which in some Male Births may have happened to have had some small protrusion, not to have been discerned, as appeared by the example of a Child Christened at Paris, by the Name of Joan, as a Girl, which afterwards proved a Boy; and on the contrary, the overfar extension of the Clytoris in Female Births may have occasioned the like mistakes Thus far Pliny proceeds in the Negative, and yet notwithstanding what he has said, there are divers learned Physicians that have asserted the affirmative, of which number Galen is one, A Man (saith he) is different from a Woman in nothing else, but having his Genital Members without his Body, whereas a Woman has 'em within: And this is certain, That if Nature having form a Man, would convert him into a Woman, she hath no other Task to perform, but to turn his Genital Member inward; and so to turn a Woman into a Man by the contrary Operation. But this is to be understood of the Child, when it is in the Womb, and not perfectly form; for divers times Nature hath made a Female Child, and it has so remained in the Womb of the Mother for a Month or two, and afterward plenty of Heat increasing in the Genital Members, they have issued forth, and the Child has become a Male, yet retaining some certain Gestures, unbefitting the Masculine Sex, as Female Actions, a shrill Voice, and a more Effeminate temper than ordinary. Contrariwise, Nature having often made a Male, and cold Humours flowing to it, the Genitals have been inverted, yet still retaining a Masculine Air, both in voice and gesture.  
Now tho' both these Opinions are supported by several Reasons, yet I esteem the latter more agreeable to Truth: For there is not that vast difference between the Genitals of the two Sexes, as Pliny would have us believe there is, for the Woman has in a manner the same Members with the Man, tho' they appear not outwardly, but are inverted for the conveniency of Generation, the chief difference being, that one is solid, and the other porous; and that the principal Reason of changing Sexes is, and must be, attributed to heat or cold, suddenly, or slowly contracted, which operates according to its greater or lesser force.   

CHAP. XI. Directions and Cautions for Midwives, and first, How a Midwife ought to be qualified.  
A Midwife that would acquit herself well in her Employment, aught by no means to enter upon it rashly or unadvisedly, but with all imaginable caution, considering that she is accountable for all the mischief that befalls through her wilful ignorance or neglect; therefore let none take upon them this Office, barely upon pretence of their maturity of Years and Childbearing; for in such, for the most part, there are divers things wanting that aught to be observed, which is the occasion so many Women and Children are lost: Now as for a Midwife, in relation to her Person, these things ought to be observed, viz. She must neither be too old nor too young, neither extraordinary fat, nor weakened by leanness, but in a good habit of Body, not subject to Diseases, Fears, nor sudden Frights; her Body well shaped, and neat in her Attire, her Hands smooth and small, her Nails ever pared short, not suffering any Rings to be upon her Fingers during the time she is doing her Office, nor any thing upon her Wrists that may obstruct; and to these aught to be added Activity, and a convenient Strength, with much caution and diligence; not subject to Drowsiness nor apt to be Impatient.  
As for her Manners, she ought to be courteous, affable, sober, chaste, and not subject to passion; bountiful and compassionate to the Poor, and not covetous when she attends upon the Rich.  
Her Temper cheerful and pleasant, that she may the better comfort her patients in their dolorous Labour; nor must she at any time make overmuch haste, tho' her Business should require her in another place, lest she do thereby endanger the Mother or the Child.  
Of Spirit she ought to be wary, prudent, and cunning: But above all, the fear of God ought to have the Ascendant in her Soul, which will give her both Knowledge and Discretion, as the wise man tells us.   

CHAP. XII. Further Directions to Midwives, teaching them what they ought to do, and what to avoid.  
SInce the Office of a Midwife has so great an influence upon the well or ill doing of Women and Children, In the first place let her be diligent to acquire whatever Knowledge may be advantageous to her Practice, never thinking herself so perfect, but that she may add to her Knowledge by Study and Experience, yet never let her make any Experiments at her Patient's cost, nor apply any Remedies in that case, unless she has either tried them, or knows that they'll do no harm, practising neither upon Poor nor Rich, but speaking freely what she knows; and by no means prescribing such Medicines as will cause Abortion, tho' desired, which is a high degree of wickedness, and may be termed Murder. If she be sent for by them she knows not, let her be very cautious ere she goes, lest by laying an Infectious Woman, she endanger the spoiling of others, as sometimes happens. Neither must she make her House a Receptacle for great bellied Women to discharge their Burdens in, lest her House get an ill Name, and she thereby lose her Practice.  
In laying of Women, if the Birth happen to be hard and difficult, she must not seem to be concerned, but must cheer up the Woman, and do what she can to make the labour easy, for which she may find Directions in the Second Part of this Book.  
She must never think of any thing but doing well, causing all things to be in a readiness, that are proper for the Work, and the strengthening of the Woman, and receiving of the Child. And above all, let her take care to keep the woman from being unruly when her throes are coming upon her, lest she thereby endanger her own Life and the Child's.  
She must also take care she be not too hasty in her business, but wait God's leisure for the Birth: And by no means let her suffer herself to be disordered by fear, though things should not go well, lest it should make her uncapable of giving that assistance which the labouring woman stands in need of; for when we are most at a loss, than there is most need of prudence to set things right.  
And now because she can never be a skilful Midwife, that knows nothing but what is to be seen outwardly, I shall not think it amiss, but on the contrary highly necessary, with modesty to describe the Generative Parts of Woman, as they have been Anatomised by the Learned, and show the use of such Vessels as are contributing to Generation.   

CHAP. XIII. Of the Genitals of Woman, External and Internal, to the Vessels of the Womb.  
IF it were not for Public Benefit, especially of the Practitioners and Professors of the Art of Midwifery, I should forbear to treat of these Secrets of Nature, because they may be turned by some lascivious and lewd Persons into Ridicule, but they being absolutely necessary to be known, in order to a public Good, I will not omit them, because some may make a wrong use of them.  
Those parts that offer themselves to view at the bottom of the Belly, are the Fissura Magna, or the Great Chink, with its Labia, or Lips, the Mons Veneris, and the Hair. These are called by the general Name of Pudenda, from shamefacedness, because when they are bared, they bring Pudor, or shame, upon a woman. The Fissura magna reaches from the lower part of the Os Pubis, to within an Inch of the Anus: But it is less and closer in Maids, than in those that have born Children; and has two Lips, which towards the Pubes, grow thicker and more full, and meeting upon the middle of the Os Pubis, make that rising Hill, that is called Mons Veneris, or the Hill of Venus.  
The next thing that offers are the Nymphae and Clytoris, the former of which is of a membrany and filmy Substance, spongy, soft, and partly fleshy, of a red colour, in the shape of wings, two in number, tho' from their rise they are joined in an acute Angle, producing there a fleshy Substance, which clothes the Clytoris, and sometimes they spread so far, that Incision is required to make way for the Man's Instrument of Generation.  
The Clytoris is a substance in the upper part of the Division, where the two wings concur, and is the Seat of Venereal Pleasure, being like a Yard in Situation, Substance, Composition and Erection, growing sometimes out of the Body two inches, but that never happens, unless through extreme lust, or extraordinary accident. This Clytoris consists of two spongy and skinny Bodies, containing a distinct Original from the Os Pubis, the Head of it being covered with a tender skin, having a hole or passage like the Penis, or Yard of a Man, tho' not quite through, in which and the bigness, it only differs from it.  
The next thing in course are the fleshy Knobs, and the great Neck of the Womb: And these Knobs are behind the Wings, being four in Number, and resemble Myrtleberries, being placed Quadrangular, one against the other, and in this place is inserted to the Orifice of the Bladder, which opens itself into the Fissures to evacuate the Urine, for securing of which from Cold, or the like Inconveniency, one of these Knobs are placed before it, and shuts up the Passage.  
The Lips of the Womb that next appear, being separated, disclose the Neck thereof, and in them two things are to be observed, which is, The Neck itself, and the Hymen, but more properly the Claustrum Virginale, of which I have before discoursed. By the Neck of the Womb is to be understood the Channel that is between the aforesaid Knobs, and the inner Bone of the Womb, which receives the Penis like a Sheath; and that it may the better be dilated for the pleasure of Procreation, the substance of it is sinewy, and a little spongy, and in this Concavity are divers Folds, or Orbicular Plights, made by Tunicles, wrinkled like an expanded Rose; in Virgins they plainly appear, but in women that have often used copulation they are extinguished; so that the inner side of the Womb's Neck appears smooth, and in old women it becomes more hard and grisly: But tho' this Channel be at sometimes writhed and crooked, sinking down, yet in the time of Copulation, Labour, or the Monthly Purgations, it is erected and extended, which over-extention occasioneth the pains in Childbirth.  
The Hymen or Claustrum Virginale, is that which closes the Neck of the Womb; being (as I have before cited in the Chapter relating to Virginity) broken in the first Copulation, its use being rather to stay the untimely Courses in Virgins, than to any other end; and commonly when it is broke in Copulation, or by any other Accident, a small quantity of Blood flows from it, attended wi●h some little pain. From whence some observe, that between the duplicity of the two Tunicles which constitute the Neck of the Womb, there are many Veins and Arteries running along, and arising from the vessels on both sides the Thighs, and so passing into the Neck of the Womb, being very large, and the reason thereof is, for that the Neck of the Bladder requires to be filled with abundance of Spirits, thereby to be dilated for its better taking hold of the Penis, there being great heat required in such motions, which becoming more intense by the Act of Frication, consumes a considerable quantity of moisture, in the supplying of which, large vessels are altogether necessary.  
Another cause of the longness of these vessels is, by reason the Menses make their way through them, which often occasions Women with Child to continue their Purgations; for tho' the Womb be shut up, yet the passage in the Neck of the Womb, through which these Vessels pass, are open: In this case there is further to be observed, that as soon as you penetrate the Pudendum, there appears two little Pits or Holes, wherein is contained an Humour, which by being expunged in time of Copulation, greatly delights the Woman.   

CHAP. XIV. A Description of the Wombs Fabric, the preparing Vessels, and Testicles in Women, as also of the Different, or Ejaculatory Vessels.  
IN the lower part of the Hypogastrion, where the Hips are widest and broadest, (they being greater and broader thereabouts than those of Men, for which reason they have likewise broader Buttocks than Men) is the Womb joined to its Neck, and is placed between the Bladder and straight Gut, which keeps it from swaying or rolling, yet gives it liberty to stretch and dilate itself, and again to contract, as nature in that case disposes it: Its figure is in a manner round, and not unlike a Gourd, lessening a little, and growing more acute toward one end, being knit together by its proper Ligaments, its Neck likewise is joined by its own substance, and certain Membranes that fasten it to Os Sacrum, and the Share-Bone. As to its largeness, that much differs in Women, especially the difference is great between such as have born Children, and those that have born none: In substance it is so thick, that it exceeds a Thumbs breath, which after Conception it is so far from decreasing that it augments to a greater proportion, and the more to strengthen it, it is interwoven with Fibres overthwart, which are both straight, and winding, and its proper Vessels are Veins, Arteries and Nerves; and amongst these there are two little Veins, which pass from the Spermatick Vessels to the bottom of the Womb, and two larger from the Hypogastricks, which touch both the bottom and the Neck; the mouth of these Veins piercing as far as the inward concavity.  
The Womb hath also two Arteries on both sides, the Spermatick Vessels and the Hypogastricks, which still accompany the Veins, and besides these there are divers little Nerves that are knit and intwined in the form of a Net, which are also extended throughout, even from the bottom to the Pudenda themselves, being chief place● for sense and pleasure, moving in Sympathy between the Head and Womb.  
Now it is to be farther noted, that by reason, of the two Ligaments that hang on either side the womb, from the Share-bone, piercing through the Peritonaeum, and joined to the Bone itself, the Womb is movable upon sundry occasions, often falling low, or rising high. As for the Neck of the Womb, it is of an exquisite feeling, so that if it be at any time out of order by being troubled with a schirrosity, overfatness, moisture, or relaxation, the Womb is subjected thereby to Barrenness: In those that are with Child, there frequently stays a moist glutinous Matter in the entrance to facilitate the Birth; for at the time of delivery the Mouth of the Womb is opened to such a wideness, as is conformable to the bigness of the Child, suffering an equal dilation from the bottom to the top.  
As for the Preparatory or Spermatick Vessels in Women, they consist of two Veins and two Arteries, not differing from those in a Man, but only in their largeness and manner of insertion; for the number of Veins and Arteries are both the same as in Men, the right Vein issuing from the trunk of the hollow Vein descending, and the left from the Emulgent Vein; and on the side of them are two Arteries, which grows from the Aorta.  
As to the length and breadth of these Vessels, they are narrow, and shorter in Women than in Men; only observe they are more wreathed and contorted than in Men, as shrinking together, by reason of their shortness, that they may by their looseness be the better stretched out, when occasion requires it. And these Vessels in Women are carried with an indirect course through the lesser Guts, to the Testicles but are in the midway divided into two Branches, the greater going ●o the Stones, constituting the various or winding Body, and wonderfully Inoculating; the lesser Branch ending in the Womb, in the side of which it disperseth itself, and especially at the higher part of the bottom of the Womb, for its nourishment, and that part of the Courses may purge through these Vessels; and seeing the Testicles in Women are seated near the Womb, for that cause these Vessels fall not from the Peritonaeum, neither make they much Passages as in Men, not extending themselves to the share-bone.  
The Stones in Women, commonly called the Testicles, perform not the same Action as in Men; they are also different in their location, bigness, temperament, substance, form and covering. As for the place of their seat, it is in the hollowness of the Abdomen, neither are they pendulous, but rest upon the Muscles of the Loins, that so they may, by contracting the greater heat, be more fruitful, their Office being to contain the Ova or Egg, which being impregnated by the Man's Seed, engenders Man; yet they differ from those of Men in figure, by reason of their lessness or flatness at each end, not being so round or oval. The external Superficies being likewise more unequal, appearing like the composition of a great many knots and kernels mixed together; there is difference also in their substance, they being much more soft and pliable, lose, and not so well compacted  
Their bigness and temperament being likewise different, for they are much colder and lesser than those in Men; as for their covering or enclosure, it differs extremely; for as Men's are wrapped in divers Tunicles, by reason they are externally Pendulous, and subject to divers injuries, unless so fenced by Nature, so Woman's Stones being internal, and less subject to casualty, are covered with one Tunicle or Membrane, which though it closely cleave to them, yet are they likewise half covered with the Peritonaeum.  
The Ejaculatory Vessels are two obscure Passages, one on either side, nothing differing from the Spermatick Veins in substance; rise they do, on one part from the bottom of the Womb, not reaching from their other extremity, either to the Stones, or any other part, but shut up and unpassable, adhering to the Womb as the Colon does to the blind Gut, and winding half way about; tho' the Testicles are remote to them, and touch them not, yet they are tied to them by certain Membranes, resembling the Wings of a Bat, through which certain Veins and Arteries passing from the end of the Testicles, may be termed here to have their Passages: proceeding from the corners of the Womb to the Testicles, and are accounted the proper Ligaments by which the Testicles and Womb are united, and strongly knit together, and these Ligaments in Women, are the Cremasters in Men; of which I shall speak more largely, when I come to describe the Masculine parts conducing to Generation.   

CHAP. XV. A Discourse of the Use and Action of the several Parts in Women, appropriated to Generation, etc.  
THe Externals, commonly called the Pudenda, are designed to cover the great Orifice, and that to receive the Penis, or Yard in the act of Coition, and give passage to the Birth and Urine. The use of the Wings and Knobs like Mirtle-berries, are for the security of the Internal parts, shutting the Orifice and Neck of the Bladder, and by their swelling up cause Titulation and delight in those parts, and also to obstruct the unvoluntary passage of the Urine.  
The Action of the Clytoris in Women, is like that of the Penis in Men, viz. Erection: And its outer end is like the Glans of the Penis, and has the same Name. And as the Glans in Man is the Seat of the greatest pleasure in Copulation, so is this in Women, whence 'tis called Amoris dulcedo, and Aestrum Veneris.  
The Action and Use of the Neck of the Womb is equal with that of the Penis, viz. Erection, occasioned divers ways. For First, In Copulation▪ it is erected and made straight for the passage of the Penis to the Womb. Secondly, Whilst the passage is repleated with Spirit and Vital Blood, it becomes more straight for embracing the Penis: And as for the convenience of Erection it is twofold. First, because if the Neck of the Womb was not erected, the Yard could have no convenient passage to the Womb. Secondly, it hinders any hurt or damage that might ensue●●●●ough the violent Concussion of the Yard, during the time of Copulation.  
As for the Vessels that pass through the Neck of the Womb, their Office is to replenish it with Blood and Spirit, that still as the moisture consumes by the heat contracted in Copulation, it may by those Vessels be renewed. But their chief business is, to convey Nutriment to the Womb.  
The Womb has many Properties attributed to it, as First, Retention of the fecundated Egg, and this is properly called Conception.  
Secondly, To cherish and nourish it, till Nature has framed the Child, and brought it to perfection. And then it strongly operates in sending forth the Birth when the time of its remaining there is expired, dilating itself in a wonderful manner: And so aptly removed from the Senses, that nothing of Injury can proceed from thence, retaining in itself a power and strength to operate and cast forth the Birth, unless by accident it be rendered deficient; and then to strengthen and enable it, Remedies must be applied by skilful Hands; Directions for the applying of which, shall be given in the Second Part.  
The use of the Preparing vessels is this: The Arteries convey the Blood to the Testicles, part whereof is spent in the nourishment of them, and the Production of those little Bladders (in all things resembling Eggs) through which the Vasa Praeparantia run, and are obi●t●rated in them. And as for the Ve●●● th●●t Office is to bring back what ●●ood ●●m●●ns from the uses aforesaid.  
The vessels of this kind are much ●●●●ter in Women than in Men, by reason of 〈◊〉 ●earness to the Stones, which defect 〈…〉 made good by the many intricate w●ndings to which those vessels are subject, for in the middle way they divide themselves into two branches, tho' different in magnitude, for one being greater than the other, passes to the Stones.  
The Stones in women are very useful, for where they are defective, Generation-work is at an end; for altho' those little Bladders which are on their outward superficies contain nothing of Seed, as the followers of Galen and Hypocrates did erroneously imagine, yet they contain several Eggs (generally to the number of twenty in each Testicle) one of which being impregnated by the most spirituous part of the Man's Seed, in the act of Coition, descends through the Oviducts into the womb, and from ●●ence in process of time becomes a living Child.  
Their figure is not altogether round, but flat and depressed on the sides; in their lower part Oval, but in their upper, where the Blood-vessels enter them, more plain; and have only one Membrane about them, that the heat may have the easier access.   

CHAP. XVI. ●f the Organs of Generation in Man.  
H●●●●g given you a description of the Organs of Generation in Woman, with the Anatomy of the Fabric of the Womb, I shall now (to complete the first part of this Treatise) give you also the Anatomy of the Organs of Generation in Man, and how they are fitted to the use for which Nature designed 'em.  
The Instrument of Generation in Man, (commonly called The Yard, and in the Latin Penis, a pedendo, because it hangeth without the Belly) is an Organical Part, which consists of Skin, Tendons, Veins, Arteries, Sinews, and great Ligaments; and is long and round, and on the upper side flattish, seated under the Oss● Pubis, and ordained by Nature partly for Evacuation of Urine, and partly for conveying the Seed into the Matrix. For which end it is full of small Pores, through which the Seed passes into ●t from the V●siculae Seminalis, and also the Neck of the Vesica Vrinaria, which pours out ●he Urine when they make Water. Besides the common parts, as the Cuticle, the Skin, and ●he Membrana Carnosa, it hath these proper ●r internal parts, viz. the two Nervous Bodies, ●he Septum, the Vrethra, the Glans, Four Musks, and the Vessels. The Nervous Body (so ●●lled) are surrounded with a thick white nervous Membrane, but their inmost substance is ●ongy, consisting chief of Veins, Arteries, ●nd nervous Fibres, interwoven together like a ●et: And when the Nerves are fille●●●●th animal Spirits, and the Arteries with hot and ●irituous Blood, than the Penis is distended, ●●d becomes Erect; but when the Influx of the ●●irits ceases, than the Blood and remaining spirit's are absorded by the Veins, and so the ●●nis becomes Limber and flaggy. Below these nervous Bodies is the Vrethra, and whenever ●●e Nervous Bodies swell, it swells also. The Muscles of the Penis are four; two shorter, arising from the Coxendix, and serving its Erection, and for that reason are called Erectores; two larger, proceeding from the Spincter of the Anus, and serve to dilate the Vrethra for Ejaculation of the Seed, and are called Dilatantes, or Wideness. At the end of the Penis is the Glans, covered with a very thin Membrane, by means of which, and its Nervous Substance, it becomes most tightly sensible, and is the principal Seat of Pleasure in Copulation. The outmost Covering of the Glans is called Praeputium, a praeputando, from being cut off, it being that which the Jews cut off in Circumcision; and it is tied in the lower part of it to the Glans by the Froenum or Bridle. The Penis is also stocked with Veins, Arteries, and Nerves.  
The Testiculi, or Stones, (so called, because testifying one to be a Man) elaborate the Blood brought to them by the Spermatick Arteries into Seed: They have Coats of two sorts, proper and common; the common are two, and invest both the Testes. The outermost of the common Coats consists of the Cuticula, or tru● Skin, and is called the Scrotum, hanging out o● the Abdomen, like a Purse. The innermost is the Membrana Carnosa. The proper Coat● are also two, the outer, called Eliotroides, o● Viginales, the inner Albuginea, into the oute● are inserted the Cremasters; to the upper part of the Testes are fixed the Epididymedes, o● Pastata, from whence arise the vasa Differentia, or Ejaculatoria; which, when they come near the neck of the Bladder, deposit the Seed into the vesiculae Seminales. These vesiculae Seminales are two, each like a bunch of Grapes, and emit the Seed into the Vrethra, in the act of Copulation.  
Near them are the Prostatae, about the bigness of a Walnut, and joins to the neck of the Bladder: Authors cannot agree about the use of them, but most are of opinion that they afford an oily slippery and fat humour, to besmear the Vrethra, whereby to defend the same from the Acrimony of the Seed and Urine. But the vessels which convey the Blood to the Testes, out of which the Seed is made, are the Arteriae Spermaticae, and are also two. The veins which carry out the remaining Blood, are two, and have the name of venae Spermaticae.   

CHAP. XVII. A Word of Advice to both Sexes; being several Directions respecting the Act of Copulation.  
SINCE Nature has implanted in every Creature a natural Desire of Copulation, or the increase and propagation of its kind; and more especially in Man, the Lord of the Creation, and Masterpiece of Nature, that so noble a Piece of the Divine Workmanship might not perish; something ought to be said concerning that, it being the Foundation of al● that we have hitherto been treating of; sin●● without Compulation there can be no Generation. Seeing therefore there depends so much upon it, I thought it necessary (before I concluded this first Part) to give such Directions to both Sexes for the performing of that Act● as may make it efficacious to the end for which Nature designed it. But it shall be done with that caution, as not to offend the chastest Ear● nor put the Fair Sex to the trouble of a Blushy in reading it.  
First therefore, when a married Couple, from a desire of having Children, are about to make use of those means that Nature has ordained to that purpose, it would be very proper to cherish the Body with Generous Restoratives, that so it may be brisk and vigorous● And if their Imaginations were charmed wit● sweet and melodious Airs, and all Cares and Thoughts of Business drowned in a Glass of ra●cy Wine, that their Spirits might be raised t● the highest pitch of Ardour and Joy, it would not be amiss: For any thing of Sadness, Trouble and Sorrow, are Enemies to the Delights o●● Venus; and if at such times of Coition ther● should be Conception, it would have a malevolent effect upon the Children. But tho' Generous Restoratives may be used for the invigorating Nature, yet all Excess is carefully to be avoided; for it will allay the briskness of the Spirits, and render 'em dull and languid, and also hinders digestion, and so must needs be an Enemy to Copulation: For it is Food moderately taken that is well digested, and what is well digested creates good Blood, and good Blood makes good Spirits, and enables a Man without vigour and activity to perform the Dictates of Nature. It is also highly necessary that in their mutual Embraces they meet each other with an equal Ardour: For if their Spirits flag on either part, they will fall short of what Nature requires; and the Woman either miss of Conception, or else the Children prove weak in their Bodies, or defective in their Understandings. And therefore I do advise 'em, before they begin their Conjugal Embraces, to invogorate their mutual Desires, and make their Flames burn with a fiercer Ardour, by those endearing ways that Love can better teach, than I can write.  
And when 've done what Nature does require, the Man must have a Care he does not part too soon from the Embraces of his Wife, lest some sudden interposing Cold should strike into the Womb, and occasion a Miscarriage, and thereby deprive them of the Fruit of their Labours.  
And when after some small convenient time the Man has withdrawn himself, let the Woman gently betake herself to Rest, with all imaginable serenity and composure of Mind, free from all anxious and disturbing Thoughts, or any other kind of Perturbation whatsoever: And let her, as much as she can, forbear turning herself from that side on which she first reposes: And by all means let her avoid Coughing and Sneezing, which by its violent concussion of the Body, is a great Enemy to Conception, if it happen soon after the Act of Coition.  
And thus I have finished the first Part of this Treatise; which I hope will be to the honest and sober Readers Satisfaction.   
The End of the First Part.   

ARISTOTLE's MASTERPIECE COMPLETED.  
PART II. BEING A Private Looking-Glass FOR THE FEMALE SEX. TREATING Of the several Maladies incident to the WOMB, with proper Remedies for the Cure of Each.  

CHAP. I. Of the WOMB, in General.  
ALTHO' in the first Part I have spoken something of the Fabric of the Womb, yet being in this Second Part to Treat more Particularly thereof, and of the various Distempers and Maladies it is subject to, I shall not think it a Tautology to give you by way of Introduction a general Description both of its Situation and Parts, but rather think this Second Part would be imperfect without it, so that it can by no means be Omitted; especially since in it I am to speak of the Quality of the Menstruous Blood.  
First, Touching the Womb: Of the Grecians it is called METRA, the Mother; or DELPHOUS, saith Priscian, because it makes us all Brothers.  
It is placed in the Hypogastrium, or lower part of the Belly, in the Cavity called Pelvis, having the straight Gut on one side to keep it from the hardness of the Backbone; and the Bladder on the other side, to defend it from Blows. The form or figure of it is like a Viril Member, only this excepted, the Manhood is outward, and the Womanhood within.  
It is divided into the Neck and the Body. The Neck consists of a hard fleshy Substance, much like a Cartilege; at the end whereof there is a Membrane transversly placed, called Hymen, or Eugion. Near also unto the neck, there is a prominent pannicle, which is called of Montanus, the Door of the Womb, because it preserveth the Matrix from Cold and Dust. Of the Grecians it is called KLYTORIS; of the Latins, Praeutium Muliebre, because the Jewish Women did abuse this part to their own mutual Lust, as St. Paul speaks, Rom. 1.26.  
The Body of the Womb is that wherein the Child is Conceived; and this is not altogether round, but dilates itself into two Angles, the outward part of it is Nervous, and full of Sinews, which are the cause of its motion; but inwardly it is Fleshy.  
It is fabulously Reported, That in the cavity of the Womb there are seven divided Cells or Receptacles for Humane Seed. But those that have seen Anatomies, do know there are but two, and likewise, that those two are not divided by a Partition, but only by a Line, or Suture running through the midst of it. In the right side of the Cavity, by reason of the heat of the Liver, Males are conceived. In the left side, by the coldness of the Spleen, Females are begotten. And this do most of our Moderns hold for an infallible Truth; yet Hypocrates holds it but in the General: For in whom (saith he) the Spermatick Vessel of the right side comes from the Reins, and the Spermatical Vessel of the left side from the hollow Vein; in them Males are conceived in the left Side, and Females in the right. Well therefore may I conclude with the saying of Empedocles, Such sometimes is the power of the Seed, that a Male may be conceived in the left Side, as well as in the right. In the bottom of the Cavity there are little holes, called the Cotyledones, which are the ends of certain Veins and Arteries, serving in breeding women, to convey Sustenance to the Child, which is received by the Umbilical Vein; and others to carry the Courses into the Matrix.  
Now, touching the Menstruals, they are Defined to be a Monthly flux of Excrementitious and Unprofitable Blood.  
In which we are to Note, That the matter flowing forth is Excrementitious; which is to be understood of the Superplus or Redundancy of it: For it is an Excrement in quantity, in quality being pure and incorrupt, like unto the Blood in the Veins.  
And that the menstruous Blood is pure, and simply of itself, all one in quality with that in the veins, is proved two ways: First, from the final Cause of this Blood, which is the propagation and conservation of Mankind; that Man might be conceived; and being begotten, he might be Comforted and Preserved, both in the Womb, and out of the Womb. And all will grant it for a Truth, That the Child, while it is in the Matrix, is nourished with this Blood; and it is as true, That being out of the Womb, it is still nourished with the same; for the Milk is nothing but the menstruous Blood made white in the Breasts; and I am sure Woman's Milk is not thought to be venomous, but of a nutritive quality, answerable to the tender nature of an Infant. Secondly, It is proved to be Pure from the Generation of it, it being the Superfluity of the last Aliment of the fleshy parts▪  
It may be Objected, If the Blood be not of a hurtful Quality, How can it cause such venomous Effects; as if the same fall upon Trees and Herbs, it maketh the one barren, and mortifies the other? And Averro writes, That if a man accompany with a Menstruous woman, if she Conceive, she shall bring forth a Leper. I answer, this Malignity is contracted in the Womb, for the woman wanting native heat to digest this Superfluity, sends it to the Matrix, where seating itself until the mouth of the Womb be dilated, it becomes corrupt and venomous, which may easily be, considering the heat and moistness of the place. This Blood therefore being out of his vessels, offends in quality: In this Sense let us understand Pliny, Fernelius, Florus, and the rest of that Torrent. But if Frigidity be the cause why women cannot digest all their last Nourishment, and consequently that they have these Purgations; it remains to give a reason why they are of so cold a Constitution more than Men; which is this:  
The natural end of men and women's being, is to Propagate, and this Injunction was imposed upon them by God at their first Creation, and again after the Deluge. Now in the act of Conception, there must be an Agent and a Patient, for if they be both every way of one Constitution, they cannot Propagate: Man therefore is Hot and Dry, Woman Cold and Moist; he is the Agent, she the Patient, or weaker Vessel, that she should be Subject unto the Office of the Man. It is necessary that woman should be of a cold Constitution, because in her is required a Redundancy of matter for the Infant depending on her: For otherwise, if there were not a Superplus of Nourishment for the Child, more than is convenient for the Mother, then would the Infant Detract and weaken the principal parts of the Mother; and like unto the Viper, the Generation of the Infant would be the Destruction of the Parent.  
These Monthly Purgations continue from the 15th Year to the 46th or 50th. Yet often there happens a suppression, which is either Natural, or Morbifical. They are naturally suppressed in breeding women, and such as give suck. The Morbifical suppression falls now into our Method to be spoken of.   

CHAP. II. Of the Retention of the Menses.  
THe suppression of the Terms is an intercaption of that accustomary Evacuation of Blood, which every Month should come from the Matrix, proceeding from the Instrument or matter vitiated. The part affected is the Womb, and that of itself, or by Consent.  
Cause. The Cause of this Suppression is either External or Internal. The External Cause may be heat or dryness of the Air, immoderate watching, great labour, vehement motion, etc. whereby the matter is so consumed, and the body so exhausted, that there is not a Superplus remaining to be expelled; as is Recorded of the Amazons, who being active, and always in motion, had their Fluxions very little, or not at all. Or it may be caused by Cold, which is most frequent, making the Blood Viscous and Gross, condensing and binding up the Passages, that it cannot flow forth.  
The Internal Cause is either Instrumental or Material, in the womb or in the blood.  
In the womb it may be divers ways; by Aposthumes tumors, Ulcers, by the narrowness of the veins and passages, or by the Omentum or Kell in fat Bodies, pressing the neck of the Matrix, but then they must have Hernia Zirbalis: for in mankind the Kell reacheth not so low. By over much Cold or Heat, the one vitiating the action, and the other consuming the matter. By an evil Composition of the Uterine parts, by the neck of the womb being turned aside, and sometimes, tho' rarely, by a membrane or excressence of flesh growing about the mouth or neck of the womb. The blood may be in fault two ways, in quantity or in quality: In quantity, when it is so consumed, that there Is not a Superplus left, as in Viragoes and vi●● women, who through their heat and strength of Nature, digest and consume all their last Nourishment; as Hypocrates writes of Phaetusa, who being exiled by her Husband Pythea, her Terms were suppressed, her voice changed, and had a Beard with a Countenance like a man. But these I judge rather to be Anthropophagae, women-eaters, than women-breeders, because they consume one of the principles of Generation, which gives a Being to the World, viz. the Menstruous blood. The blood likewise may be consumed, and consequently the Terms stayed, by bleeding of the Nose, by a flux of the Emerhoids, by a Dysenteria, commonly called the bloody flux; by many other evacuations, and continual and chronical Diseases. Secondly, the matter may be vicious in quality; as suppose it be Sanguineous, Phlegmatical, Byleous, or Melancholious, every one of these, if they offend in Grossness, will cause an Obstruction in the veins.  
Signs. Signs manifesting the Disease, are pains in the head, neck, back and loins; weariness of the whole body, but especially of the hips and legs, by reason of a Confinity which the Matrix hath with these parts; trembling of the heart. Particular signs are these; if the Suppression proceeds of cold, she is heavy, sluggish, of a pale Colour, and hath a slow Pulse, Venus' combats are neglected, the Urinal is crude, waterish, and much in quantity; the excrements of the Guts usually are retained. If of heat, the signs are contrary to those but now recited. If the retention be natural, and come of Conception, this may be known by drinking of Hydromel, that is, water and honey, after Supper going to bed, and by the effect which it worketh; for, after the taking of it, if she feels a beating pain about the Navel and lower parts of the Belly, it is a sign she hath Conceived, and that the Suppression is Natural: if not, then is it vicious, and ought Medicinally to be taken away.  
Prognostics. With the evil quality of the Womb the whole body stands charged; but especially the Heart, the Liver, and the Brain; and betwixt the Womb and these three principal parts, there is a singular Consent. First, the Womb communicates to the Heart by the mediation of those Arteries which come from Aorta: Hence the Terms being suppressed, will ensue Faintings, Swoonings, intermission of Pulse, cessation of Breath. Secondly, It communicates to the Liver by the veins derived from the hollow vein: Hence will follow Obbructions, Cachexies, Jaundice, Dropsies, hardness of the Spleen. Thirdly, It communicates unto the Brain, by the nerves and membranes of the back: Hence will arise Epilepsies, Apoplexies, Frenzies, melancholy Passions, pain in the after-parts of the Head, fearfulness in ability of speaking. Well therefore may I conclude with Hypocrates, If the Months be suppressed, many dangerous Diseases will follow.  
Cure. In the Cure of this, and of all the other following Affects, I will observe this order. The Cure shall be taken from Chirurgical, Pharmaceutical, and Diaeretical means. This Suppression is a Plethoric Affect, and must be taken away by Evacuation: And therefore first we will begin with Phlebotomy. In the midst of the menstrual period, open the Liver vein; and for the reversion of the Humour, two days before the wont evacuation, open the Saphena on both feet. I● the repletion be not great, apply Cupping-glasses to the legs and thighs. And altho' there be no hope to remove the Suppression (as in some the Cotyl●dones are so closed up, that nothing but Copulation will open them) yet it will be convenient, as much as may be, to ease Nature of her burden, by opening the Emerhoid veins with a Leech. After Phlebotomy, let the Humours be prepared and made Fluxile with Syrup of Staechas, Calamint, Betony, Hyssop, Mugwort, horehound, Fumetary, Maidenhair.  with Camomile, , Savin, Bay-leaves, Janiper-berries, Rue, Marj●ram, Feverfew. Take of the leaves of Nep, Maidenhair, Succory, Betony, of each one handful, make a Decoction; take thereof three Ounces; Syrup of Maidenhair, Mugwort, Succory, mix of each half an Ounce. After she comes out of the Bath, let her drink it off. Purge with Pil. de Agaric. Elephang. Coch. Foetid. Galen in this Case commends Pilula de Hiera cum Colocyntida, for as they be proper to purge the humour offending, so also they do open the passages of the Womb, and strengthen the faculty by their Aromatical quality.  
If the stomach be overcharged, let her take a vomit; yet such a one as may work both ways, lest working only upward, it should too much turn back the humour. Take Trochisks of Agarick 2 drams; infuse them in 3 Ounces of Oximel, in which dissolve of the Electuary Diasarum One Scruple and half, Benedic. Laxat, half an Ounce: Take this after the manner of a Purge.  
After the humour hath been purged, proceed to more proper and forceable Remedies. Take Trochisks of Myrrh, one dram and half: Parsley-seed, Castor, Rinds of Cassia, of each one Scruple; and of the Extract of Mugwort, one Scruple and half; Musk ten Grains; with the juice of smallage make twelve Pills, take 2 every Morning, or after supper going to Bed. Take of Cinnamon, half an Ounce, Roots of Smirnium, Valerian, Aristolochia, of each 2 drams. Roots of Asrum one dram, Castor, Saffron, of each 2 Scruples, Specdiambrae 2 drams, Trochisks of Myrrh, 4 Scruples, Tartari Vitrolati, 2 Scruples; make all into a powder; with Mugwort, water and Sugar a sufficient quantity. Make Lozenges, take one dram of them every Morning. Or mingle one dram of the powder with one dram of Sugar, and take it in White-wine. Take of prepared Steel, Specierum Hierae of each 2 drams, Borass, Species of Myrrh, of each one Scruple, with the juice of Savine make it up into 38 Lozenges; and take 3 every other day, before dinner. Take of Castor one Scruple, Wild-Carrot-seed half a dram, with Syrup of Mugwort, and make 4 pills, take them in the Morning fasting, and so for three days together before the wont time of the Purgations. Take of Agarick, Aristolochia, juice of Horehound, of each 5 drams; Rhubarb, Spikenard, Aniseed, Galbanum, Assafoetida, Smalledge Roots, Gentian, of the three Peppers, laccae, of each 6 drams; with Honey make an Electuary: Take of it 3 drams for a Dose. In Flegmatical Bodies nothing better can be given then the Decoction of the wood Guaiacum, with a little Dictam, taken in the Morning fasting, and so for 12 days together, without Provoking of sweat.  
Administer to the lower parts by Suffumigations, Pessaries, Unctions, Injections, Insessions. Make Suffumigations of Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves, Bay-berries, Mugwort, Galbanum, Melanthium, Amber, etc. Make Pessaries of Figgs, and the leaves of Mercury bruised and rolled up with Lint. If you desire a stronger, make one of Myrrh, Bde●um, Opopanax, Ammoniacum, Galbanum, Sagapenum, Mithridate, Agarick, Coloquintida, etc. Make Injections of the decoction of Origane, Mugwort, Mercury, Bettony and Figs, inject it into the Womb by an instrument fit for that purpose. Take Oil of Almonds, Lilies, capers, Camomile, of each half an Ounce; Ladani, Oil of Myrrh, of each 2 drams; with wax make an Unguent, with which let the places be anointed. Make Insessions of Faenugreek, Camomile, Melilote, Dill, Margerum, , Feverfew, Juniper-berries, and Calamin●. But if the suppression comes by a defect of matter, then ought not the Courses to be provoked, until the Spirits be animated and the Blood again increased. Or if by proper affects of the Womb, as Dropsies, inflammations, etc. then must a particular cure be used, the which I will not insist upon here, but speak of them as they lie in order.  
If the retention comes from repletion or fullness; let the air be hot and dry; use Moderate exercise before Meals; Let your sleep be shorter than ordinary; and your Meat and Drink attenuating. Seethe with your Meat, Garden-Savoury, Time, Origan and Cyche Peason. If of emptiness or defect of matter; let the air be moist and moderately hot. Eat exercise and watch, let your Meat be nourishing, and of a light digestion; as rare Eggs, Lamb, Chickens, Almond Milk, and the like.   

CHAP. III. Of the overflowing of the Courses.  
THe Schoolmen say, By comparing of Contraries, Truth is made manifest. Having therefore spoken of the suppression of the terms; order requires now, that I should insist upon the overflowing of them, an effect no less dangerous than the former. And this immoderate flux of the Months is defined to be a Sanguineous excrement proceeding from the Womb, exceeding both in quantity and time. First it is said to be Sanguineous, the matter of the flux being only Blood; wherein it differs from that which is commonly called the false courses, or whites; of which I will speak hereafter. Secondly it is said to proceed from the Womb: for there are two ways by which the Blood flows forth. The one suby the internal Veins in the Body of ●●e Womb▪ and this is properly called the M●●●●●●ux. The other is by those Veins which are terminated in the Neck of the Matrix and this is called of Aetius, the Hemorrhoides of the Womb. Lastly it is said to exceed both in quantity and time. In quantity saith Hypocrates, when they flow above 18 Ounces. In time, when they flow above three days. But we take this for a certain character of their inordinate flowing, when the faculties of the Body thereby are weakened. In Bodies abounding with Gross Humours, this immoderate flux sometimes unburdens Nature of her Load, and ought not to be stayed without the counsel of a Physician.  
Cause. The cause of this affect is internal or External; The internal cause is threefold; in the matter, instrument, or faculty. The matter, which is the Blood, may be vicious two ways. First, in quantity, it being so great that the Veins are not able to contain it. Secondly, in quality, it being adust, sharp, waterish or unconcocted. The instrument, viz. the Veins are faulty by the dilatation of the Orifice; which may be caused two ways: first, by the heat of the constitution, climate or season, heating the Blood, whereby the passages are dilated, and the faculty weakened that it cannot retain the Blood. Secondly, by falls, Blows, violent motion, breaking of a Vein, etc.  
The external cause may be calidity of the air, lifting, carrying of heavy burdens, unnatural Childbirth, falls, etc.  
Signs. In this inordinate flux the appetite is decayed, the concoctions depraved, and all the actions weakened, the feet are swelled, the colour of the Face is changed, and a general feebleness possesseth the whole Body. If the flux comes by the breaking of a vein, the Body is something Cold, the Blood flows forth on heaps, and that suddenly, with great pain. If it comes through heat, the Orifice of the veins being dilated, then is there little or no pain, yet the Blood flows faster than it doth in an Erosion; and not so fast as it doth in a Rupture. If by Erosion, or sharpness of Blood, she feels a great heat scalding the passage; It differs from the other two, in that it flows not so suddenly nor so copiously as they do. If by weakness of the Womb, she abhorreth the use of Venus. Lastly if it proceeds from an evil quality in the Blood; drop some of it on a Cloth, and when it is dry, you may judge of the quality by the Colour. If it be Choleric, it will be Yellow; If Melancholy, Black; If Flegmatical, waterish and whitish.  
Prognostics. If with the flux be joined a convulsion, it is dangerous, because it intimates the more noble parts are vitiated; and a convulsion caused by emptiness is deadly. If it continues long it will be cured with great difficulty: for it was one of the miracles which our Saviour Christ wrought to cure this disease when it had continued 12 Years. To conclude, if the flux be inordinate, many diseases will ensue; and without remedy, the Blood together with the native heat being consumed, either cachectical Hydropical, or paralitical diseases will follow.  
Cure. The cure consisteth in three particulars. First, in repelling and carrying back of the Blood. Secondly, in correcting and taking away the fluxibility of the matter. Thirdly, in corroborating the veins and faculties. For the first; To cause a regression of the Blood, open a vein in the Arm, and draw out so much blood as the strength of the Patient will permit; and that not together, but at several times; for hereby the spirits are the less weakened, and the retraction so much the greater.  
Apply cupping-glasses to the Breasts, and also to the Liver, that the reversion may be in the Fountain.  
To correct the fluxibility of the matter, Cathartical means, moderated with Astrictories, must be used.  
If it be caused by Erosion, or sharpness of blood; consider whether the Erosion be by salt Phlegm, or adust Colour. If by salt Phlegm, Prepare with syrup of violet? Wormwood, Roses, Citron pills, Succory, etc. Then take this purgation following. Take Myrobolans, Chebul, half an Ounce, Trochisks of Agarick one dram, with Plantain water make a decoction: add thereunto sir. rosat. lax. 3 Ounces, and make a potion.  
If by adust Choler, prepare the Body with Syrup of Roses, Myrtles, Sorrel, Purslain, commixed with water of Plantain, Knotgrass, and Endive: Then purge with this potion: Take Rinds of Myrobolans, Rhubarb, of each one dram; Cinnamon 15 Grains; infuse them one night in Endive water: Add to the straining pulp of Tamarind, Cassia, of each half an Ounce, Syrup of Roses one Ounce, make a potion.  
If the blood be waterish and unconcoct, as it is in Hydropical Bodies, and flows forth by reason of the tenuity and thinness, to draw off the Water will be profitable. Purge with Agarick, Elaterium, and Coloquintida. Sweeting is proper in this cause, for by it the matter offending is taken away, and the motion of the blood is carried to, the outward parts. To procure sweat, use Carduus water with Mithridate, or the decoction of Guaiacum Sassafras, and Sarsa-parilla; the Gum of Guaiacum also doth greatly provoke sweat, Pills of Sarsa-parilla taken every night going to bed, are worthily commended. If the blood flows forth from the opening or breaking of a vein, without any evil quality in its self, then ought only Corroboratives to be applied; which is the last thing to be done in the cure of this inordinate flux.  
Take of Bowl- Armoniac one Scruple; London Treacle one dram, old conserve of Roses half an Ounce; with syrup of Myrtles make an Electuary. Or if the flux hath continued long, Take of Mastic 2 drams, Olibani, Troch. de Carabe of each one dram; Balaustiorum, one Scruple, make a powder; with Syrup of Quinces make it into Pills; take one always before Meals. Take Lapidis Haematitis Triti, of each 2 Scruples; Specierum Triasantali one Ounce; Troch. de Carabe, de scoria ferri, Coral, Frankincense, of each one Scruple; fine Bole, one Scruple: bea● these to fine Powder; and with Sugar and Plantain water, a sufficient quantity, make Lozenges. Ass' Dung is well approved of, whether taken inwardly with Syr●p of Quinces, or applied outwardly with Steeled water.  
Galen by co●ve●ing the juice of it through a Metrenchit● into the Womb four days together, cured this immoderate Flux, which no ways else cou●d be restrained. Going to bed let her take one Scruple and a half of Phi●onii Romani in a wafer, make Suffumigations for the Matrix, of Maststick, Frankincense,  Frogs, not forgetting the hoof of a Mule. Take of the juice of Knot grass, Comfry, Quinces, of each one Ounce; Camphire one Dram; dip silk Cotion therein, and apply it to the places. Take of Oil of Mastic, M●r●les, Quinces, of each half an Ounce; fine Bole, Troch. de Carabe, Sanguinis Draconis, of each ●ne Dr●m; Wax and Vinegar, a sufficient Quantity, make an Unguent, apply it both be●ore and behind. Take of Plantain, Shepherd's Purse, red Rose leaves, of each one Handful: of Goats and Ass' Dung dried, of each one Ounce and a half: Acatiae, Hypocistidos, of ●ach one Ounce and a half: dried M●nt one Ounce: Bean-Meal three Ounces: boil all ●hese in Plantain water, and ma●e of it two plasters: apply one b●fore and the other behind. If the blood flows from those vein● which are terminated in the neck of the Matrix, than it is not called the overflowing 〈◊〉 the Terms, but the Emerhoids of the Womb 〈◊〉 Yet the same Cure will serve them both; only the instrumental Cure will a little differ; fo● in the Uterine Emorhoids, the ends of th● veins hang over like little Teats or Pushe● which must be taken away by incision, and the● the veins closed up with Aloes, fine Bol● burnt Allom, Troch. de Terra sigil. Myrrh● Mastic, with the juice of Comfrey and Knotgrass, laid Plasterwise thereto.  
The Air must be cold and dry: all motion of the body is forbidden. Let her Meat 〈◊〉 Pheasant, Partridge, Mountain-Birds, Coney 〈◊〉 Calf's- Feet, etc. And let her Beer be mi●● with the juice of Pomegranates and Quinces.   

CHAP. IU. Of the Weeping of the Womb.  
THe weeping of the Womb is an unnature flux of blood coming from the Wom● by drops, or after the manner of Tears, caus●● violent Pains in the same, keeping neither period nor time. By some it is referred un●● the immoderate Evacuation of the Coarse yet they are distinguished in the quantity a● manner of their flowing; in that they flow copiously and freely: In this continually, tho' by little and little, and that with great Pain and Difficulty: wherefore it is likened unto the Strangury.  
The Cause is in the faculty, instrument, or matter. In the faculty, by being enfeebled, that it cannot expel the blood; and the blood resting there, makes the parts of the Womb grow hard, and stretcheth the vessels, from whence proceeds the pain in the Womb. In the instrument, by the narrowness of the Passages. Lastly, It may be in the matter of the blood, which may offend in too great a quantity, or in an evil-quality, it being gross and thick that it cannot flow forth as it ought to do, but by drops.  
The Signs will best appear by the Relation of the Patient.  
Hereupon will ensue pains in the head, stomach and back, with inflammations, suffoca●ions, and excoriations of the Matrix.  
If the strengeh of the Patient will permit, ●irst open a vein in the Arm, rub the upper ●arts, and let her Arms be corded, that the ●orce of the blood may be carried backward.  
Then apply such things as may laxate and ●olify the stretching of the Womb, and assuage the sharpness of the Blood, as Cataplasms ●ade of Bran, Linseed, Fenugreek, Meli●ote, Mallows, Mercury, and Atriplex. If the ●lood be viscous and gross, add thereto Mugwort, Calamint, Dictam, and Betony: And let her take of Venice-Treacle the quantity of a Nutmeg, with Syrup of Mugwort every morning. Anoint the places with Oil of Lilies, Roses, linseed, sweet Almonds, and Calf's, Marrow. Make injections of the Decoctions of Mallows, Mercury, Linseed Groundsel, Mugwort, Fenugreek, with Oil of sweet Almonds▪  
Sometimes it is caused by a wind, and then Phlebotomy is to be omitted; and in the stead thereof take Syrup of Feverfew, one Ounce; Honey of Roses, Syrup of Staechas, of each half an Ounce; water of Calamint, Mugwort, Betony, Hyssop, of each one Onnce, make a Julep. If the pain continues, take this Purgation, Take Specierum H●erae, 1 Dram, Diacatholicon half an ounce, Syrup of Roses laxative, 1 ounces; with the Decoction of Mugwort, and the four Cordial Flowers, make a Potion. If it come through weakness of the Faculty, let that be Corroborated. If through grossness or sharpness of the Blood, let the quality of it be altered, as I have shown in the foregoing Chapter. Lastly, If the excrements of the Gut be re●ained, provoke them by a Clyster, of the Decoction of Camomile, Betony, Feverfew, Mallows, Linseed, Juniper-berries, Cu●●in-seed, Aniseed, Melilot, adding thereto of Diacatholicon half an Ounces; Hiera Picra, two Drams: Honey, Oil, of each one Ounce▪ Salniter a Dram and a half. The Patiented mus● abstain from salt, sharp, and windy Meats.   

CHAP. V Of the false Courses, or Whites.  
FRom the Womb proceeds not only the menstruous blood, but accidentally, many other Excrements, which by the Ancients are comprehended under the Title of RHOUS GUNAIK AIOS, which is a distillation of variety of corrupt Humours through the womb, flowing from the whole Body, or part of the same, keeping neither course nor colour, but varying in both.  
Cause. The Cause is either promiscuously in the whole body, by Cacochymia, or weakness of the same; or in some of the parts: as in the Liver, which by by the inability of the Sanguifficative faculty, causeth a generation of corrupt blood; and then the matter is reddish; sometimes in the Gall, being sluggish in its Office, not drawing away those choleric Superfluities, which are engendered in the Liver, and the matter is Yellowish. Sometimes in the Spleen, not defecating and cleansing the blood of the dregs and excrementitious parts; and then the matter flowing forth, is blackish. It may also come from Catarrhs in the Head: or from any other putrified or corrupted Member. But if the matter of the Flux be white, the cause is either in the Stomach, or Reins. In the Stomach by a Phlegmatical and Crude matter there contracted, and vitiated through Grief, Melancholy, and other Distempers: For otherwise, if the matter were only Pituita, crude Phlegm, and no ways corrupt or vitiated, being taken into the Liver it might be converted into blood: for Phlegm in the Ventricle is called Nourishment half digested: But being corrupt, tho' sent unto the Liver, yet it cannot be turned into Nutriment; for the second Concoction cannot correct that which the first hath corrupted; and therefore the Liver sends it to the Womb, which can neither digest it, nor repel it, and so it is voided out, still keeping the Colour which it had in the Ventricle. The cause also may be in the Reins being overheat, whereby the Spermatical matter, by reason of its thinness flows forth. The external cause may be moistness of the Air, eating of corrupt Meats, Anger, Grief, Slothfulness, immoderate Sleeping, Costiveness of body.  
The Signs are extenuation of the body, shortness and stinking of breath, loathing of meat, pain in the head, swelling of the eyes and feet, melancholy, humidity flows from the Womb of divers, colours, as reddish, black, green, yellow, white. It differs from the flowing and overflowing of the Courses, in that it keeps no certain periods, and is of many Colours, all which do degenerate from blood.  
Prognostics. If the Flux be Phlegmatical it will continue long and be difficult to Cure, yet if vomiting, or the flux Diarrhaea happeneth, diverting the humour, it cures the Disease. If it be Choleric, it is not so permanent, yet more perilous, for it will cause cliffs in the neck of the Womb, and sometimes make an excoriation in the Matrix. If Melancholic it is most Dangerous and Contumacious; y●t the flux of the Emerhoids administers Cure.  
If the matter flowing forth, be reddish; open a vein on the Arm; if not, apply Ligatures to the Arms and Shoulders. Galen glories of himself how he cured the wife of Boctus labouring of this Disease, by rubbing the upper parts with Crude Honey.  
If it be caused by a distillation from the brain, take Syrup of Betony, Staechas, and Margerum. Purge with Pil. coach. sine quibus de Agarico: make Nasalia of the juice or Sage, Hyssop, Betony, Nigella, with one drop of Oy1 of Cloves and a little silk Cotton. Take Elect. Dianth. aromat. rosat. diambre, diamosci dulcis, of each one Dram: Nutmeg half a Dram, with Sugar and Betony water; make Lozenges, to be taken every Morning and Evening. Take Auriae Alexandrinae, half a Dram, at Night going to Bed. If these things help not, use the Suffumigation and Plaster as they are prescribed.  
If it proceeds from Crudities in the Stomach, or from a cold distempered Liver, take every morning of the Decoction of Lignum Sanctum. Purge with Pil. de Agarico, de Hermodact. de Hiera Diacolocynthid. Foetida, Agrigative. Take of Elect. Aromat. Ros. two Drams; Cytron-peels dried, Nutmeg, long Pepper, of each one Scruple; Diagalanga, one Dram; Santali Albi, Ligni Aloes, of each half a Scruple; Sugar six Ounces; with Mint-water, and make Lozenges of it: Take of them before Meals. If with Frigidity of the Liver, there be joined a repletion of the Stomach, Purging by Vomit is commendable: For which take three Drams of the Electuary Diasaru. Galen allows of Diuretical means; as of Apium, Petrosilinum, etc.  
If the matter of the Flux be Choleric, prepare the Humour with Syrup of Roses, Violets, Endive, Succory. Purge with Myrabolanes, Manna, Rhubarb, Cassia. Take of Rhubarb two Drams; Aniseed, one Dram, Cinnamon, a Scruple and a half; infuse them in six Ounces ●f Prune-broth. Add to the s●raining, of Manna, one Ounce; and take it in the Morning according to Art. Take Sp●cierum Diatrionsantalon, Diatragacant. Frig. Di●rrhod. Abbatis Diacydonit. of each one Dram; Sugar four Ounces, with Plantain-water make Lozenges. If the Clyster of the Gall be sluggish and do not stir up the Faculty of the Guts, give hot Glisters of the Decoction of the four mollifying Herbs with Honey of Roses and Aloes.  
If the Flux be Melancholious, prepare with Syrup of Maidenhair, Epithimum, Polypody, Borage, Bugloss, Fumetary, Hart's-Tongue, and Syrupus Bysantinus, which must be made without Vinegar; otherwise it will rather animate the Disease than Nature; for Melancholy by the use of Vinegar is increased; and both by Hypocrates, Silvius, and Avenzoar it is disallowed of, as an Enemy to the Womb, and therefore not to be used inwardly in Uterine Diseases. Purgers of Melancholy are Pilulae Fumariae, Pilulae Indae, Pil. de Lapide Lazuli, Diasena & Confectio Hamech. Take of stamped Prunes, 2 Ounces; Senna, 1 Dram; Opithi●um, Polipody, Fumetary, of each a Dram and a half, sour Dates 1 Ounce; with Endive water, make Decoction, take of it 4 Ounces; add unto it Confectionis Hamech three Drams; Manna three Drams. Or take Pil. Indarum, Pil. Foetidarum, Agarici Trochiscati, of each one Scruple; Pills of Rhubarb one Scruple; Lapidis Lazuli, six Grains; with Syrup of Epithimum make Pills, and take them once every Week. Take Elect. Laetificantis Galeni, three Drams; Diamargaritti Calidi, one Dram; Diamosci Dulcis, Conserves of Borage, Violets, Bugloss; of each half a Dram; Citron-peels condited one Dram; Sugar seven Ounces; with Rose-water make Lozenges.  
Lastly, Let the Womb be cleansed from the corrupt Matter, and then Corroborated: For the purifying thereof, make Injections of the Decoction of Bettony, Feverfew, Mugwort, Spikenard, Bistort, Mercury, Sage; adding thereto Sugar, Oil of sweet Almonds, of each two Ounces: Pessaries also may be made of silk Cotton, madified in the juice of the aforenamed Herbs. To Corroborate the Womb, you may thus prepare Trochisks, Take of Mugwort, Feverfew, Myrrh, Amber, Mace, Nutmeg, Stirax, Ligni Aloes, red Roses, of each one Ounce; with the Mucilage of Tragacanth make Trochisks; cast some of them on the Coals, and smother the Womb therewith. Make Fomentations for the Womb of red Wine, in which hath been decocted Mastrick, fine Bole, Balaustia, and red Roses: Anoint the Matrix with Oil of Quinces and Myrtles; and apply thereto Emplastrum pro Matrix; and let her take of Diamoscum Dulce, and Elect. Aromaticum every Morning.  
A drying Diet is commended to be best, because in this Affect the Body moll commonly abounds with Phlegmatical and Crude Humours. For this cause Hypocrates counsels the Patient to go to Bed Supperless. Let her Meat be Partridge, Pheasant, Mountain-Birds, rather roasted than boiled. Immoderate Sleep is Forbidden, Moderate Exercise is Commended.   

CHAP. VI Of the Suffocation of the Mother.  
THis Affect, (which simply Considered is none, but the cause of an Affect) is called in English, the Suffocation of the Mother, not because the Womb is Strangled, but for that it causeth the Wo●an to be choked. It is a retraction of the Womb towards the Midriff and Stomach, which presseth and crusheth up the same, that the instrumental cause of respiration, the Midriff, is Suffocated; which consenting with the Brain, causeth the Animal Faculty, the efficient cause of Respiration also, to be intercepted; whereby the Body being Refrigerated, and the Actions depraved, she falls to the Ground, as one being Dead.  
In these Histerical Passions some continue longer, some shorter. Rabbi Moses writes of some, which lay in the Paroxysm of the Fit two days. Ruffius makes mention of one, which continued in the same Passion three days and three nights; and at the three days and revived. That we may learn by other men's harms to beware, I will give you one Example more. Paraeus writeth of a Woman in Spain, which suddenly fell into a Uterine Suffocation, and appeared to the Judgement of Man as dead: her Friends wondering at this her sudden Change, for their better Satisfaction, sent to the Chirurgeon to have her Dissected; who beginning to make an Incision, the Woman began to move, and with a great Clamour returned to herself again, to the Horror and Admiration of all the Spectators.  
To the end therefore, you may distinguish the Living from the Dead, the Ancients prescribe three Experiments. The first, is to lay a light Feather to the Mouth, and by the motion of it you may judge, whether the Patient be Living or Dead. The second, is to place a Glass of Water on the Breast, and if you perceive it to move, it betokeneth Life. The Third is to hold a pure Looking-glass to the Mouth and Nose; and if the Glass appear thick with a little Dew upon it, it betokeneth Life. And these three Experiments are good, yet with this Caution, that you ought not to depend on them too much; for, though the Feather and the Water do not move, and the Glass continue pure and clear, yet it is not a necessary Consequence that she is destitute of Life: For the motion of the Lungs, by which the Respiration is made, may be taken away that she cannot Breathe, yet the Internal Transpiration of the Heat may remain, which is not manifested by the motion of the Breast, or Lungs, but lies Occult in the Heart and inward Arteries. Examples hereof we may have in the Fly and Swallow, which in the Cold of Winter, to the Ocular Aspect, seem Dead, Inanimate, and Breathe not at all; yet they Live by the Transpiration of that Heat which is reserved in the Heart and inward Arteries: therefore when the Summer approacheth, the internal Heat being Revocated to the outward parts, they are then again revived out of their Sleepy Ecstasy.  
Those Women therefore that seem to die suddenly, and upon no evident Cause, let them not be committed unto the Earth until the end of three days, lest the Living be Buried for the Dead.  
Cure. The part affected is the Womb; of which there is a twofold Motion, Natural and Symptomatical. The Natural Motion, is when the Womb attracteth the Humane Seed, or excludeth the Infant or Secundine. The Symptomatical Motion, of which we are here to speak, is a Convulsive drawing upward of the Womb.  
The Cause usually is in the Retention of the Seed, or in the Suppression of the Months, causing a Repletion of corrupt Humours in the Womb; from whence proceeds a Flatulent Refrigeration, causing a Convulsion of the Ligaments of the Womb. And as it may come from Humidity or Repletion, being a Convulsion, it may be caused by Emptyness or Dryness. And lastly, By Abortion, or difficult Childbirth.  
Signs. At the approaching of the suffocation there is a paleness of the face, weakness of the legs, shortness of breath, frigidity of the whole body, with a working up into the throat, and then she falls down as one void both of sense and motion. The mouth of the Womb is closed up, and being touched with the finger feels hard. The paroxysm of the fit once past, she openeth her eyes, and feeling her stomach oppressed, she offers to vomit. And lest that any should be deceived in taking one disease for another, I will show how it may be distinguished from those diseases which have the nearest affinity with its self. It differs from the Apoplexy, being it comes without shrieking out; also in the Hysterical passion, the sense of feeling is not altogether so destroyed and lost, as it is in the Appoplectical disease. It differs from the Epilepsy, in that the eyes are not wrested, neither does any spumy froth come from the mouth; and that convulsive motion which sometime is joined to suffocations, is not so Universal, as it is in the Epilepsy, only this or that member is convulst, and that without any vehement agitation. In the Sincope, both respiration and pulse is taken away; the Countenance waxeth pal●, and she swoons a●ay suddenly; but in th● Hysterical passion, commonly there is ●●th respiration and pulse, though it cann●t we●● be perceived, her face looks red, and sh● hath a forewarning of her fit. Yet it is not denied but that a Sincope may be joined with this suffocation. Lastly, it is distinguished from the Lethargy by the pulse, which in the one is great, and in the other little.  
Prognostics, If the disease hath its being from the corruption of the seed, it foretells more danger than if it proceeded from the suppression of the courses; because the seed is concocted, and of a purer quality, than the menstruous blood; and the more pure being corrupted, becomes the more foul and filthy; as appears in Eggs, the purest nourishment, which vitiated, yield the noisomest savour. If it be accompanied with a Sincope, it shows nature is but weak, and that the spirits are almost exhausted. But if sneezing follows, it shows that the heat which was almost extinct, doth now begin to return, and that Nature will subdue the disease.  
Cure. In the Cure of this Affect, two things must be observed. First, That during the time of the Pararoxism, Nature be provoked to expel those malignant Vapours which binds up the Senses, that she may be recalled out of that Sleepy Ecstasy. Secondly, That in the the intermission of the Fit, proper Medicines be applied to take away the Cause.  
To stir up Nature, fasten Cupping-glasses to the Hips and Navel: apply Ligatures to the Thighs: rub the Extreme parts with Salt, Vinegar, and Mustard. 'Cause loud Clamours and Thundrings in her Ears. Apply to the Nose Assa-foetida, Castor and Saga-penum steeped in Vinegar. Provoke her to Sneeze by blowing up into her Nose the powder of Castor, white Pepper, Pellitory of Spain, and white Hellebore. Hold under her N●se Partridge Feathers, Hair, and Old Shoes burnt, and all other stinking things: for evil Odours are an Enemy to Nature: Hence the Animal Spirits do so contest and strive against them, that the Natural Heat is thereby restored. The Brain is so oppressed sometimes, that we are compelled to burn the outward skin of the Head, with hot Oil, or with a hot Iron. Sharp Clysters and Suppositories are available. Take of Sage, Calamint, horehound, Feverfew, Margerum, Bettony, Hyssop, of each one Handful; Aniseed half an Ounce; Coloquintida, white Hellebore, Sal. Gemmae, of each two Drams; boil these in two Pound of Water to the half: A●d to the straining, Oil of Castor, two Ounces; Hierae Picrae, two drams; and make a Clyster of it. Or, take of Honey boiled, two Ounces; Euphorbij half a Scruple; Coloquintida four Grains, white Hellebore two Grains; Salt one Dram; make a Suppository. Hypocrates writeth of a Hysterical Woman which could not be freed from the Paroxysm, but by pouring cold water on her: Yet this Cure is Particular, and aught to be administered in the midst of Summer, when the Sun is in the Tropic of Cancer.  
If it be caused by the retention and corruption of the Seed, at the instant of the Paroxysm, let the Midwife take Oil of Lilies, Marjoram, and Bays, dissolving in the same two grains of Civit, and as much Musk; let her dip her Finger therein, and put it up into the Neck of the Womb, tickling and rubbing the same.  
The Fit being over, proceed to the curing of the Cause. If it arise from the suppression of the Menses, look the Cure in page 105. If from the retention of the Seed, a good Husband will administer Cure: But those which cannot honestly purchase that Cure, must use such things as will dry up and diminish the Seed, as Diacyminum, Diacalaminthes, etc. Amongst Botanics, the Seed of Agnus Castus is well esteemed of, whether taken inwardly, applied outwardly, or received as a Suffumigation: It was held in great honour amongst the Athenians, for by it they did remain as pure Vestals, and preserved their Chastity only by strowing it on the Bed whereon they lay; and hence it had the Name of Agnus Castus given to it, as denoting its effects. Make an issue on the inside of each leg, a handful breadth below the knee. Make Trochisks of Agarick, two scruples; wild Carrot-seed, Ligni Aloes, of each half a scruple; washed Turpentine, three drams; with Conserve of Anthos make a Bolus. Castor is of excellent use in this case, one dram of it being taken in White-wine; or you may make Pills of it, with Mithridate, and take 'em going to Bed. Take of white Briony Root dried and cut after the manner of Carrots, one ounce; put it into a draught of Wine, placing it by the Fire, and when it is warm drinking it. Take Myrrh, Castor, Assafoetida, of each one scruple; Saffron and Rue-seed, of each four grains; make eight Pills, and take every Night two, at your entrance into Bed.  
Galen by his own Example Commends unto us Agarick pulverised, of which he frequently gave one scruple in White-wine. Lay to the Navel at bedtime, a head of Garlic bruised, fastening it with a Swathing-Band. Make a Girdle of Galbanum for the Waste, and also a Plaster for the Belly; placing in one part of it both Civet and Musk, which must be laid upon the Navel. Take Pulveris Benedict. Trochisks of Agarick, of each two drams; Mithridate a sufficient quantity, and so make a Pessary, and it will purge the Matrix of Wind and Phlegm. Foment the Natural parts with Salad Oil, in which hath been boiled Rue, Feverfew, and Camomile. Take of Rose-leaves one handful, Cloves two scruples, quilt them up in a little Cloth, and boil them in Malmsie, the eighth part of an hour, and apply 'em to the mouth of the Womb as hot as may be endured; but let not the smell come to her Nose. A drying Diet must be observed, the moderate use of Venus is commended. Let her Bread be Aniseed Brisket, her Flesh-Meat rather roasted than boiled.   

CHAP. VII. Of the Descending of falling down of the Mother.  
THe falling down of the womb is a relaxation of the Ligatures, whereby the Matrix is carried backward, and in some hangs out in the bigness of an Egg: Of this there be two kinds, distinguished by a Descending and a Precipitation. The descending of the womb is, when it sinketh down to the entrance of the Privities, and appears to the Eye either not at all, or very little. The precipitation is, when the womb like a Purse is turned the inside outward, and hangs betwixt the Thighs in the bigness of a Cupping-glass.  
Cause. The Cause is external or internal: The external cause is difficult Childbirth, violent pulling away of the Secondine, rashness and inexperience in drawing away of the Child, violent coughing, sneezing, falls, blows, carrying heavy burdens. The internal Cause in general is overmuch humidity flowing unto those parts, hindering the operations of the womb, whereby the ligaments by which the womb is supported, are relaxed. The Cause in particular is referred to be in the retention of the Seed, or in the suppression of their Monthly Courses.  
Signs. The Arsegut and the Bladder oftentimes are so crushed, that the passage of both the Excrements is hindered. If the Urine doth flow forth, it is white and thick; and the Midriff is molested, the loins are grieved, the Privities pained, the Womb sinks down to the entrance of the private parts, or else comes clean out.  
Prognostics. This Grief possessing an old Woman, is cared with great difficulty, because it weakens the Faculties of the Womb, and therefore tho' it be reduced into his proper place, yet upon every little illness, or indisposition, it is subject to return; and so it is with the younger sort, if the Disease be inveterate. If it be caused by putrefaction in the Nerves, it is incurable.  
Cure. The Womb naturally being placed between the straight Gut and the Bladder, and now fallen down, ought not to be put up again, until the faculty both of the Guts and Bladder be stirred up.  
Nature being unloaded of her Burden, let the Woman be placed on her back, in such sort that her legs may be higher than her head; let her feet be drawn up to her hinder parts, with her knees spread abroad: The mollify the Swelling with Oil of Lilies and sweet Almonds, or with the decoction of Mallows, Beets, Fenugreek, and Linseed. When the Inflation is dissipated, let the Midwife anoint her hand with Oil of Mastic, and reduce the Womb into its place. The Matrix being put up, the situation of the Patient must be changed; let ●er legs be out at length, and laid together; set Cupping-glasses to the breasts and navel: Boyl Mugwort, Feverfew, red Roses, and Comfery, in red Wine, and foment the places therewith. Make a Suffumigation for the Matrix of Castor, Assafoetida, Frankincense, and Mastic: Take Sandarache Olibani, Cypress Nuts, of each three drams; Mastic, Styrax, Frankincense, of each an ounce; fine Bole, one dram, with Oil of Myrtles and Wax make two Plasters, apply one before, and the other behind. Take of red Roses, Pomegranate Pills, Acorn-cups, Myrtleberries, of each two ounces, Medlar-leaves, Sage, Rue, Origan, Comfery, Wormwood, of each a handful and a half, boil all these in water, and make an Insession. Move sweet Odours to the Nose, and at her coming out of the Bath give her of Syrup of Feverfew one ounce, with one dram of Mithridate. Take Ladam, Mastic, of each three drams, Galbani half an ounce, Styracis two drams, make therewith a Plaster for the Navel. Then make Pessaries of Assafoetida Saffron, Comfrey, Mastic, adding thereto a little Castor.  
The practice of Pareus in this case, was to make them only of Cork, in figure like a little Egg, covering them over with Wax and Mastic dissolved together, fastening to it a thr●d, and so to put it up into the Womb.  
The present danger being now taken away, and the Matrix seated in its natural abode, the remote cause must be removed. If the Body be Plethoric, open a Vein; Prepare with Syrup of Betony, Calamint, Hyssop, and Feverfew. Purge with Pil. de Hiera cum Agaric. Pil. de Colocyn. If the Stomach be oppressed by Crudities, unburden it by vomiting. Sudorifical Decoctions of Lignum sanctum and Sassifras, taken twenty days together, dries up the superfluous moisture, and consequently suppresseth the cause of the Disease.  
Let the Air be hot and dry, and your Diet hot and attenuating: Abstain from Dancing, Leaping, Sneezing, and from all motion both of body and mind: Eat sparingly, drink not much, sleep moderately.   

CHAP. VIII. Of the Inflammation of the Womb.  
THe Phlegmon, or Inflammation of the Matrix, is a Tumour possessing the whole Womb, accompanied with unnatural heat, by obstructions and gathering together of corrupt Blood.  
Cause. The Cause of this Affect is suppression of the Months, repletion of the whole Body, immoderate use of Venus, often handling of the Genitals, difficult Childbirth, vehement agitation of the Body, falls, blows; to which also may be added the use of sharp Pessaries, whereby not seldom the Womb is inflamed. Cupping-glasses also fastened to the Pubes and Hypogastrium draw the Humours to the Womb.  
Signs. The Signs are Aguish humours, pains in the head and stomach, vomiting, coldness of the knees, convulsions of the neck, doting, trembling of the heart; sometimes there is a straitness of breath, by reason of the heat which is communicated to the Diaphragma, or Midriff; the Breasts sympathising with the Womb, are pained and swelled. Particular Signs. If the forepart of the Matrix be inflamed, the Privities are grieved, the Urine is suppressed, or flows forth with difficulty: If the after part, the loins and back suffer, the Excrements are retained: If the right side, the right hip suffers, the right leg is heavy, slow to motion, in so much that sometimes she seems to halt. And so if the left side of the Womb be inflamed, the left hip is pained, and the left leg is weaker than the right: If the Neck of the Womb be affected, the Midwife putting up her Finger, shall feel the mouth, of it retracted and closed up, with a hardness about it.  
Prognostics. All Inflammations of the Womb are dangerous, if not deadly; and especially if the total substance of the Matrix be inflamed. Yet they are less perilous, if they be in the Neck of the Womb. A f●ux of the Belly foretells Health if it be natural, for Nature works best by the use of her own Instruments.  
Cure. In the Cure, first, let the humours flowing to the Womb be repelled; for effecting of which, after the Belly hath been loosened by cooling Clysters, Phlebotomy will be needful; Open therefore a Vein in the Arm, and (if she be not with Child) the day after strike the Saphena on both Feet: Fasten Ligatures and Cupping-glasses to the Arms; and rub the upper Parts.  
Purge lightly with Cassia, Rhubarb, Sena, Myrobolans. Take of Sena two drams, Aniseed on scruple, Myrobalans' half an ounce, Barleywater a sufficient quantity; make a Decoction; dissolve it in Syrup of Succory, with Rhubarb two ounces, Pulp of Cassia half an ounce, Oil of Aniseed two drops, and make a Potion. At the beginning of the Disease anoint the Privities and Reins with Oil of Roses and Quinces. Make Plasters of Plaintain, Linseed, Barley-meal, melilot, Fenugreek, Whites of Eggs; and if the pain be vehement, add a little Opium. Foment the Genitals with the Decoction of Poppy-heads, Purslain, Knotgrass and Water-lilies. Make Injections of Goats-Milk, Rose-water, clarified Whey, with Honey of Roses. In the declining of the Disease, use Insessions of Sage, Linseed, Mugwort, , Horehound, Fenugreek. Anoint the lower parts of the Belly, with Oil of Camomile and Violets.  
Take Lily Roots and Mallow Roots, of each four ounces; Mercury one handful, Mugwort, Feverfew, Camomile-flowers, Melilot, of 〈◊〉 half a handful; bruise the Herbs and the ●●●ots, and boil them in a sufficient quantity of Milk; then add fresh Butter, Oil of Camomile, Lilies, of each two ounces; Bea●-meal, a sufficient quantity; make two Plasters, apply one before, and the other behind.  
If the Tumour cannot be removed, but ●ends to suppuration, Take of Fenugreek, Mal●ow-Roots, decocted Figs, Linseed, Barley-Meal, Doves-dung, Turpentine, of each three ●rams; Deers Suet half a dram, Opium half 〈◊〉 scruple, with Wax make a Plaster.  
Take of Bay-leaves, Sage, Hyssop, Camomile, Mugwort, and with Water make an In●ession.  
Take Wormwood, Betony, of each half a handful, White-wine, Milk, of each half a ●ound, boil them until one part be consumed; ●hen take of this Decoction four ounces, Honey ●f Roses two ounces, and make an Injection. ●et beware the Humours be not brought down ●nto the Womb.  
Take roasted Figs, Mercury bruised, of each ●hree drams, Turpentine, Ducks-grease, of ●ach one dram; Opium two grains; with Wax ●ake a Pessary.  
The Air must be cold: All motion of the Body, especially of the lower parts, is forbidden: Vigilancy is commended, for by sleep the humours are carried inward, whereby the Inflammation is increased; eat sparingly. Let your Drink be Barleywater, or clarified Whey, and your Meat be Chickens and Chicken Broth, boiled with Endive, Succory, Sorrel, Bugloss, and Mallows.   

CHAP. IX. Of the Schirrosity or Hardness of the Womb.  
OF a Phlegmon neglected, or not perfectly cured, is generated a Schirrus of th● Matrix, which is a hard unnatural swelling insensible, hindering the operations of the Womb and disposing of the whole Body to slothfulness.  
Cause. One Cause of this Disease may b● ascribed to want of Judgement in the Physician; as many Empirics administering to a● Inflammation of the Womb, do overmuch refrigerate and astringe the humour, that it ca● neither pass forward nor backward; hence th● matter being condensed, degenerates as it wer● into a lapidious or hard substance. Other Causes may be suppression of the Menstrues; retention of the Lochia, commonly called th● after-purging; eating of corrupt meats, as i● the disordinate longing called Pica, unto which breeding Women are often subject. If may proceed also from Obstructions and Ulcers in the Matrix; or from evil Affects in the Liver and Spleen.  
Sign● If the bottom of the Womb be affected, ●he feels, as it were, a heavy burden representing 〈◊〉 Mole; yet differing in that the Breasts are attenuated, an● the whole Body wa●●●●●●ss. If the Neck of the Womb be hardened, no● outward humour will appear; the Mouth of it is retracted, and being touched with the Finger feels hard; nor can she have the company of a Man, without great pain and prickings.  
Prognostics. A Schirrus confirmed is incurable, and will turn into a Cancer or a Dropsy; and ending in a Cancer proves deadly, because the native heat in those parts being almost smothered, can hardly again be restored.  
Cure. Where there is a repletion, Phlebotomy is adviseable; wherefore open the Mediana on both Arms, and then the Saphena on both Feet, more especially if the Menses be suppressed.  
Prepare the humour with Syrup of Borage, Succory, Epithimum, and clarified Whey. Then take of these Pills following, according to the strength of the Patient.  
Take Hierae Picrae six drams, black Hellebore, Polipody, of each two drams and an half Agarick, Lapidis Lazuli abluti, Salis Indi, Coloquintida, of each one dram and a half; mix them, and make Pills. The Body being purged, proceed to mollify the hardness, as followeth: Anoint the Privites and the Neck of the Womb with Vnguentum Dalthea and Agrippae. Or take Opopanax, Bdellium, Ammoniacum, Myrrh, of each two drams, Saffron half a dram; Dissolve the Gums in Oil of Lilies and sweet Almonds, with Wax and Turpentine make an Unguent. Apply bellow the Navel Diachylon-Fernelii. Make Insessions of Figgs, Mugwort, Mallows, Pennyroyal, Althaea, Fennel-Roots, melilot, Fenugreek, Linseed, boiled in water. Make Injections of Calamint, Linseed, melilot, Fenugreek, and the four mollifying Herbs, with Oil of Dill, Camomile, and Lilies, dissolving in the same three drams of the Gum Bdellium. Cast the stone Pyrites on the Coals, and let her receive the fume of it into her Womb. Foment the Secret Parts with the Decoction of the Leaves and Roots of Danewort.  
Take of the Gum Galbanum, Opopanax, of each one dram, Juice of Danewort, Mucillage of Fenugreek, of each half an ounce; Calves marrow one ounce, Wax a sufficient quantity, make a Pessary. Or make a Pesaary only of Lead, dipping it in the aforesaid things, and so put it up.  
The Air must be temperate: Gross, viscous, and salt meats are forbidden; as Pork, Bulls-●●ef, Fish, old Cheese, etc.   

CHAP. X. Of the Dropsy of the Womb.  
THe Uterine Dropsy is an unnatural swelling ellevated by the gathering together of wind or phlegm in the cavity, membranes, or substance of the Womb, by reason of the debility of the native heat, not digesting the Aliment received, and so it turns into an Excrement.  
The Causes are overmuch cold and moistness of the Milt and Liver, immoderate drinking, eating of crude meats; all which causing a repletion do suffocate the native heat: It may be caused likewise by the overflowing of the Courses, or by any other immoderate Evacuaation. To these may be added Abortions, Ulcers, Phlegmons, and Schirrosities of the Womb.  
Signs. The Signs of this Affect are these: The lower parts of the Belly, with the Genitals, are puffed up and pained, the feet sweell; the natural colour of the Face decays, the Appetite is depraved, and the heaviness of the whole Body concurs: If she turns herself in the Bed from one side to the other, a noise like flowing of water is heard. Water sometimes comes from the Matrix. If the swelling be caused by wind, the Belly being hit by the hand sounds like a Drum; the Guts rumble, and the wind breaks through the neck of the womb with a murmouring noise. This Affect may be distinguished from a true Conception many ways, as will appear by the Chapter of Conception. It is distinguished from the general Dropsy, in that the lower parts of the Belly a●e most swelled. Again, in this the sanguificative faculty appears not so hurtful, nor the Urine so pale, nor the Countenance so soon changed; neither are the superior parts so extenuated as in the general Dropsy.  
Prognostics. This Affect foretells the total ruin of the natural functions, by that singular consent the womb hath with the liver; and therefore that a Cachexia, or a general Dropsy will follow.  
Cure. In the Cure of this Disease, imitate the practice of Hypocrates; First mitigate the pain with Fomentations of melilot, Mercury, Mallows, Linseed, Camomile, Althaea. Then let the humour be prepared with Syrup of Staechas, Hyssop, Calamint, Mugwort, of both sorts. With the distilled waters or decoctions of Dodder, Margerum, Sage, Origan, Sperage, , Betony. Purge with Sena, Agarick, Rhubarb, Elaterium.  
Take Speci●rum Hierae, Rhubarb, Trochisks of Agarick, of each one Scruple; with the Juice of Ireos make Pills.  
Or Take Pill de Rhubarbaro half an Ounce Pill de Mezereo one Scruple, with Mugwort water make Pills. In diseases which ha●e their being from moistness, purge with Pills: and in those affects which are caused by emptiness or dryness, purge with potions. Fasten a cupping-glass to the belly with a great flame, and also to the navel, especially if the swelling be flatulent. Make an issue on the inside of each leg a handful breadth below the knee. Take Specierum Diambrae, Diamosci Dulcis, Diacalamenti, Diacinnamomi, Diacimini, Troch. de Myrrah, of each 2 drams; Sugar one Pound, with Bettony water make Lozenges: Take of them two hours before Meals. Apply to the bottom of the belly, as hot as may be endured, a little bag of Camomile, Cummin, and Melilote, boiled in Oil of Rue. Anoint the belly and secret parts with Vnguentum Agrippae, and Vnguentum AREGON, mingling therewith Oil of Ireos. Cover the lower parts of the belly with the plaster of Bay-berries; or with a Cataplasm made of Cummin, Camomile, Briony Roots, adding thereto Cows and Goat's dung. Our Moderns ascribe a great virtue to Tobacco water distilled and poured into the Womb by a Metrenchyta, Take of Baum, Southern wood, Organ, Wormwood, Calamint, Bay-leaves, Marjoram, of each one handful; Juniper-berries 4 drams, with water make a Decoction: Of this may be made Fomentations, Injections and Insessions. Make Pessaries of Styrax, Aloes, with the Roots of Dictam, Aristolochia, and Gentian. Instead of this you may use the Pessary prescribed pag. 130. Let her take of Electuarium Aromaticum, Diasatyrion, and Eringo Roots condited, every Morning.  
The air must be hot and dry; Moderate exercise is allowed. Much sleep is forbidden. She may eat the flesh of Partridges, Larks, Chickens, Mountain-birds, Hares, Coneys, etc. Let her drink be thin Wine.   

CHAP. XI. Of the Mola, or False Conception.  
THis disease, is called of the Greeks MULE, and the cause of this denomination is taken from the load or heavy weight of it, it being a Mole, or great lump of hard flesh burdening the Womb.  
It is defined to be an inarticulate piece of flesh without form, begotten in the Matrix, as it were a true Conception: In which definition we are to note two things. First, in that a Mole is said to be inarticulate, and without form, it differs from Monsters, which are both Formata and Articulata. Secondly, it is said to be, as it were, a true Conception, which puts a difference between a true Conception and a Mole; which difference holds good three ways. First, in the Genus, in that a Mole cannot be said to be animal. S●condly, in the Species, because it hath no humane figure, and bears not the Character of a man. Thirdly, in the Individuum, for it hath no affinity with the Parent, either in the whole Body, or any Particle of the same  
Cause. About the cause of this affect, amongst learned Authors I find variety of Judgements. Some are of opinion, that if the Woman's seed goes into the Womb and not the Man's, thereof is the Mole produced. Others there be that affirm it is engendered of the menstruous Blood: But if these two were granted, than Maids by having their Courses, or through nocturnal pollutions might be subject unto the same, which never any yet were. The true cause of this fleshy Mole proceeds both from the Man, and from the Woman, from corrupt or Barren Seed in the Man, and from the menstruous Blood in the Woman both mixed together in the Cavity of the Womb; where Nature finding herself weak (yet desiring to maintain the perpetuity of her Species) labours to bring forth a vicious Conception rather than non●. And so instead of a living Creature, generates a lump of ●lesh.  
Signs. The signs of a Mole are these. The Months are suppressed, the appetite is depraved, the breasts swell, and the Belly is puffed up and waxeth hard. Thus far the signs of a breeding Woman, and of one that beareth a Mole, are all one; I will now show you how they differ.  
The first sign of difference is taken from the motion of a Mole; it may be felt to move in the Womb before the third Month, which the Infant cannot: Yet that motion cannot be understood of any intelligent power in the Mole, but of the faculty of the Womb, and of the seminal Spirits diffused through the substance of the Mole; for it lives not a life animal, but vegitative in the manner of a Plant. Secondly, in a Mole, the belly is suddenly puffed up; but in a true Conception the belly is first retracted, and then riseth again by degrees. Thirdly, the belly being pressed with the hand, the Mole gives way; and the hand being taken away, it returns to the place again: But a Child in the Womb, though pressed with the hand, moves not presently; and being removed, returns slowly, or not at all. Lastly, the Child continues in the Womb not above Eleven Months; but a Mole continues some times four or five Years, more or less, according as it is fastened in the Matrix. I have known when a Mole hath fallen away in four or five Months.  
If it remains until the Eleventh Month, the legs wax feeble, and the whole body consumes; only the swelling of the belly still increaseth, which makes some think they are Hydropical, though there be little reason for it; for in the Dropsy le●s swell and grow big, but in a Mole they consume, and whither.  
Prognostics. If at the delivery of a Mole the Flux of Blood be great, it shows the more danger; because the parts of nutrition having been vitiated by the flowing back of the superfluous humours, whereby the natural heat is consumed, and then parting with so much blood, the Woman thereby is so weakened in all her faculties, that she can hardly subsist.  
Cure. We are taught in the School of Hypocrates, that Phlebotomy causeth abortion, by taking away that nourishment, which should sustain the life of the Child. Wherefore, that this vicious Conception may be deprived of that vegetative sap by which it lives; open the liver vein, and then the Saphena on both feet. Fasten Cupping glasses to the loins and sides of the belly: which done, let the Uterine parts be first Mollified, and then the expulsive faculty provoked to expel the burden.  
To laxate the Ligatures of the Male; Take Mallows with the roots, 3 handfuls; Camomile, Melilote, Pellitory of the wall, Violet leaves, Mercury, Roots of Fennel, Parsley, of each 2 handfuls, Line-seed, Fenugreek, of each one pound, boil them in water and let her sit therein up to the Navel. At the going out of the Bath, Anoint the Privities and Reins with this Unguent following. Take oil of Camomile, Lilies, and sweet Almonds, of each one Ounce; fresh Butter, Labdani, Ammoniaci, of each half an Ounce; with the Oil of Lineseed, make an Unguent. Or instead of this, may be used Unguentum Agrippae, or Dialthaea. Take of Mercury, Roots of Althaea, of each half a handful; Fol. Branchae Ursinae, half a handful; Lineseed, Barley-meal, of each 6 ounces; boil all these with Water and Honey, and make a Plaster. Make Pessaries of the Gum Galbanum, Bdelium, Ammoniacum, Figs, Hogs-suet, and Honey.  
After the ligaments of the Mole are loosed; let the expulsive faculty be stirred up to expel the Mole; for effecting of which, all Medicaments may be used which are proper to bring down the Courses. Take Troch de Myrrah one Ounce, Castor, Aristolochia, Gentians, Dictam, of each half an ounce; make a Powder, take one dram in 4 ounces of Mugwort water. Take of Hypericon, Calamint, , Bettony, Hyssop, Sage, Horehound, Valerian, Madder, Savine, with water make a decoction, take 3 ounces of it, with one ounce and half of Syrup of Feverfew. Take of Mugwort, Myrrh, Gentian, Pil. Coch. of each 4 Scruples; Rue, , Saggapenum, Opopanax, of each half a dram; Assafoetida, Cinnamon, Juniper-berries, Borage, of each one dra●, with the juice of Savine make Pills to be taken of every Morning. Make Insessions of Hyssop, Bay-leaves, Assrum, Calamint, Bay-berries, Camomile, Mugwort, Savine. Take of Sagapenum, Margerum, Gentian, Savine, Cloves, Nutmeg, Bay-berries, of each 2 Scruples; Galbanum one dram, Hierae Picrae, Black Hellebore, of each one Scruple; with Turpentine make a Pessary. But if these things prove not available; then must the Mole be drawn away with an instrument put up into the Womb, called a Pes Griphius; which may be done with no great danger, if it be performed by a skilful Chirurgeon.  
After the delivery of the Mole (by reason that the Woman hath parted with much blood already) let the flux of blood be stayed as soon as may be.  
Fasten Cupping-glasses to the shoulder, and ligatures to the arms. If these help not; open the Liver-vein on, the right arm.  
The air shall be moderately hot and dry; and her diet such as doth mollify and attenuate, she may drink White-wine.   

CHAP. XII. Of the Signs of Conception.  
IGnorance makes Women become Murderers to the Fruit of their own Bodies; many having Conceived, and thereupon finding their Bodies to be out of Order, and not knowing rightly the Cause, do either run to the Shop of their own Conceit, and take what they think fit; or else (as the Custom is) they send to the Physician for Cure; and he perceiving not the Cause of their Grief, (seeing that no certain Judgement can be given by the Urine) prescribes what he thinks best, perhaps some strong Diuretical, or Cathartical Potion, whereby the Conception is destroyed. Wherefore Hypocrates saith, There is a Necessity that Women should be instructed in the Knowledge of Conception, that the Parent, as well as the Child, might be saved from Danger. I will therefore give you some Instructions by which every one may know whether she be with Child or not. The signs of Conception shall be taken from the Woman, from the Urine, from the Infant, and from Experiment.  
Signs collected from the Woman are these; The first day after Conception, she feels a light Quivering or Chillness running through the Whole Body; a tickling in the Womb, and a little Pain in the lower parts of the Belly. Ten or twelve Days after, the Head is affected with Giddiness, the Eyes with a Dimness of Sight: Then follows Red Pimples in the Face, with a Blue Circle about the Eyes; the Breasts swell and grow hard with some pain and pricking in them: The Belly suddenly sinketh and riseth again by Degrees, with a hardness about the Navel. The Nipples of the Breast's wax Red; the Heart beats inordinately, the Natural appetite is Dejected, yet die hath a longing Desire after strange Meats. The neck of the Womb is retraced, that it can hardly be felt with the Finger being put up; and this is an infallible Sign. She is suddenly Merry, and as soon Melancholy; her Monthly Courses are stayed without any Evident Cause: The Excrements of the Guts are unaccustomedly retained by the Womb pressing the great Gut; and her Desire to Venus is abated.  
The surest Sign is taken from the Infant, which gins to move in, the Womb the third or fourth Month; and that not in the manner of a Mole, from one side to another, Rushing like a Stone; but mildly, as may be perceived by applying the Hand hot on the Belly.  
Signs taken from the Urine. The best Clerks do affirm that the Urine of a Woman with Child is white, and hath little Motes, like those in the Sunbeams, ascending and descending in it, and a Cloud swimming aloft of an Opal Colour; the Sediment being divided by shaking of the Urine, appears like carded Wool. In the middle of her time, the Urine turneth Yellow, next Red, and lastly Black, with a Red Cloud. Signs taken from Experiment: At Night going to Bed, let her drink Water and Honey; afterward if she feels a beating pain in her Belly, and about her Navel, she hath Conceived. Or let her take the juice of Carduus, and if she Vomiteth it up, it is a sign of Conception? cast a clean Needle into Woman's Urine, put into a Basin, let it stand all Night, and in the Morning if it be coloured with red Spots, she hath Conceived; but if it be blacker, or rusty, she hath not.  
Signs taken from the Sex to show whether it be Male or Female. Being with Child of a Male, the right Breast swells first; the right Eye is more lively than the left; her Face Well coloured; because such as the Blood is, such is the Colour; and the Male is conceived of purer Blood, and of more perfect Seed than the Female. Red Motes in the Urine, settling down to the Sediment, foretells that a Male is conceived; but if they be white, a Female. Put the Woman's Urine which is with Child, into a Glass Bottle, let it stand close stopped three days; then strain it through a fine Cloth, and you shall find littte living Creatures; if they be Red, it is a Male, if White a Female. To conclude the mod certain Sign to give Credit unto is the motion of the Infant: For the Male moves in the third Month, ad the Famale in the fourth,   

CHAP XIII. Of Untimely Birth.  
WHen the Fruit of the Womb comes forth before the Seventh Month (that is before it comes to Maturity) it is said to be Abortive: And in effect the Child proves Abortive (I mean not to Live) if it be Born in the eighth Month. And why Children born in the seventh, and ninth Month, may Live, and not in the eighth Month, may seem strange yet it is true: The cause hereof by some, is ascribed unto the Planet, under which the Child is born; for every Month, from the Conception to the Birth, is Governed by his proper Planet: And in the Eighth Month Saturn doth Predominate, which is cold and dry, and coldness being an Enemy unto Life destroys the Nature of the Child. Hypocrates gives a better Reason; The Infant being every way perfect, and complete in the Seventh Month, desires more Air and Nutriment than it had before, which because he cannot obtain, he labours for a Passage to go out; and if his Spirits be weak and faint, and have not Strength sufficient to break the Membranes and come forth, it is decreed by Nature that he should continue in the Womb until the 9th Month, that, in that time his wearied Spirits might be again Strengthened and Refreshed; but if he returns to strive again in the eighth Month, and be born, he cannot Live, because the day of his Birth is either past, or to come; for in the eighth Month, saith Avicen, he is Weak and Infirm, and therefore being then cast into cold Air, his Spirits cannot but sink.  
Cause. Untimely Birth may be caused by Cold; for as it maketh the Fruit of the Tree to whither and fall down before it be Ripe, so doth it Nip the Fruit of the Womb before it comes to full Perfection, and make it to be Abortive. Sometimes by Humidity, weakening the Faculty that the Fruit cannot be restrained until the due time; by Dryness or Emptiness, defrauding the Child of his Nourishment; by one of the three Alvine Fluxes; by Phlebotomy and other Evacuations; by Inflammations of the Womb, and by other sharp Diseases. Sometimes it is caused by Joy, Laughter, Anger, and especially by Fear; for in all, but in that especially, the Heat forsakes the Womb, and runs to the Heart, to help there, and so the Cold strikes into the Matrix, whereby the Ligaments are Relaxt, and so Abortion follows. Wherefore Plato in his time, Commanded that the Women should shun all Temptations of great Joy and Pleasure, and likewise avoid all Occasions of Fear and Grief. Abortion also may be caused by the Corruption of the Air; by filthy Odours, and especially by the smell of the Snuff of a Candle; also by Falls, Blows, violent Exercise, Leaping, Dancing, etc.  
Signs. Signs of future Abortion, are Extenuation of the Breasts, with a Flux of waterish milk; pain in the Womb, heaviness in the Head, unaccustomed Weariness in the Hips, and Thighs, flowing of the Courses. Signs foretelling the Fruit to be dead in the Womb, are hollowness of the Eyes, grief in the Head, anguish, horrors, paleness of the Face and Lips, gnawing of the Stomach, no motion of the Infant, coldness and looseness of the mouth of the Womb; the thickness of the Belly? which was above, is fallen down; waterish and bloody Excrements comes from the Matrix.   

CHAP. XIV. Direction for Breeding Women.  
THe prevention of Untimely Birth consists in the taking away of the aforementioned Causes, which must be effected both before and after Conception.  
Before Conception, If the Body be over hot, Cold, Dry or Moist, correct it with the Contraries; if Cacochimical, Purge it; if Plethorical, open the Liver Vein; if too Gross, Extenuate it; if too Lean, Corroborate and Nourish it; all Diseases of the Womb must be removed, as I have showed.  
After Conception, let the Air be Temperate, Sleep not overmuch; avoid Watching, Exercise of Body, Passions of the Mind, loud Clamours and filthy Smells: Sweet Odours also are to be rejected of those that are Hysterical. Abstain from all things which provoke either the Urine or Courses, also from Salt, sharp and windy Meats; a moderate Diet shall be observed.  
If the Excrements of the Guts be retained, Lenify the Belly with Clysters made of the Decoction of Mallows, Violets, with Sugar, and common Oil: Or make Broth with borage, Bugloss, Beets, Mallows, taking in the same a little Manna. On the Contrary; if she be troubled with Looseness of the Belly, let it not be frayed without the Judgement of a Physician: for all Uterine Fluxes have a malign Quality in them, which must be Evacuated before the Flux be stayed.  
The Cough is another Accident which accompanieth breeding Women, and puts them into great danger of Miscarrying, so by continual Distillation falling from the Brain; to prevent which, shave away the Hair on the Coronal, and Sagittal Commissure, and apply thereon this Plaster: Take Resinae, half an Ounce; Ladani one Dram; Citron-peels, Ligni Aloes Olibani, of each one Scruple; Stirachis Liquidae, et Siccae, a sufficient Quantity: dissolve the Gums in Vinegar, and make a Plaster. At night going to Bed, let her take the Fume of these▪ Trochisks cast upon the Coals. Take of Frankincense, Stirax, powder of Red Roses, of each one dram and a half, Sandarachae, 3 Drams; Mastic, Benjamin, Amber, of each one Dram, with Turpentine make Trochisks. Apply a Cautery to the Nape of the Neck; and every Night let her take of these Pills following. Take Hypocistidis, Terrae Sigillatae, fine Bole, of each half an Ounce; Bistort, Acatiae, Stinacis Calamitae, of each two drams; Cloves one Dram; with Syrup of Myrtles make Pills.  
In breeding Women there is a corrupted matter generated, which flowing to the ventricle dejecteth the appetite and causeth vomiting: and the stomach being weak, not able to digest this matter, sometime sends it unto the guts, whereby is caused a flux of the belly, which greatly stirreth up the faculty of the Womb. For the eschewing therefore of all these dangers, the stomach shall be corroborated as followeth.  
Take Ligni Aloes, Nutmeg, of each one dram, Mace, Cloves, Mastic, laudanum, of each 2 Scruples; Oil of Spike, one Ounce; Musk 2 grains, Oil of Mastic, Quinces, Wormwood, of each half an Ounce; make an Unguent for the stomach, to be applied before Meals. Instead hereof may be used Cerotum Stomachale Galeni. Take of conserve of Borage, Bugloss, Anthos, of each half an Ounce; Confect. de Hyacintho, Lemon Pills condited, Specierum Diamarg. Pulu. de Gemmis, of each 2 drams; Nutmeg, Diambrae, of each 2 Scruples; Peony-Roots, D●acoralli, of each one dram; with Syrup of Roses make an Electuary of which she shall take twice a day, two hours before Meals. Another accident which perplexeth Women with Child, is swelling of the legs, which happens the first three Months, by superfluous humours falling down from the stomach and liver; for the cure whereof, Take of Oil of Roses 2 drams, Salt, Vinegar of each a dram; shake them altogether until the salt be dissolved, and anoint the legs hot therewith, chafing it in with the hand. But purging is more proper, if it may be done without danger, as it may in the fourth, 5th and 6th Month of pregnation: for a Child in the Womb is compared to an Apple on the tree. The first three months it is weak and tender, subject with the Apple to fall away: but afterwards the Membranes being strengthened, the fruit remains firmly fattened in the Womb, not apt to mischances; and so it continues, until the seventh month; then growing near the time of maturity, the ligaments are again relaxt (like unto the Apple that is almost ripe) and grow loser every day until the time of delivery. If therefore her Body hath need of purging, she way purge without danger in the 4th, 5th, or 6th month; but not before, nor after, unless in some sharp disease, in which the Mother and Child both are like to perish. Apply Plasters and Unguents to the reins, to strengthen the fruit of the Womb. Take of Gum Arabic, Galangale, Bistort, Hypocistid, Storax, of each one dram; Fine bowl, Nutmeg, Mastic, Belaust, Sang, Draconis, Myrtleberries one dram and half; Wax and Turpentine, a sufficient quantity. Make a Plaster: Apply it to the reins in the Winter time; and remove it every 14 days, lest the reins be over hot therewith. In the interim anoint the privities and reins with Vnguentum Comitissae. But if it be summer time, and the reins hot, this plaster following is more proper. Take of red Roses one pound, Mastic, red Sanders, of each 2 drams, Bole-armeny, red Coral, Bistort, of each one dram: pomegranate Pills, prepared Coriander, of each 2 drams and half; Barberries two Scruples, Oil of Mastic and Quinces, of each one Ounce; juice of Plantain 2 drams: with Pitch make a Plaster, anoint the reins also with Vnguentum Sandalinum. Once every week wash the reins with two parts of Rose water and one part of White-wine, mingled together and warmed at the fire: this will assuage the heat of the reins, and disperse the Oil of the Plaster out of the pores of the skin, and cause the Ointment or Plaster, the sooner to penetrate and, strengthen the Womb. Some are of opinion on that as long as the Loadstone is laid to the navel, it keepeth the Woman from abortion. The like also is recorded of the stone Aetites being hanged about the Neck. The same virtue hath the stone Samius.   

CHAP. XV. Directions to be observed by Women at the time of their falling in Labour, in order to their safe Delivery; with Directions for Midwives.  
ANd thus having given necessary Directions to Childbearing Women how to govern themselves during the time of their Pregnancy, I shall now add what's necessary for them to observe in order to their Delivery.  
The time of Birth drawing near, let the woman send for a skilful Midwife, and that rather too soon than too late; against which time let her prepare a Pallet-Bed or Couch, and place it near the fire, that the Midwife and her Assistants may pass round, and help on every side, as occasion requires, having change of Linen ready, and a small Cricket or little Log to rest her feet against, she having more force when they are bowed, than when they are otherwise.  
Having thus provided, when the woman feels her pains come, if the weather be not very cold, let her walk leisurely about the room, resting herself by turns upon the Bed, and so expect the coming down of her water, which is a Humour contracted in one of the outward Membranes, and flows thence when it is broke by the struggling of the Child, there being no direct time affixed for its Efflux, tho' generally it flows not above two hours before the Birth. Motion likewise will cause the Womb to open and dilate itself, when lying long in Bed will be uneasy; yet if she be very weak, she may take some gentle Cordial to refresh herself, if ●er pains will permit.  
If her Travel be tedious, she may revive her Spirits with taking Broth or Chickens, or Mutton, or she may take a poached Egg; but must ●ake heed of taking any thing to excess.  
As for the posture women are delivereed in, ●hey are divers; some lying in their Beds, there's sitting in a Chair, supported and held ●y others, or resting upon the side of the Bed ●r Chair; some again upon their Knees, be●●g; supported under their Arms; but the most ●●fe and commodious way is in the Bed; and ●●en the Midwife ought to observe these following Rules: Let her lay the woman upon her ●ack, her Head a little raised by the help of a ●●llow, having the like help to support her ●●eins and Buttocks, and that her Rump lie ●●gh; for if she lie low, she cannot be well slivered: Then let her keep her Knees and thighs as far asunder as she can, her legs bow●● together; her Buttocks, the Soles of her Feet, and Heels, being fixed upon a little Log of Timber placed for that purpose, that she may the better strain: And in case her Back be very weak, a Swathing-band may be cast under it, the band being four double, and about twelve Inches broad, and this must be held by two Persons, who with steady hands and equal motion must raise her up at the time her pains happen; but if they be not exact in their motion, 'tis better let alone; and at the same time let two women hold her Shoulders, that she may then strain out the birth with more advantage; and then to facilitate it, let a woman stroke or press the upper part of her Belly gently, and by degrees. Nor must the woman herself be faint-hearted, but of a good Courage, forcing herself, by straining and stopping her breath.  
In case of Delivery, the Midwife must wait with Patience, till the Child's Head, or other Members, burst the Membrane; for if through ignorance, or haste to be gone to other Women, as some have done, the Midwife tear the Membrane with her Nails, she endangers both the Woman and the Child; for it lying dry, and wanting that slipperiness that should make it easy, it comes forth with greater pain.  
When the Head appears, the Midwife must gently hold it between her two hands, and draw the Child at such times as the Woman's pangs are upon her, and at no other, slipping by degrees her four fingers under its Armpits, not using a rough hand in drawing it forth, lest by that means the tender Infant receive any Deformity of Body.  
As soon as the Child is taken forth, which is for the most part with its Face downwards, let it be laid upon its back, that it may more freely receive external Respiration; then cut the Navel-string about three Inches from the body, tying that end which adheres to the belly, with a silken string, as near as you can, then cover the Head and Stomach of the Child well, suffering nothing to come upon the Face.  
The Child being thus drawn forth, and in health, lay it aside, and let the Midwife regard the Patient, in drawing forth the Secundine: And this she may do by wagging and stirring them up and down, and afterwards with a gentle hand drawing them forth; and if the work be difficult let the Woman hold Salt in her hands, shut them close, and breathe hard into them, and thereby she shall know whether the Membranes be broken or not: It may be also known by causing her to strain or vomit, by putting one Finger down her Throat, or by straining or moving her lower parts, but let all be done out of hand. If this fail, let her take a draught of raw Elder-water, or the Yolk of a newlaid Egg, or smell to a piece of Assafoetida, especially if she be troubled with the Wind-colic. If she happen to take cold, it is a great Obstruction to the coming down of she Secundines, and in such cases the Midwife ought to chafe the woman's belly gently, which breaks not only the Wind, but obliges the Secundines to come down,; but these proving ineffectual, the Midwife must dilate with her Hand the exterior Orifice of the Womb, and gently draw it forth.  
Having now discoursed of common Births, or such as for the most part are easy, I shall now give Directions in case of Extremity.   

CHAP. XVI. In Case of Extremity, what ought to be Observed, especially to Women, who in their Travel are accompanied with an Efflux of Blood, Convulsion, or Fits of the Wind.  
IF the Woman's Labour be hard and difficult, greater Regard must be had then at other times: And first of all, the situation of the Womb, and her posture of lying, must be cross the Bed, being held by those that are Strong, to prevent her slipping down, or moving herself in the operation of the Man-midwife, or Chirurgeon; her Thighs must be put asunder as wide as may be, and so held, whilst her Legs bends backward towards her Hips; her Head leaning upon a Bolster, and the Reins of her Back supported after the same manner; her Rump and Buttocks being lifted up, observing to cover her Stomach, Belly and Thighs, with warm Linen, to keep them from the Cold.  
The Woman being in this posture, let the Operator put up his Hand, if he finds the neck of the Womb dilated, and remove the contracted Blood that obstructs the passage of the Birth; and having by degrees gently made way, let him tenderly move the Infant, his hand being first anointed with sweet Butter, or a harmless Pomatum; and if the Waters are not come down, then without any difficulty may they be let forth, when if the Infant should attempt to break forth with the head foremost o● cross, he may gently turn it to find the Feet, which having done, let him draw forth one, and fasten it to a Ribbon, than put it up again, and by degrees find the other, when bringing them as close and even as may be, and between while, letting the Woman breathe, urging her to strain in helping Nature to perfect the Birth, that he may draw it forth; and the better to do it, and that his hold may be surer, he must fasten or wrap a Linen Cloth about the Child's Thighs, observing to bring it into the World with its Face downward.  
In case of a Flux of Blood, if the ne●● of the Womb be open, it must be considered, whether the Infant or the Secundi●●s come first, which the latter sometimes happening to do, stops the Mouth of the Womb, and hinders the Birth, to the endangering both the Woman and Child; but in this case the Secundine must be removed by a swift turn, and indeed they have by their so coming down, deceived many, who feeling their softness, supposed the Womb was not dilated, and by this means the Woman and Child, or at least the latter, has been lost: The Secundines removed, the Child must be sought for, and drawn forth, as has been directed: And if in such a Case the Woman or Child die, the Midwife or Chirurgeon is blameless, because they did their true endeavour.  
If it appear upon enquiry, that the Secundine comes first, let the Woman be delivered with all convenient Expedition, because a great flux of Blood will follow, for then the Veins are opened, and upon this account two things are to be considered;  
First, The manner of the Secundines advancing, whether it be much or little; if the former, and the head of the Child appear first, it must be guided and directed towards the neck of the Womb, as in case of Natural Births; but if there appear any difficulty in the Delivery, the best way is to search for the Fe●● and thereby draw it forth; but if the latter, the Secundines may be put back with a gentle hand, and the Child first taken forth.  
But if the Secundine be far advanced, so that it cannot be put back, and the Child follow it close, then are the Secundines to be taken forth with much care, as swift as may be, and laid aside without cutting the Entrail that is fastened to them, for thereby you may be guided to the Infant, which, whether alive or dead, must be drawn forth by the Feet, with all Celerity, tho' it is not to be acted, unless in Case of great Necessity, for in other Cases the Secundine aught to come last.  
And in drawing forth a dead Child, let these Directions be carefully heeded by the Chirurgeon, viz. If the Child be found dead with its Head foremost, the Delivery w●ll be the more difficult; for it is an apparent Sign the Woman's Strength gins to fall h●● and that the Child being Dead, and wanting its Natural Force, can be no ways assisting to its Delivery; wherefore the most certain and safe way is, tor the Chirurgeon to put up his left Hand, sliding it as hollow in the Palm as he can, into the Neck of the Womb, and into the lower part thereof, towards the Feet, and that between the Head of the Infant, and the Neck of the Matrix; when having a Hook in the right Hand, couch it close, and slit it up above the left Hand, between the Head of the Child, and the flat of his Hand, fixing it in the Bone of the Temple towards the Eye; or for want of convenient coming at these, in the oceipital Bone; observe still to keep the left hand in its place; and with it gently moving and stirring the Head; and so with the right Hand and Hook, draw the Child forward Admonishing the Woman to put forth her utmost Strength, still drawing when the Woman's pangs are upon her. The Head being drawn forth, he must with all speed slip his hand under the Armholes of the Child, and take it quite forth, giving these things to the Woman, viz. A Toast of fine Wheat Bread, in a Quarter of a Pint of Hippocrass Wine.  
Now the former Application and Endeavour failing, when the Woman is in her Bed, let her receive the ensuing Portion hot, and rest till she feel the Operation, which is this,  
Take blue Figs, to the number of Seven, cut them in pieces, adding to them Fenugreek, Mother-wort, and Seeds of Rue, of each five Drams; water of , and Motherwort, of each six Ounces; boil them till one half be consumed, and having strained them again, add Trochisks of Myrrh a Dram, and of Saffron three Grains; sweetening the Liquor with Loaf-Sugar, and spicing it with Cinnamon.  
Having rested upon this, let her Labour again as much as may be, and if she be not yet successful, make a Suffumation of Castor, Opo●anax, Sulphur, and Assafoetida, of each half a Dram, beating them into pouder, and wetting them with the Juice of Rue until they become stiff, then hum them upon Coals, so that the Smoke, or the Fume, may only come to the Matrix, and no further.  
If these effect not your Desire, than this Emplaster is very fitly to be apylied, viz. Take of Galbanum an Ounce and a half, Colocynthis without Grains Two Drams, the Juice of Motherwort and Rue, of each Half an Ounce, and two ounces of Virgin's Bees wax, bruise and melt them together, spreading them as a Cerecloth, to reach from the Navel to Os Pubis, spreading likewise to the Flanks at the same time, making a convenient Pessary of Wool, closing it in a Bag of Silk, and dipping it in a Concoction of round Birthwort, Savin, Colocynthis with Grains, Stavesaker, Black Hellebore, of each a dram, and of Rue a little ●sprig or two.  
But these things not having the desired success, and the Woman's danger increasing, let the Chirurgeon use his instruments to dilate and widen the Womb, to which end the Woman must be set in Chair, so that she may turn her Crupper as much from its Back as is convenient, drawing up her Legs as close as she can, but spreading her Thighs as wide as may be, or if she he very weak, it may be more convenient, that she be laid upon the Bed, with her Head downwards, her Buttocks raised, and her Legs drawn up as much as can be; at what time the Chirurgeon with his Speculum Matricis or his Apertory, may dilate the Womb, and draw out the Child and Secundines together, if it be possible; which being done, the Womb must be well washed and anointed, and the Woman laid in her Bed, and comforted with Spices, and Cordials: This course must be taken in the delivery of all dead Children, likewise with Moles, Secundines, and false Births, that will not of themselves come forth in due season; or if the instruments aforesaid, will not sufficiently widen the Womb, than other instruments, as the Drakes Bill, and long Pincers, aught to be used.  
If it so happen that any Inflammation, Swelling, or congealed Blood, be contracted in the Matrix, under the Film of those tumors, either before or after the Birth, where the matter appears thinner, then let the Midwife with a Penknife or incision instrument, Launch it; and press out the corruption, healing it with a Pessary dipped in Oil of Red Roses.  
If at any time through cold or some violence, the Child happen to be swelled in any part, or have contracted a watery Tumour, if it remain alive, such means must be used as are least injurious to the Child or Mother; but if it be dead, that Tumour must be let out by incision to facilitate the Birth.  
If (as it often happens) that the Child comes with its Feet foremost, and the Hands, dilating themselves from the Hips, in such case the Midwife must be provided of necessary Ointments to stroke and anoint the Infant with, to help its coming forth, lest it return again into the Womb, holding at the same time, both the Arms of the Infant, close to the Hips, that so it may issue forth after its manner, but if it prove too big, the Womb must be well anointed. The Woman may also take sneezing Powder, to make her strain; those that attend, may gently struck down her Belly, to make the Birth descend, and keep the Child from retiring back.  
Sometimes it falls out that the Child coming with its Feet foremost, has its Arms extended above its Head, but the Midwife must not receive it so, but put it back into the Womb, unless the Passage be extraordinary wide, and then she must anoint both the Child and the Womb; nor is it safe to draw it forth before it is put into due form, which must be done after this manner: The Woman must be laid upon her Back, with her Head depressed, and her Buttocks raised, and then the Midwife with a ge●tle hand, must compress the Belly of the Woman, towards the Midrif, by that means to put back the Infant, observing to turn the Face, of the Child towards the back of the Mother, raising up its Thighs and Buttocks towards her Navel, that so the Birth may be more natural.  
If a Child happen to come forth with one Foot, the Arm being extended along the side, and the other Foot turned backward, then must the Woman be instantly brought to her Bed, and laid in the posture above described, at what time the Midwife must caresully put back the Foot so appearing, and the Woman rocking herself from one side to the other, till she find the Child is turned; but she must not alter her posture, nor turn upon her Face, after which she may expect her pains, and must have great assistance, and Cordials, to revive and support her Spirits.  
At other times it happens that the Child ●les cross in the Womb, and falls upon its side; in this case, the Woman must not be urged in her Labour, neither can any expect the Birth in that manner: Therefore the Midwife, when she finds it so, she must use great diligence to reduce it to its right form, or at least to such a form in the Womb, as may make the delivery possible, and most Easy, by moving the Buttocks, and guiding the Head to the Passage, and if she be successful herein, let her again try by rocking herself to and fro, and wait with patience till it change its manner of lying.  
Sometimes the Child hastens the Birth, with its Legs and Arms expanded, in which, as in the former, the Woman must rock herself, but not with violence, till she find those parts fall to their proper stations, or it may be done by a gentle compression of the Womb: but if neither of them prevail, the Midwife with her Hand must close the Legs of the Infant, and if she can come at them, do the like to the Arms, and so draw it forth; but if it can be reduced of itself to the posture of a natural Birth, it is better.  
If the Infant come forward with both Knees foremost, and the Hands hanging down upon the Thighs, then must the Midwife put both Knees upward, till the Feet appear, taking hold of which with her Left Hand, let her keep her Right Hand on the side of the Child, and in that posture endeavour to bring it forth; but if she cannot, then must the Woman rock herself till the Child is in a more convenient posture for Delivery.  
Sometimes it happens that the Child presses forward with one arm stretched upon its thighs, and the other raised over its head, and the feet likewise stretched out at length in the Womb; in such a case the Midwife must not attempt to receive the Child in that posture, but must lay the Woman upon the Bed in the manner before recited, making a soft and gentle Compression upon her belly, to oblige the Infant to retire; which if it do not, then must the Midwise thrust it back by the shoulders, and bring the arm that was stretched above the head to its right place, for certain it is, there is most danger in these Extremities; and therefore the Midwife must observe to anoint her hands first, and the womb of the woman, with sweet Butter, or some convenient Pomatum, thrusting up her hand as near as she can to the arm of the Infant, and reduce it to the side; but if that cannot so be done, let the woman be laid on her Bed, there to rest for a while, in which time perhaps the Child may be reduced to a better posture, which th● Midwife finding, she must draw the arms clos● to the hips, and so receive it.  
If an Infant come with its Buttocks foremost, and almost double, than the Midwife anointing her hand, must thrust it up, and gently heaving up the buttocks and the back, strive to turn the head to the passage, but not too hastily, lest the Infant retiring should shape it worse; and therefore if it cannot be turned with the hand, the woman must rock herself upon her Bed, taking such comfortable things as may support her Spirits till she perceive the Child to turn.  
If a Child's neck be bowed, and it comes forward with its shoulders, as it sometimes happens, and with its hands and feet stretched upwards: Then the Midwife must gently move the shoulders, that she may direct the head to the passage; and the better to effect it, the woman must rock herself, as afore directed. These and other the like methods are to be observed in all single Births: And the same may be observed in case a woman have Twins, or three Children at a birth, as sometimes happens: For as the single Birth has but one Natural way, and many Unnatural Forms, even so it may be in double or triple births: Wherefore in such cases the Midwife must take care to receive that first, which is nearest the passage, but not letting the other go, lest by retiring it should change the Form; and when one is born, she must be speedy in bringing forth the other; and this Birth, if it be in the natural way, is more easy; because the Children are commonly less than those of a single birth, and so require a lesser passage; but if this birth comes unnaturally, it is more dangerous than the other.  
In the birth of Twins, let the Midwife be very careful that the Secundines be naturally brought forth, lest the Womb being delivered of its burden, fall; and so the Secundine continues there longer than is consistent with the woman's safety.  
But if one of the Twins happen to come with the head, the other with the feet foremost, then let the Midwife deliver the natural birth first, and then if she cannot turn the other, draw it out in the posture it presses forward; but if that with its feet downward be before the other, she may deliver that first, turning the other aside.  
But in this case the Midwife must carfully see that it be not a Monstrous Birth instead of Twins; as a body with two heads, or two bodies joined together, which she may soon know, if both the heads come foremost, by putting up her hand between them, as high as she can; and than if she find they are Twins, she must gent●y put one of them aside, to make, way for the other; taking that first which is most advanced, having regard to the other, that she do not change its situation.  
And for the safety of the first Child, as soon as it comes forth out of the Womb, the Midwife must tie the Navel-Sring, as has been before directed; and also bind with a large and long Fillet that part of the Navel that is fastened to the Secundines, the more readily to find them.  
The second Infant being born, let the Midwife carefully examine whether there be not two Secundines, for it sometimes falls out that by the shortness of the Ligament it retires back, to the prejudice of the woman: Wherefore left the Womb should close, it is most expedient to hasten them forth with all convenient speed.  
If two Infants are joined together by the Body, as sometimes Monstrously falls out, then although the Heads should come foremost, yet it is convenient, if possible, to turn them, and draw them forth by the Feet, observing when they come to the Hips, to draw them forth as soon as may be: And here great Care ought to be used in anointing and widening the Passage. But this sort of Births rarely happening, I shall need to say the less of them: And therefore shall next show how Women should be Ordered after Delivery.   

CHAP. XVII. How Childbearing Women ought to be Ordered after their Delivery.  
IF a Woman has had very hard Labour, then after Delivery it is convenient to wrap her in the Skin of a Sheep taken off before it is cold, putting the fleshy side to her Reins and Belly, or for want of this, the Skin of a Hare or Coney, being ●layed off as soon as killed, may be applied to the same Parts; and in so doing the Dilation made in the Birth will be closed up, and the Melancholy Blood expelled from those parts: And these may be continued the space of an hour or two; after which let the Woman be swathed with a fine Linen Cloth, about a quarter of a Yard in length, chase her belly before it be Swathed, with Oil of St. Johnswort, after that raise up the Matrix with a linen Cloth many times folded, then with a little Pillow or Quilt cover her Flanks, then place the Swath somewhat above the Haunches, winding it pretty stiff, applying at the same time a warm Cloth to her Nipples, and not presently applying Remedies, to keep back the Milk, by reason the body at such a time is out of Frame, for there is neither Vein nor Artery which does not strongly beat, and Remedies to drive back the Milk being of a dissolving Nature, it is improper to apply them to the Breast during such Disorder, lest by so doing, evil humours be contracted in the Breast, wherefore twelve hours ought to be at the least allowed for the Circulation and settlement of the Blood, and what was cast upon the Lungs by the vehement Agitation during the Labour, to retire to its proper Receptacles.  
A while after Delivery you may make a restrictive of the Yolk of two Eggs and a quarter of a pint of White-wine, Oil of S. John's Wort, Oil of Roses, Plantain and Rose-water, of each one Ounce; mix them together, fold a Linen Cloth, and dip therein, warm it before a gentle Fire, and apply it to the Breast, and the Pains of those parts will be greatly eased.  
She must by no means Sleep presently after Delivery; but about four hours aften she may take Broth, Caudle, or what other liquid matter is nourishing, and then if she be disposed to Sleep, it may be safely permitted. And this is as much, in case of a Natural Birth, as aught immediately to be done.  
But in case of Extremity, or an Unnatural Birth, these Rules ought to be observed. In the first place, let the Woman keep a Temperate Diet, by no means overcharging herself after such an excessive Evacuation; not being ruled or giving Credit to unskilful Nurses, who admonish them to feed hearty, the better to repair the loss of Blood; for that Blood is not for the most part, pure, but such as has been detained in the Vessels or Membranes, better avoided for the health of the Woman than kept, unless there happens an extraordinary Flux of Blood: for if her Nourishment be too much, it may make her liable to a Fever, and increase the Milk to superfluity, which Curdling, often turns to Aposthumes.  
Wherefore it is requisite, for the first five days especially, that she take moderately Pomado, broth, Poached Eggs, Jelly of Chickens, or Calf's Feet, French Barley-broth, each day some what increasing the quantity; and if she intent to be Nurse to her Child, she may take a little more than ordinary to increase the Milk by degrees, which must be of no continuance, but drawn off, either by the Child or otherwise. In this case likewise, let her have Coriander or Fennel-seed, boiled in her Barley-broth; but by any means, for the time specified, let her abstain from Meat: If no Fever trouble her, she may drink now and then a small quantity of White-wine, or Claret, as also Syrup of Maidenhair, or any other Syrup that is of an Astringent quality, taking it in a little water well boiled: And after the fear of a Fever, or contraction of Humours in the Breast is over, she may be nourished more plentifully with the broth of Pullet's, Capons, Pigeons, Mutton, Veal, etc. Which must not be till after eight days, from the time of her delivery, at what time the Womb, unless some accident hinder, has purged itself; it will be then likewise expedient to give her cold Meats, but let it be sparingly, that so she may the better gather strength; and let her during the time rest quietly and free from disturbance, not sleeping in the day time if she can avoid it If there happen any obstruction in the Evacuation of her Excrement, the following Glister may be administered.  
Take of both the Mallows and Pelletory of the Wall, a handful; Camomile and Mellilote Flowers, of each a handful; Anniseeds and Fennel Seeds, of each two Ounces; boil them in the Decoction of a Sheepshead, and take of this three Quarters, dissolving in them of common Honey, and Course Sugar, and of New fresh Butter, two Ounces; strain it well, and Administer it Glisterwise: But if it does not operate to your mind, than you may take an Ounce of Catholicon.   

CHAP. XVIII. How to expel the Colic from Women in Childbirth, etc.  
THese pains frequently afflict the Woman, no less than the pangs of her Labour, and are by the Ignorant, taken ●any times the one for the other, and sometimes ●hey both happen at the same instant, which is ●ccasioned by raw, crude, and watery matter ●n the Stomach, contracted through ill digestion; and while such a pain lasts, the woman's Travel is retarded: Therefore to expel the ●its of the Colic, Take two Ounces of Oil ●f sweet Almonds, and an ounce of Cinnamon Water, with three or four drops of Spirit of Ginger, and let the Woman drink it off; and 〈◊〉 this do not abate the pains, make a Clyster ●f Camomile, Baum Leaves, Oil Olive, and ●ew Milk, boiling the former in the latter; ●nd having strained it very well, administer it ●s 'tis usual in such cases; and then Fomenta●ons proper for dispelling of Wind would not ●e amiss.  
If the pain prove the Griping of the Guts, ●nd long after Delivery, Then take of the Root ●f great Comfry a dram, Nutmeg and Peach kernels, of each two scruples; yellow Amber ●ne dram, Ambergris one scruple; bruise ●em together, and give them the Woman as ●on as She is laid down, in two or three spoonfuls of White-wine, but if it so hap that She be Feverish, then let it be 〈◊〉 as much warm Broth, etc.   

The Conclusion.  
AND thus, Courteous Reaeder, we are come to the Conclusion of our Work, having fully Unravelled the Secrets of Nature in the Generation of Man; which (however it may be Ridiculed by the profane Wits of the Age) has been the Work and Study of very Great and Wise, both Philosophers and Physicians in all Ages; as appears by the Indefatigable Labours of the Great Aristotle, (out of whose Learned Works we have Extracted this Book) a Man of that Profound Learning and Science, that Alexander the Great was not Ashamed to own, That he owed more to him for his Education, than to his Father Philip for his Kingdom: But a Greater than Aristotle (or Alexander either) has made the Secrets of Nature in the Wonderful framing of Man in the Womb, the Subject of his Divine Meditations; even the Royal Prophet David, Psalm 139.— Thou hast possessed my Reins; thou hast covered me in my Mother's Womb, etc.  
And now, Reader, you have seen herein that there is not any Malady attends either the Child in the Womb, or the Mother during her Pregnancy; but Nature and Art has provided a Remedy, which that they may prove Successful, is the Design and End of the Compiler.    
FINIS.