The Female Physician / Containing all the diseases incident to that sex, in virgins, wives, and widows; together with their causes and symptoms, their degrees of danger, and respective methods of prev
Date: 2020-12-21T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Obstetrics -- Early works to 1800; Midwifery -- Early works to 1800

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Title: The Female Physician

Author: John Maubray

Release date: December 21, 2020 [eBook #64097]

Language: English

Credits: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FEMALE PHYSICIAN ***

Transcriber’s Note:

The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

THE
FEMALE PHYSICIAN,
Containing all the
Diseases incident to that Sex,
IN
Virgins, Wives, and Widows;
TOGETHER
With their Causes and Symptoms, their Degrees of Danger, and respective Methods of Prevention and Cure:
To which is added,
The Whole ART of New improv’d Midwifery;
COMPREHENDING
The necessary Qualifications of a Midwife, and particular Directions for laying Women, in all Cases of Difficult and Preternatural Births; together with the Diet and Regimen of both the Mother and Child.

By John Maubray, M. D.

—— ——Opiferq; per Orbem

Dicor,—— Ovid. Met.

LONDON:

Printed for James Holland, at the Bible and

Ball, in St. Paul’s-Church-Yard. 1724.

To all Learned and Judicious Professors of Physick, as well as Ingenuous and Experienced Practisers of Midwifery.

Most Excellent Societies,

I Have generally observ’d, that Men address their Works to improper Hands; some aim at Personages too great, to regard them; others stoop to Men too unlearned, to defend them: Some again make their Court and apply to Persons in Vogue or in Place, and others cringe and creep after Purse-proud Patrons: But as I pursue not the common Designs of Dedicators, so I have studied no subterfuges of Flattery, nor Flourishes of Panegyrick in this Dedication. I know, that, whatever my Performance may prove, a substantial Work will stand securely upon its own Bottom, and make its way into the World, without any secondary Helps; whereas a slight Defective Piece will fall and be quash’d, tho’ it should even strut with Majesty itself in its glaring Front.

Had I then presum’d upon any particular Voucher for the Female Physician, it would have look’d like acknowledging Guilt and seeking for Defence; Because You, and none else, are the competent Judges in Affairs of this Nature: God having entrusted you only with the Lives of Men; and you (under Him) being the Sole Preservers of Life and the great Distributers of Health, I have thought it my Duty to make this solemn Application to your August Societies in general; and in this manner to render you some small Account of the TALENT, which some of your selves have entrusted me with for Improvement.

In fine, your famous Fraternities being universally celebrated for encouraging of Learning and promoting Ingenuity, You are still the more highly entitled to my Endeavours in both respects; and I my self in all points of Humanity the more secure of your candid Interpretation. The undertaking then being yours by Birth, it has a Natural Claim to your Care; And it being the Duty of Men to provide for their Off-Spring, it has a peculiar Right to your Patronage. Wherefore, with all due Deference and becoming Submission to your wiser Judgments, I lay the Dedication as well as the Work it self entirely at your Feet, in Hopes of your courteous Reception and benign Tutelage both at Home and Abroad: Upon which (in short) I beg Leave to Subscribe my self, with profound Veneration,

Your Eminent Societies,
Most Faithful, and
Most Obedient, Servant

John Maubray.

THE
PREFACE
TO THE
READER.

As the Study of Physick has differ’d in every Age, according to the prevailing Opinions and Ambiguous Determinations of Philosophers, so the Practice of Midwifery has also varied, according to the Judicious Experiments and successful Operations of Professors; until of late Years, by the many happy Discoveries and strict Inquiries made into the Secrets of Nature, and Natural Causes, these Healing and obstetricious Arts are so much improv’d and advanc’d, that, they now seem to be arriv’d at their very Height of Perfection: Insomuch that both the one and the other stand this Day upon as sure a Foundation, and as certain Principles, as most other Sciences do, which notwithstanding are not exempted from the Fate of Casualties.

THE Case then being so, it becomes all Men of Ingenuity and Integrity, to be also Communicative of such Things, as may tend to the Welfare of their Neighbours and to the Common Good of Mankind; since according to the Excellent Poet,

Scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc, sciat alter.

THIS was the Principle of the Ancients, who, as they discover’d the Natural Debility of the Female Sex, and that Women were not only Subject to all Diseases in common with Men, but also obnoxious to a vast many Distempers peculiarly singular to themselves, were first mov’d to write particular Books, and respective Treatises, upon these Heads: The most wise and divine Hippocrates, first breaking the Ice, after him Diocles, next Aetius, and at last many others; For the more Learned and Ingenious that any one found himself in his respective Age, the more readily he exercis’d himself in these difficult Points.

BUT now a-days Women may well complain, and cry out with Soranus, “O malè Occupatum virorum Genus, occidimur nos, non Morimur: Et ab illis, qui inter vos peritissimi existimantur, perperam curatæ, vos vero de qualibet vel levissima vestrarum Affectionum, Libros ex Libris facientes, Bibliothecas voluminibus oneratas, de Nostris inter ea diris ac difficillimis Cruciatibus, nulla vel exigua, & ea quidem satis oscitanter mentione factâ”: That Men, in short, study their own Good, and take more Care of Themselves than of the Women.

BECAUSE then there are so many Faults and Defects in this part of Physick; in that the Antients, by reason of their precise Gravity, rendred their Works either obscure, or at least difficult to be understood: As some of the more modern Authors have, treated them but Partially and Defectively in most respects; others but transiently and indifferently, or as if they were otherways employ’d: Some again darkly and briefly; others so confusedly and prolixly, that we may justly say to them, as the Lacedemonians did to the Samian Legats of old; “Prioris orationis vestræ partis sumus obliti, postremam ob primæ oblivionem non intelleximus”: We have forgot the Beginning of your Discourse, and for that reason, cannot understand the latter Part.

THESE being the Reasons of this Undertaking, I shall trouble you with no farther Apologies in its behalf, save only that I thought it my Duty, notwithstanding the Considerable Charge and immense Labour, not only so far to endeavour to imitate my Predecessors, but also to deserve well of Humane Kind, and particularly of English Women: First by collecting these things, which I have found clearly written by the most approved Authors, together with what I have conceiv’d to be true and Rational by my own painful Study, frequent Speculation, and assiduous Practice; and Secondly by publishing this Praxis and Analysis of Women’s Distempers, as they are accurately, tho’ succinctly comprehended in this small Volume: Yet not so briefly neither, but that most Things are consider’d and explain’d for removing Obscurity; nor so prolixly, that any Head is swell’d with Trifles or empty Words: And that not only in our vernacular Tongue, but also in a certain middle Style, adapted to the Capacity of the meanest Reader; so that if it be possible, where the Flowers are thinnest Sown, there the Fruit may appear the thickest; Because I have all along consider’d this to be no Work of Eloquence, but of Midwifery, or Physick, or both together, if you please, in which I have studied the common Good, but no vain Glory.

IN composing the Work, I have follow’d such Methods as seem’d to me the most conducive towards its Use and Design, and insisted only upon such Topicks, as can be most serviceable to the World, and absolutely necessary in the Practice of either of these Arts; without touching upon any of the pompous Superfluities, with which Physick, as well as other Professions, is now a-days over-run and embarrass’d: The one I apprehended to concern my Integrity, and the other only an empty Applause. But that you may be at no Loss in conceiving the Regularity of my Method, because of the variety of Subjects to be met with, I shall here delineate or draw out the Lines of the Work, and give you some distant Idea of it, if possible, by a general Hint upon every Part or Section of the Book, Viz.

IN the first Part, I have explain’d the History of the Formation and Animation of Man, together with the Maturation, Nutrition, and Position of the Infant in the Womb; to which I have subjoin’d the Anatomical Account of the Membranes and Waters, as well as of the After-Birth and Navel-String. I have likewise in this place previously set forth the Dignity and Excellency of Man, together with the Faculties of our Souls, and the Qualities of our Bodies; And, having initiated the whole with the Natural Proofs of a God, and a short Dissertation upon Nature, I hope none will take that amiss, because my Belief in the one, and the small Knowledge I have acquir’d of the other, are to be my Guide throughout the Course of my Life, as well as my Directory in the present Performance.

IN the Second Part, I have not only explain’d the Natural Philosophy of the Maiden-State, and set forth the Passions, as well as the Diseases familiar to Virgins; but also defin’d the Power of Imagination, and added the Natural Reasons for the various Likenesses of Children.

IN the Third, I have expounded the Mystery of Conception, together with its Diagnostick Signs: I have directed the Regimen of the Pregnant Woman, and particularly set forth the various Symptoms of the Months of Gestation, together with the Acute Diseases incident to her in that Time. I have in the same place insisted at Large upon Miscarriage, and explain’d at length the Mystical Theory of Birth in general.

IN the Fourth Section, I have defin’d the Art of Midwifery, and the Contemplation of its Theoretical, as well as its Practical Knowledge: And, that Women practising this Art, may not mistake me in what is said or recommended to them, I have also addressed my self to Men professing the same Science; and, with all imaginable Impartiality, told them both their Faults and their Duties, however without any intended particular Reflection. To which I have subjoin’d a compleat Anatomical Description of the Parts of Generation proper to Women; together with the Natural History of the Matrix and its amazing Faculties.

IN the Fifth, I have ingenuously laid open the whole Mystery of Midwifery, as to all Sorts of Births, whether Natural or Preternatural, and faithfully laid down the Fundamental Principles and most certain Rules of this Profession; and that not only according to the best Notions of my own Application and Study, or the real Dictates of my proper Practice and Experience; but also according to the most ingenious Precepts and infallible Maxims of the ablest and most polite Professors of this excellent Art, and that also according to its newest and latest Improvements: And in these Cases, I have neither fear’d the Invectives of the Æmulous Zoilus, nor regarded the Snarlings of the reprehensive Momus: For Wise Men are not any longer to be entertained with Ænigmas, since God hath said, Fiat Lux.

IN the Sixth Part, I have not only prescrib’d the due Regimen, and provided for the Safety and happy Recovery of the Child-Bed-Woman, but also taken a suitable and corresponding Care of her Babe; As I have farther instilled particularly upon the various Disasters incident to both Mother and Child, in their respective tender Conditions of Child-Bed and Infancy.

IN the Seventh, I have dilucidated the Philosophical History of all the different Sorts of Preternatural Conceptions as well as Births; and insisted at large upon the Theme of Women’s Sterility or Barrenness.

IN the Eighth and last Section, I have not only defin’d the Widow-State, as far as it concern’d my Purpose, but also diligently pursued the Subject-Matter, and traced down the Particulars of their common Grievances.

THESE, I say, are the general Heads of the Work, which are all again sub-divided into their proper respective Particulars; and consequently every general Head or Section assign’d its own relative Chapters, for the singular Benefit and more easy Comprehension of the Reader. And these Chapters consisting of 130 in Number, I have, with respect to every singular Distemper mentioned in them, First, defin’d the Nature of the Disease; Secondly, accounted for its Causes; Thirdly, I have given the Diagnostick Signs or Symptoms; Fourthly, the Prognosticks or Degrees of Danger; to which I have Fifthly and lastly added the Method of Prevention in many Cases, and That of Cure in All: So that there is almost not one Disease which can affect the Woman from her Birth to her Death, in Child, Maiden, Wife, or Widow-hood, whose Essence, Species, Differences, Causes, Signs, and Prognosticks, we have not sufficiently clear’d up.

ALL these Things I have endeavour’d to be most particular in, to the end that any Woman, who reads, so as to be conversant with this Book, may know before She sends for her Physician, not only her Distemper, but also the Danger, with which she is threatned upon every Sickly occasion. And in these Things I flatter my self that this Work will prove Acceptable, where such a Number of Diseases and Symptoms are set forth in so clear a Light, that any Person, making use of their Eyes and Reason only, without being any ways vers’d in the Practice of Physick, or Midwifery, may evidently see, perceive, and by Experience find, every individual Case to answer these Ends, and the whole to correspond exactly with its Title and Contents.

BUT upon the whole, if here and there a brief Philosophical way of Reasoning has crept in, I would have you consider, that it could not be avoided; because the Proofs relating to Natural Things are sometimes taken from very minute Instruments; And that the Design of such an Interspersion, is only to assist your Understanding, and conduct your Thoughts through the Work. However in such Cases the Reader may go on, or pass by what does not suit with his Taste, as he pleases. Again if here and there, I have retain’d a Term of Art, which the common Reader may call a hard Word, I declare it is out of no Design to amuse any one, but out of mere Necessity, since otherways I should have been ridiculously singular, and far less understood: In the mean time I have taken what Care I could to explain the most, or at least the most requisite of These, insomuch that whatever Words or Sentences of this Kind are not fully interpreted, you may slip over, without losing any thing Material of the Purport of the Matter, such Things concerning the Practitioner more than the common Reader.

HOWEVER yet, if the Measures I have pursued in handling this uncultivated Subject, should not appear so exactly Methodical as some of you may expect, I shall only say for Excuse, that, as it belongs to hard Labour to cut out new Paths and Ways thro’ Woods and Desarts, and where Guides are wanting, to find out the shortest Cut; so it is only by frequent Travelling, that such Roads can become smooth and easy, however exactly plan’d. Again farther, I would have you also to consider the Difficulty of the Task, to contract Much in a Little; to omit Nothing which ought to be animadverted; to join Perspicuity with Brevity; and after all, finally to reduce the whole to the certain Precepts of Art.

I have incessantly perus’d the vast Volumes of others, Ancients as well as Moderns; and whatever may be found there variously dispers’d, over-strain’d, or collected profusely, without either Order, or Coherence, you’ll find here manifestly disposed, and neatly contracted in this small Work. I have sever’d the Grain from the Chaff, winnowed the Seeds from the Husks, and purged the Gold from the Ore, to the end that I might again successfully Sow what I have thus laboriously reaped; and digest all Things into such an easy and clear Method, that you’ll be at no Loss here for what you want, but may turn to it at once, whatever the Case may be; you’ll read nothing twice, nor will you fall into any Trifles, which might either confuse, or detain you.

BUT that I may not be misconstrued or misrepresented here, give me Leave to affirm that the Design of this Work, is not to reprehend or find Fault, with any former Writer’s Performance; but only to render these Things, which others have either treated negligently, or indifferently, confusedly, or obscurely, the more Clear and Evident.

THIS, candid Reader, being the Design as well as the Reason of my Undertaking, according to the Fruit you receive by it, Pray, repress the Minds of the Invidious; and according to the Judgment you make of its Worth, let it stand or fall in your Esteem. Not that I am so vain in the interim to imagine, that the Work can stand upon the Foot of its own Merit; and far less can I expect that it will escape the ordinary Fate of Censure: No, I shall take it well, considering its Imperfections, if it undergoes no worse Fate, than what is common to Books; especially considering that it is no ways set off with a great Figure, under the splendid appearance and modish Trappings of flourishing Hypotheses, so common among our Modern Writers.

THERE are many Things altogether New in our Midwifery, which I would have none rashly to stumble at, tho’ I know that New Opinions are always suspected and generally opposed, merely because they are not already Common: But as I am not in any respect to press my Notion of Things upon the Belief of others, so I desire not to establish any Maxims of mine in other Peoples Opinions, farther than they think fit. I know the Relish of the Understanding, is often as different as that of the Palate; Hence it is that some Men condemn, what others approve; and some despise what others admire: Yea such is the Uncertainty of Men’s Judgments, concerning the Excellency of Things, that no Nut of Learning was ever yet open’d, whose Contents were allowed by all to be pure Kernel: And no more has any Truth been yet discover’d, either in Physick or Midwifery, which has not been question’d, and the Detector exclaim’d against as a pedantick Innovator: But all that I shall say to these Things is, that, as Antiquity will never protect an Error in Judgment, so Novelty shall never prejudice me against Truth, whether of my own or other People’s Invention.

UPON the whole, I would in fine recommend my self to the candid Reader’s Benevolent and Charitable Opinion, and if in any particular Point or Respect (because we are but Men) I may not have had the Happiness to please, or to give Satisfaction, Pray impute it not to Sloth or Idleness, but to Peregrination and Travelling; in which it may be well suppos’d that Studies are too often interrupted. Remember also that of Pliny, “haud ullo in genere veniam Justiorem esse, si modò mirum non est, Hominem Genitum non omnia Humana novisse.” For as none of us can do all Things, nor is sufficient for All; so it is Natural for Man to fall, to err, and to be deceiv’d: And as we see some Blemishes in the most beautiful Bodies, so there is nothing altogether Perfect, among the Works of Men.

Farewell.

From my House, in New-Bond-street, over against Benn’s-Coffee-House, near Hannover-Square. 1724.

J. M.

THE
CONTENTS.

SECT. I.
Chap. 1. | Of God. Page | 1
2. | Of Nature. | 4
3. | Of Man. | 6
4. | Of the Soul. | 8
5. | Of the Faculties of the Soul. | 13
6. | Of the Humane Body. | 16
7. | Of the Formation of the Embryo. | 20
8. | Of the Animation of the Fœtus. | 24
9. | Of the Maturation of the Infant. | 29
10. | Of the Nutrition and Posture of the Infant. | 30
11. | Of the Membranes and Waters. | 32
12. | Of the Secundine or After-Birth. | 33
13. | Of the Umbilical Vessels, or Navel-String. | 34
SECT. II.
Chap. 1. | Of the Symptoms peculiar to the State of Maiden-Hood. Page | 37
2. | Of Virginity. | 38
3. | Of the Virgin-Disease, commonly call’d the Green-Sickness. | 42
4. | Of Love. | 49
5. | Of Copulation. | 53
6. | Remarks upon Copulation. | 55
7. | Of the Power of the Imaginative Faculty. | 57
8. | Of the Similitude of Children. | 63
SECT. III.
Chap. 1. | Of Conception. Page | 70
2. | Of the Signs of Conception. | 72
3. | Of the Diet and Regimen of the Pregnant Woman. | 74
4. | Of the Symptoms of the first three Months. | 77
5. | Of Vomitings, or Nauseating. | 79
6. | Of Fastidy, or Loathing. | 80
7. | Of the Pica or Longing. | 81
8. | Of Cholicks and Gripes. | 84
9. | Of a Diarrhea, or Looseness. | 86
10. | Of the Tooth-Ach. | 85
11. | Of the Head-Ach. | 87
12. | Of the Megrim, or Vertigo. | 88
13. | Of the Symptoms of the Middle Three Months. | 92
14. | Of Coughs. | 93
15. | Of Heart-Beatings and Swooning-Fits. | 94
16. | Of Watchings. | 95
17. | Of Pains in the Hips, Loins, &c. | 96
18. | Of Hæmorrhagies, or Bleedings. | 97
19. | Of Fluxes of Blood. | 98
20. | Of the Symptoms of the last three Months. | 101
21. | Of Dysuries, Ischuries, and Stranguries. | 102
22. | Of Costiveness. | 103
23. | Of Tenesms. | 105
24. | Of the Varices, or Vein-Tumours. | 106
25. | Of the Inflations and Tumours of the Legs. | 107
26. | Of Fissures, or Chops of the Belly. | 108
27. | Of Water-Fluxes. | 109
28. | Of Acute Diseases incident to the Child-Bearing Woman. | 110
29. | Of the Debility and Weakness of the Fœtus. | 115
30. | Of Abortion. | 116
31. | Of a Legitimate Birth. | 131
32. | Of an Illegitimate Birth. | 134
33. | Of a Seven-Months Birth. | 135
34. | Of an Eight-Months Birth. | 140
35. | Of a Nine-Months Birth. | 142
36. | Of a Ten-Months Birth. | 144
37. | Of an Eleven-Months, and all posterior Births. | 147
38. | Of the Reasons why one Number of Months, Weeks and Days, is more Auspicious to Birth than another. | 150
39. | Of the Diet and Regimen of the Woman, before and about the Time of Birth. | 159
40. | Of the Natural Causes of Birth, and Pains of Labour. | 161
41. | Of the Causes of a sooner, or later Birth. | 163
SECT. IV.
Chap. 1. | Of Midwifery. | 167
2. | Of the Qualifications of the ordinary Midwife. | 171
3. | Of the Theoretical and Practical Knowledge of the Midwife. | 174
4. | Of the Qualifications of the Extraordinary Midwife. | 178
5. | Of the External Parts of Generation. | 183
6. | Of the Internal Parts of Generation. | 186
7. | Of the Pelvis. | 190
8. | Of the Bones of the Pelvis. | 191
9. | Of the Womb. | 196
10. | Of the Extensive Faculty of the Womb. | 199
11. | Of the Substantial Density of the Womb. | 200
12. | Of the various Local Motion of the Womb. | 203
13. | Of the oblique Situation of the Womb. | 204
14. | Of Touching or Handling the Woman. | 207
15. | Of the various Uses and Advantages of the Touch. | 208
16. | Of the Genuine and Spurious Labour-Pains. | 213
17. | Of the True Method of Laying the Woman. | 216
18. | Of the Method of Extracting the Secundine, &c. | 220
SECT. V.
Chap. 1. | Of Birth. | 227
2. | Of Natural Births. | 230
3. | Of Natural Difficult Births. | 231
4. | Of Difficult Births, proceeding from External Causes. | 233
5. | Of Difficult Births, proceeding from Causes of the Mother. | 235
6. | Of Difficult Births, proceeding from Causes of the Infant. | 239
7. | Of Difficult Births, proceeding from Causes of the Membranes. | 241
8. | Of Difficult Births, proceeding from the Causes of the Pelvis. | 242
9. | Of Difficult Births, proceeding from Causes of the Bones of the Pelvis. | 245
10. | Of Difficult Births, proceeding from Causes of the Bladder and Rectum. | 250
11. | Of Difficult Births, proceeding from the Causes of the Vagina. | 252
12. | Of Preternatural Births. | 253
13. | Of Preternatural Births, by the Face’s being turn’d upwards; or bent forwards, and the Crown backwards. | 257
14. | Of Preternatural Births, by the Hand, Elbow, Shoulder, Knees, or Buttocks, presenting first. | 259
15. | Of Preternatural Births, by the Breast, Belly, or Back presenting first; and the Infants, lying transverse. | 261
16. | Of Preternatural Births, by the Feet presenting first. | 264
17. | Of Preternatural Births, by Two, or more Infants presenting themselves ill-turn’d. | 266
18. | Of Preternatural Births, proceeding from Causes of the Womb. | 268
19. | Of Preternatural Births, from the Womb’s inclining Forwards. | 270
20. | Of Preternatural Births, from the Womb’s inclining backwards. | 282
21. | Of Preternatural Births, from the Womb’s inclining to either Side. | 287
22. | Of Preternatural Births, proceeding from the Median oblique Situations of the Womb. | 291
23. | Of Preternatural Births, proceeding from complicated Causes, of both the Infant and the Womb. | 294

24.

Of Preternatural Births, proceeding from the Navel-String’s coming first, and that either alone, or with some other Member.

300

25. | Of Preternatural Births, from the After-Birth’s coming first into the Passage. | 303
26. | Of Preternatural Births, proceeding from the Death of the Infant. | 305
SECT. VI.
Chap. 1. | Of the Diet and Regimen of the Puerperial or Child-Bed Woman. | 309
2. | Of the After-Pains. | 313
3. | Of the Suppression of the Lochia, or Child-Bed-Purgations. | 314
4. | Of the immoderate Flux of the Lochia. | 317
5. | Of the Acute Distempers incident to Child-Bed-Women. | 319
6. | Of the various other Accidents, incident to the Child-Bed-Woman. | 323
7. | Of the Constriction of the Navel-String, and the Swaddling of the Infant. | 325
8. | Of the Nurse and her Regimen, together with the requisite Qualities of her Milk. | 329
9. | Of the Diet and Ablactation, together with the farther Regimen of the Child. | 333
10. | Of the various Symptoms and Indispositions, wherewith the Child may be Born. | 341
11. | Of the Sundry Symptoms, and Diseases, peculiarly incident to the Infant after Birth. | 346
12. | Of the Acute Diseases of Infants. | 351
SECT. VII.
Chap. 1. | Of Preternatural Conceptions. | 355
2. | Of Superfœtations. | 356
3. | Of a Numerous Conception. | 358
4. | Of False Conceptions. | 360
5. | Of Moles. | 361
6. | Of Monsters. | 366
7. | Of various deformed Conceptions. | 373
8. | Of Imaginary Conceptions. | 378
9. | Of Sterility or Barrenness. | 381
SECT. VIII.
Chap. 1. | Of the Symptoms incident to the State of Widow-hood. | 391
2. | Of the Hysterick Passion. | 393
3. | Of the Strangulation of the Womb. | 398
With a conclusive Application of the whole Work.

THE

FEMALE PHYSICIAN.

SECT. I.

CHAP. I.
Of GOD.

REASON, and the mere Contemplation of Nature (abstracted from the Light and Assistance of Revelation or Faith) afford us sufficient convincing Arguments, for the Existence of this great and incomprehensible Being; as Heathens themselves do testify.

ACCORDING to Plato (that most excellent Heathenish Divine) Philosophical Demonstrations are the only Catharticks (i. e. Purgers) of the Soul; being the most proper means to cleanse it from Error, and give us an exact Relish of Sacred Truths. Wherefore I shall strictly confine myself to These, in proving the Being of this Existence, from the Maxims of all the four principal Sects of Heathen Philosophers; which I shall discuss in the briefest Terms, by only touching upon a few of their respective Proofs; viz.

THE Naturalist insists chiefly upon three Heads; That of Motion, the Final, and the Efficient Cause.

UPON the Axiom of Motion, that Sect could not exceed, or go beyond the Primum Mobile among created Beings; and therefore allows, that there is something above it, which moves itself and is not moved by Another.

UPON that of the Final Cause, they could find no created Being capable of directing that Nature, which directs and appoints all Creatures to aim at some peculiar End; and thence conclude, that this Nature is directed by something superior to itself.

UPON that of the Efficient Cause, they confess, from the many Vicissitudes of created Beings, that they’ve all had a Beginning: and (because no Beginning can be without an Efficient) acknowledge, that something more excellent than all created Beings, hath created them.

THE Metaphysician useth a vast Variety of sublime Arguments; whereof I shall only give a few Instances: viz.

I. THAT every finite Being must needs proceed from something else, limiting it in that Finiteness, in which its Nature conflicts.

II. THAT all Multitude must proceed from Unity, as the Motions of the lower Orbs proceed from that of the one highest; or as the many particular distinct Actions and different Motions of the Man, proceed from (their Superior) the Soul.

III. THAT the Subordination of the Creatures, one serving another, and all concurring to the Common Good, must needs proceed from the Disposal of some most wise Governour.

IV. THAT the wonderful and incomparable Art, observable in the Make and Form of every the minutest Part of the least and most despicable Creature, must necessarily proceed from some very great and omnipotent Artificer.

V. THIS Sect acknowledges also the Immortality of the Soul, as Cicero witnesses; because it is an immaterial Substance, and independent of the Body: And consequently they allow it to proceed from an immortal Author, and to return to the same, after a Dissolution from the Body.

AS to the Moralist, his way of Reasoning is plainer to our common Capacities.

I. HE proves this Argument from the natural Disposition and Propensity of the worst of Men, even Atheists themselves, upon the Approach of Death or any heavy Calamity, to acknowledge some superior divine Power; as Seneca witnesseth of Caligula, &c.

II. FROM the ultimate End and chief Good of Man; which (according to Plato) is nothing Terrestrial: Our Souls being insatiable in this Life, have a constant Tendency to that particular End, for which we are created; which (in his Words) consists only in being inseparably united to God.

III. FROM Virtue and Vice, the Rewards and Punishments due to these from Nature and Reason; which agree with Equity and Justice, that they, who live well, should be rewarded with this their ultimate End and final Felicity: And those who live otherwise, should be punished by the Loss thereof forever. Thence they (of consequence) acknowledge, that there must be a just and powerful Judge, above all created Beings, to inflict this impartial Sentence.

THE Mathematician acknowledges That to be some Being superior to all others; whose Center he finds every where, and whose Circumference he can limit or discover no where. But because this Sect borrows the better Part of their Proofs from the other three mentioned, I shall go no farther; designing nothing but Brevity thro’out this Work, especially upon a Thesis so manifest as This: Which indeed I should not so much as have touched upon, considering how elegantly and copiously many very learned Divines, and other eminent Writers, have treated that Subject; were it not that some subsequent Hypotheses depend immediately upon it. Wherefore I proceed to

CHAP. II.
Of NATURE.

HOWEVER extensive this Word Nature may be, and whatever secundary Definitions it may admit of; it is (in effect) nothing else than the Denouncer of the Divine Will and Pleasure, the Efficient Cause of natural Works, and the Conservant of real Existences: Or, the Order and Series of Sacred Works, obeying the Divine Will, Power, and Commands. At least I think all other Definitions of this Word, taken in whatsoever Sense, may be reduced to These following; viz.

NATURE is the implanted and innate Quality of Things.

NATURE is the Faculty and Propensity of every Mind.

NATURE is the Mixture and Temperature of the four Elements.

NATURE is the Philosopher’s Axiom of Motion and Rest.

NATURE is that which giveth Form, by a specifick Difference, to every thing.

WHICH Power (in either Definition) can only be ascribed to that Great God, whose infinite Existence I’ve been hinting upon: Who is the Author of Nature and Framer of the Universe; who by his own Breath and Word, without any material Help, and at his own Will and Pleasure, created all Things. In whom all Things live, move, and have their Being. By whom a vivacious Faculty is infused through all Things; so as that (by and through Him) all Things subsist of their own peculiar Natures and natural Qualities; and by these implanted Qualities increase, maintain, and defend themselves: And that so, that in such an immense University, and such a vast Variety of Things, nothing is indeed idle, useless, or unprofitable. Nothing is made rashly, fortuitously, or in vain; but every Thing appears appointed to some certain Use and Purpose, and determined to some settled Course and Sphere of Action: Every Being answering the End of its Design, and the Design of its Creation.

AS Man was set on the Theatre of this World, to the End that he might admire, delight, and confide in God his great Creator; so was the Humane Body made for the Divine Soul, and the respective Members for the Body: which all voluntarily concur in the Discharge of their peculiar Functions, for the Benefit and Use of the Whole.

AND so was every Stem endued with its own Faculty, and every Creature with its own Nature; which made Aristotle[1] most pertinently say, “That there’s nothing so minute in the Nature of Things, nothing so abject or despicable, but may reasonably afford Men something of Admiration.”

NOW, I think, we may be soon brought to this Admiration, when we only view those Things which are so evidently exposed to our Eyes: such as the Elements, the Heavens, the Rising and Setting of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, the Diurnal and Nocturnal Vicissitudes, the four Seasons of the Year, comprehending the two Æquinoctials of Spring and Fall, and the two Solstices of Summer and Winter; by whose Decourse or Descent Grass fades, and Herbs decay; and again, by their Ascent or Influence, spring up and revive.

AND again, when we consider the Animals, the Faculties and Propension of their respective Natures, how they are endued with peculiar Sense, because denied particular Reason; and how wisely they are all dispos’d, some inhabiting the Waters, some enjoying the free Air, and others possessing the Desarts; some reptile and creeping, some gradient and walking, some solivagant and wandering, some wild and fierce, and others innocent and tame: I say the marvellous and inimitable Artifice of Nature in these, and all other natural Works, is not only to be admir’d; but also the Majesty, Glory, Fullness, and Magnificence of the Great Creator and Institutor of this Nature is to be most highly ador’d; in whom all things originally center, as their common Source and Divine Fountain, and to whom all things are finally reduced, as the Primigenious Essence and Archetype of Nature.

CHAP. III.
Of MAN.

MAN, to whom all sublunary Beings were subjected, is most excellently qualified, far above all other Creatures of this World: In him is not only the vegetative Life of Plants, and the sensitive Life of Animals, but also the Angelical Reason, the Divine Understanding, the true Conjunction and glorious Possession of all Things: He is not only endued with Reason and the Gift of Speaking, but also with a Mind and a Soul, which participates of a Celestial Nature and Divinity itself; which can relate to the Nature of nothing else, and be compared to none but God himself: In and thro’ whom he has a Similitude with all things, an Operation with all, and Conversation with all: He symbolizeth with all Matters in proper Subjects; with the Elements in a fourfold Body; with Plants in a vegetative Virtue; with Animals in a sensitive Faculty; with the Heavens in an Etherial Spirit; with Angels in Wisdom and Understanding, and with God himself (as it were) in containing and comprehending all things, except the Divine Being. Hence nothing can so expresly represent God as the Soul of Man, by which he is dignified and railed to the very Image and Similitude of himself. And in MAN the mirificent Wisdom shines the more conspicuously; in that the whole World, and the Fabrick of all its Contents, however concise and artificial, can in no respect compare with the noble Structure of this Microcosm, Man. It is so marvellously concise, and so wonderfully artificial, that it seems no otherways, than as if the Maker (designing this for his Master-piece) would have his chief Glory, Esteem, and Reputation to depend upon it, and derive itself from Hence; or, as if the Maker (designing this for one signal Instance of his Divinity to Men) would have us brought, merely by the Understanding and Knowledge of ourselves, to the true Knowledge and due Reverence of Himself, our great ARTIFICER.

THAT we may be the more duly and sensibly affected towards him, and the more admire and reverence the Wisdom of his Nature, as he bountifully produced all things for the Use and Utility of MAN; so he most appositely disposed the Herbs of the Field, some to our Nourishment, some to our Remedies, and some to both Necessities: assimilating and assigning them to our singular Members, so that their Powers and Virtues are physically convey’d to such Parts of our Bodies, as they are adapted to by Nature.

AND in the same manner he imbued the Roots of the Ground with such natural Qualities, that they by their respective innate Faculties, succour and relieve those Members, to which they are specifically destinated; and such Members sensibly attract and imbibe from them, not only wholesome Nutriment, but also healthful Remedies peculiarly appropriated to themselves by Nature.

BUT the immortal SOUL, which is only peculiar to MAN, whereby he so perfectly assimilates and resembles God; and its Gifts and Graces, whereby he excels and out-shines all other sublunary Creatures; is more properly the Subject of the Divine, than the Physician; wherefore I shall but touch it transiently.

CHAP. IV.
Of the SOUL.

THE SOUL is a certain divine Light, created after the Image of God; figured by a Seal, whose Character is the eternal Word.

THE SOUL is a certain divine Substance, individual, and entirely present in every Part of the Body, depending only upon the Power of Him, who is the ultimate End, and efficient Cause of all things; whose Body (according to Plato) is Truth, whose Shadow is Light, and whose Name is God.

AND this divine Substance of Light, the SOUL, immediately proceeding from that divine Fountain of all Things, God, (according to the Opinion of the Platonists) is join’d, by competent Means, to the grosser Matter of the Body. Which Means these Heathens account for in manner following: viz.

THE SOUL, in its Descent, is involved in an etherial Body, which they call the celestial Vehicle, or Chariot of the Soul; thro’ which Medium, by the Command of God, (who is the Center of the World) it is first infus’d into the middle Punct of the Heart, which is the Center of the Body; whence it is diffus’d thro’ all the Parts and Members of the Body, joining itself to the natural Heat. As a Spirit, generated by Heat from the Heart, it plungeth itself into the Humours; and thus inhering in all the respective Parts, it becomes equal in degree of Proximity to all the Members.

THUS the immortal SOUL is, by an immortal Engine, convey’d to, and included in the mortal Body: But when by Diseases, or otherways, these Mediums (the Heat and Humours) begin to dissolve, the Soul recollects itself, and flies back betimes to its first Receptacle, the Heart: When the Spirit of the Heart also fails, the Heat extinguishes, and the Spirit leaves the Man; He dies, and the SOUL flies away in its original Vehicle: When the Body returns to Earth, whence it came, and the Spirit to God, who gave it a sacred Nature and divine Offspring: which Spirit judging the SOUL, if it has liv’d ill, subjects it to some general and some particular Torments of Hell, abandoning it also to the Pleasure of the Devil: Whereas, if it has done well, it mounts its celestial Chariot, rejoicing together with the Spirit, and passes freely to the Choirs of Heaven; where it enjoys all its pure Senses and Faculties, the perfect Knowledge of all things, a perpetual blessed Felicity; and at last, the divine Vision, the Possession of the eternal Kingdom, &c.

THUS far I have prosecuted the Platonick Doctrine of the SOUL; so that even by This, the gross Opinion of such as deny the Existence of so divine a Spark in Man, may be confuted.

AND this being sufficient for that purpose, I need not introduce any Christian Arguments to second it; which, however important, are commonly deem’d light by an obstinate Sett of Men. Wherefore I shall only add, that from the Disparity of Manners, Affections, Dispositions, Capacities, Judgments, Opinions, and Passions of Men, it appears most probable and evident, that every one of us is individually indued with a Soul, and that with a proper Soul, peculiar to our respective Bodies, according to the wise Proverb; So many Men, so many Minds: as well as Horace’s[2] Saying,

“Millia, Quot Capitum vivunt, totidem Studiorum.

——And Persius[3] says,

“Mille hominum Species, & rerum discolor Usus;

“Velle suum cuique est, nec voto vivitur uno.

TO which Assertion the great Prophet David assents, in that God fashioned and made the Hearts and Minds of Men one by one, enduing them with peculiar Dispositions, and assigning every Soul its proper natural Conditions. Hence Solomon[4] says, I was a witty Child, and had a good Spirit; yea, rather being good, I came into a Body undefiled: That is, adapted to the Disposition of his SOUL. As we see some Torches or Candles burn brighter, and some Fuel cast more Heat and Light than others; so the Splendour of every SOUL shines in a different way, and produces different Distinctions of Minds: as is evident in Youths, who (however accurately taught, and painfully instructed) are not equally capable of learning Arts, Discipline, or any sort of Erudition.

BUT notwithstanding that some curious Physicians (who have strictly scrutiniz’d the Works of Nature) would have the SOUL to center in the Brain, whence all its Senses, Faculties, and Actions proceed; yet some Philosophers have justly assign’d the Center of the Heart to its Residence: which Doctrine is also approved by the wise Solomon[5], saying; Keep thy Heart with all Diligence, for out of it are the Issues of Life.

HOWEVER yet, if any should still obstinately persist in denying the Being of the SOUL, I advise such to go no farther, but look into themselves, and call their own Minds to Counsel; for even there they will have a full View, not only of its Being, but also of its supernatural Excellency; If they but seriously weigh the eximious Gifts, and unlimited Faculties of Nature, together with the egregious Ornaments of Reason, Understanding, Judgment, Memory, and many other Accomplishments, with which every Mind is abundantly endued; they will clearly perceive something of a superexcellent Nature, and Supernatural Quality in themselves; which is nothing else but what I call the Soul, and which is also of a more noble and excelling Substance, than any corporeal Matter liable to Corruption can be.

THIS Being, only and alone, vivifies, rules, and governs the Body; furnishing it with innumerable Actions, and exercising it with as many curious Offices. Hence, from its manifold Effects, and different Operations, it has various Appellations, according to St. Augustine’s Saying: “Cùm Corpus animat, Vitâq; imbuit, Anima dicitur: Dum vult, Animus: dum Scientiâ ornata est, ac Judicandi peritiam exercet, Mens: dum recolit ac reminiscitur, Memoria: dum ratiocinatur, ac singula discernit, Ratio: dum Contemplationi insistit, Spiritus: dum Sentiendi vim obtinet, Sensus.” Which are all the principal Functions of the Soul, whereby it demonstrates its Power, and performs its relative Offices. In the Execution whereof, St. Cyprian asserts, that the SOUL makes use of the Body, as the Workman does of the Mallet, Hatchet, or Anvil: tho’ (I think) the Simile may be drawn much nearer, the SOUL being inclosed and dwelling in the Body, as the Fish or the Snail in the Shell; without which Receptacle, or Rampart of Defence, it cannot subsist: Which is evident in that, as soon as the Body labours under any Grief, the SOUL is also affected; not with a primary Affection (as some would have it) but by a Law of the most strict Alliance, and nearest Affinity; and hence it is, that the Vices and Virtues of the one are transfus’d, and flow into the other.

THIS is the only reason why, when the corporeal Organs or Instruments are vitiated or impeded, the SOUL cannot explicate its own Faculties, according to the Words of Solomon[6]; The corruptible Body presseth down the Soul, and the earthly Tabernacle weigheth down the Mind. Which Truth may serve to obviate two Objections; viz. That of Childrens being destitute of the SOUL, and that of the SOUL’s growing up with Youth, and declining with Age, or Sickness: Since, tho’ it less displays itself in Infancy, Sickness, and Dotage, yet it still is, and continues furnished with its proper Faculties, and that from the Beginning of Life, until its End; neither does the SOUL in its Substance ever suffer the least Diminution, but only by the Ineptitude of the Instrument or Organ, it may be hindered in the Discharge of its Functions, and Execution of its Offices.

AND tho this divine Substance can contract nothing of Vice, Spot, or Contagion from the Concretion of the corruptible Body: yet as a thick Cloud obscures the Sun-Beams, and overcasts its Light; or, as by holding a versicolour Glass to our Eyes, Matters appear different from what they really are: So the Intemperature of the Body obscures the Light of Reason, and overshadows the Intellects of the Mind, which of course obstructs the Functions of the Soul. Hence it is, that a delirious or drunken Man thinks he sees double, or two things, tho’ one be the only Object of his Eyes: And as, for this reason, melancholick Persons imagine Absurdities, and feign Dreams to themselves; so cholerick Persons grow insensibly hot, and are suddenly incensed by the Fumes of noxious Humours oppressing the Brain.

BUT there is another Sett of Miscreants, who don’t so much deny the Existence, as the Immortality of the Soul. This I esteem a Piece of the grossest Impiety, to think that spiritual Substance Mortal and Frail, which is inspir’d in Man by the Divine Will and Command, proceeding immediately from the very Substance of God himself: Since if Man be made after the Image of God, to express his Similitude, he must needs participate of his Nature, and consequently be a Fellow-Sharer of Eternity: And if the human Soul be Partaker of the divine Essence or Substance, as God is eternal and incapable of Decay, so it must needs be eternal, and free from all Corruption.

MOREOVER, God form’d and made all other Things for the sake of Man, but Him he made for his own sake, and therefore like unto Himself; for which reason, he was pleas’d to agglutinate Immortality to Mortality, and Divinity to Humanity: By which Means, the divine Nature incorporates, as it were, with the human, and the human is united to the divine.

HENCE we may clearly see how marvellously God has been affected towards us from the Beginning; how much he delighted in us, and desired the entire Fruition and full Enjoyment of our perpetual Familiarity, and eternal Fellowship; which Truth Christ[7] (the Wisdom of the Father) confirms by his own Testimony.

AND such is still the great Love and Propension of God towards Man, that all Things (thro’ his Grace) are communicated to him by his only SON;[8] and that more especially because we are conditional Sharers, equal Inheritors, and Joint-Heirs with him, agreeable to the[9] Apostles Phrase; and whatever is express’d in CHRIST, may also be in Man: Since as he is eternal, and lives for ever, so Man (by his Grace and Merits) does the same; for he having sufficiently bruised Satan’s Head, led Captivity Captive, and conquer’d Death, rose again, and became the Prince and Captain of so glorious a VICTORY, that all Men, by virtue of that Triumph, might be raised up again at the Last Day, and that to participate of an Immortality of Welfare or Woe.

CHAP. V.
Of the Faculties of the SOUL.

Plato, Alcinous, and many other learned Men, do agree, that the heavenly Spirit’s Composition, mixing Fire, Air, Earth, and Water, made of them all, put together, one Body; which they subjected to the Service of the SOUL, assigning the several Provinces of the one, to the sundry Faculties of the other: To the meaner of them, mean and low Places; as to Anger, the Midriff; to Lust, the Womb, &c: but to the more noble Senses, the HEAD, as the Tower of the whole Body.

AS they divide these Senses into external and internal; so they subdivide the external Senses into five: To which are allotted as many proper Organs or Subjects, being so order’d, that they which are placed in the more eminent Parts of the Body, have the greater Degree of Purity.

FOR the Eyes, placed in the uppermost part, are the most pure, and have an Affinity with the Nature of Fire and Light. The Ears have the second Order of Place and Purity, and are compar’d to the Air. The Nostrils take the third Order, and have a middle Nature betwixt Air and Water. Then the Organ of Tasting, which is grosser, and most like to the Nature of Water. And, lastly, Touching being diffus’d through the whole Body, is compar’d to the Grossness of Earth.

AND of these, the more pure SENSES, are those which perceive their Objects farthest off; as first Seeing, then Hearing, then Smelling, which are all more pure than Taste, which doth not perceive but what is nigh: whereas the Touch perceives both Ways; it perceives Bodies nigh: And as Sight discerns by the Medium of the Air; so the Touch perceives, by the Medium of a Pole, Bodies hard, soft, dry, moist, &c.

NOW this Sense of Touching, is common indeed to all Animals: However, ’tis certain that Man, in this, as well as in the Sense of Tasting, excels all others: whereas, in the other three, he is exceeded by some Brutes, as by a Dog, which hears, sees, and smells much more acutely than Man. Besides, the Lynx, and Eagle, see more acutely than Man, or any other Creature in the World.

AS to the interiour SENSES, they are (according to Averroes) divided into Four; whereof the first is called the Common Sense, because it collects and perfects such Representations as are drawn-in by the external SENSES. The second is the Imaginative Faculty, which retains those receiv’d Representations, and presents them to the third Faculty of internal SENSE; which is call’d the Cogitative Faculty, Phantasy, or Power of Judging: Because it perceives and judges by the Representations received, what Nature or Kind of Thing that is, of which the Representations are made; and commits those Things thus discerned and adjudged, to the fourth Faculty of Inward SENSE, the Memory, to be kept there, and retain’d by it.

AND these Four SENSES have their respective Organs in the Head: Common Sense and Imagination possess the two former Cells of the Brain, as the Cogitative Faculty doth the highest, and middle Part of the Head; the Memory taking up the hindmost Part thereof.

THE Organs of Speech and Voice are as many as the inward Muscles of the Thorax, betwixt the Ribs, Breasts, Lungs, Arteries, Wind-pipe, the Bending of the Tongue, and all Parts and Muscles, serving for Respiration, or Breathing: But the proper and immediate Organ of Speech, is the Mouth, in which are fram’d Words and Sentences, by the Tongue, Teeth, Palate, Lips, &c. above the sensitive Soul, which expresseth its Powers by the Organs of the Body. The incorporeal Mind possesseth the highest Place, and hath a double Nature; the one called the Contemplative, the other the Active Intellect, because of their respective Faculties.

ACCORDING to the three-fold Order of its Faculties there are three APPETITES in the Soul. The first is natural, which is an Inclination of Nature unto its End. The second is Animal, which is divided into irascible and concupiscible, relating to Anger and Desire. The third is intellective, and is call’d the Will; which (from its own deprav’d Quality) is affected with four PASSIONS, as the Body sometimes also is. The first is called Oblectation; the second, Effusion; the third, Ostentation; the fourth, and last, is what we commonly call Envy. And

THESE four PASSIONS arising from a deprav’d APPETITE of Pleasure; its Grief or Perplexity doth occasion as many contrary PASSIONS: viz. Horror, Sadness, Fear, and Sorrow at another’s Good, without its own Hurt; which is call’d Envy, being a Sadness at another’s Prosperity, as Pity is a certain kind of Sadness at another’s Misery or Adversity.

BUT not to insist on these Topicks, I shall only add a few Words upon the PASSIONS of the Mind; which are nothing else than certain Motions or Inclinations, proceeding from the Apprehension of any Thing, as of Good or Evil, &c.

THESE Apprehensions are of three different Sorts, viz. Sensual, Rational, and Intellectual. And according to them, there are three Sorts of Passions in the Soul; the first, following the sensual Apprehension, respects a temporal Good or Evil, under the Notion of Profit or Loss, Defence or Offence, &c: and they are called Natural or Animal Passions.

THE second following the Rational Apprehension, respects Good or Bad, under the Notion of Virtue or Vice, Praise or Disgrace, &c: and they are called Rational or Voluntary Passions.

THE third, following the Intellectual Apprehension, respects Good or Evil, under the Notion of Truth or Falsehood, Justice or Injustice, &c: and this Sort is call’d Intellectual Passions.

BUT these three different Sorts proceed all from the Energy of the Soul; which is divided into Concupiscible and Irascible, both respecting Good and Evil, tho’ under different Notions: which Division affords us eleven Passions of the Mind, viz. Love, Hatred, Desire, Horror, Joy, Grief, Hope, Despair, Boldness, Fear, and Anger; all which might be particularly defin’d: But as that is more the Philosopher’s than the Physician’s Business, I shall proceed to that which is more strictly my Province.

CHAP. VI.
Of the Humane Body.

BESIDES what has been said in the preceding Chapters, touching the SOUL, its Powers and Faculties; when we duly consider the beautiful Form and amiable Figure of the Body, so nicely adapted to the sublime Qualities of the Soul, with its curious Structure, and majestick Stature, erected to Heaven, whither its natural Tendency leads; besides the proportionable Symmetry and exact Commensuration of all its Parts: Surely we cannot, I hope, without the greatest Amazement, contemplate and admire the incomparable Art, and incomprehensible Skill, of the great Artificer: And with magnificent David[10], break out in Eulogies of Praise, and ardent Exclamations of Love and Admiration.

BUT more especially: first, when we distinctly view the slender Filaments, the minute Vessels, the elaborate Contextures, and various Configurations of the different Organs of this Body. Secondly, When we duly consider the Power of its natural Faculties, the Situation of the Entrails, the Rise of the Nerves from the Brain, the Ducts or Conduits of the Arteries from the Heart, and the Original of the Veins from the Liver. Thirdly, When we call to remembrance, and ponder what I have been hinting upon, to wit, the Power of the natural Faculties of the Soul, by which they execute their relative Functions; besides, the Ætherial Spirit (the Seat and Vehicle of our natural Heat) dividing it self into a three-fold Diversity, and appropriating to itself as many Residences, viz. the Animal in the Brain, the Vital in the Heart, and the Natural Spirit in the Liver: And then again, how these three, by a Fomentation of native Heat, and nutritious Humours, cherish and refresh the whole Body supplying every Part with requisite Strength and Vigour. Fourthly, When at last we contemplate that Piece of incomprehensible Artifice, which gives a respective Species and Form to every particular Part, and implants a peculiar Faculty in every distinct Member, inducing such an Excellency into the whole Body; that is, the Formation and Delineation of the Foetus in the Womb.

THIS is such a great and curious Master-piece, that all Others, as well as the Physician, will find it not only their Duty, but also their great Satisfaction and Pleasure, to know and examine into this inimitable Machine of the divine Architect.

THE great Galen was converted at a Dissection, and durst not but acknowledge a Supreme Being, upon that Survey of his admirable Handy-work; saying,[11] “How much is it our special Duty therefore to admire the Wisdom and Providence of the Workman? Since, tho’ it is far more easy to set forth in Words the Beginning of Things, than to form the Work; yet our Expressions and Words fall so much short of the Wisdom of him that made us, that we are not able to explain, what gave him so little trouble to make.”

AND as this was a Man who had not been too devout, so if the most Profligate would seriously weigh and consider the elegant Constitution of such a vast Variety of different Textures, the Nicety of these Organical Works, the Curiosity of these Embroideries, and the Exactitude of these Figures, which appear and seem rather to be fitted for Admiration than Use; they would readily conclude with that great Naturalist, that these Things are the evident Characteristicks of some divine and omnipotent Power, in that they are no ways to be accounted for by such natural Causes, as may be thought sufficient to explain the Phænomena of ignobler Beings.

THIS Body, therefore, being the Vessel and Receptacle of the Soul, the Engine and Instrument, in and through which it operates; I judge it to be our incumbent Duty, to take special Care, and nice Observation of both Soul and Body: Since (in this Life) the one cannot consist without the other, or discharge its respective Offices; the one always requiring the Ministry and Assistance of the other, which the omniscient Artificer has so wisely ordered and ordained from all Eternity.

HOWEVER yet, I cannot agree with St. Cyprian, that the animated and sensible Body is only used by the Soul, as mechanical Instruments are by the Workman; since I think a more proper Simile may be drawn from the Sun and Moon: For tho’ the Moon borrows Light of the Sun, she is not altogether devoid of such a Power or Influence as is proper to herself, being guided and sustained by a peculiar Motion, whilst she absolves her own Circle; taking Light from the Sun, no otherways than as a Looking-Glass, polish’d Brass, or Copper, takes Splendor or Refulgency from an opposite Fire or Light: For notwithstanding she exhibits no Light, unless illuminated by the Sun; however yet, she is not idle or desidious in accomplishing her monthly Course, and measuring her own Space of the Heavens, and that without any Assistance of the Sun. So the Soul invigorates and affords Strength to the Body, which however is not altogether without its own implanted Faculties and natural Powers; the four Qualities of Humours, with which ev’ry Body abounds, capacitating and adapting it to all Things within its own Sphere.

FARTHER, as the Sun suffers Eclipses, and is obscured by the Intervention of the Moon; and the Moon again (in like manner) is eclipsed and obscured by the Objection or Interposition of the Earth, the Sun always running thro’ the Ecliptick Line in the same Degree, and the Moon in opposite Degrees: So Body and Soul are subject to their own Impediments and Eclipses; sometimes defending, and sometimes offending one another; both sympathizing mutually, and participating equally of one another’s Portion. As it is evident from the very Words of our dying Saviour, who, by reason of his Human Weakness, broke out into these[12]Words, My Soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto Death: Which Death, in the next Verse, he, in a manner, deprecates of the Father. For though he was not yet insulted, or laid hands upon, yet his whole Mind and Thoughts running upon his approaching Danger, he was seiz’d with such Horror and Trepidity, as express’d a bloody Sweat, which streamed from his whole Body: so that the Acerbity of his Grief must (of consequence) have been communicated to both Parts; and beginning in the Soul, did thence redound into the Body.

HENCE arises a rational and natural Argument, that as Soul and Body do not only act in and thro’ one another, but also suffer mutually, always sympathizing with each other, and bearing equal Share in the Troubles, Misfortunes, and Inquietudes of this Life; and that as they both inseparably constitute the Man: So, by reason of that natural Sympathy, and proximous Affinity, as the Soul enjoys Immortality, the renew’d Body (by the Mystery of the Resurrection) will be a future Partaker of the same Reward; and consequently the whole Man must enjoy one and the same State of Beatitude; or otherways, as he shall have promerited. Whence I proceed to

CHAP. VII.
Of the Formation of the EMBRYO.

THE spirituous Substance of both Seeds, by its own generative and active Qualities, in a well disposed Womb, produceth a small Consistence within the Space of Seven Days, call’d the Genitura; which contains three[13] Bullæ (so term’d by Physicians) superlatively Minute, design’d for the three Spermatick Members: The one containing the purer Part of the Seed, full of Vital Spirit, for the Heart; the other, the more thick and pinguid Part, full of Natural Spirit, for the Liver; and the third, the more cold and crude Part, full of Animal Spirit, for the Brain.

ACCORDING to[14] Hippocrates’s Definition of the Genitura, it appears the likest of any Thing to a raw immature Egg, inclosing a certain red Liquor, with some pale-colour’d Fibres, of the finest Contexture, not unlike the Filaments of a small Spider’s Web, wrap’d up with the said red thick Blood in the Pellicule.

BUT in this place I must farther observe, that the abovesaid spirituous Substance, in which the effective Virtue of Conception resides, is endued with four distinct Faculties, which perfect as many different Operations, all subordinately effected in the Constitution of the Conception, viz.

I. THE animatïve or vivificating Faculty of the Menstruum, called by some the first Constitutive Faculty of Conception, operating, as above, in Seven Days; which is otherwise term’d the Time of Spumification, Lactation, or Coagulation.

II. THE separative or severing Faculty of the Parts of the grosser Materials of the Conception, destinated for the respective Constitution of the different Organical Members; which, being the Work of the next Eight or Ten Days, is perfected about the 15th or 17th Day from Conception; and this is called the Time of Lineation or Ramification, when the Genitura receives the Name of Embryo.

III. THE collocative or ordinating Faculty of all the severed material Parts of the different Members, disposing and placing them according to the Law of Nature, in due Order, Figure, and Situation; which, happening the following[15] Twelve or Fifteen Days, about the 27th or 32d Day from Conception, is called the Time of Carnification; when the Embryo receives the Name of Foetus.

NOW according to the Maxims of Astrology, as all inferiour Bodies are govern’d and influenced by Superiours, so the Seven Planets have Dominion over the Man, not only from the Day of Birth, but also from the Moment of Conception; yet not All at one and the same Time, but every one in their Order, reigning each its peculiar Month. According to which Principles, Saturn reigns the first Month, suppeditating the humid and liquid Substance of the Genitura and Embryo, through his frigid and siccid Quality’s due Coagulation for generating the Man; by virtue of whose Siccity the uterine Retentions also happen.

IV. THE formative and figurating Faculty of all the Members of the Body, imparting their respective Shape, Figure, and natural Form, to every particular one; which being the Work of the next Eight to Eighteen Days, is perfected about the 35th, to the 50th Day from Conception, and is called the Time of coarticulate Formation, when the Foetus, or Cyema, is stil’d Infant.

AND in this, the second Month, Jupiter is supposed to exert his Power in the Seed, by his calid and humid Qualities; and thereby to vivify the Spirits, strengthen the Members, and give Augmentation and Growth to the whole Foetus: So that the interior Members are not[16] only conspicuous, but also Legs and Arms appear perfectly delineated, and are (at this time) distinctly visible; when also the Head takes its Distance from the Shoulders, the Arms from the Sides, and the Legs are plainly parted.

BUT, however, the above-mention’d Four remarkable Times may be also thus distinguished; viz. The first perfects the Work of Spumification and Coagulation; the second the Vegetative; the third the Sensitive; and the fourth begins the Rational Operation: Altho’ this cannot yet be discern’d, because of the Redundancy of Humours.

FROM the beginning of this Chapter, ’tis evident that the more noble, or three chief Parts take the first beginning to Formation, tho’ perhaps last perfected, which forthwith distribute their respective Branches to the whole Body; as the Heart sends forth the Arteries, the Liver the Veins, and the Brain the Spinal Marrow, with all their other Dependencies: And according to Aristotle, (who says, there must be a different Matter to every different Form); So indeed every distinct Part of the Body is form’d of a different Substance, according to the different Nature and singular Disposition of every particular Part.

HOWEVER, I shall not here pretend to go much farther in describing the Formation, it being more the Philosopher’s than the Physician’s Business: But whatever farther Progress others may attempt, I judge it a most difficult and ambiguous Matter; for who can be so well vers’d in those Indiscoverables? Or, who can pretend to know sufficiently what is done in those Obscurities? The Series of Nature being profounder than our Understandings, is consequently above our nicest and exactest Scrutinies: Which Consideration makes me astonished at the Logical Dissertations that some Men offer on these Principles, even on the most minute Particles, and smallest Proportions, rashly and inconsiderately assigning every respective one of these, a precise definite Time for their Formation.

I HAVE often been inclin’d to think, that such Sciolists have not read, or at least not consider’d the Words of the[17] Preacher; As thou knowest not what is the Way of the SPIRIT, nor how the Bones do grow in the Womb of her that is with Child; even so thou knowest not the Works of GOD that maketh all. Neither do I find that the wise[18] Hebrean ever enter’d upon such Syllogisms, who (to the contrary) testifies that the Counsel of GOD is not to be known; that our Thoughts are miserable, and our Devices uncertain. Upon which Authority, I say, in this Case, as that Labour is commendable which can be compar’d to Possibilities, so to dive into those Things, which exceed our Judgments, and admit of no possible Comparison, is nothing better than Folly. Wherefore All that is further requisite, or possible for us, is to contemplate and admire the Greatness and Elegancy, the Sublimity and Profundity of this wonderful and amazing Work of Formation; which Subject (we find) hath been the frequent Contemplation of the Royal Prophet[19], particularly expressing himself, in the most eloquent and sublime Terms, according to the divine Light of his illuminated Understanding: Saying, Thou hast possessed my Reins: Thou hast ordered me in my Mother’s Womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvellous are thy Works, and that my Soul knoweth right well. My Substance was not hid from thee, tho’ I was made in secret, and curiously fashioned in the lowest Parts of the Earth. Thine Eyes did see my Bones, yet being imperfect; and in thy Book were all my Members written; which Day by Day were formed, when as yet there was none of them. Whence I proceed in order, to

CHAP. VIII.
Of the Animation of the FOETUS.

THE human Fœtus being duly form’d and organiz’d about the 50th Day at the latest, as we observed in the preceeding Chapter, it remains to be animated, and that with a three-fold Soul, viz. a vegetative, a sensitive, and a rational Soul.

THE First of which, according to the most learned Fortunius[20] Licetus, &c. may be ascribed to the Mother, as chiefly proceeding from the Power of her Menstruum. The Second may (by the same Authority) be ascribed to the Power and Spirit of the Paternal Seed; but it is the more generally received Opinion, that the vegetative Soul is generated from the Commixture of both Seeds with the Menstruum, and therefore as much to be ascribed to the one, as to the other, Parent: And that also the sensitive SOUL proceeds from the proper natural Faculty of the organiz’d Fœtus, as the rational SOUL doth from the immediate Infusion of the great Creator. Touching which Infusion, I desire not to meddle with the Controversy that has so long subsisted betwixt Philosophers and Divines: Only as I have noted in Chap. iv. the Opinion of the greatest Masters of Nature; so if, in this, we could, from the Dictates of Faith and Religion, as well as from the Maxims of natural Philosophy, set the Matter in a clearer Light, I humbly presume it would not be disagreeable: Since the Principles of Either, taken separately, are in themselves mysterious, and can never be fully comprehended by some; whereas, both taken jointly, I mean, the Arguments of the one, to reinforce the Positions of the other, may be satisfactory to all.

IN order to which, I first observe; That the Influx of celestial Bodies exerts its Power very efficaciously in all Sublunaries and Inferiours. Hence, touching the four Humours of our Bodies, Mars is thought to excite the yellow Bile, as Saturn exasperates Melancholy; and Luna to encrease Phlegm, as Sol and Jupiter govern the Blood.

SECONDLY, I observe, That the Power and Influence of the Planets lies effectually in Metals, Stones, Gems, Herbs, Roots, and all Subterranean Bodies; as Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron, Tin, Lead, and whatever is contained in the Bowels of the Earth, whether it tend to Use or Necessity, Profit or Pleasure; the Virtues and Increase of them all proceeding from their peculiar Stars.

THIS we may easily conceive, by considering that God, who made all things for his singular, great, and good Ends, would never have exhibited to us such a fair and spacious Heaven, such a Course, Order, Continuation, and Series of Stars to delight and feed our Eyes, like an empty Shadow, or an idle Picture: But, to the contrary, the Trees, the Roots, the Branches, the Seas, the Rivers, the Streams, and whatever runs thro’ the Veins of the Earth, or graces the Surface of Sea or Land; yea, whatever is, or may be distinguished by the Variety of Things or Names, together with our Bodies, and their implanted Humours, He subjected to the Heavens, that they might perceive some superiour Impulse, Motion, and Agitation from the Stars, and experience the Utility of their Effects.

HENCE the learned Arabians ascribed the Bodies, Actions, and Dispositions of Men to Stars and Signs: As Proclus teacheth, that Superiours and Inferiours are manifestly one in the other. But these Inferiours are defin’d, some to be Solar, others Lunar; on which the Sun and Moon make strong Impressions, like those of the Stars and Signs they are under. In reference to which, they distribute the human Body among the Planets and Signs of the Zodiack; and most ingeniously demonstrate, that as the Triplicities of those Signs answer one another, and agree in Celestials, so they also concur in the Members of the Body; which Observation, daily Experience also confirms. As for example: By a Coldness of the Feet, the Belly and Breast are affected; and these Members answering to the same Triplicity, any proper Medicine apply’d to the one, helps the other; as by warming the Feet, the Pain of the Belly ceaseth.

WHEREFORE, if we consider the many occult Qualities, and secret Influences of celestial Bodies, besides these three which are manifest to us, namely, Heat, Light, and Motion, we shall readily and rationally agree with Astrologers, as well as Philosophers, in this Point; that the celestial Bodies concur with other natural Causes, in the regular Procession of all the different Steps of the Conformation and Constitution of human Conception.

MOREOVER, in the Work of Animation, they concur not only physically, but efficiently; not as formal, final, or material Causes, but meerly by Action; upon which Great Efficient, all other Causes depend. And yet they concur efficiently not as the only particular, immediate, and proximous Agents, but as the common remote, physical Agents, moving physically. Now this Aristotle also plainly teacheth, saying; that, “As this inferiour World hath Existence from superiour Beings, so all worldly Existences must necessarily be ordered and directed by those, as the common efficient Cause of all Sub-celestials.”

BUT I would farther observe, that the only Action of those Bodies in this Work, is to dispose and govern all proper, special, and singular Causes pertaining to Nature, preserving them physically; that is, by their Motion, Light, and Heat.

THE reason I call those Bodies the remote, not the proximous Agents in the Work, is, because they do not in Substance, Motion, or Light, immediately reach or touch the Foetus; but only, by their secret Qualities and Influences, extended to these inferiour Orbs, penetrate through, and affect the Womb, tho’ never so closely shut up: By which means, the Spirit and Power of the Seeds, the Faculties of the Womb, and all concurring Causes are fomented, govern’d, promoted, preserv’d, and determin’d.

HOWEVER, in this Constitution, (whatever natural Causes may be advanc’d) the great God is indisputably and undeniably the prime and principal Efficient: for all other Causes, whether proximous or remote, without his Concurrence, would be but vain and insufficient, for the following Reasons.

I. HE is the only primary Agent, not physical, because not acting physically; not operating by Motion, because immoveable: but without Motion, and all other physical Helps, he powerfully and clearly displays Himself, most eminently officiating by his own All-sufficiency, and Appointment of Nature.

II. HE likewise, as the prime, common, remote, and physical Cause, governs and directs all other secundary Causes supereminently, which are subjected to, and dependent upon Himself; in constituting, organizing, and fomenting the CONCEPTION.

III. HE finally, as the proper, proximous, and immediate Cause, or Agent, directing none else, nor using any other Assistance in the Work, neither being directed nor assisted by any other, gives to the organiz’d human Foetus its greatest Completion; and the ultimate finishing Stroke of consummate Perfection, by infusing and communicating to it a Mind in a rational SOUL, by which the Foetus becomes MAN.

AND this Infusion comes immediately from, and of Himself, who is (in Aristotle’s Words): “The Form and Former of the Universe, the ultimate End, the final and efficient Cause of all celestial Bodies, and created Beings.”

BUT now, as to the Time of this great Work of Animation, Naturalists agree, that it requires double the Space that Formation had from Conception: which seems so far probable, because at that time, and no sooner, the Infant may be sensibly perceiv’d to move; and that by the Influence of calid and siccid Mars, who (according to Astrologers) now takes charge of it in the third Month. For by virtue of his hot Quality, he perfecteth the three principal Members, separating the Legs, Arms, and Head (in due proportion) from the rest: Wherefore this auspicious Planet is called the Author of the Infant’s Motion. So that, in fine, conformable to what is laid down in the preceeding Chapter, the Work of Animation is perfected, at soonest, about the 70th, and at latest, about the 100th Day from CONCEPTION. Which being done, I proceed to the next principal Work in constituting the Man.

CHAP. IX
Of the MATURATION of the INFANT.

NATURALISTS allow the Infant, for its ripening in the Womb, and to the legitimate Time of Birth, treble the Space that Animation had; as Physicians agree in allowing this treble the Time that the first Motion had from Conception: and from hence the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, &c. are called ripening Months.

IN the fourth Month, Astrologers will have the Planet Sol to reign over the Infant; whose calid Quality gives it entire Life, fully perfecting the Members, excavating the Bones, and amplifying the Pores and Passages of the Body.

AS, in the Fifth, Venus presides over the Infant; who, by her Frigidity and Humidity, mitigates the Heat and Siccity impressed on it by the superiour Planets, absolutely perfecting the Lineaments of the external Members. According to which Principles, she, in a word, forms the Privities of both Sexes; and adds Beauty and Ornament to the Nose, Mouth, Hands, Fingers, and all the rest of the visible Parts.

AS also, in the sixth Month, Mercury takes his Turn to assist the Infant, which puts the last finishing Hand to the Work; perfecting the Organs of the Voice, enlarging the Eyes, Eye-lids, Brows, and Nails; promoting and confirming the Instruments of Motion; and at last, absolving and compleating whatever the others have commenced.

I shall only farther hypothetically observe, that, if the Infant was perfectly form’d about the 35th Day, it was animated about the 70th, and consequently will be born about the 210th Day, the last of the 7th Month.

IF the Formation was perfected about the 40th Day, the Animation happen’d about the 80th, and the BIRTH will (unluckily) happen towards the close of the 8th Month.

IF Formation happen’d the 45th, Animation follow’d the 90th Day, and the BIRTH will succeed about the close of 9 Months.

IF Formation was compleated the 50th, Animation follow’d the 100th Day, and consequently the BIRTH[21] will appear about the last of 10 Months; and so of any other certain Time, definite Day, or stated Hour.

IT is, in all the above-mentioned Cases, to be farther animadverted, that the Male, as he proceeds from the more calid, siccid, and spirituous Seed, arrives sooner to Perfection in Formation and Animation; and is consequently sooner born than the Female, whose Nature is more cold, flaccid, and weak, even in the Womb: Hence an Allowance of a few Days more or less[22], may be justly made, according to the Sex.

CHAP. X.
Of the NUTRITION and POSTURE of the INFANT.

THIS is manifest, that the Foetus is nourished in the first Months, by the Umbilical Vessels only: But the several following Reasons engage me to think; that, in the latter Months, it is alimented by the Mouth also, and That by a glutinous limpid Liquor: Which, being (probably) secreted from the Amnion for that Purpose, is found to surround it.

I. BECAUSE this Liquor, which seems very proper for that Use, is found not only in the Mouth, but also in the OEsophagus and Stomach of the INFANT.

II. IT is found changed in the smaller Intestines[23]; and being chylify’d in the Ventricle, it turns to Excrements, call’d Meconium, in the Rectum, or strait Gut.

III. WE find a large Quantity of this Liquor, surrounding the Fœtus in the first Months, and but little in the last; which cannot probably be consum’d any other way, than by the INFANT.

IV. BECAUSE[24] that the Oesophagus, Intestines, lacteal Vessels, and thoracick Duct, may continue open, and be gradually accustomed to their respective Functions.

THE Infant’s Situation, in the first and middle Months, is various; but, in the latter, it is commonly observ’d to be of an oval Figure: Sitting, with the Head hanging down, and the Chin upon the Breast; the Neck bending forwards, the Back is round; embracing the Knees, which are drawn up towards the Cheeks with its Arms; the Hands commonly hanging down, seem to embrace the Feet; the Heels cling close to the Buttocks; and while the Head is uppermost, the Face is towards the Mother’s Belly.

BUT about the Time of Birth; the Head, which was always before Lighter, becomes considerably Heavier than any other Part. And its ponderous Bulk bearing much smaller Proportion to its Substance than it did before, must needs (consequently) tumble Heels over Head, in the Waters of the Membranes; and the Head falling downwards, the Feet get uppermost, and the Face is turn’d towards the Mother’s Back.

BUT because this is a painful and irksome Posture, however favourable for its Exit; the Motions it makes for its Relief, occasion frequent Pains to the Mother, which cause a Contraction of the WOMB, for the Expulsion of the Infant.

AND, in short, this being the natural Posture of the Infant in the WOMB, its preternatural Positions may from thence be easily conceived.

CHAP. XI.
Of the Membranes and Waters.

THE MEMBRANES of the Infant, are Two in number, the one exteriour, call’d CHORION; the other interiour, AMNION: which are so contiguously joined one to the other, that they appear like one and the same MEMBRANE; and, because they are only separable by Art, as a Silk-Lining from a Cloth, are sometimes call’d the double MEMBRANE.

THE Chorion is rough and unequal on the Outside, but smoother within; where it closely unites itself to the thinner and transparent Amnion.

THIS Amnion covers the Placenta, and is fixed to the Inside of the Womb, by its Circumference on all Sides.

THESE Membranes contain the Waters, in which the Infant swims; which Waters encrease along with the Infant, generating by degrees, and proceeding from the moist Humours, exhal’d (by way of Transpiration) from the tender Infant’s porous Body.

THESE Waters are of infinite Service to the Infant, during the time of Maturation: As they are to both Mother and Child in the time of BIRTH; which hereafter will more amply appear. And as in Conception, these Membranes are form’d before the EMBRYO; being, as they are commonly call’d, the Coats of the Egg: So, in time of Labour, they always present themselves, with their peculiar Waters, to the ORIFICE, before the Infant approaches.

IN Case of TWINS or more Children; each has its proper Membranes and Waters apart, in which they are separately wrap’d up.

CHAP. XII.
Of the SECUNDINE, or AFTER-BIRTH.

THE SECUNDINE is a thick carnous Mass, of a soft vasculous Substance, compos’d of the maternal Menstrua; which waxes upon the outside of the Chorion in proportion with the Growth of the Foetus; encreasing (as the Waters do) together with the Infant. It is also called the Womb-Cake, or Placenta Uterina; but most commonly the Woman’s AFTER-BIRTH.

IT is call’d Placenta, because of its flat circular Figure, resembling a pretty thick round Cake; being about eight Inches Diameter, and one Thick; a little thicker in the Middle, where the Umbilical Vessels are fixed, than at the Edges.

ITS thickest spongious Part (properly call’d the Placenta) adheres to the Bottom of the Womb by innumerable Vessels, and the Interposition of a very thin Membrane, which is a Continuation of the Chorion.

ITS Concave Part towards the Infant, is join’d to the Navel-String, and encompass’d with a smooth Membrane, which it derives from the Chorion and Amnion.

THE Vessels terminating in the Navel-String, are inserted at one End, almost in the Center of the Placenta; as the other End adheres to the Navel of the Infant.

THE SECUNDINE is rough and unequal on the Outside, and smooth and soft on the Inside; and cannot be extracted, without breaking the mentioned Vessels: From hence an Effusion of Humours and Fluxion of Blood always follows it; which (according to the Woman’s State of Health) is of a fairer, or darker, red Colour.

THE Use of the SECUNDINE, is to receive and absorb the Nutritious Juice from the Womb; (as the Intestines imbibe the Chyle) which it afterwards transmits to the Infant, by the Umbilical Vein.

IN Case of Twins, or more Children, if conceived at one Time, they have but one common SECUNDINE, (notwithstanding the contrary Opinion of others) which adheres to the Fund of the Womb, by the Placenta, as above: Wherefore I must needs reject the Testimony of such Midwives, who give out that they have found the SECUNDINE, fix’d to any other Part of the Womb; tho’ I experimentally know, that it is sometimes found in the Hinder Part near the Loins, sometimes in the Forepart, sometimes near the Diaphragma, sometimes in the Right, and sometimes in the Left Side.

BUT however, we should be grossly mistaken, if from hence, we did conclude, that the SECUNDINE adher’d to any other Part, than the Bottom of the Womb: Since such erroneous Apprehensions are merely occasion’d by the various Motion, or oblique Position of the Womb; as hereafter will appear more at large.

CHAP. XIII.
Of the UMBILICAL VESSELS, or NAVEL-STRING.

THE three Umbilical Vessels consist of one Vein and Two Arteries; which compose the NAVEL-STRING, and are wrap’d up in one strong Membrane, proceeding from the Chorion and Amnion, between the Navel and Placenta.

THE Vein arises in the Placenta, from innumerable minute Vessels; proceeding thence with Spiral Contortions between the Arteries, thro’ the NAVEL-STRING, and Navel, to the Liver of the Infant; terminating in the Sinus of the Vena Porta, into which it pours the Blood and nutritious Juice received in the Placenta; which immediately proceeds to the Vena Cava, and Heart, thro’ a Cylindrical Canal (call’d Venosus) opposite to the Umbilical Vein.

THE Arteries, which are scarce half so large as the Vein, arise from the Iliacs of the Infant, or from the Aorta. They pass both Sides of the Bladder to the Navel, and thence through the NAVEL-STRING, by the like Spiral Windings, to the Placenta: where, after distributing some Branches to the Amnion and Chorion; they are divided into a very great Number of Sprigs, transferring the Blood from the Fœtus to the SECUNDINE.

THESE Two Arteries, with the above-mentioned one Vein, make up a certain Part, twisted like a Rope, about one Inch thick, and near a Yard long, call’d the NAVEL-STRING; which is so ordained of this Length, that the Infant, by its Motion, may not pull the Placenta from the Womb; and that, by its Means, the SECUNDINE may be commodiously extracted after the Birth.

IN Case of Twins, or more Children, every one has its proper NAVEL-STRING; the chief Use of which is, to convey the Maternal Blood and nutritious Juices by the Veins to the Foetus, for its Aliment: The Arteries carrying back that which is unfit for this Use, to the Placenta; whilst the Fœtus is still supply’d with more by the Vein: So that there’s a continual Circulation, or Communication, between the Mother and her Infant.

SECT. II.

CHAP. I.
Of the SYMPTOMS peculiar to the State of MAIDEN-HOOD.

SUCH Distempers as are incident to this Sex in Childhood, are generally common to the Other; wherefore I shall take another Opportunity to treat of them more particularly, and conduct the Child, whether Male or Female, thro’ all the Indispositions, to which its tender Age, or flexile Nature, may subject it, from the Moment of Birth, until the Time of Puberty: At which Age, the more delicate Constitution of Females, takes a quite different Turn from That of the other Sex.

AT this Crisis, or Juncture of Time, the Imbecility of their natural Dispositions begins to display itself, by various and different SYMPTOMS; to which, some are more, and some less, expos’d from Henceforward; very few being altogether exempted from what is so peculiar to their State: Wherefore (in the first place) I shall undertake to lay down the Causes, the Symptoms, the Degrees of Danger, and the respective Methods of Curing such Diseases as are incident to Virgins: Which leads me previously to define the Virgin-State, in

CHAP. II.
Of VIRGINITY.

VIRGINITY is an entire State of Nature in this Point; and nothing else, than the Integrity of the Muliebrian Parts from the Violence of Virile Congress.

TOUCHING the real Signs of VIRGINITY, many learned Controversies have risen; particularly as to the Membrane, call’d Hymen: Some great Anatomists and Physicians[25] strenuously denying its Existence, and representing it as some preternatural Production; and Others[26] as vigorously maintaining the contrary Opinion. Upon which Contention, if I may humbly offer my Sentiment; the later Authorities are so commonly receiv’d, that (I think) this Dispute sufficiently decided.

WE find the Reality of it has been abundantly confirm’d by the Greeks, as it was discover’d by the Arabians of old: And the Gentiles, for that very Reason, call’d their Nuptial God, Hymeneus. But, moreover, being since so positively asserted, by so many famous and learned Men, who openly vouch and aver that they have found and seen it; I do not see why we should longer doubt of this Membrane’s being to be found in Most, if not in All, VIRGINS, to distinguish them from the rest of their Sex: Especially since ’tis certain, that something extraordinary happens in the first Coition, which made Terentius call it, Coitio Acerrima. Upon which Notion, Catullus’s Verses are very elegant and à propos: viz.

“Ut flos in Septis secretus nascitur hortis,
“Ignotus pecori, nullo contusus Aratro;
“Quem mulcent Auræ, firmat Sol, educat Imber,
“Multi illum Pueri, multæ optavêre Puellæ:
“Idem cùm tenui carptus defloruit ungui,
“Nulli illum Pueri, nullæ optavêre Puellæ.

“Sic Virgo dum intacta manet, tum chara suis; sed

“Cùm Castum amisit polluto Corpore florem,

“Nec Pueris jucunda manet, nec grata Puellis.

This I take to be a notable Emblem both of the HYMEN and of VIRGINITY itself.

OTHERS again affirm, that the Effusion of Blood, in the first Act, is common to all VIRGINS; founded upon the Authority of the 22d Chap. of Deut. &c: By which ’tis plain, that this Criterion or Mark, has been of the nicest Consequence among the Jews; as also in several other Nations: according to Claudianus in the Epithalamium of Honorius, viz.—

“Et vestes Tyrio Sanguine fulgidas

“Alter Virgineus nobilitet Cruor:

“Tum Victor madido prosiliat Thoro,

“Nocturni referens vulnera prælii.

In short, many Philosophers, as well as Poets, hold This for an infallible Symptom.

HOWEVER, tho’ I must confess This to be a certain Sign of VIRGINITY, when it does appear; yet, if it don’t, the VIRGIN is not therefore to be suspected: especially if she be more adult, in which Case the Parts grow both larger and firmer, by the long Flux of the Menstrua; and consequently this Effusion cannot well be expected; neither can it be supposed in case of any violent Procatarctick or Primary Cause (and from That she can be no more secure, than another Person) which may break the Hymen, and dilate the Parts before Coition. But besides,

NEITHER can the Mosaical Law, nor the Customs of other Countries, imply any thing farther; than, that This is the indubitable Mark of VIRGINITY when it appears, without drawing any suspicious Consequences from its accidental Non-appearance: especially considering, that their VIRGINS married always very young, and commonly about the 12th or 13th Year of their Age; when they could scarce possibly be without some evident Effusion.

OTHERS will have the Astriction of the Vagina, to be a certain Sign of VIRGINITY; which, (tho’ I confess, is more astrict in VIRGINS, than in such as have copulated) I deny, to be any certain Sign: Since all know, That Part to differ (in this Point) according to Age, Habit, and other Circumstances of Body and Health: But besides, some astringent Medicines would also easily answer this End.

OTHERS again have disputed the Possibility of a VIRGIN’s generating Milk; affirming Milk in the Breasts, to be a certain Sign of lost VIRGINITY: And (I think) there is some Reason for this Opinion; for my part, I would inform myself better, before I should credit Her, who would give herself out for a VIRGIN, having this Symptom; notwithstanding the contrary Opinion of others, founded upon the Authority of Hippocrates[27]: Since, according to the Judgment of the most learned Mauritius Cordæus[28], it very seldom happens. But if after All, a VIRGIN chances to have Milk in her Breasts, it differs in Quantity as well as Quality, from That of a Woman who has conceiv’d: For which Reason, he distinguishes and describes Two Sorts of Milk: viz.

THE One, which belongs to this Case, he says, is generated of Blood flowing to the Breasts, when deny’d an Exit by the Womb; and is nothing but the superfluous Aliment of the Breasts, by their peculiar Faculty, turn’d into Milk: Which may happen to VIRGINS irregular in their Menstrua; and according to this Interpretation, Hippocrates is to be rightly understood. The other Milk, he calls Puerperial; which does not generate without a Big-Belly, and That pretty far Gone: Which Milk is communicated from the Womb directly to the Breasts.

HE teaches us also, that this Difference of Milk, proceeds from the Diversity of Blood, of which both Sorts are generated; and likewise from the Variety of the Veins and Passages, by which they are convey’d and carry’d to the Breasts.

WHICH Veins are Two-fold; namely, Common and Proper. The Common are called External, and these are such as only carry the Blood from the Vena Cava, for the Nutrition of the Breasts; which, if superfluous, or more than is sufficient for that Use, is converted (by the Glands of the Breasts) into a kind of Milk: Which, altho’ white, is of a thinner Substance, not so sweet, nor so plentiful, as true Milk. Whereas the proper Mammary Veins carry that very Blood, of which Milk is generated for the Nourishment of the Infant, from the Womb directly[29]; which happens, by what the Greeks call an Anastomosis, or Conjunction of the Mammary and Epigastrick Veins.

FROM hence we have the Difference of these two sorts of Blood and Milk: Wherefore it is to be concluded, that altho’ the One be found in the Breasts of VIRGINS, they are not therefore to be rashly suspected of Pollution; since, according to Aristotle[30], the same may happen sometimes also to Men.

BUT, besides what is mention’d, there are many different external Methods propos’d by Authors[31], to distinguish a Real, from a Supposititious VIRGIN: Which however I shall not enter upon, lest what I have intended for the Benefit of All in general, might tend to the Detriment of some in particular. And thus having briefly described the MAIDEN and MAIDEN-HEAD, I come now to treat of such Indispositions, as are either Peculiar, or more Familiar to her STATE. And, First, in order

CHAP. III.
Of the Virgin-Disease, commonly called the GREEN-SICKNESS.

THIS Malady is an Indisposition visibly discolorating the Complexion, and nothing else, but a Complication of divers Diseases and Symptoms: Wherefore it is variously represented and taken, sometimes for a Disease, and sometimes for a Symptom.

BE that as it will; it is so Familiar, or rather Peculiar to Mature VIRGINS, that most Physicians call it the Virgin-Disease, or Virgin-Fever; as others call it Febris Alba, or pale Fever: Not that it is always join’d with a Fever; but because the affected Party represents (in most Respects) a Feverish Person, by the Celerity and Frequency of Her Pulse, &c.

IT is also call’d Febris Amatoria; I suppose, (partly) because of the Colour, according to the POET; Palleat omnis Amans, Color hic eft aptus Amanti: And (partly) because of the Age, which may be the fittest Time for Love; which made Diogenes say, at sight of a certain Patient, That she was dead in her OWN, but alive in ANOTHER Body: As it is otherwise denominated Icterus Albus; because, as in an Icterus or JAUNDICE, the whole Body is tinctur’d yellow: So in this Disorder, it is changed Pale and Wan; and from hence it is commonly call’d the GREEN-SICKNESS, because of the Colour and Aspect inclining a little that way. As it is likewise also term’d, Fœdus seu pallidus Virginum Color, or the ugly pale Colour of languishing VIRGINS.

HOWEVER yet I have known many Women, in France, and Germany, who have been so far from thinking it an ugly Colour, that they have esteem’d it most Beautiful; and have used very pernicious Things to gain and appropriate this Colour to Themselves: Esteeming Fresh-looking-Women, of a fine sanguine Complexion, mere RUSTICKS.

THIS disagreeable Affection of the Body, however it is titled, most certainly implies a Complication of several different Maladies; annoying all the Actions of the Natural, and Motions of the Animal Faculty: Or, in short, perverting the whole Oeconomy of the Body. And because it is always join’d with Most, if not with All the following Symptoms, I think it may be regularly thus defin’d.

THE VIRGIN-DISEASE, is a Change of the natural Colour of the Face into a pallid greenish Tincture; with a Dejection of Strength, Gravity of all the Members and Parts of the Body, Fastidy of Victuals, Malacia or Pica, Heaviness and Palpitation of Heart, Difficulty of Breathing, a slow Fever, Pains of the Head, Melancholy, Inflations, and Oedematous Tumours of the Feet, Legs, Eye-lids, and the whole Face; with a frigid Intemperature, and Cachexy of the whole Body; proceeding from a deprav’d Nutrition, and the abundance of crude Humours, ingender’d from a perverse Disposition of the Liver, Spleen, or Ventricle.

HENCE proceed the OBSTRUCTIONS of the Uterine Vessels, and neighbouring Parts, of the Veins of the LIVER, and SPLEEN; but especially, of the MESENTERY: So that the natural Calidity of the whole Body being thus suffocated, and oppressed, by those crude Humours, an Irregularity, or Suppression of the MENSTRUA, must needs ensue.

BY this Definition, the DISEASE may easily be known; tho’ in some Circumstances, it may differ, according to the different Quality of the predominant Humour: Especially considering, that if all the foremention’d Signs, or Symptoms, do not concur in all PATIENTS; yet Most of them commonly do happen in most Persons, and All in Some. Whence I come methodically to denote more particularly its Causes.

IN order to which, I may justly premise, that the Proximous Cause is a Collection of deprav’d crude Humours in the Body: As the Remote Cause, is a Suppression, or Irregularity in the Course of the Menstruous Blood.

NOW this Blood flowing to the Womb, as soon as the VIRGIN is Mature; if the Passages are not capacious or patent enough, it regorges to the Major Veins, and thence to the very Bowels; extinguishing the Heat, and obstructing the Vessels of the LIVER, SPLEEN, and MESENTERY: From whence proceeds a vicious Concoction and Sanguification; and consequently a Collection of crude Humours, which excite various Symptoms thro’ all Parts of the Body. And it commonly happens, that an irregular or improper Way of Living, especially about the Time of Puberty, or in the Time of the natural Course, engenders a pituitous and viscid Blood; which, together with the aforesaid Humours, totally obstructs the Uterine Vessels.

THIS Distemper is very dangerous, if not timely cur’d; because if the Heart be very much affected, and the Vital Faculty quite oppressed with it, the Patient often dies suddenly: Or, otherways, it commonly turns to a Dropsy; and, when the Humours fly into the Head, it causes a Frenzy.

NOW as I come gradually to set forth the Cure of this Distemper, I shall First observe; that, as various Diseases and Symptoms do concur towards its Complication, all These are to be discreetly remov’d by proper Means and Methods. But that I may be better understood, SOME are more prudently (perhaps) to be remov’d singly; and OTHERS, jointly: As for Instance, if any one Symptom be more troublesome and dangerous than the Rest, it ought to be chiefly regarded above All others; and, if not remov’d, at least mitigated in the First Place.

SECONDLY, That a proper Regulation of Diet and Regimen of Body, is to be judiciously directed, as another initial necessary Step towards the Cure; which we have hereafter more fully treated of.

THIRDLY, That this Distemper is more easily and sooner cur’d, in Spring or Summer-Time, than in Autumn or Winter; because when the proper Constitution of WEATHER and AIR concurs with the medicinal Means, more may be done towards effecting its Cure in a Week, than otherways can be expected in a Month. Wherefore These being premised, the Cure will most rationally depend upon the four following methodical STEPS; viz.

I. THAT the vitious Humours lodged in the Body, especially in the Bowels, be duly prepar’d for Expurgation, and then effectually evacuated.

II. THAT the Intemperature and Obstructions of the VENTRICLE, LIVER, SPLEEN, and WOMB, be All carefully and regularly removed.

III. THAT the Menstrua be duly rectify’d, and physically reduc’d to a Natural Course, by the best Conduct of Art and Judgment.

IV. THAT the Rest of the morbifick Humours, whether Crude, Aqueous, or Serous, lurking behind in the Body, be in due manner discharg’d.

BUT more particularly; The Cure may be begun with a gentle Evacuation of the Belly, and, if Strength and other Circumstances shall permit, with repeated VENÆSECTIONS[32], or Blood-letting in the Foot, not only for removing the Plenitude, but also for resolving the Obstructions of the MENSTRUA.

AND because the Humours are Thick and Frigid, proper warming and attenuating, or preparing and purging Medicines are to be used in their Turns; or rarefying and inciding Matters may be mixed with the Purgatives. As also in Case the Humours lodge about the Ventricle and Mesentery, a gentle Vomit may be convenient.

BUT because divers Parts suffer OBSTRUCTIONS in this sickly Affection, proper Aperitives are to be made use of; and Those chiefly, which have a natural Affinity with every respective affected Part: As for Example; Hepaticks, for the LIVER; Spleneticks, for the SPLEEN; Uterines, for the WOMB, &c. Wherefore the Physician ought to weigh and consider well, whether the Veins about the VENTRICLE and MESENTERY, or LIVER and SPLEEN, be most obstructed; since the most special Regard must be had to the Part most affected.

IN the Beginning, such Medicines as serve best to open the Obstructions of the MESENTERY, SPLEEN, and LIVER, sparingly mix’d with such as provoke the MENSTRUA or MONTHS, are to be discreetly used: But afterwards, in Progress of the Cure, the Uterines may (by Degrees) be prudentially augmented.

HOWEVER, at last it often happens, that tho’ the grosser HUMOURS are evacuated: yet some watry, serous Humours remain in the Circuit of the Body, too much refrigerating and infesting it still; which are most conveniently remov’d by Sudorificks.

BUT because the compleat CURE of this Disease requires some Length of Time, I would advise proper Preparatives, Purgatives, and Corroboratives, to be exhibited by Turns; as also the very Form and Composition of the MEDICINES to be varied in their Courses, for the preventing of Nauseousness.

THE Patient’s REGIMEN, must likewise be well prescrib’d, and curiously regulated; especially her Diet. She ought to live upon Victuals of the best Nutrition, and easiest Concoction, carefully avoiding all others that are not so agreeable: Especially such as are of a frigid or humid Quality; such as Pot-herbs, Garden-Fruits, Milk Fish, &c. She may drink generous Wine, or good Ale cautiously abstaining from all small Drinks, and other such like noxious Liquids, as much as possible.

MOREOVER, Motion and Exercise are very convenient, not only in the Beginning, but also in the Declension of this DISEASE; especially by strongly Chafing and Rubbing, with warm Flannels, every Morning in Bed.

BUT Sleep is not to be too much indulged, especially not in the Mornings; altho’ she be Then more propense to it, by reason of the abundance of VAPOURS ascending to the Brain.

LASTLY, to perfect and confirm this CURE, I would recommend[33] Hippocrates’s sound Advice to the Patient; which is to the following Purpose, of marrying betimes for the sake of Health, and to prevent all the future ill Consequences of this growing Malady.

“EGO, inquit, Autor sum, ut Virgines hoc malo affectæ quàm celerrimè viris conjungantur; iisq; cohabitent: Si enim conceperint, convalescent. Si verò in pubertate hoc malo non corripiantur, tum paulo post eas invadit.”

UPON which excellent Sentence, the two following Observations may, (I hope) appositely here follow and take place, viz.

I. Quod etiam Ratione & Experientiâ confirmatur[34]: Venere etenim Uterus & partes circa Uterum incalescunt, viæq; aperiuntur & laxantur, ut sanguis Menstruus postea faciliùs ad Uterum confluere & per eundem effluere possit.

II. Rectissimè etiam dictum, convalescent, si concipiant; quia Sanguis, qui præter Naturam antea retinebatur, jam in Fœtûs Formationem absumitur; & si quid vitiosorum humorum in Utero cumulatum sit, id post partum evacuatur.

I have thought it proper to insist the more upon this Head; because I know none else among all the Indispositions of Life, which can properly be accounted peculiar to Virgins.

SOME however may think perhaps, that I had a fair Opportunity in this Place, to introduce the various Diseases and Symptoms of the WOMB, VAGINA, and PUDENDUM; the divers Symptoms of the Menstruous Flux, together with Those which are incident to all Women after Puberty.

WHICH Objection I humbly beg leave briefly to answer, that a twofold Reason dissuaded me from undertaking to treat of Those Heads in this Place.

I. BECAUSE They are common to all Women in general, and incident to the Wife, or Widow, as well as to the Virgin; wherefore, I hope, another Place in this BOOK may be assigned to Them, more proper and convenient than This, without any Digression.

II. BY reason the several Branches of these Heads are so very many and different, that to discuss ’em all Here, as I ought to do, would too much swell the Bulk of the Volume, and enhance the Price of this BOOK; which I design for the Good of the poorer Sort of Women, as well as the Benefit of the Rich. However, what is most Essential and necessarily Requisite, shall not be omitted (at least coincidently) in its proper Place. Wherefore I shall leave the Virgin, after a digressive Hint in the following Section, upon her darling Passion, [LOVE]: and supposing her to have alter’d her Condition, I shall thenceforward treat her as a Wife.

CHAP. IV.
Of LOVE.

LOVE is the first Impression that affects the Appetite; proceeding from the Pleasure conceiv’d in a Real or Imaginary GOOD.

IT is the CEMENT of Affections, and the Effect of a certain Congruity of Minds; sympathetically arising from the DIASTOLE and SYSTOLE of affected Hearts.

IT is (as a certain Author defines it) a sacred Frenzy of the Soul, and a Divine Madness, elevating Men to the Pitch of Saints, and rendring them the Care of Benigner Dæmons: so far that they are every where safe, being under the Protection of GODS and Men; as the Poet familiarly expresses it, Quisquis Amore tenetur, eat tutúsq; sacèrq;——

IT is a kind of a wonderful satisfactory Death, and a voluntary Separation of Soul and Body. The Lover’s Mind is in one Place; his Body, in Another; and He himself is No Where, if he be not with the Object of his LOVE: So that (in a manner) it transforms the LOVER into the Object beloved; and all this without any evident Trouble, or if there be any Trouble, still the Trouble is lov’d, with apparent Satisfaction and Delight. As it is ingeniously said, Ubi Amatur, non laboratur; & si laboratur, labor Amatur.

LOVE always springs and blooms with fresh Desires, with young and vigorous Inclinations. It is so riveted in our Natures, that our Blood must first grow cold and be congeal’d by Death, before this FLAME can be extinguish’d: Nay, sometimes it is more fervent, tho’ of shorter Duration, in our latest Hours, than in our Prime. For like as the OIL which feeds a Lamp, when almost spent, the startled Flame begins to rouze itself, and burn afresh, as if it would fain subsist a little longer; tho’ on the very Dregs of its accustomed Fuel, it crackles and flashes with greater Noise and Lustre than before, but presently expires: So does the Amorous Fire, when we are nearest our Dissolution, begin to trouble us most, and makes our Soul to blaze with greater Fevers of Desire and Grief, knowing its Period to be near at hand.

LOVE is like the Palm-Tree, the more oppressed with Weights, the Higher it grows. It always desires to encrease, dilate, and stretch itself farther still, leading to an Harmonious Union of Hearts. Riches cannot purchase Love. Neither Threats nor Violence can either force or restrain it; which being free by Nature, as proceeding from the Freedom of the Will, disdains all Compulsion; subduing all, and unsubdued by any Opposition. In short, it is so generous, that whereas all other Affections and Actions aim at different Rewards; LOVE only is contented with Love, holding nothing else as a sufficient Recompence.

LOVE made Ulysses, rather than forsake his dear Penelope, refuse IMMORTALITY itself at Calipso’s hands.

LOVE is the oldest of our Passions, in that it came into the World with us; and from thence it becomes habitual to a good NATURE, and a brave SOUL.

LOVE is the most noble and generous of our Passions, it soon removes all puny Obstacles in its way. It is ready, prompt, and dexterous to find Excuses or Forgiveness for the greatest FAULTS, and much more to palliate the Peccadillo’s of the Beloved. It does by a peculiar Force and Virtue extirpate all Revenge, and blot out the MEMOIRS of past Unkindnesses.

LOVE triumphantly overcomes all Things. All things yield to its Power; and the more we oppose it, the stronger Resistance it makes. It conquers the greatest Hearts, and victoriously subdues the most magnanimous Souls. Alexander the Great, was not exempted from this insuperable Passion, at the sight of Darius’s fair Daughters. No, LOVE made Hercules, the Son of JUPITER himself, stoop and truckle to the Female Conqueror; according to the following known Distich,

“Lenam non potuit, potuit superare Leænant,

“Quem Fera non potuit vincere, vicit Hera.

IN fine, I think it is also ingeniously well defin’d in this ensuing Hexastick, by Mr. Howel[35],

“Fax grata est, gratum est vulnus, mihi grata Catena est,

“Me quibus astringit, lædit & urit Amor;

“Sed Flammam extingui, sanari Vulnera, sulvi

“Vinc’la, etiam ut possem non ego posse velim:

“Mirum equidem Genus hoc Morbi est, Incendia & Ictus

“Vinc’laq; vinctus adhuc, læsus & ustus Amo.

Grateful’s to me the Fire, the Wound, the Chain,

By which Love burns, Love binds, and giveth Pain:

But for to quench this Fire, these Bonds to loose,

These Wounds to heal, I would not, could I, choose:

Strange Sickness, where the Wounds, the Bonds, the Fire

That burns, that bind, that hurt, I must desire.

THE Omniscient Creator, at the Beginning, implanted in the Nature of Both Sexes this Faculty of Love, accompanied with a fervent Desire of Procreation; furnishing them (for this Purpose) with proper adapted Organs, and other suitable Means of Generation: which, in themselves, are no less wise and wonderful, than the great Design of propagating the World by successive Generations, is profound and miraculous; as will more manifestly appear, by explaining their Order, Propriety, and Disposition, in Sect. 4. Chap. 5, 6, &c.

AND to compensate many subsequent Griefs thereupon, Nature added to Man and Woman an ardent Desire of mutual Embraces, concomitated with certain alluring Enticements to Multiplication; to the end that in Congression they might be so delightfully charme’d, as to forget, or at least vilipend and slight all other trifling Annoyances.

THUS, in short, Nature hath cared and provided for Propagation and Posterity; not only in the Human Race, but also in all other Species of Creatures, according to the excellent Poet[36];

“Omne adeo genus in terris hominúmq; Ferarúmq;

“Et genus Æquoreum, pecudes, pictæq; Volucres,

“In furias ignemq; ruunt: Amor omnibus idem.——

“Quid Juvenis, &c.——

Thus ev’ry Creature, and of ev’ry Kind,
The secret Joys of sweet Coition find:
Not only Man’s imperial Race; but they
That wing the liquid Air, or swim the Sea,
Or haunt the Desart, rush into the Flame:

For Love is Lord of all; and is in all the same.

’Tis with this Rage, the Mother-Lion stung,

Scours o’er the Plain; regardless of her Young:

Demanding Rites of Love, she sternly stalks;

And hunts her Lover, in his lonely Walks.

’Tis then the shapeless Bear his Den forsakes;

In Woods and Fields a vast Destruction makes.

Boars whet their Tusks, to battle Tygers move,

Enrag’d with Hunger, more enrag’d with Love.

BUT all ludicrous Diversions apart! I proceed hence to a necessary Consequence of this Noble Natural PASSION; viz.

CHAP. V.
Of COPULATION.

THIS Conjunction of both Sexes, is the Consummation of Love, and the Pinnacle of the Lover’s natural Felicity. It is the Sum and superlative Degree of their terrene Happiness; above which the Lovers cannot aspire, naturally speaking, in Human Society.

THIS is also the utmost Height of their eager Desires, and the greatest Extent of their languishing Wishes. It is the Abatement, as well as the Completion of their unbounded Passions, and the Tranquillity of their restless Minds. However yet——

THIS Act is Two-fold; Fæcund and successful, or Sterile and unsuccessful in the Event.

I. AS to the First, some most famous Authors have written their Minds freely and copiously upon it, and have given certain pertinent Instructions, touching the Time, and Manner, as well as Conduct of the Parties concern’d, both before and after the Act: Particularly Avicenna[37] (no Proletarian Writer, but a most Illustrious and most Learned Prince) has insisted at large upon every Case belonging to this Head, together with the Way and Manner, as well as the proper Time of begetting either Sex; “Ubi, inquit, menses defluxerint, sitq; abstersus Uterus, quod quinto ferè die usu venit, aut septimo; Si Vir Mulieri congrediatur, à primo quàm est purgata die ad quintum, MAREM produci: à quinto verò ad octavum, FÆMELLAM: rursus ab octavo ad duodecimum denuo, MASCULUM, &c.”

WHICH excellent Opinion is fully proved by Levinus Lemnius (another great Master of Nature): According to whose authentick Judgment also, there are likewise many things[38] of an occult specifick Quality, and secret Effect, for answering the same Ends, as well as Fecundity itself: which both common Reason and daily Experience confirm for Truth.

BUT because I lie under the Disadvantage (at present) of writing in our vernacular Tongue, it may be proper to pass by, what (otherways) might be plentifully said on this Head: However I shall observe, that the Generality of Rules are most commonly calculated for Persons of a discording Constitution of natural Temperaments and Faculties; which Difference of Constitution brings often false and ungrounded Reproaches upon the Reputation of fruitful Women. From whence it is justly to be remarked, that, tho’ few or no Children are got meerly by Art; yet if a little Dexterity or ingenious Subtilty was used with some Women, there would not (perhaps) One in Three of those, who are rashly accounted so, be found BARREN.

II. AS to the unsuccessful Act of Coition, I shall refer what may be offer’d on that Point, until I come to treat of Sterility, in Section viii: And therefore I shall only farther observe Here, that the Parties ought not to encounter with full Stomachs, Bellies, or Bladders; much less when Both, or Either, are weary, fatigu’d, depriv’d of Sleep, angry, troubled in Mind, or in any other real respect out of Order. For in these Cases, it is very detrimental to the Health[39] of such imprudent Parents; and (if Conception follows) it infallibly intails some respective Evil upon the Innocent Production: Because all the Affections or Disturbances of their Minds, virtually devolve upon the Embryo. And besides, as (by such perverse Means) the Conception becomes irregular; so also does the Maturation, Nutrition, and Birth carry the same Impression: For from the least Perturbation of SPIRIT, the Infant may contract various Blemishes of Body, as well as Errors of Mind.

WHEREFORE, in fine, as this Affair is to be undertaken with a serene and contented Mind, a chearful and undisturbed Heart, so it ought to be perform’d with Moderation and Decency: Not in any brutal Manner or Posture; but according to the rational Law and proper Instinct of Nature.

CHAP. VI.
Remarks upon COPULATION.

Supposing now this amicable Engagement of Nature to be over, I may be modestly allow’d (I hope) to add a few Words upon its necessary Consequences; and First, of what has happen’d in the Act, Retention, and Conception following.

FIRST then, If the Woman has contributed most Seminal Matter, it may reasonably be concluded, that the Child will favour the Mother most: If the Man predominantly, the Father: If Both equally, it will resemble Both, or in part the Father, and partly the Mother.

AND according to Anaxagoras, if the Seed has flown into the Right Side of the Womb, from the Right Rein of the Man, a Male will be conceiv’d; if into the Left, from the Left Rein, a Female; by reason of the Frigidity and Humidity of that Place. Which Notion may seem probable; considering, that tho’ the Womb has but one Cavity, yet it has two Sinuses[40] for conceiving the Two different Sexes: As Nature has in other Respects accordingly given the Woman two Breasts.

LACTANTIUS also observes[41], That, if peradventure a Male should be conceiv’d of the Seed fallen to the left Side, the Place destinated for the Female, he will make but a Semivirile Man; distinguishable by some Womanish Qualities, such as a weak or tender Heart, small Voice, a smooth, or unbearded Face, &c: And so, on the contrary, if a Female should be conceiv’d of the Seed fallen to the right Side, she will have some distinguishable Marks of Virility; such as a large Stature, robust Members, dusky Colour, rough hairy Face, coarse Voice, &c: And that because the Conception happen’d in that Place, which Nature had appropriated to the Male.

THIS likewise seems to be the best Reason which may be given why some Women, like Hector’s Wife, mentioned in Homer’s Iliads, are naturally inclin’d to intermeddle with Men’s Affairs; for having thus (as it were) originally invaded his Right ex traduce, they are always for maintaining their wrong Conquests, and defending their unjust Possessions in future Progress of Time.

BUT I should rather in this Topick agree with Velthuysius[42], that Both Seeds are each of them naturally endued with the Faculty of generating its Like: I mean, the Man’s, to produce a Male; and the Woman’s, a Female: And that therefore by a natural Predominancy, where the Masculine Faculty has prevail’d, a Man-Child is begot; and a Girl, where the Feminine Virtue has exceeded it.

THIS, in short, is the best and only Reason I know, why Children like to either Parent in Sex, may yet differ in Physiognomy, Manners, &c: the Seed of the one perhaps prevailing in making the Sex, and That of the other, in determining the rest of the Parts. Hence it is, in all Probability, that a Child like his Father in Sex, may be like his Mother in natural Disposition and Tenderness of Constitution. Although by the way (without doubt) the Place or Sinus of the Womb, Matter, Heat, and Imagination of the Woman, contribute very much to the Difference of the Sex; as will hereafter more plainly appear at large. AND, in fine, This is the only Cause of the Conception of Hermaphrodites, that the emitted Substance of Both Parents containing the full respective Faculty of Each, is sufficiently prolifick and prevalent to constitute and distinguish each proper Sex, in one and the same personal Production. But before I proceed farther on the Similitude of Children, I beg leave previously to describe the Force of IMAGINATION.

CHAP. VII.
Of the Power of the IMAGINATIVE FACULTY.

THE Imagination is the strongest and most efficacious of all the Senses; for the Vivacity of all the others (mention’d in Sect. I. Chap. 5.) in some measure, depend upon it.

IT works upon, and affects, others as well as ourselves, and operates in the very Soul, as well as Body of Man; moving the Powers of all the Passions of the Mind.

AS it happens frequently by reason of the Similitude of things; that by seeing or imagining One to eat some sharp or sour Matter, or hearing it only mention’d, Another’s Teeth may be set on edge, and his Tongue wax tart; so by seeing One gape, Another often falls a yawning. In like manner, as the sight of any filthy Thing causeth Nauseousness; so the sight of Man’s Blood, makes many Persons fall a-swooning.

GUILLAUME de Paris writes, that he saw a Man, who at the SIGHT of a Medicine, went to Stool as oft as he pleas’d, tho’ it neither in Substance, Odour, or Taste, did affect him; but only by an Apprehension of a kind of Resemblance. Which is much the same Case of one in a Dream, who thinks he burns and is in a Fire, or as much tormented, as if he did really burn, tho’ far enough from any Substance of Fire; only because of a Resemblance apprehended by the Strength of IMAGINATION.

AND besides, this IMAGINATION hath not only such Power over the Body, but also over the very Soul of Man; which Power of the Soul, hath its respective Influence upon the Body: As Avicen remarkably describes a certain Man, who (when he pleas’d) could affect his Body with the Palsy.

IT is wonderfully related of Gallus Vibius, that he became Mad, not casually, but on purpose; for whilst he imitated Mad-Men, he so assimilated their Madness to himself by the Counterfeit, that he fell at last into real Madness.

St. AUSTIN mentions some Men, who could move their Ears; and others who could move the Crown of their Heads to their Foreheads, and replace them at Pleasure. He writes of Another also, who could sweat whenever he had a mind.

I have likewise known some Persons myself, who could weep and shed abundance of Tears at Will and Pleasure; others, who could bring up what they had swallow’d of any kind, as Gold, Silver, &c; and others again, who could so naturally imitate and express the Voices of Birds, Cattle, Dogs, &c; that they could not easily be distinguished.

YEA, and farther yet, many Learned Authors[43] testify by divers Examples (of Cajetava, Æmilia, &c.) that Women have been turn’d into Men: Which some would persuade us to believe, to be an Effect of the Force of a vehement IMAGINATION, acting upon the Soul, with which it is of a near Affinity, beyond all the Power of Sense.

AS to this Point, I am no ways to question the Veracity of what so many excellent Men have confirmed; but (granting it to be so) I think we may find more probable Reasons for it, than all the Powers of IMAGINATION, how great soever and marvellous they may be: Whereof I shall mention That, which seems to be the most rational Cause; viz. An extinguish’d or latent forming Faculty[44], which (however) sometimes has exerted itself again, like the Blazing of a raked or resuscitated Fire.

FOR as our Teeth take their Beginning in the Womb, but are perfected without, as Bartholomæus Eustachius teacheth; and as the Teeth, call’d Dentes sapientiæ, are generated, and break out, even after the 30th Year of our Age: So it may be, that the virile Genitals have been imperfectly begun in the Womb, and that this forming Faculty has only perfected them by little and little; so that at last they have sprung forth and appear’d, after shaking off the Pudendum. And consequently such Women as Those (upon Dancing-Bouts, or the like, when the Blood and natural Heat had been strongly exagitated) have turned into Men.

HOWEVER That be, I very well know that when the Soul is elevated and inflam’d with a fervent IMAGINATION, it may not only affect its own proper Body, but also That of Another.

FOR the Longing of a Woman that has conceiv’d, acts apparently upon Another’s Body, when it marks the Infant in her Womb with the Figure or Mark of the Thing long’d for: Besides, who knows not that one Body may be easily affected with the Vapours of another diseased Body? As is plain in Cases of Plague, Leprosy, and several other Distempers. Thus also in the Effluvia’s or Vapours of the Eyes, there is so great a Power, that they can bewitch and infect the Beholders about them; as the monstrous Catoblepas, and Cockatrice or Basilisk, kill People with their very Looks[45]. So in like manner Witches by their intent Desire to hurt, have been thought to bewitch Persons most perniciously by their steady malicious Looks only, directed and inforc’d by IMAGINATION.

NOW this Force of IMAGINATION affecting other Bodies, holds good even among Brute-Creatures; as One bit by a Mad Dog, presently falls a-raging, and the Likeness of Dogs is clearly impressed upon his Urine. Moreover, by IMAGINATION in time of copulating, Peacocks and other Birds, impress a particular Colour upon the Wings, &c. of their Brood; and from hence it is, that the Curious may have store of white young-ones, by hanging the Places where they couple with white Linnen-Cloths, Papers, &c: As in Snowy Mountainous Countries we find always white Peacocks, Quails, Wolves, Hares, and other Creatures.

AND This holy Jacob[46] was not ignorant of, when he used that ingenious subtile Stratagem of placing white-streaked Rods before Laban’s Flocks; which also answer’d effectually, in the Cattle’s producing their speckled and white spotted Young. In like manner by the same Experiment, the curious Admirers may be supply’d with Variety of spotted Birds, speckled Horses, Dogs, &c.

THE Mind also being inflam’d with a vehement IMAGINATION, may affect both the Soul and Body of Another: Which we need not wonder at, considering how much more powerful, fervent, and prevalent the Mind is in its Motion, than any exhaling Vapours; and that it does not want its proper and peculiar Mediums by which it may operate.

THIS (I think) is also evidently shewn from the many Miracles, which we find have been done by Prophets, Apostles, and other Holy Men; (not to mention those Wonders of Pythagoras, Apollonius, Empedocles, &c. which cannot come in Competition with the Others, being ascrib’d to Natural Causes): Whose Minds being firmly fix’d upon God, with full Intent for Good, affected both the Souls and Bodies of others, as well as Themselves, with what Divine Gifts, or other Blessings, they wanted.

HENCE it is that Philosophers advise, to shun the Society of wicked and impious Men; because their Souls, being full (as it were) of pernicious Rays, infect them who are near, with a resembling Contagion: As they enjoin likewise on the other hand, to keep and frequent the Fellowship of good and fortunate Men; because (by such a Proximity) they are diffusive of their own Good, and infuse it into Those about them. For as Bad of something bad, so Good of something good, always descends and adheres to the nighest; which virtually (like the Smell of Musk, or Assa-Fœtida) continues a long time its lasting Impression.

HERE might be indeed a great deal said upon the Efficacy of the Constancy of the Mind; but because I’ve already been too prolix on this Head, I shall only observe, that in all our Business and Applications, a strong IMAGINATION, zealous Affection, firm Hope, and stedfast Belief, are great Advantages, and necessary Helps. As some most excellent Physicians have experimentally verified this Notion, that a strong Belief, and constant Hope, together with the Love and Confidence of the Patient towards the Physician, conduce very much to the Recovery of Health, and sometimes perhaps more than the Medicine itself: Because the firm IMAGINATION of the honest Physician concurring (in effect) with the Medicine, and strongly hoping it will do him Good, he thereby influentially changes the Symptoms, and virtually alters the Qualities in the Body of the Sick; especially if the Patient reposes an entire Confidence in him, by which means he becomes mutually disposed to receive the Virtue of the Physician, as well as That of the Physick.

THE[47]Arabian Philosophers join’d in this Opinion, establishing it for a Fundamental Maxim among them; that whatever the constant Mind affected with a fervent Desire, would be effected: As in the Case of the MIND of Him, who is vehemently in Love, whatever it affects, has an Efficacy to cause Love; and so in other such like Cases.

BUT however, to come closer to the IMAGINATION of the Pregnant Woman, who knows not that it affects the Infant in the Womb? Whence is it then that we have so many deform’d Persons, crooked Bodies, ugly Aspects, distorted Mouths, wry Noses, and the like, in all Countries; but from the IMAGINATION of the Mother; while she either conceives such shapeless Phantasms in her Mind, or while she frequently and intently fixes her Eyes upon such deform’d Persons or disagreeable OBJECTS? Wherefore it is very wrong, and highly imprudent in Women that have conceived, to please themselves so much in playing with Dogs, Squirrels, Apes, &c. carrying them in their Laps or Bosoms, and feeding, kissing, or hugging them, as I have both often heard, and seen with my own Eyes.

AND besides, the same is the Case, when the Natural Faculties are all at work in forming, or ripening the Fœtus; for if the Woman be surpriz’d at any sudden Evil, or frighted at any unseemly Sight, the Humours and Spirits presently retire downwards, and (as it were) abscond themselves in the Recess of the Womb: From whence immediately a strong IMAGINATION of the disagreeable Thing (whether seen or heard only) seizes her Mind; and the Forming Faculty (going on in the Interim) quickly impresses the Imaginary Idea of That thing heard off, or the Shape and Form of That thing seen, upon the Fœtus. The same is the Reason, that if a Mouse, Rat, Weazel, Cat, or the like, leaps suddenly upon a Woman that has conceived, or if an Apple, Pear, Plum, Cherry, &c. fall upon any part of her Body; the MARK of the thing (be what it will) is instantly imprinted, and will manifestly appear on the same Part, or Member of the CHILD: unless the Woman (in that very Moment) wipe That Part or Member, and move her Hand to some more remote, private, or convenient Place of the Body: which done, the MARK is actually averted, or at least stamped upon the other Part touch’d, where the deep Impression of the Mind, directs, and fixes the IMAGINATION; and whither the Forming Faculty (not so much by any Virtue of the simple Touch, as by Force of the strong IMAGINATION) infallibly converts it.

IN fine, having thus briefly defin’d, and variously described the Powers of IMAGINATION, I come in the next Place, more particularly, to treat of the Reasons of Similitude in Children.

CHAP. VIII.
Of the SIMILITUDE of Children.

WHATEVER may be advanced on this Head, the most probable and solid Reason for the Child’s Likeness or Resemblance, is the IMAGINATION of the Mother in the Act of Copulation; together with the Liberty she gives herself in her Thoughts and Actions, during the Time of Formation, commonly call’d the Time of Breeding.

HENCE it is, that whatever she intentively fixes her Eyes upon, or conceives and impresses in her Mind, the Infant represents the same in its extimous Parts: And particularly whatever Object she directs her Eyes or Thoughts upon, in the Interval between the Embrace and the Charm, its Effigies is afterwards manifest in the Child. As St. Jerom thus relates of a certain Woman, who conceiv’d and brought forth a Black-Child, tho’ both She and her Husband (the real Father) were white; meerly by eying a PICTURE in the Bed-Chamber at that critical Juncture.

UPON this Chapter[48]Pliny has most elegantly express’d the Artifice of Nature, together with all the Reasons and Causes of Similitude, to this Purpose; viz. “The Cogitations of the Mind make much for the Similitudes and Resemblances of Children: As many other accidental Occurrences are thought to be very efficacious in the same, and that whether they come by Sight, Hearing, or calling to Remembrance; or by Imaginations conceiv’d, and deeply apprehended in the very Act of Generation, or the very Instant of Conception: The inconstant Mind, and wandering Thought, of either Parent, is justly suppos’d to be one Cause.”

HENCE it is, that some Children favour and resemble their Fathers, some their Mothers, some their Grandfathers, or Mothers, and some their Kinsmen: And hence also it is, that there is more Difference and Diversity in the Rational Kind, than in all other Creatures; because the Velocity of their Thoughts, the Celerity of their Minds, and the Variety of their Dispositions, impress a far greater Diversity of various peculiar MARKS: While the rest of irrational Creatures have their Minds continually fixed (in a manner) immoveable, steady, and alike: every One of them in its own peculiar Kind, and specifick Nature.

INSOMUCH that the Woman’s IMAGINATION frequently induces a strange Likeness to her Infant; that is, in no Part, and in no Respect, favouring the Father. From whence it often happens, that a Woman abusing her Husband’s Bed, and fearing perhaps to be surpriz’d by him in the ACT, brings forth (in due time) her CHILD, no ways resembling the real Father, (namely the Gallant); but altogether LIKE to the injur’d Husband.

UPON which Case the following facetious Epigram was occasionally written by the famous and celebrated Sir Thomas More.

“Quos ante Conjux quatuor
“Natos, SABINE, protulit,
“Multùm ecce dissimiles tui,
“Tuos nec ipse deputas.
“Sed quem tibi puellulum
“Enixa jam nuperrimè est,
“Solum tibi simillimum,
“Pro quatuor complecteris.
“Adulterinos quatuor
“Vocas, repellis, abdicas.
“Atqui graves tradunt Sophi,
“Quodcunque matres interim
“Imaginantur fortiter,
“Dum liberis datur opera,
“Ejus latenter & notas
“Certas, & indelebiles
“Modóque inexplicabili
“In semen ipsum congeri.
“Quibus receptis intimè,
“Simúlque concrescentibus,
“A mente Matris insitam
“Natus refert imaginem.
“Quum tot abesses millibus,
“Dum gignit Uxor quatuor,
“Quòd esset admodum tui
“Secura, dissimiles parit.
“Sed unus omnium hic Puer
“Tui refert imaginem,
“Quòd mater hunc dum concipit,
“Sollicita de te plurimùm,
“Te tota cogitaverat,
“Dum pertimescit anxia,
“Ne tu, Sabine, incommodus,
“Velútque lupus in fabulâ
“Supervenires interim.

HOWEVER, as to what relates to the Tempers, Dispositions, Miens, Manners, Qualities, and Propensions of the Mind, daily Examples convince us, that Children, after all, generally much resemble Those of their Progenitors; which proceeds merely from the Efficacy of the Seed, containing the Power of the natural Faculties of their Minds and vital Spirits, which are thence infus’d into their Posterity.

BUT I take this Matter to depend much upon the Passion, Indolence, or Indifferency of the Mind, with which the Act of Copulation is perform’d. For as the Ardour and Fervency of the Parents, and their plentiful prolifick Contribution, tend much to the CHILD’s affecting the same Behaviour, Gestures, Actions, Tempers, and Motions of Body and Mind; even sometimes to their representing the very Nature, and treading the very Foot-Steps of their Parents, to so nice a degree, of an exact Resemblance, that I’ve more than once observed a Mole-Mark of a Father plainly impress’d on his Child. Which, I think, is also conformable to[49] Horace’s Meaning;

“Fortes creantur fortibus & bonis:

“Est in Juvencis, est in equis patrum

“Virtus: nec imbellem feroces

“Progenerant Aquilæ Columbam.

To valiant Fathers, valiant Sons succeed;

Thus Bulls from Bulls descend, and martial Horses breed.

AND because the Institution of Nature, perfects its own Gifts, which, by the Help of Education, corrects Errors, and abolishes Blemishes; the Poet very pertinently adds,

“Doctrina sed vim promovet insitam,

“Rectíq; Mores pectora roborant.

Yet the best Blood by Learning is refin’d,
And Virtue arms the solid Mind;
Whilst Vice will stain the noblest Race,
And the paternal Stamp efface.

BUT, however yet, there are many Parents still less salacious and less fervid; who rather vilify, than covet, and rather abstain from, than delight themselves in this Encounter. In short, there are some of both Sexes, who, in patiently gratifying their active Consorts, esteem it rather a sort of Hardship and TASK for Family-Quiet, than any incumbent DUTY of Nuptial Benevolence; Which[50]St. Paul seems to allude to, by calling it the defrauding of one the other.

FROM hence it is, that Children often degenerate from the Nature and Qualities of their Parents; from hence also it is, that brisk Men sometimes have stupid, and wise Men frequently beget foolish Children. This happens only because of the Indifferency, Indolence, or Coldness, either of Mind or Constitution, in their Conjugal Pleasures: The dull heavy Faculty of their Inclinations to the Act, being diffus’d and transmitted through the Seed into the Infant, according to Catullus;

“Naturæ sequitur semina quisque suæ.

BUT farther still, the Seed flowing from the principal Parts of the Body, comprehends in itself the Vigour and Quality of their respective Members: Whence it follows, that Diseases, Imperfections, Blemishes, or any other Deformity, inherent in any Part of the Parents, becomes commonly hereditary to their Children.

THIS is the Case of the whole Dutchy of upper Styria, where all the Natives have a huge Excrescence of Flesh, which grows up with the Body (however visibly increasing and decreasing with the Moon) generally lying upon the Left side from the Jaw-bone, and hanging downwards: So that the Women giving Suck of that Breast, commonly cast this carnous Excrescence (which they call Crape) over their Shoulders. This is so Natural to them, and remarkable, that in a Journey once from Venice to Vienna, passing thro’ the chief Town of that Country, call’d Judenburg, I had the Curiosity to go off the Post-Waggon, into the Church, with five other Gentlemen, Fellow-Passengers, to be better satisfy’d of the Truth of it. The People were at Mass, but the sight of us soon confounded, or at least disturb’d their Devotion; for in a Moment, the Eyes of the whole Congregation were staring upon us, wondering to see so many deform’d Men (as they call’d us) in that Place at one Time.

AND the same is the only Reason, that most Children in Spain and Portugal, are born with some Symptoms of the Venereal Disease; which, however, is without any infectious Malignity, and so Natural to them, that they seldom apply to the Doctor for Cure, until the Case becomes more dangerous or desperate by the Party’s own Means: which generally happens to them in a very few Years, being exceedingly Salacious from their Infancy, because of the stimulating Acrimony of the putrid Humours of the Body, which they only strive to mitigate, or allay, by continual Whoring.

FROM what’s already said, we see that the Efficacy of the Father’s Seed is very considerable; insomuch, that indeed many calamitous Misfortunes may derive from it, to his Posterity: But it is, however, to be strictly observ’d, that what Disorder soever of a vitious Nature derives itself this way from the Mother, hath yet the greater Malignity, and more powerful Effect upon her CHILDREN[51]; the Habits of her Body, Good or Bad, her Virtues or Vices, taking still a deeper Root, or firmer Footing in the Constitution of the Foetus. Which Distinction, in short, must needs be a most plain Case, considering that the Maternal Blood is its chief Aliment, and the very secundary ORIGIN of its Procreation.

AND this, in fine, is the only natural Reason to be given, why many Things, no ways commendable in either Sex, are the less excusable in the Woman.

SECT. III.

CHAP. I.
Of CONCEPTION.

CONCEPTION, in a word, is Two-fold; True and Natural, or False and Præternatural. It is call’d True, in opposition to a False Conception; and Natural, because it answers to the Institution of Nature. Wherefore I shall begin with This, and conduct the Woman, who has truly and naturally conceiv’d, thro’ the different Stages of Life she is to pass; describing plainly, and laying before her the many various Scenes of every respective Stage, which can any ways affect her Person.

IN this nice Affair, like a faithful Pilot, in a narrow Channel, I shall not only point out the Barrs and Rocks, on which she may be Shipwreck’d; but also direct and prescribe her Course, by which she may sail safe into her wish’d-for Port: Where when I have duly secur’d Herself and her Cargo to the Best of my Capacity, I shall thereafter proceed in their Order, to treat of the different Preternatural Conceptions; as I shall in this place now discourse only of the Natural.

THIS Natural Conception then, is the first principal Action, and peculiar Function of the Womb, in duly commixing and fomenting the retain’d Seeds of Man and Woman: Since as the Seed of Plants requires the Matrix of the Earth, to nourish it well, and safely defend it; so doth That Seminal Virtue of Men, the Womb, in this Act of CONCEPTION.

BUT as to the Time of CONCEPTION, I cannot but differ from Those, who protract and put it off till the seventh Day from the first Seminal Retention, for I am clearly of Opinion with Lud. Mercatus[52], that if the Seed be retain’d seven Hours, the Woman hath Conceiv’d: Neither can I find sufficient Reason to think Nature one Moment Idle, much less seven Days. Therefore CONCEPTION ought to be reckoned, from the very Day[53] of the First Retention.

HOWEVER yet, it is certain that, if the Debility of the Seed, or Womb, or Both, happen to hinder or impugn the Work, Nature ejects the Genitura, or Thing conceiv’d, on the seventh Day; which Time is the common Crisis of all Diseases, and Morbifick Accidents: Whereas if no such Effluxion happens about that Time, CONCEPTION[54] is certain, and Formation goes on.

THIS True CONCEPTION is likewise known by many various Signs; whereof I shall mention a Few, not out of any vain Curiosity, but meer Necessity: Because, supposing a Woman to labour under any dangerous acute Disease, it is of the greatest Importance, to be certain, whether she hath conceiv’d, or not; by reason that the Means of her future Relief must (of Necessity) be adapted to her present Condition.

CHAP. II.
Of the Signs of CONCEPTION.

THE Signs of Conception are many and various, and accordingly some more, some less certain, as hereafter set forth; whereof I shall only mention such as are most common and familiar to the Generality of Women: viz.

I. THE Retention or Suppression of the Menstrua; when not occasion’d by some other Indisposition.

II. SUDDEN Weakness, Feebleness, and Imbecility of the Body and Limbs.

III. LAZINESS, Weariness, and Sleepiness, with a Heaviness of the whole Body; but especially of the Reins and the Thighs.

IV. A sort of little Spots, or hard Warts, arising in the Face and Forehead.

V. A small Pain about the Navel, and Commotions in the lower Belly.

VI. COLD Shivering, and trembling Fits; wandring Pains, and Head-Aches.

VII. LOSS of wonted Colour, sunk Eyes, discolour’d Eye-Balls: A sparkling Dimness, and Glimmering of the Eyes; the Ball growing less, and the White larger.

VIII. A Protuberancy or Swelling of the Veins, and Breasts; their growing Hard, and giving Pain: As the Nipples become firm, large, and dark-colour’d, with a livid Circle around them.

THESE and many other Signs often occur upon CONCEPTION; but except a Plurality of them meet in one Person, they are not absolutely to be rely’d on: It being a Vulgar Error among Women, to calculate precisely from the Time of missing their Months; for as These are often suppress’d, without any such manifest Cause; so I have known some Plethorick Persons, who have had them several repeated times after Conception.

YEA, I was once given to understand by a Lady of Distinction, in the City of Berlin, that she never had Them, till she first conceiv’d in the 19th Year of her Age; and then they came in regular Course, without any Detriment, during the whole Foetura, or time of Gestation: After which, she had Them no more, till she conceiv’d again, when They return’d, and continued as formerly; and thus it constantly happen’d to her, till she had done Child-bearing.

THERE are other more certain Signs of CONCEPTION; touching which, let it suffice, that the Physician knows them, from the Relation of the Patient: And to these may be added the Symptoms of the MONTHS.

BUT notwithstanding all the positive Diagnosticks, which most Men have been, hitherto, guided by; I have met with so many Fallibilities in this Point, that I shou’d readily have come into the Opinion of[55] Paulus Sacchias, and deny’d the Certainty of PREGNANCY, even at an advanc’d Time, had I not been better instructed by Those most excellent Physicians and Men-Midwives, Sig. Garofanzzo of Padua, and Pfizerus of Wittenberg; who agree in certain infallible Signs, which put an end to all my Doubts, as well as to the grand Controversy, touching CONCEPTION.

AS to those common Signs, which discover the CONCEPTION of a Boy from a Girl, or Vice Versa; finding them tend only to Curiosity, and to no real Advantage, I cannot think it worth while to allow them any Place Here.

CHAP. III.
Of the DIET and REGIMEN of the Pregnant Woman.

I Come now, agreeable to my Promise, in the First Chapter of this Section, to direct and prescribe to the Woman conceiv’d her due Course: Whom I would have to consider, First, that she is in a very narrow and dangerous Sea; and, Secondly, that, as the Pilot cannot be always upon the Watch; so the Safety of Ship and Cargo depends entirely upon the Care, Conduct, and Steady Hand of the skilful Steersman.

WHEREFORE the Woman being now satisfy’d of her CONCEPTION, she is to observe a quite different Oeconomy in her Way of Living, from what she formerly practis’d: Since a double Mischief may be the Result of one single Fault in this Case; the INFANT always participating of what affects the MOTHER. And therefore she is now not only to take Care of Herself, but also of her Embryo, or the Fruit of her Womb; especially in the First Months, when it may be justly compared to the tender Blossoms of Trees, which are easily blasted, or shaken-off by the least Accident of Wind or Rain.

THIS Regimen, which I am about to speak of, is Two-fold; the One for such Women as find themselves in a good State of Health, by way of Prevention: The Other for those of the tenderer Sort of Constitutions, who begin to suffer immediately under the common Symptoms: Upon which Affair I shall give a few necessary Precautions adapted to Both, with all possible Discretion and Judgment.

I. THE Conceiv’d Woman then is to observe a good, wholesome, and regular DIET; since Errors committed that way, with respect either to Quantity or Quality, may be of double Damage; I mean, both to the Mother and the Infant. She should therefore eat rather Often, than Much at a Meal; especially at Nights, without fasting too long at any Time.

II. SHE is discreetly to avoid all unwholesome, or intemperate Air, and not expose herself to any Excess of Heat or Cold.

III. SHE must not desire rashly to walk much abroad in Moon-Shine, nor to wash her Head in Sun-Shine.

IV. SHE ought not to frequent Gardens; and that for the following Two-fold Reason: First, lest perchance she happen to sit or tread upon some Herb of a pernicious Quality; as divers are, in provoking Abortion: Secondly, lest she covet some Fruit or Herbs, which may be of Damage or Inconveniency if allow’d, and the same if deny’d Her.

V. SHE is prudently to avoid all Odoriferous or Perfum’d, as well as Stinking Nauseous Smells.

VI. SHE must carefully shun sitting or lying hard, and also lifting any heavy Weight, or her Arms above her Head.

VII. SHE ought purposely to forbear all hard Labour, and violent Emotions of Body.

VIII. SHE is prudently to avoid all Apprehensions of Fears and Frights, and not to be surpriz’d at any thing she hears or sees.

IX. SHE is cautiously to decline Watchings, and sitting up late at Nights; but must indulge moderate Sleep.

X. SHE must not lace herself (as before) with Whalebone-Stays, nor use Busks; which may not only spoil her Breasts and Belly, but also mis-shape the Infant, if Abortion does not immediately follow.

XI. SHE ought discreetly to suppress all Anger, Passion, and other Perturbations of Mind, and avoid entertaining too serious or melancholick Thoughts; since all such tend to impress a Depravity of Nature upon the Infant’s Mind, and Deformity on its Body.

XII. SHE is not to be too Busy, or Attentive, fixing her Eyes too much upon any one Object; especially on deformed ugly Persons, or any such accidental disagreeable Sight.

XIII. AS to her Appetite, she ought to set the Delphick Oracle before her (Nil nimium cupito) and desire nothing but what she can have to her Satisfaction.

XIV. SHE must carefully avoid all strong purging Medicines,[56] especially before the fourth, and after the sixth Month: And even Then also, unless a Necessity of turgid Matter, or unfix’d Humours, oblige her to it, or require Evacuation. She is also likewise to abstain from all Phlebotomy[57], especially in the latter Months.

XV. AS to her Exercise, of what kind soever, the following general Rule may suffice; viz. the first Month she ought not to exercise herself at all: The second, but seldom and slowly: The third, oftner and briskly: The fourth, fifth, and sixth, moderately and boldly: The seventh, eighth, and to the middle of the ninth, she should study by degrees to reduce Herself discreetly, and abstain from all her wonted Exercise, and act very circumspectly in all Regards; especially[58] the eighth Month, which is the most dangerous and troublesome of all the Time of Pregnancy.

XVI. LASTLY, Let her State of Health be never so good, she ought to take proper Medicines to strengthen the Womb, as well as the Fœtus, in order to prevent Accidents, which may happen to the strongest Woman.

BUT as to Women of more tender Constitutions, they are not only subject to the common Symptoms, but often liable also to acute Diseases; such as Fevers, Pleurisies, Squincies, Inflammations, Epilepsies, Apoplexies, Convulsions, Contractions of the Limbs, Joints, &c. In which Cases, I may reasonably recommend the Patient to the ablest Physician; since none but the most Judicious ought to undertake them in such critical Conjunctures. Because it is no ways Safe to use the same Means and Medicines with the Pregnant Woman (which those incident Diseases would otherways regularly require;) without a due Distinction and a nice Regard had to her other Habits of Body.

THESE tender Women are also sometimes seiz’d with Chronical Distempers; such as intermitting Fevers, lingring Coughs, &c: But, in those Cases, Prescriptions are not so Proper or Convenient, unless the Distemper be very severe and extremely prejudicial to the Foetus, because they commonly wear off before the Delivery.

HOWEVER, be the Constitution, or Condition, of the Woman as it will, I mean, Strong or Weak, Healthy or Sickly, all prudent Parents, who desire to be bless’d with comely, tractable, and hopeful Children, ought not only to perform their Nuptial Duties with great Serenity of Mind, but also to take mutual Care to prevent and suppress all Family-Tumults or Domestick Storms: For there never ought so much as a Cloud to appear in their Conjugal Society; since all such unhappy Accidents strongly affect the growing Infant, and intail the same Qualities of Disposition almost indelibly imprinted upon it.

CHAP. IV.
Of the SYMPTOMS of the first three Months.

THE Prolifick Seed being duly coagulated by a gentle Ebullition of its own vegetative Faculty, by the Power of the Plastick Virtue of the vital Spirits, and by the peculiar innate Quality of the Matrix; this inlivened Substance produceth an Organical Body, of a perfectly form’d, and delineated Foetus: Which Foetus, according to the various Steps of its Progression in Formation, Animation, and Maturation, occasions as many various and different Effects upon the Bearing Woman; as necessary Consequences of the said three principal Acts of the Infant’s Constitution.

NOW these consequential Effects may be properly divided into Three Classes; which are accordingly call’d Symptoms of the First, Second, or Middle; and of the last Three Months.

BUT it is to be observ’d by the Way, that all Women are not alike subjected to them; Some being more troubled with Those of the First; Others also with Those of the Second; and Others again with the Symptoms of the last Three Months. But there are some Women, in fine, that continue to be troubled, in the Middle Months, with the Symptoms of the First; and in the Latter, with some of Those of the Second: All which happens according to their various Regimens, Dispositions and Habits of Body.

HOWEVER, to proceed methodically, with all Submission, according to what competent Knowledge and Experience I have of the Conceiv’d Woman; the Symptoms most common to Her, in the First Three Months, may be briefly reduced to the following principal Eight in Number; namely, (1.) Vomiting or Nauseating. (2.) Fastidy or Loathing. (3.) Pica or Longing. (4.) Painful Cholicks or Gripes. (5.) Diarrhea or Looseness. (6.) Tooth-Aches. (7.) Head-Aches. And, (8.) Swimmings of the Head. Of all which, I shall now separately treat in their Order.

CHAP. V.
Of VOMITING, or NAUSEATING.

VOMITING is a strong and sudden Contraction of the whole Stomach, occasion’d by the Animal Spirit’s being preternaturally expanded in its orbicular as well as oblong Fibres, and the too quick and violent Exertion of their Elastick Power: Or otherwise, it is a Convulsive Motion of the Stomach, whereby, when the Fibres, which compose its middle or muscular Tunick, are all at once strongly contracted, it endeavours to eject through the Oesophagus and Mouth the Contents of its Cavity; to which the Gullet itself (being of a piece with the Stomach) and the Muscles of the Belly contribute not a little.

WHICH Definition comprehends the immediate Cause of all Vomitings; and tho’ there be many external and internal mediate Causes, yet, I think, in the present Case of the pregnant Woman, the Cause of this Symptom proceeds chiefly from the Vapours of the exhaled Humours, and the worse Part of the Blood; infesting the Tunicks of the Orifice of the Ventricle, and flying into the Cavity of the Stomach.

WHICH, if slightly affected, occasions only a nauseous Spitting, or gentle Vomiting; but if more severely, it excites a far worse Vomiting, with a certain grievous Pain and Torment of the Person afflicted. Now if those Vapours be of a calid Quality, they commonly occasion a stinking and burning kind of Belching; but if frigid, perhaps, on the contrary, a troublesome sour, acid, breaking of Wind: Both of which promote frequent Vomiting, that carries off the vicious Juices; so that the Symptom commonly ceases (of itself) in the second or third Month. Wherefore this ill Habit need not be industriously restrain’d, unless very Troublesome; as in the above-mention’d Case, when attended with extreme Severity of Pain: For then it is not without Danger, and therefore requires immediate Remedy or Cure.

WHICH Cure, I humbly conceive, maybe judiciously effected by expelling the Cause, and strengthening the Ventricle; so that it may be capable to repel those Vapours, or Humours, ascending from the Womb; and may either entirely subvert or repress Those previously receiv’d.

CHAP. VI.
Of FASTIDY, or LOATHING.

THE Cause of this Symptom proceeds from the worse Sort and more ignoble Part of the Blood; which, in concert with the Humours, perverts the Temperature of the Stomach, by flowing towards its Orifice: And This, upon emitting Vapours to the same, strongly impresseth such vicious Qualities upon it, as doth occasion sometimes a Loathing of All Meats, and sometimes only an Aversion to some certain particular Dishes of Meat.

WHICH last Case happens most commonly, and especially at the Time of New and Full-Moon. Now this Loathing may be thus distinguished: To wit; if it rises from bilous or cholerick Humours, the Woman feels a gnawing or biting of the Ventricle, and is afflicted with a frequent great Thirst: If from putrid Humours, she is (at several Times) feverishly inclined: And if from moderate gross Humours, the only Sign is a frequent Spitting.

THIS Symptom ceases (of itself) in due Progress of Time: For as the Foetus (which as yet is only sustain’d by the better and nobler Part of the Blood) grows bigger, it requires the larger Quantity, and at last the Whole of the Menstruous Blood for its Sustenance; at which Time also the accumulated Humours likewise are lodg’d in their proper Place: Both which Causes being thus remov’d, the Effect ceases of course by degrees. However it is prudent, to prevent this Evil, from the beginning of Conception, by proper Medicines; but otherways (whenever it happens) unless the Foetus be endanger’d for want of sufficient Aliment, Time and Patience are the fitted Remedies.

CHAP. VII.
Of the PICA or LONGING.

WOMEN subject to this Symptom, are indeed desirous of Meat and Drink; yet commonly of such, as is not only disagreeable, but also offensive and prejudicial to Nature.

THE violent Excess of this vicious or degenerate Appetite is wonderful; as frequently appears by many unnatural Instances, which I shall forbear mentioning in this Place, for fear of ill Consequences; so that I can only recommend the Curious to the[59]Authorities of the Margin.

THE Cause of this SYMPTOM proceeds from the various Humours of deprav’d Qualities, inherent in the Tunicks of the STOMACH, vitiating the Ferment of the VENTRICLE; and so affecting the Orifice, that it becomes the very Seat and Source of this Evil: from whence arises the Variety of the Humours, exciting a strange and uncommon Variety of Appetite.

THE Nature and Quality of these HUMOURS, have occasion’d many learned Disputes, which yet remain undecided. But tho’ Platerus takes upon himself to call them Malignant and Poisonous, yet it is the Opinion of many learned Men, and as excellent Authors, that They are not to be justly accounted for, any farther than that they are of an occult perverse Quality, generated in the STOMACH, from irregular Diet, improper Food, and bad Concoction, attended with an erroneous Regimen in other Cases.

THIS Symptom begins commonly about the 40th Day from Conception, and continues to the 4th Month: Against which time, part of the vitious Humours are excreted or thrown up by Vomiting, and the Remainder (by degrees) imbib’d by the growing Infant; which Humours being so consum’d, the Distemper ceases of Course.

THIS Effect is more extreme and disorderly in bearing a Girl than a Boy; the pituitous Humours having less Concoction, because of the want of requisite Heat: Which for the same Reason also occasions disagreeable Flatulencies, Belchings, and Fluctuations.

I have, in the Course of my Experience, observ’d this Evil to be most common in Holland; partly because of the thick condensed Air of the Country, and partly because the Commonalty of the Women live but on gross and cold Food, Fruit, Acids, &c. and are consequently of a cold humid Temperature, very subject to this Evil.

THE Diagnostick Signs of this SYMPTOM, are Weakness of Body, Dissolution of Limbs, Gnawing of Stomach, Loathing of wholesome Food, (and even That very often which the Party lov’d before) Anxiety, Pensiveness, frequent Spittings, and (at several times) Vomitings.

IF the Ventricle or Stomach is only slightly affected with some sort of viscous and frigid Humours, the Party generally longs for sharp and tart Meats; if with calid and hot ones, she craves for those which are bitter and biting: But if more severely affected, with Humours of some perverse occult Quality, she longs for strange unaccountable Matters; and hence it is that all monstrous APPETITES proceed.

BUT if such Humours become Connatural to the Woman, by the deep Impression of Diuturnity, she longs for things resembling the very same Nature of the Humours: As for Example, if they be of a burning or parching Nature, she covets to eat COALS, CINDERS, &c. if of a gross and thick Quality, CHALK, LIME, &c. if of a Saltish Kind, SALT itself: if of a Melancholick Temper, EARTH, CLAY, DUST, &c. For because, as the Thing containing changes the Contents, so the Contents (in process of time, by Force of constant Impression) change the Thing containing. In like manner as deprav’d Wine imparts a vitious Taste or Savour to the CASK, so those Humours convert the Temperature of the STOMACH into their own Natural Qualities.

THE Similitude and Dissimilitude of Humours and Temperature, may be thus known and distinguished, viz. The Appetite, longing for things of a like or resembling Nature (as above), remains still unsatisfy’d, tho’ plentifully indulg’d with the Thing desir’d: Whereas the Appetite of different or[60]discording Things, having obtain’d the Thing long’d for, is easily satiated, and immediately ceaseth.

THIS Malicious or Lusting SYMPTOM, is most dangerous; degenerating commonly into a Cacochymy, Dropsy, Phthisick, or some other heavy Disease.

BUT the greatest Hardship or Misfortune, after All, is This; that, if the Woman doth not indulge her corrupt APPETITE, she languishes and pines to such a degree, that her[61]Life is often endanger’d, together with the Foetus, by the Disappointment: and if she does so gratify herself, This often proves of the worst of Consequences, even sometimes to a mortal Fatality.

HOWEVER, in short, this SYMPTOM is like many Others, more easily prevented, than cur’d: Wherefore all Women, as soon as they conceive, ought (at repeated Times) to use proper Anti-kittean Medicines (that is, against PICA or Longing) and be very careful of their Regimen and Diet: But when, perhaps, by neglect of those Means, the Distemper appears inordinate, the Method of Cure consists in evacuating the Humours, and in absterging, alterating, and corroborating the Stomach.

CHAP. VIII.
Of CHOLICKS and GRIPES.

THO’ the Cholick derives its Name from the Gut Colon, I mean by it not precisely that Pain which affects This only, but that also which usually invades other Guts, whether thin or thick; because one Gut seems not to be more subject than another to this Pain; the Contexture of all of them being the same every where. So that the Cholick is nothing else than a sorrowful Sensation of a very sharp Pain, infesting the Guts, or the Nervous Plexus, or Membranes in their Neighbourhood, proceeding from wandering Winds and Flatulencies in the Abdomen, or lower Belly; arising from the Humours aggregated about the Womb: which, dissipating themselves, distend the Intestines, and excite most severe Pains about the Navel.

THESE Effects may also proceed from indurated Excrements in the Rectum; or from any other Matter, which either compresses, obstructs, or erodes the Intestines: Hence Physicians commonly take notice of Three different Sorts of Cholicks; namely, the Flatulent, the Bilous, and the Pituitous.

NOW These are All thus distinguished: The Wind-Cholick traverses the Belly, and gives an excruciating wandring Pain in the Viscera, or Bowels, &c. The Bilous induces a certain Pain, with a very sensible Mordacity; and is generally attended with Thirst and a Bitterness in the Mouth: The Pituitous gives a most sharp penetrating fixed Pain, resembling (as it were) a driven Stake, or perforating Instrument; attended with a Nausea, Vomiting, and Retention of Excrements, &c. This last Sort Galen calls the most cruel Cholick.

HOWEVER I take it to be the First of these, which most commonly afflicts the Conceiv’d Woman; generated of improper Diet, or proceeding from an irregular Regimen: And This is also sometimes so excessive, that I’ve seen the PATIENT fall by its Extremity into a Lipothymia, or Swooning-Fit, which generally presages ABORTION, if not seasonably prevented by proper Discutients, and convenient Diet, &c.

CHAP. IX.
Of a DIARRHEA, or LOOSENESS.

A Looseness, in my Sense, is an immoderate, frequent and sudden going to Stool: in which the liquid and diluted, as well as sharp and peccant, Excrements are voided, which is commonly preceded by the Belly-ach and Gripes.

IT differs from a Lienteria, in that the Excrements are not indigested, unaltered, or Chylous, nor the Stools so quick after Meals: As it also differs from the bloody Hepatick, and Hemorrhoidal Flux, in that no Blood, Matter, or Liquor like that, in which Meat may have been wash’d, is voided with the Excrements.

SOME Loosenesses are call’d Bilous, when so much of the sharp Gall is expell’d as tinges the Excrements Yellow, however mix’d with other serous Matter: Others are call’d serous and pituitous, in which viscous watery Humours, less impregnated with Gall, are frequently and copiously voided.

THIS Symptom may proceed from a great Variety of Causes: For an Error committed accidentally in eating or drinking, or any Irregularity in the way of Living may occasion it. [62] HIPPOCRATES and many others, justly observe this Case to be dangerous; because it not only relaxes and debilitates the Body of the Woman, and Ligaments of the Infant; but also necessarily impairs its requisite Nourishment, and provokes Nature to an untimely Expulsion of the tender Fruit. Which unhappy Consequence ought (by all means) to be prevented, if possible, and the grievous Affection to be cured without any Loss of Time: Now I presume That may be done first, by gentle Abstergents and Corroborants; and Then afterwards by proper Restringents and Strengthners.

CHAP. X.
Of the TOOTH-ACH.

THE Cause of this Symptom, proceeds from the sharper part of the Humours; which, ascending to the Head, vitiates the Blood, and thence occasions a effluxion of Rheum upon the Teeth: So that This vitious Rheum fixing itself at some of their Roots, affects the Membranous Parts so sensibly, that instead of a small Ach, it proves a great Pain, and almost intolerable Torment to the Sufferer.

THIS ill Affection may also proceed from some Frigid or Calid, Serous or Salt-Humour, falling down upon the Membrane of the Jaws, or Nerves of the Teeth: Where, if it corrupts and lies putrefying, it commonly engenders Worms.

IN all which Cases, I humbly conceive, it may be cur’d by Variety of respective Means, according to the different Quality of the Cause, whether Frigid, Calid, Serous, Saltish, or Acrimonious: Otherways it ceases (of itself) in process of Time, by good Conduct and keeping warm, &c.

CHAP. XI.
Of the HEAD-ACH.

OF all the Parts of the Body, the Head is most expos’d to Pains; that is, to a troublesome and grievous Sensation of the Membranous Parts; proceeding from Vapours of the noxious Humours; which ascending to the Head, distend and rend, in a manner, the Membranes of the Brain.

THE Parts most commonly affected, are the Hairy Scalp, the Pericranium, and the Diploe; That is, the medullous Duplicature of the Cranium, otherways call’d the Meditullium: For these Parts, by a continual Solution, when it happens so, are always most severely pain’d. But besides, in a Woman that has conceiv’d, the Pains commonly shift and move from one Place, to another, of the Head; and take certain Intervals, longer or shorter, betwixt their Access and Recess.

BUT as the Infant grows, and exhausts a greater Quantity, or at last the whole of the Blood; and as the Humours fix in their proper Place: So this Symptom gradually goes off, and quite ceases.

HOWEVER, in case the Accesses be long and violent, they may be discreetly cur’d by repelling and mitigating Applications, or by peculiar Corroboratives and Discutients, or proper Alteratives, according to the Nature and Quality of the Cause. I refer what may be farther added on this Head, to Sect. IX. Chap. 3.

CHAP. XII.
Of the MEGRIM, or VERTIGO.

THIS Symptom begins with a Swimming, Giddiness, or Dizziness of the Head, and proceeds (in the conceiv’d Woman) from Vapours of the Humours; which, ascending partly thro’ the Veins and Arteries tending to the Brain, and partly thro’ the Oesophagus or Gullet, disturb the Animal Spirits.

NOW This Distemper is Two-fold, and distinguished by the Words Vertigo and Tenebricosa; which last the Arabian Physicians have call’d Scotomia, I suppose from the Greek Word Σκοτος, Tenebræ, Darkness; and is now generally receiv’d by that Name.

BUT because this sad Affection is too common to both Sexes, young and old, I shall proceed to a farther Dilucidation of it, for the universal Good and Benefit of All.

FIRST then, the[63]VERTIGO is a deprav’d Imagination, attended with the vitiated Senses of Hearing and Seeing; proceeding from the violent Commotion of the Animal Spirits. Secondly, The SCOTOMIA is also a deprav’d Imagination, accompany’d with loss of Sight, and sometimes of the Motion of the Animals affected with it, because of some Interruption in their circular Passage. In the first Case, the PATIENT imagines his Head only to be turn’d round, or winded about: In the other, he thinks that circular Motion to consist in the external Objects.

NOW the VERTIGO is attended with the vitiated Sense of Hearing, as well as Seeing: Because, as something like a Cloud, Smoak, or Web, seems to appear before the Patient’s Eyes; so there is a certain Whistling, Hissing, or Tinkling always in his Ears. The Scotomia, in like manner, is attended with Loss of Sight, and Motion; because of some Disorder of the Ventricles of the Brain obstructing or impeding the Transition of the Spirits.

IN the Vertigo, an Agitation happens in the Membranes of the Veins and Arteries, as also in the Membranes of the Brain; by which violent Motion, the very Continent Parts are vehemently shaken and concuss’d, and at length so disquieted, that the Patient thinks his Head wheels round about.

IN the Scotomia, the Animal Spirits having in themselves the Species of all Sensibles, and those Species being presented to the Imagination: As such Images of external Objects are moved in it, so the Party thinks the same real Objects to be moved. For, according to Avicen, it is the same thing, whether that which is seen, or that by which we see, is moved: As seeing Land from on board a Ship, in a smooth Sea, being insensible of the Ship’s Way, we imagine (and sometimes very strongly too) that the Land is in Motion.

THAT by which we see, is the visible Species reserved in the Spirit: Hence when this Species is moved, the external Object seems also to be moved.

BUT in explaining the Circular Motion of the Animal Spirits, we must consider it to be twofold; namely, Natural and Preternatural: The Natural Motion is that which begins in the Carotide Arteries, thence tending to the Plexus Choroideus, or the anteriour Ventricles of the Brain; from These to the middle; from the middle to the Posteriours; and from the posteriour Ventricles of the Brain, the Spirits are imparted to the Nerves. The Preternatural Motion is just the Reverse of this Case.

THE Causes of both these Cases and Conditions are either immediate or mediate. The immediate Causes may be reduced to Three Classes; to wit, Causes of an inordinate Motion of the Animal Spirits, Causes of the Circular Motions, and Causes of lost Sense, Sight, and Motion.

THE Causes of the Spirits[64] moving inordinately, are either External or Internal. The Externals are the Sun, Hot Baths, Frictions, and Concussions of the Head; or a Fall, Blow, Contusion, and all inordinate and immoderate Motions of the whole Body: such as Running, Leaping, Riding, Dancing, too much Venery, or hard Drinking; as also the Use of Acids, or acrimonious Things, and all Things replenishing or stuffing the Head; such as Garlick, Mustard, Anise, Parsley, Leeks, Onions, Radish, strong Snuffs, Drinks, &c.

THE internal immediate Causes are the Imagination of the Patient, Vapours of the whole Body, frigid Flatulencies, and[65]a sudden Fluxion of the vital Spirits into the Head.

THE mediate Causes are Material; and this Matter[66] (almost all Physicians agree) is frigid. From hence it is certain, that the Distemper proceeds from Crudities, and Victuals of a crude Juice; such as Pulses, Cheese, Tarts, Fish, and all other Sorts of the like frigid and humid Qualities: But these are only to be reckon’d concurring, not efficient Causes.

THE most common material Cause is, according to Galen[67], the Bile; which, seeking for Vent at the Mouth of the Stomach, is the Cause of these Symptoms, and is[68]properly to be educed or evacuated by a due Vomit.

BUT in Case of Vapours, Heat is always the efficient Cause, elevating them from the peccant Matter; since a Cold, or a refrigerated Body, can never engender Vapours or Wind from any Material Cause.

I shall not now enter upon the particular Diagnosticks of this Distemper, because they are as Various, as the Causes, and affected Places are different. Let me observe only, that the simple Vertigo is easily known by the Imagination of the Circular Motion of the Patient’s Head, or That of external Objects, or by vitiated Seeing and Hearing.

BUT the Scotomia differs from the Vertigo, in that besides the Imagination of the circular Motion, the Patient often loses his Sight, staggers, tumbles, or falls to the Ground. And yet the same is distinguished from the Epilepsy, in that the Patient retains his principal Functions, and neither Foams at Mouth, nor is Convulsive.

HOWEVER, as to the Distinction of Causes, if the internal Cause proceeds from Calidity, it is known by the hot Temperament of the whole Body, as well as by a Swelling and Pulsation of the Arteries about the Throat: Besides that this Vertigo easily accedes and recedes, it is always attended with Calidity and Redness of Face and Eyes; with Watchings, Deliriums, &c: And it commonly follows Fevers, Watchings, Anger, the Use of Calids, hot Things, &c. In which Cases, it is always to be helped by the Use of Frigids, or Coolers.

IF it arises from frigid Flatulencies, the Paroxysms or Fits are preceded by a Hissing or Tingling in the Ears; the Patient turns pale and wan, and is taken with an odd extensive Pain of the Head: And if these Flatulencies generate in the Head, the Party feels it ponderous, lumpish, and heavy; and is consequently much inclin’d to Sleep, Stupidity, Dullness, and Inactivity.

IF the Distemper is derived from a flatulent Stomach, the PATIENT is troubled with Rifting and Rumbling of the Belly; with Sobbing and Sighing, with Hickups, Yawnings, Extensions, Inflations, and frequent Spittings.

IF it comes from a Mordacity of the Mouth of the Stomach, the Party is infested with a Nausea, Loathing and Fastidy; with a Dejection of Appetite, a lasting or frequent Thirst, and a Bitterness of the Mouth. But this Affection also very often proceeds from the Womb, and that either because of the suppress’d Menstrua, or longretain’d Seed; as will hereafter more fully appear in Sect. ix. Chap. 8.

AS to the Prognosticks of this Distemper, it does not always seem Dangerous, much less Lethal, at first; but its Consequences are (however) very Fatal[69], if not timely prevented: For it often turns to Inflammations[70] of the Head, or Convulsions; sometimes to Melancholy or Madness; and sometimes to Epilepsies or Apoplexies.

NOW because this Affection observes Lunar Periods, and in extreme Cases, is near a-kin to the Falling-Sickness;[71] Cœlius Aurelianus informs us, That it was call’d by the Ancients the little Epilepsy: And as it admits of periodical Accessions and Circulations (I mean coming and going Fits) which depend chiefly upon the Power and Influence of the New and Full-Moon; so it is to be treated with respect to Cure, in a different manner; one way in the Access, another in the Interval.

BUT this Cure is as different, as the Causes and Degrees of the Distemper are various; wherefore I can, by no means, enter upon it in this place, for Brevity-sake.

CHAP. XIII.
Of the SYMPTOMS of the middle Three Months.

THE Foetus having receiv’d a distinct Form, constituted of various Organical Members, and produced of divers substantial Matters, takes a various Situation; the different Members possessing different Places, according to the Institution of NATURE.

AFTER an absolute and compleat Conformation of Organs, the rational Soul is infus’d and adapted; which is the ultimate Perfection of the Human Foetus: By which it becomes Man and receives Life, living and subsisting henceforward by its own vivacious Faculties, distinct from those of the Mother. Now the Great and All-wise Creator undoubtedly is the only Supream, Efficient, and Immediate Author and Finisher of this noble Work; which, according to the nicest Calculation of the greatest Masters of Nature, is most commonly accomplished about the Beginning of these Middle Months: At which time, the usual Turn of Nature necessarily occasions different Effects to the Child-bearing Woman; which are call’d SYMPTOMS of the Middle Months.

AND these SYMPTOMS, in short, I reduce to the following Seven in Number; viz. 1. Coughs; 2. Palpitations or Heart-Beatings; 3. Swoonings or Syncopes; 4. Watchings; 5. Pains in the Hips and Loins; 6. Hemorrhages or Bleedings; and, 7. Fluxes of Blood. Of which, in their due Order.

CHAP. XIV.
Of COUGHS.

COUGHS are either Humid or Siccid: They are call’d Humid, when the Humours contain’d in the Aspera Arteria, of whatsoever Nature, are expell’d by its own Force thro’ the Mouth. And Siccid, or dry Coughs, when, notwithstanding great Pains and Trouble, nothing is excreted, only the whole Body fatigued by a continual irritated Endeavour to Cough and spit-out; whence arise Pains of the Head, Hypochondriacks, and other Parts.

THE Cause of which SYMPTOM is Four-fold, and proceeds either from the sharp acid Vapours of the Humours flying towards the Lungs, Wind-pipe, and Jaws; irritating the natural Faculty to Expulsion: Or, from the finer Part of the Blood, converting itself to the pectoral Veins: Or, from the Humours themselves ascending to the Head, and relapsing upon the Breast: Or, in fine, from the suppressed Albedines or Whites, and whatsoever may vellicate the Aspera Arteria, or in any respect oppress or irritate the same.

THIS Symptom (however slighted or lightly esteem’d) is very Dangerous; forasmuch as it attenuates and weakens the whole Body, enervates or destroys its Strength and Vigour, causes difficult Respiration, excites Head-Aches, hinders natural Rest, occasions Watchings, promotes Defluxions, and finally gives Origin to Fevers, as well as most other Diseases: Besides that, it continually exagitates and distresses the Muscles of the Abdomen, or lower Belly; and thereby too commonly provokes Miscarriage.

FOR these Reasons this SYMPTOM ought to be carefully mitigated, if not cur’d, without any loss of Time: But the Cure itself, in my humble Opinion, may be easily effected, by evacuating the peccant Humours, by purging and corroborating the Head, and by the right Use of proper Thoracick Medicines.

CHAP. XV.
Of HEART-BEATINGS and SWOONING-FITS.

THESE Beatings or Palpitations are nothing else but a sudden Loss of all the Strength, with an immoderate Concussion, by a vehement Diastole, and molestous Systole of the HEART: From hence this SYMPTOM easily turns to a Cardialgia, Lipothymia, or Syncope; which are All of near Affinity, in the Case of the Pregnant Woman, so that I shall treat of them conjunctly, and first observe; that

THE Cause of all such SYMPTOMS are but Two-fold, and proceed either from a flatulent Substance of the Humours, ascending, thro’ the Arteries, or the Vena Cava, to the HEART: Or from the Abundance of Blood, which (not finding passage by the Womb) seeks to the superiour Parts, and thence oppresses the HEART and vital Faculty.

THIS Last is the most dangerous Condition, being (in such Plethorick Women) the certain Prognostick of imminent ABORTION: To prevent which unhappy Accident, the principal Part of the Cure, depends very much on cautious Venæ-Sections, or letting Blood, proper Diet, &c: Whereas, in the First Case, proper Discutients, Cordials, and Corroborants, are the most convenient and successful.

CHAP. XVI.
Of WATCHINGS.

THIS Symptom is nothing else, more than an immoderate Exercitation of the Senses, from too great a Motion of the Animal Spirits: Proceeding from some acrimonious and siccid Vapours of the Humours, ascending to the Brain, and there disturbing the Spirits, by exciting their vehement Motion; which so exagitates the Senses, that the vigilant restless Woman gets either none at all, or but very short Sleep.

THIS watchful Affection is distinguished by a siccid, or calid and siccid Intemperature; attended sometimes with a Melancholick, Bilous, or Pituitous, Saltish Matter; which is either essentially lodg’d in the Head, or communicated to it from the Mouth of the Stomach, or the Veins of the whole Body.

SOME have been so overtaken with this SYMPTOM, that they have not only continued Awake for some Days and Nights, but also Weeks and Months: Insomuch that Hercules Saxon[72] relates of his own Father, that He, being melancholick, suffer’d such like Watchings, without the least Sleep, seven Months long.

HOWEVER in the Child-bearing Woman, the least Degree of such immoderate WATCHING[73] is dangerous; insomuch that it often occasions Deliriums, and Convulsions, by the continual Stretch and Tension of the Fibres.

HOWEVER the Cure of this SYMPTOM may (I hope) be well perform’d both by external and internal Means; externally, by proper Lotions, Inunctions, and Frictions; internally, by proper Soporiferous Medicines adapted to the Quality of the Intemperature.

CHAP. XVII.
Of PAINS in the Hips, Loins, &c.

ALTHOUGH these PAINS (in general Terms) are the Effects of the Compression of the extended Womb, hanging on, and bearing too much upon the neighbouring Parts, by its Gravity and Weight: Yet the particular Cause of such SYMPTOMS (in my Opinion) is Two-fold; and proceeds either from the Abundance of Blood lodging in the Veins of those Parts; or from the growing Foetus, so extending the Ligaments of the Womb, as to oblige the neighbouring Parts to sympathize. From hence the broad Ligaments cause the PAINS of the Back and Loins, answering to the Reins, to which Parts they are strongly fixed; as the round Ones affect the Groins, Hips, and Thighs, where they terminate. Which Ligaments are sometimes so violently extended, especially in the first Time of Pregnancy, that (by the Concurrence of any slight procatarctick Cause) they have been often known to break.

THE Cure of these SYMPTOMS, in the first Case above-mentioned, depends chiefly upon cautious Phlebotomy, and good Repose in Bed; and in the Second, upon proper Swathes, Unguents, &c.

CHAP. XVIII.
Of HÆMORRHAGIES, or BLEEDINGS.

THESE Symptoms are to be understood to happen only from the superiour Parts; as Nostrils, Mouth, or Ears: And the Cause seems to be Three-fold: proceeding either from a more than ordinary Plenty of Blood; or from a gross Mixture of Humours and Blood, prompting Nature to Excretion; or, lastly, from a Debility and Weakness of the Infant, when not able to attract the due Quantity of Blood to its Subsistence.

IN the first Case, the Woman usually looks sanguine and well-colour’d, and hath more Plethorick Marks upon her; which, if it happens, without any great Inconvenience, as it is without Danger, the Woman may easily bear and dispense with it.

IN the second Case, the Blood so lost falls dropping away, and with Pain; it is ugly and ill-colour’d, of an acid Quality, and stinking Smell: And the Patient hath more Cacochymic Signs upon her, whereby she is threatned with Abortion and imminent Danger.

IN the third Case, the Signs of a Debilitated Fœtus, and instant Abortion, are evidently presented; as mention’d in Chap. 29, and 30, of this Section: When, if she chance to escape Miscarriage, (which most commonly happens in this Condition, if not timely and artfully prevented) a difficult and laborious Birth is the certain Consequence; and sometimes a protracted Time of Bearing to the Close of the 10th, or (as I have observ’d) to the Beginning of the 11th Month.

THIS Symptom is to be judg’d of, and cur’d according to the above-mention’d, and what other concomitating Diagnostick Signs appear.

CHAP. XIX.
Of FLUXES of BLOOD.

THIS Symptom is to be understood to happen from the inferiour Parts; namely, by way of the Hæmorrhoidal Veins, or by the Passage of the Womb, but most commonly by the Last.

THE Cause then of this SYMPTOM, happening by the Hæmorrhoids, is Three-fold; and proceeds, either from too great a Quantity of Blood abounding; or from the disorder’d and deprav’d Quality of that Blood; or from Both these Indispositions jointly: And this sanguine Affection is commonly without any great Danger (tho’ not without some Trouble) to the Woman; ceasing gradually (of itself) after a safe and successful DELIVERY.

THIS Symptom from the Womb, happens Four different Ways; to wit, either by the Vessels, which run to the Neck of the Womb; or by Those, which tend to the Body and Cavity of the Same; or by Those, that adhere to the Membrane call’d Chorion, and to the Infant, by which it attracts its Nutriment; or by Those, that Nature hath reserv’d for a Superfœtation, or the Necessity of expurging this Blood when it chances to be Superfluous.

WHATEVER way this Flux happens, its Cause is Three-fold; and proceeds, either from an Apertion of some of the mentioned Uterine Vessels; or from their Dilatation; or from a Rupture of those Vessels.

THEY are open’d by a Redundancy or Superfluity of Blood; which Wise Nature takes this Method of fiercing and throwing-off, the Natural Evacuation being stopped. They are dilated by the Acrimony of the Humours, or by their own rarefy’d and thin Contexture, And, in fine, they may be bursten or broken, by a great Variety of Accidents; such as Running, Leaping, Falling, Striking, Lifting a heavy Weight, violent Motion, Coughs, great Pains, Vapours, Costiveness, Looseness, immoderate Heat, or Cold; as also by any violent Perturbation of Mind.

THE First Case (being the Work of Nature) happens with great Ease, and without any Pain or Trouble; it flows moderately and regularly, is of short Continuance, and not attended with any immediate Danger, so long as the Woman enjoys her Health, and continues well-colour’d in Complexion.

THE Second Case is called an Anastomosis; and what happens by such irregular Dilatations, falls Drop by Drop away; and is All Acid, Ill-colour’d, Stinking, Thin, Pale, Serous Stuff.

THE Third Case is known by an immoderate and irregular Flooding, as it were in Heaps; attended with Pains of the Groins, Loins, &c: And at last aggravated with Faintings and Convulsions. The true State of which Case is particularly noted in Sect. V. Chap. 7. Only give me leave to add here, that the Procatarctick Cause, is always sufficiently known, from the Relation of the Patient.

BUT however, it is also proper to know in all the above-mention’d Cases, from what Place, and by what Vessels this Flux happens: Which may be rightly thus distinguished; for if from the Neck of the Womb, it flows orderly and moderately; as it likewise does, if it comes from Vessels no ways adhering to the Infant: but if it arises from the Bottom of the Womb, it flows in less Order, and greater Quantity; and if it happens, in fine, from the Vessels fixed to the Infant, and the Chorion, then it does flow most irregularly of all, and in very great Quantities.

THE Prognosticks of this SYMPTOM are, either a[74] weak debilitated Infant, or an approaching Abortion: But besides also, it sometimes portends a hard, laborious, and protracted BIRTH, perhaps even to the 11th Month.

WHICH Prognosticks are indeed founded upon sufficient relative Reasons: The First, because the INFANT is not able to convert the whole of the superabundant Blood, to its Aliment: The Second, because the INFANT (tho’ perhaps Strong and Able enough) is depriv’d of its requisite Sustenance: The Third, because (according to Hippocrates, &c.) a sickly Gestation always indicates a difficult and laborious BIRTH: And besides the reason of a protracted Birth (beyond the ordinary Time) is very plain and perspicuous; because, if a strong healthy CHILD requires two Months, to recover itself after the first Onset or Attempt of the 7th Month, (as is more amply explain’d in Chap. 34. of this Section) it is but highly reasonable to think, that a weak sickly One, requires a longer Time of Gestation.

THE first Case of this SYMPTOM, seems to be the most favourable of the Three; yet I would advise such Sanguine or Plethorick Women, to guard against one ill Consequence, which I have known sometimes to happen in the same burthensome Condition: Namely, that from too great a Plenty or Superfluity of Blood, it sometimes runs through the interiour Veins into the Cavity of the Womb, which renders the Case by far the most dangerous; because this Blood[75] (being out of its proper Canal or Center) irregularly extravas’d, immediately corrupts and suppurates; which corrupted Blood, in Concert with the INFANT, (whose Aliment is thereby impair’d) always obliges the Womb, to dilate and yield up its Contents: So that, in short, this particular SYMPTOM[76] is, in all its different Cases or Conditions, the most Pernicious and Dangerous.

WHEREFORE it is, that the respective Cures of these sundry Cases, belong only to the Ablest Physician, and That (most properly) to Him who professes and practices Midwifery: Because, when Medicinal Helps fail, and cannot prevent Misfortunes, He will at least know best then, how to Compose, and Mitigate them, by delivering the Woman, if Necessity so require.

CHAP. XX.
Of the SYMPTOMS of the last three Months.

TWO third Parts of the common Duration and Conjuncture of Child-bearing, being, by this time faithfully, if not so fully, accounted for; it remains now, that we also more particularly consider the Mother and her Infant throughout the last Three Months-Travail. These are the Finishing Maturating Months of the INFANT: I mean peculiarly, as to its Strength and Vigour; since in other respects, the Middle Months have duly perfected the Ornaments of the particular Members, and gracefully compleated the Shape and Form of the whole Body.

WHEREFORE, as, in these latter Months, the CHILD encreases in Bulk, Vigour, and Activity, it then affords the tender Mother incredible Uneasinesses, and grows sometimes almost Obstreperous: Which Augmentation of the Foetus (of natural Consequence) occasions in her Constitution of Body various different Effects; call’d SYMPTOMS of the last Three Months.

NOW these SYMPTOMS, I hope I may pertinently reduce to the following Nine, in Number; namely, 1. Dysuries; 2. Ischuries; 3. Stranguries; 4. Costiveness; 5. Tenesms; 6. Varices; 7. Inflations of the Legs; 8. Fissures of the Belly; and 9. and lastly, Water-Fluxes. Of which I shall take leave to treat separately, in their proper Order.

CHAP. XXI.
Of DYSURIES, ISCHURIES, and STRANGURIES.

THE Dysuria is a painful and difficult Excretion of Urine; as the Ischuria is an entire Suppression of the Same: And the Stranguria nothing but an Effect of the other Two; being an Excretion made Drop by Drop, with a continual Stimulation or Propensity to make Water, however without any acute Pain, tho’ not without some Uneasiness.

NOW these three SYMPTOMS have all their respective Causes, which I shall not particularly enter upon here at large; but only, take notice by the By, that in the Pregnant Woman, they most commonly proceed from One and the same Original: Wherefore I shall in this Place discourse of them conjunctly; and observe that all three SYMPTOMS may proceed from the ponderous Womb, lying upon, and depressing the Neck of the Bladder; and that the more heavily, the nearer the Woman is to her Time. The pungent Acrimony of the Urine sometimes also occasions Incontinence, or want of Retention; as its Inflammatory Heat causeth almost a total Suppression. However, in short, such SYMPTOMS may likewise proceed from some crude and unconcocted Matter, obstructing and oppressing the Sphincter-Muscles.

BE That as it will, in the present Case, the Cure is but very seldom of great Difficulty; being frequently effected, by lifting up the Bottom of her Belly with both Hands when she is about to make Water: Or, by wearing a convenient large Swathe. But if Need require, the Region of the Bladder may be cherished with proper emollient Fomentations, Injections, or Cataplasms; as (upon any Extremity at last) a Catheter may be prudently used.

IF the SYMPTOM however proceeds from any Inflammatory, or Acrimonious Quality of the Urine; it may be sufficiently helped by a proper, regular, cooling Diet: As, if it arises from any undigested, crude Matter; it may be assisted or reliev’d by a good Draught[77] of warm generous WINE; which not only helps Concoction, but also facilitates and promotes URINE: But in case of absolute Necessity, after all, gentle Phlebotomy ought to be carefully used.

CHAP. XXII.
Of COSTIVENESS.

THE Belly discharges it self sometimes more seldom or infrequently; sometimes with more Pain and Difficulty; and sometimes in less Quantity than is convenient for Nature.

THERE have been many Instances given of this Disorder, by[78]Learned Men, where some Patients have gone to Stool but once in Eight, once in Fourteen, and once in Twenty or more Days.

YEA,[79]Dominicus Panarolus relates of a certain Friend of his, whose Belly was so exsiccated, that he sometimes liv’d three Months without going to Stool.

BUT what I mean by Costiveness, is not that Distemper, where there is a total Suppression, for that rather belongs to the Iliack Passion; but that only, where the Excrements lodging longer than their due natural Time, perhaps three or four Days more or less, are at last voided hard and dry with some small Straining.

Which irregular Accident may proceed from many different Causes. Although in the pregnant Woman, I take the following to be the most Common: That is to say, the Calidity and Siccity of the LIVER, or SPLEEN; occasion’d by the Lusty Child’s attracting too much of the Radical and Succid Moisture of the MOTHER, and compressing the Intestines.

THIS Symptom proves often of dangerous Consequence: For by the pressing Force, commonly us’d in such a Case to ease the Belly, some Vessels or Ligaments may be easily and readily broken. And not only so, but the retain’d Fæces always affect the Head, and contaminate the Blood with noxious Vapours; and thereby impede or hinder the Concoction of the Ventricle, and the Separation of the better and purer, from the grosser and impurer part of the Chyle: Whence proceed many other various Disorders to the whole Body, from the long Retention of the Excrements.

THE Cure consists in temperating the Calidity of the VISCERA, and relaxing the BELLY by proper Diet, Dissolvents, &c. And in Case of any sudden VOMITING, which sometimes happens upon Costiveness, humectant and emollient Clysters may be most properly and cautiously used, to restrain and prevent all such Revulsions.

CHAP. XXIII.
Of TENESMS.

A Tenesms is an irregular Retention of Nature, and nothing else but a continual Desire or Inclination of going to STOOL; attended with Pain, without voiding any thing but Slime, or an indigested Mucosity: And this is in the Anus, what a Strangury is in the Bladder; being Both a violent Contraction of the Fibres, or Disorder of the Sphincter-Muscles.

WHICH tenacious Symptom proceeds from a great Variety of Causes, occasionally provoking the expulsive Faculty of the strait Gut, call’d the Rectum, without a Power to expel; such as may happen to be an unusual Exulceration, or Constriction of, or an Acid-Salt-Humour in the same Intestine: So likewise a Stone in the Neck of the Bladder, a Tumour of the adjacent Parts, or seminal Vessels, a frigid Intemperature, the Hemorrhoides, a Dysenteria, Dysuria, Ischuria or Stranguria, &c. may very shrewdly occasion the Tenesmus.

WHICH binding SYMPTOM is of the same dangerous Nature and[80]Consequence with the preceding Case; both having an equal Effect of Power, if not prevented, to expel and dislodge the Infant. Which Notion cannot be otherways better maintain’d; for the Womb being situated upon the Intestinum Rectum, must suffer great Commotions by continual Needings and Strainings in both Cases.

BUT the safest Cure, in short, in my humble Opinion, is to be perform’d by proper Decoctions, Fomentations, and absterging Clysters.

CHAP. XXIV.
Of the VARICES, or Vein-Tumours.

THIS Symptom is nothing else, than a Distention or Dilatation of the Hip, Thigh, and Leg-Veins: Which however chiefly appears about the Ham; and it happens most commonly to Plethorick Women, who walk much, or exercise themselves more freely upon any Occasion.

THE Cause proceeds only from a Plenty, or Superfluity of the suppressed Blood, more than the Infant can consume: which being carry’d by the Arteries to the lower Parts, is thence received by the Crural and Saphene or Ankle-Veins. Insomuch that the Womb, being (by this time) both Ponderous and Bulky, so presseth the Iliac-Veins, that it hinders the Blood in its Course, and obstructs its free Motion and Circulation; whereby (of consequence) these inferiour Veins must swell and distend themselves proportionably.

HOWEVER, the Danger of the SYMPTOM is not great; because after a safe BIRTH, when the super-abounding Blood and Humours are evacuated, these preternatural Tumours settle, and the Veins return to their Pristine State.

WHEREFORE the only necessary Relief of this Malady, consists chiefly in the Woman’s abstaining from too much Walking, and all other extravagant Exercises; upon indulging her inferiour Limbs, by keeping them rais’d upon a Couch or Stool, that the Blood may not settle too much to these lower Parts: Or (which is far better) let her prudently keep her Bed; in which Posture, the Blood can meet with no such Difficulty in returning by these Veins to the Heart, as it will find when it must ascend by the Woman’s SITTING or STANDING upright; so that consequently it must needs circulate the more readily and with more Ease. Hence in short, it is, that from this more Free and Easy Circulation in Bed, such Women are always more easy, or better dispos’d, and far less pain’d or troubled in the Mornings, than at Nights, in This Condition.

BUT if, after All, the PATIENT’s Convenience will not permit such Indulgences, Then a proper Swathe of three or four Fingers Breadth, is most adviseable; beginning to swathe this Varicose, or Swelling Part, from the Bottom upwards, as far as the Varices or Tumours extend. But in Case of more Plethorick Marks, at last, in the other Parts of the Body, Phlebotomy may be most safely made Use of.

CHAP. XXV.
Of the INFLATIONS and TUMOURS of the LEGS.

THESE bloating Symptoms not only happen to some Women before, but also after BIRTH; especially when the Lochia, or Child-bed Cleansings, do not flow in a regular Measure or sufficient Quantity.

THE Cause of the present disorder’d Case, proceeds either from the Suppression of some Aqueous Flux of the Womb; or from some such watery serous Blood descending to the Legs; or from the Abundance of retain’d Menstruous Blood, more than the Infant can dispense with: which, being of no Service either to MOTHER or CHILD, settles downwards to these aggriev’d Parts. But these Things are to be considered with this Distinction and Difference, that if the LIVER be debilitated, and the Blood becom’s Pituitous or Aqueous, the Woman’s Legs are so Oedematous or Tumid, that when pressed with the Finger, it leaves the Impression of a Dent and Hollowness: But if the Blood grows corrupted and bilous, her Legs are inflam’d, and sometimes occasionally exulcerated, as in Scorbutick Cases: And if none of These happen, then a gross thick Blood only abounds, tending vitiously downwards. Upon which there are only some Livid or Blueish Marks[81] to be discover’d with those Tumours, such as the VARICES or Swellings occasion in the preceeding Case.

IN fine, the Woman troubled with these Symptoms, commonly bears a Female; as all Women, having sickly times of GESTATION, generally do. However yet, tho’ this swelling Affection is very troublesome, its Danger is not great; because it ordinarily ceases of it self with good Care after the BIRTH. Wherefore in this Condition a CURE is not always to be attempted, lest the Humours recoiling upwards, affect some nobler Part. Nevertheless, if the SWELLING be too considerably Painful or Troublesome, proper Digerents and Discutients may be apply’d, and the Legs fomented with a convenient Lixivy, Decoction, or Cataplasm.

CHAP. XXVI.
Of FISSURES or CHOPS of the BELLY.

THIS Symptom only happens to Women bearing their first or second CHILD; whole lower BELLIES have not yet been sufficiently extended by frequent CONCEPTION.

THE Cause proceeds only from the natural Lenitude and Constriction of the Skin of the ABDOMEN or lower Belly; which (in proportion to the Growth of the INFANT) must dilate and distend itself: So far as that towards the latter Months, it gives way to such a large degree, that it appears not otherways than as if the SKIN was to be divided, and almost crack or break by its thin Attenuation.

HOWEVER it occasions also very often great Pain, as well as a permanent wrinkled Deformity of that Part. Wherefore Laxative Liniments, and proper Unguents, are pertinently to be made use of by way of Precaution, from the fourth Month, until the Time of Delivery.

CHAP. XXVII.
Of WATER-FLUXES.

THE Water which is gather’d in the Time of GESTATION, between the Membranes involving the INFANT, is at last upon the approaching BIRTH effus’d: For the CHILD having broke the Amnion, feels these WATERS troublesome, and consequently obliges the Chorion also to give way. From whence proceeds naturally a copious Effusion of the same Waters.

BUT of this natural Flooding, I am not properly to treat in this Place; only of that preposterous Flux, which happens before the due time of BIRTH, the immediate Cause of which proceeds from some Procatarctick Accident: Such as a Perturbation of Mind, an unlucky Fall, a Leap, a Stroke, or any other Violence.

THIS Symptom happens Two ways, either by a Disruption, or Dilatation of the MEMBRANES: the first by external, the other commonly by internal Causes. In the first Case, the Flux comes suddenly, irregularly, and in a great Quantity; in the second, by little and little, or by degrees, and less in Quantity.

THE first Case is most dangerous, being the infallible PROGNOSTICK of instant Abortion, if not timely and judiciously prevented. The second Case is of the following bad Consequence, that this Water, which has hitherto defended the Infant from the Rigidity of the circumjacent Parts, being at last (how leisurely soever) exhausted and spent; the Child is soon sensible of its Loss, and finding its wonted Seat become uneasy, it thereupon being restless or discontented, endeavours to move and seek for a Better: By which means (if Abortion does not presently ensue) it falls into a preternatural Situation, which (of course) occasions a preternatural BIRTH. But abstracting from This, the bare Deficiency of the Waters, for moistening the Passages in time of LABOUR, is enough to effect the same Unhappiness.

HOWEVER, the Cure of this SYMPTOM depends chiefly upon a good Regimen of DIET, and external, as well as internal Corroboratives.

IN short, having thus discuss’d the several SYMPTOMS of the Nine Months, and such as are most common and familiar to the Woman during her Foetura, or the whole Time of her CHILD-BEARING; I shall proceed now in the next Place with all due Method and peculiar Regard for her Good.

CHAP. XXVIII.
Of Acute DISEASES incident to the CHILD-BEARING WOMAN.

IT sometimes, and more than too often, happens, that besides the common SYMPTOMS of the Months, the conceiv’d Woman is also suddenly taken with some acute DISEASE or other; upon which I shall offer my sincere Opinion, and according to the best of my Judgment, give a brief Account of Those several Maladies, with their Definition and Cause, Nature and Quality, Danger and Cure.

FIRST then, the great Galen defines acute DISEASES to be such, whose Motion is swift, attended with sudden and immediate Danger.

THE learned Brassavole calls such DISEASES Acute, as come suddenly, continue a short Time, and have very severe or violent SYMPTOMS.

THE ingenious Blancard calls those DISEASES Acute, which are over in a little Time, but not without imminent Danger. Now Those are deem’d either very Acute, or most Acute; the latter is meant when the Distemper is over the 4th Day; but the former is that which continues till the 7th Day: For the more acute the DISEASE is, the sooner follows its Determination, either for Life or Death. Again, a Disease is call’d simply acute, when it lasts 14 or 21 Days; or lastly, it is term’d Acute ex decidentiâ, which lasts 42 Days at least.

AND according to the diligent Dr. Sydenham[82], the Despumation of Acute DISEASES happens in 336 Hours; which he also justly applies to intermitting FEVERS, reckoning 5 Hours and a half for a Paroxysm: Because what we call Days in Acute Fevers, are so many Periods in intermitting Fevers: The only difference of Those consisting in that the one perfects its Fermentation at once, which the other accomplishes at reiterated Times, and divers Turns, by the same Duct of Nature. He farther still, observes that Autumnal Quartan Fevers continue six Months; in which Time, if the Number of the recurrent Paroxysms be summed up, they will exactly amount to the aforesaid 336 Hours, or 14 Days, which is the Term or End of the regular and continual Fevers of that Season.

AND the wise Hippocrates observes[83] that as an exquisite continual Fever ceases within the 7th Day, so an exquisite Tertian has seven periodical Circuits; because every Access in the latter, makes up a Day in the former Case. Hence it is manifest that all Epidemick Diseases have their due and regular Times[84] of encreasing, continuing, and decreasing; and that These Laws of Nature are so constant and permanent, that however Fevers differ in other Circumstances, they are equal as to the Duration of Time; counting according to the Periods or Fits of the intermitting, and the continued Number of Days of the never intermitting Fever.

GALEN[85] further explains Acute DISEASES, and calls them Two-fold: The one attended with a continual Fever; such as are burning Fevers, Frenzies, Lethargies, Pleurisies, Squincies, Inflammations, &c. The other without any Fever, such as Epilepsies, Apoplexies, Convulsions, Palsies, Contraction of LIMBS, JOINTS, &c. Now the[86] Accesses and Crises of all These proceed from the Influence of the Moon; which in over-ruling terrestrial Things, surpasses all the other Planets and Stars, not so much because of her Power, as by her Approximation or Vicinity.

THE Cause of both the one and the other seems to be the same; tho’ it affecteth differently, according to the various Regimen and Disposition of the Woman: And it most probably proceeds either from the vitious Humours, which have abounded in the Body before Conception; or from such Humours as have been congested afterwards by the suppressed Menses, or Months: Which being irritated by improper or depraved Food, by bad or negligent Regimen, either before or after Conception; those Humours (like Yest in Ale) ferment the Blood, to such a Degree, that (all on a sudden) the Patient is violently taken with one or other of those Acute Diseases, which are determined by a certain Lunary Crisis; that is to say, by a certain Motion of Nature, accelerated by the Power of the Moon, to a gradual Expulsion of the peccant Matter thro’ the Pores of the Body. But this Crisis, in short, happens always with most Ease and Safety upon the New or Full-Moon, because the ambient Air does not at that time so much affect the Superficies of the Body, nor so violently repress the Motion of the Fluids.

HOWEVER, this melancholy Accident can never happen worse than to the Conceiv’d Woman; and the farther she is gone in her Time, the more Danger still. And that because of the Scarcity or Want of pure Blood, which ought to be imbibed by the Infant, either in part or in whole, according to its Age and Strength: Or, because of the Plenty of vitious Blood, which tends to no other end, than to imbecilitate the Woman, and render her incapable of suffering the Insults of such acute Diseases. For Nature may (perhaps) be able to bear up against one simple Effect, but when it is joined and aggravated by another, the Patient is too often obliged to succumb, and yield herself up to be overpower’d in the Struggle of Life.

BUT, after all yet, acute Diseases are not always mortal to the Conceived Woman; for, as Experience teaches, Some have the good Fortune to escape, tho’ indeed the Odds[87] are very great on the other Side. But of such sharp Maladies, those without any Fever are reckoned most dangerous; because they are not only Acute, but also most Acute: And by those the Mother is more immediately endangered than the Infant; whereas by those which come with a Fever, the tender Infant is first and chiefly endangered, because of the Mother’s internal Calidity and Depravation, which easily affects, and soon suffocates or stifles it in a short time.

HOWEVER, it is very observable, that a Woman[88], bearing a Female, is more readily seized, and more easily freed or cured of acute Diseases, than she who bears a Male: And that because Females are naturally more obnoxious to Distempers, proceeding from the Retention of the Menstrua, and consequently more favourably affected, because of the natural Affinity and Familiarity of the Case.

AND this is the Reason that Females, after the first Months, do bear and sustain more Pains than the Males; as daily Experience confirms, in that a Female Miscarriage[89] seldom happens after the first Months: whereas the Male Abortion is most of all to be feared, after the Time of Motion or Animation, because the Acetabula, or Cavities, being then more siccid, are the more easily broken by its stronger Motion.

IN Cases of Acute Diseases, the worst is, that the necessary Helps, which such incident Distempers otherways absolutely require, are not always safe and convenient for the Child-bearing Woman: which Condition, (with respect to the Cure) renders the Case one of the nicest Points in the Art of Physick. Wherefore I would, with Submission, advise, that none but the ablest and well-qualified Physician should undertake either the Care or the Cure of such a Patient. To whom I am not to prescribe Rules, and therefore I shall only refer him to his own more Acute Judgment, and the Curious Solutions of (that most learned Physician) Daniel Senertus[90], upon the six following Questions, thus stated by himself, viz.

I. HOW far slender Diet is convenient for the Child-bearing Woman, labouring under an acute Disease?

II. HOW far it is convenient to open a Vein or bleed this Woman upon such an Occasion?

III. HOW far it may be proper to purge her on the same Occasion?

IV. WHETHER Venæ-Sections or Purges are most dangerous in such a Case?

V. WHETHER it is practicable (in such a dangerous Case) to excite Abortion, for the Woman’s Health and Recovery?

VI. HOW far Clysters, Diureticks, and Diaphoreticks are convenient on such Occasions?

HAVING, thus, now, in fine, briefly hinted upon the sundry Heads of this Chapter, I shall, in the next Place, offer a few Words upon That, which (I think) is the most common Consequence of the foregoing Effects, viz.

CHAP. XXIX.
Of the DEBILITY and WEAKNESS of the Fœtus.

BESIDES all the enumerated Symptoms, Acute and Chronical Distempers, to which the Child-bearing Woman is subject; it also happens over and above (too frequently) that the Infant becomes Weak and Sick in the Womb.

THE Cause of which unhappy Accident I take to be fourfold: As it proceeds, either from a Debility and Insufficiency of the Parental Seed, or from a Scarcity or Want of requisite Sustenance, or from a certain Depravation of that Sustenance, or from some immediate Procatarctick Cause of the Mother; which may all be thus rationally distinguished, and severally accounted for; viz.

THE Cause certainly lies in the Seed, if the Woman has continued always healthy, eating, drinking, and living regularly.

IT may be imputed to the Scarcity of Aliment, if she has often laboured under Diseases, or been exposed to Hunger, Want, Penury, or any such like manifest retrenching Cause.

IT may be adjudged to a Depravity of Aliment, when the Woman (by a vitiated Constitution of Body) is subject to some certain Distempers; and, besides, in short, any Procatarctick Cause is discoverable from the Relation of the Patient.

BUT whatever the Cause may be, the Diagnostick Signs of this unhappy Affection, are commonly One or more of the following Six; viz.

1. THE turgid swell’d Breasts of the Pregnant Woman, all on a sudden[91], fall and extenuate into a Flabbiness.

2.[92]THEY diffuse copiously a thin Waterish Milk, not half digested to its due Perfection.

3. THE Menstrua return at an uncommon Rate, and in an irregular Manner.

4. THE Woman personally is either very frequently Sick, or long expos’d to a lasting Sickness. Or,

5. SHE is either subject to a very frequent, or long continu’d Looseness, and constant Diarrhæa.

6. THE Infant which used (as it ought) to move briskly, is now but very seldom, and more faintly perceiv’d in Motion.

ON the other hand, the Prognosticks of this Case, are briefly Two: For either Abortion follows, or (which is worse) the Infant dies; if not timely prevented, by removing the Efficient Cause of it, upon comforting and strengthening both the Woman and the Child.

IN a Word, the Latter of these tragical Events I shall refer to Sect. V. Chap. last. But the Former leads me more immediately to consider it in the proper Method of my Discourse.

CHAP. XXX.
Of ABORTION.

WOMEN miscarry so frequently, that if any curious Persons will diligently observe and examine that Matter, they will find the Number of Miscarriages to exceed That of timely Births: Wherefore I have reason to think, that this Head deserves to be handled more at large, and to be more particularly insisted upon, in the following manner.

THE Modern Practisers in MIDWIFERY, distinguish Miscarriages, by four different Appellations; according to the four different Times of the Constitution of the CONCEPTION. viz.

A Miscarriage happening in the Time of Spumification, is call’d an Effluxion of the GENITURA: That which happeneth in the Vegetation, or Time of Ramification, or (as some will have it) before the 40th Day, is call’d a Deperdition of the Embryo: That which falls out in the sensitive Progression, or Time of Carnification, or (as others will have it) before the 90th Day from CONCEPTION, they call an Abortion of the Foetus. But what so happens afterwards preceding the 7th Month, is properly call’d an entire Abortion of the Infant.

HOWEVER, Others will have a fifth Distinction made; namely, what so happens in the 7th, 8th, and preceding the 20th Day of the 9th Month, to be call’d an untimely BIRTH; because tho’ born with Life, they alledge it to be very seldom, or never really Vital, or likely to Live: Upon which I shall, in good Time, introduce my own Sentiment in the subsequent Chapters of this Section.

NOTWITHSTANDING, this Definition signifies but little to the Purpose; let the MISCARRIAGE happen when it will, and under whatsoever Name or Denomination, It is nothing else in general, than an untimely Exclusion of an imperfect and immature Birth; which unhappy Accident may proceed from a vast Variety of Causes, stimulating Nature to such a violent Expulsion.

IN treating therefore of this Accidental BIRTH, I shall make use of none of those Distinctions; but rather (to prevent Mistakes) shall call all its several Species, of whatsoever Time, by the general (and most common) Name of ABORTION.

AND of this ABORTION, happen when it will, the proximous Cause is always the Expulsive Faculty of the Womb; which being hurt, or violently disorder’d in any respect, irritates and debilitates the Retentive Power: And then again, on the other hand, this Retentive Faculty (tho’ not the proximous Cause) is sometimes first hurt or injur’d, and by that means incapacitated to retain the INFANT; which (in that Case) offends and provokes the Expulsive Power[93], which is the proper proximous Cause of all ABORTIONS.

BUT most commonly the Expulsive receives the First Hurt; from whence the Retentive is oblig’d to Sympathize, and yield to its over-ruling Motions. And, according to Galen[94], the Expulsive Faculty may be injur’d and irritated by Three different Causes; viz. 1. By the Bulk of the Infant, when the Womb cannot distend itself far enough to contain it: 2. By its Weight, when heavier than the Womb and Ligaments can bear: And, 3. By the Humours (when the Membranes break) flowing into the Womb; occasioning a Mordacious Itching there, or putrefying the Infant in its Place.

TO which three Efficients, some Modern Authors have thought it sufficient to add the similar, organical, and common Diseases of the Womb; together with some Procatarctick Causes.

HOWEVER, because I have generally observ’d Those, to be very promiscuously and confusedly treated of, I shall (according to my best Ability) endeavour to reduce the many different Causes of ABORTION to such plain Heads, and set them in such a clear Light, that they shall prove evident and manifest to the meanest Capacity: That Women (whose peculiar Good I have only at Heart in the Performance of this Work) may readily conceive them, and thereby be enabled (in most Cases) to prevent their greatest Misfortunes. And that whether the Cause happens proximously and immediately from a stimulated Expulsive, or mediately from a læs’d and injur’d Retentive Faculty.

WHEREFORE I shall now reduce those Causes to the following Four general Heads; namely, 1. To the Constitution of the Mother: 2. The Constitution of the Infant: 3. The Symptoms of the Months: And, 4. To the various Procatarctick Causes of this Tragical Case.

FIRST the Causes of ABORTION, proceeding from the Constitution of the Mother, are Three-fold, and respect either her whole Body, her Womb only, or its neighbouring Parts. Those respecting her whole Body, are,

I. THE four Intemperatures of the Body; as the Calid, which, by its Hot Quality, exhausts the Humours (that are naturally necessary) to the Prejudice and Loss of the Infant.

II. THE Frigid; which, by its Cold Quality, vitiates and attenuates the Infant’s Aliment, to a starving Condition.

III. THE Siccid; which, by its adust dry Quality, scorches and consumes the Ligaments, that they break, like so many Strings that snap before the Sun: Upon which the Infant (being deprived of those Mediums, through which Nature has appointed its Sustenance) corrupts and decays, like a PLANT in Arid Sandy Ground.

IV. THE Humid Intemperature; which, by its moist Quality, debilitates the Retentive Faculty, hinders the Ligaments to consolidate and close firmly, and opens the shut Orifice of the Womb. But besides all This also, by filling the ACETABULA with superfluous Humours, it may suffocate and stifle the INFANT.

V. A nimious and too great an Obesity or Fatness, and too great a Gracility or Leanness of the Woman’s Body: For the One converts the CHILD’s Nourishment to itself; and the Other starves the INFANT for want of its natural Requisites.

VI. A PLETHORY, or too great a Repletion of Blood in her Body; which frequently choaks and suffocates the INFANT.

VII. ALL Corporeal Causes, exagitating the Spirits and Humours; which have the same Effect and Force to irritate the Expulsive Faculty.

VIII. ALL Diseases incident to the Body, whether they be Acute, Remiss, or Diuturnal; which may easily effect ABORTION. But

SECONDLY, The Causes on the part of the Womb, are not to be lightly or slightly considered; because if it be not both naturally well constituted, and carefully well dispos’d, it can neither foment, cherish, nor retain the Infant. For the least Flaw of its morbifick Causes, stimulates to a great Degree the expulsive Faculty: which Causes are, in my Opinion, as follow; viz.

I. THE Womb’s Præternatural SIZE, either in Magnitude, or Exiguity: The one giving room for the Infant’s too much tumbling or too frequent Motion; and the other restraining the CHILD too much, even to the suppressing and stifling of it.

II. ITS præternatural CONSTRICTION or Coarctation; which may resist its necessary due Extension, for containing the growing Infant.

III. ITS præternatural DENSITY; which may not only hinder the requisite Distention, but also prevent the Secundine[95] from being firmly connected to the Vessels.

IV. ITS LAXITY of the Orifice, or Lavity of the interiour Surface; proceeding from pituitous[96] or viscous Humours, which slacken the Ligaments, and give way to the Foetus.

V. THE Womb’s too frigid and siccid Intemperature; which Qualities are the greatest Enemies to Nature and all the Actions of Female LIFE.

VI. ITS frigid and humid Intemperature; which (abounding with Mucosities or slimy Humours) so relaxes the Ligaments, that they cannot hold or detain the INFANT.

VII. ALL obdurated and confirmed Tumours and Ulcers, all Erysipelas and Inflammations of the Womb: Which often prove the Causes of the same Effect.

VIII. A præternatural Situation, or an oblique Position may become the 8th and last Cause of ABORTION, which I shall mention on part of the Womb.

FROM hence I come, Thirdly, in a due Method, to Those Causes respecting the neighbouring Parts; which I humbly conceive to be as follow.

I. ALL Diseases, Pains, and what Causes soever of those Parts, may tend much to deject or affect the Spirits, and stir up the Humours with unusual Alteration.

II. ALL Causes and bad Affections compressing the lower Belly, and exagitating or straining its Muscles.

III. A præternatural Site and inapt CONFORMATION[97] of the Umbilical Vessels, for their due Operation.

BUT then again, Secondly, It also often happens that, tho’ the pregnant Woman labours under no Disease or Misfortune, either in Body, Womb, or neighbouring Parts, yet notwithstanding the Expulsive Faculty is irritated to Ejection by several Causes of the Constitution of the INFANT itself, as follow; viz.

I. ITS præternatural Bulk, or vitious Conformation, oppressing and straining the Womb, either in Whole or in Part.

II. ITS Debility and Weakness, or contracted, infirm, feeble Constitution, as mentioned in the preceding Chapter.

III. THE Death of the INFANT, emitting nauseous Vapours and putrefy’d Matter, stimulates the Womb sooner or later to Expulsion: And (in this tragical Case) the sooner the Better; as will hereafter appear.

AND moreover, Thirdly, the SYMPTOMS of the Months, frequently prove Causes of ABORTION; of which SYMPTOMS, having already treated particularly, I shall in this place repeat little or nothing, only refer the Reader to their respective Chapters in the preceding Part of this Section: And yet under this present Head, may be also comprehended all Acute Diseases, which (too often) prove of the same bad Consequence; as is evident from Chap. 28.

FOURTHLY, There is a great Variety of Procatarctick Causes, distinct from all those above-mentioned, which most frequently occasion ABORTION: And Those are Two-fold, INTERNAL and EXTERNAL. Of which the Internal are as follow, in my Judgment.

I. THE Passions of the Mind (mentioned in Sect. I. Chap. 5.) because such immoderate Affections too much excite the Humours, and incense the Spirits.

II. VICTUALS; if taken too much at a time, suffocate the INFANT; if too little, it is starved, and the MOTHER brought to a very low Condition of Life; and if improper, or of ill Concoction, the CHILD is thereby either much weaken’d, or (which is worse) it dies of course.

III. DRINKING immoderately, extinguisheth the natural Calidity of the Womb and the INFANT; as certainly strong or hot Liquors impress a vitious Intemperature upon Both.

IV. WATCHINGS a-Nights, too much exhaust and dissipate the Spirits; as too much Sleep, on the other hand, dulls, lessens, and obtunds the natural Heat.

V. ALL inward disorderly Causes dissolving the Uterine Acetabula, Ligaments, or Vessels, by which the INFANT attracts its Nourishment.

VI. ALL Venenated, Cathartick, and Diaphoretick MEDICINES, Acrimonious Clysters, Venæ-Sections, Baths, &c: Which partly by exagitating the Spirits and Humours, and partly by diminishing the Aliment, occasion frequent ABORTIONS. Again

THE external Procatarctick Causes are These, which ensue in their due Order.

I. ALL inclement Constitutions or bad Influences of the Weather, Winds,[98]and Air; such as Cold, which pinches; or as Heat, which intercepts the Breath, and stifles the INFANT, &c.

II. SMELLING or Touching, Sitting, or Treading upon some Sorts of pernicious Herbs.

III. ALL violent Motions, immoderate Exercises, &c. such as Running, Leaping, Dancing, Riding, or Coaching, Lifting, or Carrying a heavy Weight, also long Fasting, strait Lacing, a Fall, a Blow on the Back or the Belly, &c. as I hinted before occasionally.

IV. ALL frightful Objects, and sudden Surprizes by hasty News, Fire, or such like terrifying Accidents.

V. ALL astonishing and terrible affecting NOISES; such as sudden Claps of Thunder, Cannons, Guns &c.

VI. ALL nauseous Stinks, on the one hand, and odoriferous Smells, &c. on the other, being both disagreeable and dangerous.

THOSE, and many other trifling Matters, such as the Smell of an extinguished Light, or Candle, are known (too often) to be the Reason and Cause of ABORTION: which made (that great Naturalist) Pliny[99] justly take occasion to deplore the Frailty of Man.

“HE bewails and is asham’d (as he expresseth it) to think how frivolous the ORIGIN of the proudest of Creatures is; such a mere Trifle (as is mentioned) being frequently the Cause of his FATALITY. And the Philosopher most pertinently adds, that He who now glories in so many VANITIES, trusting in the Strength of his Body, vaunting in the Riches of his Possessions, and upon every Smile of Fortune, believes himself to be a God, &c. little considers how many ways he might have miscarried in coming into the World, or how many ways he may yet, even to-day, go out of it, and come to his last GASP, as Anacreon, the wanton Lyrick Poet, did, who was suddenly choak’d with the Stone of a Grape; or as Fabius (that noble Dictator of Rome) dy’d, who was immediately strangl’d by a HAIR in a Draught of Milk.”

I say, He little considers, how many Trials and Hardships he was expos’d to, before he had Being: or, how many ways he might have been stifled before he had Breath, and have been dead even before he was Born.

WHICH Consideration leads me to the Thought of another Cause of ABORTION, mentioned by the holy Prophet[100]Hosea, where he says: “Because they have deeply corrupted themselves, and separated themselves unto that Shame at Baalpeor, (i. e. defiled themselves at the Statues of Priapus) their Glory shall fly away like a Bird, from the Womb, from the Conception, and from the Birth; dry Breasts, and a miscarrying Womb shall be given them, &c.”

AND having thus far briefly defin’d and descanted upon ABORTION, and the Nature of its Efficients, I come now, in the next place, to shew by what DIAGNOSTICK SIGNS, every Woman may infallibly know an approaching or instant MISCARRIAGE, either in herself or another: As also to set forth, by what PROGNOSTICK SIGNS, she may know the Danger she is threatned with upon that Occasion.

WHICH Undertaking, I hope, may prove conducive to the Welfare of that tender Sex; it being too common for Women to neglect the proper Means, through a supine Ignorance of the Nature, and Danger of their CONDITION. But This, however, is generally owing to indiscreet Old Women about them; (as I have often observ’d, and oft’ner had Occasion to hear) who either keep the PATIENT in Suspence, wheedling and telling her idle Stories, that the Case is not so dangerous, the Pains, Floodings, &c. will go off in good Time, and the like: Or afterwards (upon appearance of more severe growing Symptoms) they extenuate the Danger, telling her to submit with Patience, the common Misfortune cannot possibly be prevented, &c.

TO which usual Suggestions, I answer; that as the one is an ignorant and imprudent Insinuation, the other is a downright Falsity: For in the first CASE, the Woman is diverted by foolish Hopes from applying for proper Advice, until perhaps it is past all Remedy; and in the second, she is misled very often to her utter RUIN: Since whatever hath not yet happen’d, may peradventure be happily prevented; and even upon the last Extremity of the most violent Occasion, the Severity of the Case may possibly be averted by good Management, and the Danger entirely compounded for by proper Conduct.

WHEREFORE, I cannot but think, it is worth any Woman’s while to know the Marks of an approaching and instant ABORTION: Whereof the DIAGNOSTICKS are as follow, viz.

I. A sudden Extenuation and Falling of the Breasts[101]; sometimes only of One, but more commonly of Both: That of One denoting the Woman to bear Twins, of which she is about to lose One; and which, if the right Breast falls, is a Male; but if the left, a Female.

II. A Watery Milk flows[102] in Abundance from those FALLEN BREASTS, discovering the future Danger.

III. PALPITATIONS of the Heart, frequently accompany’d with a Coarctation of the Sides and Upper Belly, very much incommoding the Patient.

IV. A GRAVITY or Heaviness of the Loins, and Thighs; Gnawing of the Stomach, Pains of the Head and Eyes.

V. A TREMOR, or Trembling and Quaking FITS, attended with a Frigidity of the exteriour Limbs.

VI. A Rigor and Stiffness, or a Vibration and Concussion of the SKIN and MUSCLES of the whole Body, with a concomitant Chilness.

VII. HORROUR, Fevers, Faintings, Swoonings, and sometimes Convulsions, Cramps, &c. all foreboding the coming Malady. These are the usual and principal Marks of an approaching ABORTION: Which when Instant, and the Time at Hand, then the

VIIIth DIAGNOSTICK plainly appears; which is a corrupt WATER flowing first, next a bloody WATER, then pure Blood, after that small Clods of Blood, and at length, the Infant itself (form’d or inform’d) follows of Course.

HENCE I proceed to the usual Prognosticks of ABORTION; which take as follow in their proper Order, viz.

I. ALL Women are more endanger’d in a Miscarriage, than in a Natural Birth: because That happening at a preternatural Time, is of greater Violence than This. For like as ripe Fruit, whose Stalk is so loose in its Season from the Tree, that the Fruit falls of its own Accord: So it is in a Natural Birth, for the Vessels and Ligaments, by which the Infant adheres to the Womb, easily loose and break spontaneously; which in an Abortion, must needs happen by a more dangerous painful Force and Violence.

II. THO’ Women (in this Case) may frequently escape with their Lives, yet their Natural Constitution is thereby too often broke at least, and debilitated, or thereupon subjected to one or other heavy SYMPTOM or DISEASE; if not also rendred quite BARREN.

FOR sometimes, because of the Pains, Flux, or Putrefaction of the retain’d Blood, Fevers, and other Distempers generally ensue: Sometimes by the violent Disruption of the Vessels, great Floodings and Loss of Blood happen; upon which Faintings, Swoonings, Convulsions, and at length Death it self follows: But, in fine, Convulsions happening[103] either at the Time, or after ABORTION, the Case is most dangerous; for then the Patient seldom escapes.

III. THE first MISCARRIAGE is most dangerous to all; because the Genital Parts are more streight or constricted, and less acquainted with such severe distending Pains: And besides the Orifices of the Vessels being so violently dilacerated, the Party often continues afterwards Sterile or Barren the rest of her Life[104].

IV. LEAN and tender Women are much endanger’d in ABORTION, by Reason of their Debility and Infirmity: As Women too fat are, on the other Hand; because of the great Astriction and Narrowness of the Passages.

V. THE younger the Abortive Production happens to be, the less the Woman is endanger’d; because the larger the Infant is, it gives the greater Pains and Ruption of the Vessels.

VI. WHATEVER happens in the 7th or 9th Month, may be reckon’d a safe BIRTH, provided the Child be Alive: Whereas if Dead, it is extremely dangerous. But above All, the Eighth Month is to be most dreaded, not only because of the Largeness of the INFANT, but also because of the pernicious Quality of that Month; as will hereafter more amply appear in Chap. 34.

WHICH Consideration leads me farther to observe; That, from the Beginning of the 5th, until the Middle of the 6th Month, the INFANT is least liable to Danger[105]: So next in the 4th, and from the Middle of the 6th, until the Close of the 7th Month: Then of course it is safer in the 3d and 2d Months, than in the 1st or 9th. For the least Cause may expell the Embryo in the First, and break the Mature Ligaments of the INFANT in the Ninth. But of all the whole Time, as I said before, the 8th Month is the most[106] dangerous, both to MOTHER and INFANT: according to which Consideration and Order of Time, the prudent Physician may, with more or less either Fear on the one hand, or Assurance on the other, exhibit or prescribe proper REMEDIES for the Preservation or Recovery of his Patients.

FROM whence I come in the next place to offer my serious Sentiments upon the Cure of this Malady, and the Prevention of ABORTION: Which difficult Work depends chiefly upon the Preservation of both MOTHER and INFANT; for when the Miscarriage is once over, the Cure then does not much differ from the Case of a natural BIRTH.

HOWEVER in all Cases of this nature, it is an infallible Maxim, that it is more easy to prevent Miscarriage, than to relieve or rectify the Miscarrying Woman; and more proper to begin that Prevention Before, than After Conception: Because the most proper Remedies for obviating many Causes of ABORTION, cannot so well be adhibited to the Woman after she is Pregnant. And besides, as those Causes are very Different and various (as more fully appears from what has been said); so the Manner and Method of Prevention cannot be altogether exactly Uniform; every Cause requiring its respective Cure, before a Prevention can be effected.

WHEREFORE, in my humble Opinion, the first Step towards this Prevention is to weigh well and consider carefully the CONSTITUTION of the yet unimpregnated Woman; in order to know and discover the Cause or Causes either of Body, or Womb, which may or can occasion any future ABORTION. Now in this Case, Women having once miscarry’d, or oftner, methinks they may easily find out the Cause Themselves, by the Help of their Midwives; which being done, they should endeavour to have it remov’d, and effectually cur’d, before they conceive any more. However, if it chance to be neglected at that time, it may be more prudently undertaken afterwards, with such Precaution, as the Nature of the CAUSE and CONSTITUTION of the Woman require: Always remembring, but especially before or about the usual Time of ABORTION, to make use of proper Corroboratives for strengthening both the INFANT and WOMB; since Women, miscarrying from any one internal Cause, commonly bear their Conceptions to a certain Time, which they cannot exceed, unless that Cause be judiciously removed beforehand.

I ONCE had an accidental Opportunity of being fully satisfied of the Veracity of this Case, in a Woman of good Note in the City of Dresden; who miscarried fourteen Times in less than eight Years; being never able to go beyond the tenth Day of the fourth Month, and commonly losing the Foetus about the last of the Third.

AT my Arrival in that Place, I found my Credit, for my necessary Supplies, upon a certain Merchant; who (with great Concern) gave me this melancholick Account of his Spouse, desiring my good Offices, if possibly any Means could be of Service. Upon which, I first made it my Business to discover, that internal Cause, wherein she, and her ordinary Midwives, had been so often mistaken; this being done, I happily performed the Cure, tho’ (as a Traveller) I had not the Satisfaction of staying there to see the Consequence. But, however, by my last Advices from the grateful Husband, I find she is now Mother of two pretty Boys and a fine Girl.

THE Cause of Abortion then being duly and discreetly first discovered, if it proceeds from any Intemperature either of the Body or the Womb; the same may be prevented chiefly by introducing the contrary Temperament, according to Hippocrates’s[107] Judgment, that Contraries are the Remedies of Contraries.

IF it proceeds from too much Fatness, her Body is to be reduced; if it comes from too much Leanness, a convenient Diet and good Regimen, &c. will help to restore her.

IF it happens from a PLETHORY, the too much abounding BLOOD is to be circumspectly lessened: As the Humours are to be judiciously evacuated, if it arises from a Cacochymy; and all Causes affecting the Spirits and Humours are to be carefully removed and avoided.

DISEASES of the whole Body are to be prevented as much as possible, by a Regularity of proper DIET and REGIMEN of Health; but whenever These are incident, they ought to be cured, as the Nature of the DISEASE and CONSTITUTION of the Woman will prudentially permit.

IF ABORTION happens from any Cause on the part of the Womb, that must absolutely be removed before CONCEPTION, and resisted afterwards during the FOETURA, by the discreet Use of proper Means.

IF it arises from any Cause of the Neighbouring Parts, that is to be carefully managed or avoided, and prevented more easily than cured.

AS to the Causes on the Part of the INFANT, I shall refer the READER to the preceding Chapter only; as I do likewise if it comes from any SYMPTOM of the Months, or from any Acute Disease, to their respective Chapters in this SECTION.

FINALLY, If it proceeds from any Procatarctick CAUSES, either internal or external, all such are to be sedulously avoided and prevented; but whenever These happen, they are generally cured by proper ALTERATIVES of an Astringent Quality, for confirming the Ligaments; and CORROBORATIVES for comforting the INFANT, and cherishing the WOMB.

BUT supposing, at last, the Case desperate, and past all Remedy, through Negligence or Delay, that the Cure cannot possibly be effected, nor the Misfortune of Instant Abortion prevented; why then the Woman ought to be carefully comforted and strengthened, the Ligaments relaxed, the Passages dilated, and the expulsive Faculty assisted; so that the worse Consequences and greater Danger may be averted.

AND having now, in fine, thus at large treated upon the Subject of Abortion, it leads me methodically (of Course) to touch upon all other Births respecting Time; I mean Legitimate and Illegitimate Births: Which (however) I shall discuss in as Succinct Terms as I can, to oblige the Reader. And first,

CHAP. XXXI.
Of a LEGITIMATE BIRTH.

A Legitimate BIRTH respects Time only, and that is properly so called, which most frequently happens, according to the Common Law of Nature.

IT is never sufficiently to be admired as Wonderful, that Man, who is born HEREDITARY LORD of the Universe, and invested with SUPREME DOMINION over all Creatures, should, however yet, be the only one deprived of some certain definite Time for his BIRTH[108]; it happening often in the seventh, commonly in the ninth and tenth, and sometimes in the eighth and eleventh Months, and That also at all Times of the Year: Whereas, on the other hand, all the rest of inferiour Creatures have their certain prefixed Times, both of carrying their YOUNG, and bringing them forth, beyond which they cannot go, nor controul the Order of NATURE.

HOWEVER, this being the Good Work and Will of the Great CREATOR, deserves more our silent Wonder and Admiration, than our bold Enquiry, or curious Scrutiny, into the REASON of it.

BUT notwithstanding, I hope, we may easily account for the Latitude of TIME allowed our Births, when we consider what has been said of the Times of Formation and Animation in their proper Places[109]. If then these require a proportionable Latitude, what wonder is it that the Legitimate Time of Birth is of such Extent? Not that I mean that the rational Soul is introduced either at different Times, or by Piece-meals, only that it is not done this or that Day precisely. And farther (according to AVERROES, that great Commentator) Man[110], not only in the Womb, but also after Birth, even until his Juvenile Age, is but a-generating; and from that Time to old Age he begins to decline: yet we daily see that this Change is not equal to all, in that some Men do but arrive to their most robust and vigorous State about the fortieth Year of their Age, whereas others come to that Length about the thirtieth, and most about the thirty-fifth.

AS it is an Auspicious Crisis which happens any Time of the Critical Day, whether anticipated or postponed by a few Hours: And as the Fruit of Trees have their constituted Time of Maturity, which notwithstanding some are perfected sooner, and some later; so (I think) it may be also in the present Case of Births.

HOWEVER yet, to go a little further, without Offence: As to the Legitimacy of BIRTHS, I don’t see any Reason why every Birth, producing a vital Child, may not be justly esteemed timely lawful, whether it be of the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, or eleventh Month: But because few of our antient and learned Predecessors have been inclined to admit any standing RULE of such a large Extent, in this CASE we shall be far from desiring to establish any New One, or advance any Paradox.

I SHALL therefore (in this Place) only touch upon That which most Authors seem to have agreed upon, and reckon the most common Legitimate Birth; namely, which happens (at the soonest) about the 260th Day from CONCEPTION, being the first of the 38th Week, or the 20th of the ninth Month; as it doth also sometimes fall out (ten Days later) about the 270th, when it is neither too soon, nor too late; and which likewise (at the latest) happens before the 280th Day; that is, the last of the 40th Week, or the 10th Day of the 10th Month.

BUT This (if I may be permitted to speak my Mind) depends much upon the Time of Conception; it being my Opinion, that if the Woman did conceive when recently purged, I mean shortly after the natural Flux, she may bring forth in the beginning[111] of the 9th Month; whereas, if when the Menstrua were almost ready to flow, towards its Close, or later: And if in the Interval betwixt these Times, she may produce her Child in the middle of the Month: Because as Plants or Corn arrive much sooner to Maturity after the New than after the Full-Moon, so it may be also with the Fœtus, because of the more or less Vigour of the Womb.

HOWEVER, in short, it is to be observed, that in all these Cases, we may commonly allow a few more Days for the GIRL than the BOY, as appears from Sect. I. Chap. 9.

AND, in fine, according to the Opinion of the most Learned and Curious Practisers in MIDWIFERY, this BIRTH happens always[112] at the self-same Hour of the Day or Night, in which the Woman Conceiv’d: So that from hence it is, that most BIRTHS happen in the Night, or Dawning of the Day; wherefore they All agree, that a Legitimate BIRTH requires not only a certain definite Number of Days, but also of Hours, &c. To proceed therefore to

CHAP. XXXII.
Of an ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH.

AS an Illegitimate BIRTH also respects TIME, so That is only to be call’d so, which happens before or after the TIME instituted by the Law of Nature. Hence all unhappy ABORTIONS belong to this Head; which being largely handled (apart) in the Chapter just aforegoing, I shall only here cursorily touch upon That, which (in a distinct sense) is accounted an Illegitimate BIRTH.

THAT I may the better define This Sort of BIRTH, I shall first observe, that Nature has instituted Nothing rashly, nor in vain, neither does it ever act by Chance. She having then limited a certain Time (however at large) within which all Legitimate BIRTHS happen, and all vital Children are born; of consequence, whatever happens before or after that Time, is an Illegitimate BIRTH, and seldom or never produces a Living or Lively Child.

HOWEVER, Vallesius[113], Cardanus[114], and some Others relate divers strange Precedents, and affirm that they have known and seen Children born in the fifth and sixth Months, which have liv’d to the Years of Discretion; It is notwithstanding my Opinion, that Those great Men giving ear to the frivolous Relations and idle Reports of simple Women, have suffer’d their Credulity to impose so far upon their better Judgments. And I am besides the more induc’d to think so, because since Their days, we have not heard of any one Example of this wonderful Kind, which deserv’d the least Notice or Credit.

BUT there are Others again; who (in a manner) ridiculing these Instances, fall into grosser Absurditys themselves; denying the Legitimacy of a seven or eight-Months BIRTH; yea, Some even of a Ten Months, after the Tenth Day, as well as of all posteriour BIRTHS. Upon which erroneous Mistakes, (if it may be without Offence permitted) I would freely offer my simple Judgment, in manner following: and thereupon, First,

CHAP. XXXIII.
Of a Seven-Months BIRTH.

TO prove the Legitimacy of this BIRTH, and the Possibility of this Month’s producing a vital Child, I need not confine myself to the Judgments of the most Wise and Divine Hippocrates, Galen, and others, nor to the Principles of Physick in particular: but may justly appeal to All the rest of the Liberal Arts and Sciences, which (as far as I am duly acquainted with them) generally agree in Defence of This Position.

IT is (however) certain, that the Child born before the Twentieth Day of this Month is commonly weak and infirm. And for that Reason the later the BIRTH happens in the Month, the more brisk and lively is the Child: As I have more than once observ’d, that the Latter Part (about the 210th Day from CONCEPTION) hath produced as sprightly vivacious Children as any at All. Wherefore, in short, I cannot help having full as good an Opinion of such a Child born about the last of the SEVENTH, as of any such born in the beginning of the Ninth Month, provided it be not expell’d by some preternatural Cause.

TO examine this nice Matter a little more clearly, let us inspect into the Nature and Quality of the Month: In order to which, I hope, we may rationally observe,

I. THAT (according to the best Astrologers) the latter of the Planets, (the Moon) influentially presides over the Infant in this Month; whose frigid and humid Qualitys are thought to afford the several Parts of it a certain Fatness, thereby relaxing and easily distending the Matrix: Which being done, and the Child now perfected by the whole Body of the Planets, that have All particularly (in their order) duly discharg’d their respective Functions towards its Perfection; provided it has a Competency of Strength and Vigour, it forwardly appears about the Close of this Month with great Ease and Facility, and may continue both Healthy and Lively after its Birth.

II. THIS is universally acknowledged to be a perfect and compleat Number; from whence Cicero calls it NODUS OMNIUM, or the Knot of all Things. As the Wise Pythagoreans justly term it otherwise the Vehicle of Man’s Life: Not only because that, according to the Violence of any Disease, and the Strength of the Patient, a CRISIS happens either in the Seventh, or the multiply’d Seventh Day; but also because, as Conception is certain upon Seven-Hours Retention; and the Work of Coagulation perfected in Seven Days, so may That of full Maturity be in Seven Months, and accordingly this MONTH may very reasonably produce vital Children. But by the way,

HOWEVER fictitious such things as savour of Astrology, may be reckon’d by Some, yet who knows not that the Seventh Hour, and Seventh Day after its BIRTH, determines the Child either to Life or Death? Who does not well know, That in the Seventh Month, its Teeth begin to break out and appear? That in the Seventh Year (according to Plutarch) it changes its Teeth? Who does not find, That[115] the Age of Man depends upon SEPTENARY Mutations? That the First Seven Years conclude his Infancy; as the Second finish his Pueritia, or Childhood; and the Third compleat his Adolescentia, or Youthful Growing Age? To which his Juventus, or more vigorous Youthfulness, succeeds; which is absolv’d in twice Seven Years more: For in This Juvenile Age, the Body attains to its full Stature; as the Bones, Membranes, and Fibres arrive to their due Solidity.

THIS again is succeeded by the Fifth, call’d Virilitas, the Virile or Manly Age; consisting of twice Seven Years more, being in all Seven times Seven Years: In which Manhood, the Facultys of the Mind, as well as the Strength of the Body, are most resplendent and perfect; tho’ in almost All Women, the Generative Power begins to cease at this Age, as their Terms commonly do, however, not without a great Disorder of the Motion of the Blood.

THE Sixth Age of Man, or the Senectus, is compos’d of twice Seven Years more, and extends itself to Sixty Three: In This Old Age the Natural VIGOUR very much declines, the BODY waxes both dry and lean, the MEMORY begins to fail, and the PERSON grows more Anxious, Careful and Covetous. As in the Seventh and Last Age, (or Dotage, as it were) he becomes Feeble and Decrepit; which generally consists of Seven Years more. So that, in fine, according to this very rational and plausible Computation, of the Learned and most Ingenious Dr. Sprengell, the Age and Life of Man is commonly reckon’d to amount to Seven times Ten Years.

IT is also farther observable, that as the Soul of Man has seven different Appellations, according to its seven principal Offices, (as amply appears by Sect. I. Chap. 4.) so there are SEVEN Degrees in the Body, to compleat its Dimensions; viz. Marrow, Bone, Nerve, Vein, Artery, Flesh, and Skin: As there are also SEVEN in Number, which (according to Macrobius) the Greeks call BLACK MEMBERS; viz. the Tongue, Heart, Lungs, Liver, Spleen, and Two Kidneys, to consummate the Compositum. Yea, Hippocrates[116] himself confirms the Efficacy and Præstancy, Fulness and Perfection of this Number.

I have also remarkably observ’d, that the Number Seven is most powerful and signally predominant in Cœlestials; as the Seven Circles in the Heavens, according to the Longitude of the Axle-Tree: The Seven Stars about the Artick-Pole, called Charles’s-Wain: The Seven Stars also call’d Pleiades: The Seven Planets, giving Names to the Seven Days of the Week: The Periodical Revolution of the Moon every Seventh Day, running round the Compass of the whole Zodiack in Four Times Seven Days; that is, considering her Phases as obverted to the Sun. And Linus, a most ancient celebrated Poet, sings thus:

“Septima cùm venit Lux, cuncta absolvere cœpit

“Omnipotens Pater, atque bonis, & Septima, & ipsa,

“Est etiam rerum cunctarum Septima Origo;

“Septima prima eadem perfecta, & Septima Septem,

“Unde etiam Cœlum stellis errantibus aptum

“Volvitur, & Circ’lis totidem circum undique fertur.

THIS Number seems likewise to be of the greatest Esteem in Religion; and from hence among the Hebrews, to swear, is call’d SEPTENARE[117], (that is, to protest by Seven:) So Abraham making the Covenant with Abimelech, appointed Seven Ewe-Lambs for a Testimony: The Seventh Day the Great CREATOR rested from his Work: Jacob served Seven Years: Seven Days the People bewail’d the Death of Jacob: Elisha (the Prophet) said unto Naaman (the Syrian Captain) Go and wash thy self Seven Times in Jordan, and thou shalt be made whole, and thy Flesh become clean: And, in fine, David said, Seven Times a day do I praise THEE, because of thy righteous Judgments.

THESE, and innumerable such like Sentences are not only couch’d in the Books of Moses, and the whole Volume of the Old Testament; but also expresly contain’d in the Gospel, and interspers’d through the whole Bulk of the New: As the Seven Beatitudes, the Seven Virtues, the Seven Vices, the Seven Petitions of the LORD’s PRAYER, the Seven Words of our SAVIOUR upon the Cross, &c. But besides, in the Apocalypse or Revelation of St. JOHN, this mysterious NUMBER is most frequently mention’d, to denote its Efficacy and Excellency of representing some Ænigmatical Truth or Emblem.

MOREOVER, the Divine Apostle signifies and sets forth there, the Persecution of the CHURCH (under the Tyrants, Domitian, Trajan, &c. which began in the Primitive CHURCH in his own Days, and continued for three hundred Years, even to the Reign of Constantine the Great) by the Allegory of[118]SEVEN SEALS. He figures out the Heresys of the ARIANS, &c. (from the Time of Constantine to the Reign of Theodosius, being three hundred Years more) by that of[119]SEVEN TRUMPETS. And, in fine, he mystically alludes to the future Plagues of ANTI-CHRIST (from the Time of Pope Bonifacius, to these our present Days) by[120]SEVEN VIALS, according to the Interpretation of that most Learned Divine, Peter Palladius Bishop of Rochel.

I say, with Submission to wiser Heads, that These and the whole Train of those Sacred Allegorical Allusions used in this Book, might have been as pertinently express’d by any other Number, as the SEPTENARY; were it not that, this Number better implies a certain FULNESS of Sacred Mysterys: As I think that Number likewise (in all rational probability) may properly portend here, PERFECTION in Maturity, and COMPLETION in Vitality to every Full Seven-Months Child.

CHAP. XXXIV.
Of an Eight-Months BIRTH.

AS to this Point, the Case indeed differs much in my Judgment from the Former: For tho’ I have heard some loquacious Women strenuously aver the contrary, because of their own rash Mistakes; yet I cannot help being of the same Opinion still, that this Month seldom or never produces a living, or lively Child: And that because, if the Infant hath Strength enough, it must needs appear about the Close of the Seventh Month; but if not, the Attempts are the same, according to its greater or less Abilitys; (as most Mothers may very sensibly observe in their own Conditions, by its extraordinary Motions and Struggles at that Time) whereby it is so weaken’d and debilitated, that it requires the Eighth full Month, and Part of the Ninth, to recover itself, and recollect its exhausted Strength and Vigour.

ANOTHER Natural Reason besides may be given for This; because that this Month is peculiar to the Planet Saturn, which is an Enemy to all Creatures that breath Life: For he now returns not with the same Meekness and Lenity of Influence that he used in the First Month of the CONCEPTION, but with a far greater Severity of Tyranny and Enmity; as by his Frigidity, lessening and extinguishing the Native Heat of the INFANT, rendering it Unactive and Slow to Motion; so by his Siccity, constringing the Passages and Orifice of the Womb: which, if so, must (of necessity) very much endanger both the MOTHER and the INFANT.

BE this as it will, yet it is most certain, that the Child born in this Month is always very Weak and Sickly; However if, by chance, it survives the 14th, it may live till about the 40th Day, when it most commonly breathes its Last: Yet if it also survives this Time, the greatest Danger being then over, it may, by the means of tender Care and Art, be brought up as others are usually reared: But how long-liv’d soever, or well-governed its Health may be, it will still continue of a weakly and tender Constitution of Body, if not also half-witted[121] in Mind.

UPON this Head some Egyptian Writers mention, that because Dionysius, who was born in the EIGHTH MONTH, lived in the Island of NAXOS; therefore both this Number and the Island were dedicated to his everlasting Memory; Whereupon, they say, he obtained the Prerogative and Privilege from the GODS, that the Women of NAXOS only, in this MONTH, should bring forth in Safety, and their CHILDREN only enjoy Vitality.

WHICH Fable may however serve to satisfy us, that they have had no better Opinion of an Eight-Months BIRTH, in those Antient Days, than the Generality of Learned Men yet have in these Modern Times: signifying in the main, by this comical Allusion to that little Island in the Ægean Sea, that if, peradventure, an Octimestrian BIRTH, by its more propitious Destiny, should be determined to Life; that ought to be looked upon as something Extraordinary, and not laid down for any general Hypothesis: especially for this manifest Reason, because in all other Nations, such CHILDREN are commonly observed to be but short-liv’d; as the Women, labouring with CHILD at that critical[122] or fatal TIME, are absolutely exposed to the severest of excruciating PAINS, and the greatest of imminent DANGERS.

MOREOVER, Hippocrates himself testifies, that the very Gestation[123] of the eighth Month is the most onerous and difficult of all the Time, as well on account of the Indisposition of the Womb, as by reason of the Mother’s being affected by the disturbing Motions of the Infant: Wherefore if the Birth then draws on, it receives a double Damage, and suffers as well because of these Affections of the Mother and Womb, as by its own proper Motions in precipitating itself.

FROM what is said, we may easily comprehend what HIPPOCRATES means by that obscure[124] Ænigma, which some have formerly reckoned more inextricable than any Herculean Knot, viz. An Octimestrian Birth is and is not; signifying thereby nothing else than that the Child born in the eighth Month (in some respect) may be supposed in Being, but really and indeed is not, because it soon vanishes and dies.

CHAP. XXXV.
Of a Nine-Months BIRTH.

THE Generality of Modern Writers have too strictly confined a Legitimate Birth, and tied it down to this very Month only; and some even restrain it to the narrow Limits of its Latter Half: Both equally affirming That Time to produce the most vigorous and lively Children, and strenuously alledging it to be the only appointed Time of Nature; because (as they say) it happens most frequently.

BUT unless they could produce some better natural Reasons than This, or any others indeed that I have yet heard of, they shall scarce influence me to agree with their popular Notions or vulgar Errors: For their fond Opinion seems not to be so much supported by any Arguments of Natural Reason, as by an imaginary Experience, founded upon Hearsay, or the general Misconstruction of Women.

HOWEVER, in Condescension and Good-Manners to Female Authority (to which I owe all imaginable Deference) I shall not launch out into any immodest or disagreeable Contradictions; but, on the contrary, I shall endeavour to make it evidently appear from the Nature of the Month itself, that it indisputably induceth both Perfection and Vitality to the Child, whether it be born at this Time or not: For I must frankly own this Truth indeed, that many Auspicious Births happen in this very same Month, for several good Reasons.

I. BECAUSE then, if we will believe Astrologers, Jupiter now returns with his Serene Aspect, by his pure healing Heat and Humidity, cherishing and renovating the Life of the Infant (which consists of those two vital Qualities) and quite effacing the former Mischiefs and Injuries of noxious Saturn: whereby he renders This ninth Month not only most conducive to the Birth, but also to the future Welfare and Prosperity of the Infant.

II. BECAUSE this auspicious Number Nine is dedicated to the Muses, according to the Order of the Celestial Spheres: Hence as we have nine moveable Spheres, viz. the Primum Mobile, the Starry Heaven, and the Spheres of SATURN, JUPITER, MARS, SOL, VENUS, MERCURY, and LUNA; so there are Nine Muses appropriated to them, to accomplish their Harmony or Consort.

III. BECAUSE to denote the Sufficiency of this Number, there are also nine Orders and Choirs of blessed Angels; namely, Seraphims, Cherubims, Thrones, Dominations, Powers, Virtues, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels: Which the Prophet EZEKIEL[125] emblematically figures out by Nine Stones; as the Saphire, Emerald, Carbuncle, Beril, Onyx, Chrysolite, Jasper, Topaz, and the Sardis.

BUT besides the Nine internal and external Senses, mentioned in Sect. I. Chap. 5. more plainly and familiarly denote the Perfection of this Number: As, in like manner, the most learned Authors of all Ages take great Notice of it in the Age of Man, calling this Ninth, together with the Seventh, Climacterical Years.

NOT to mention the Ninth Hour, in which our Blessed Saviour breathed out his Holy Spirit; the Ninth Day the Antients buried their Dead, and many such remarkable Instances. Yet however, in most Natural and Philosophical Cases, this Number implies still some Imperfection; because it comes short of the Complement of the Great Number Ten (being deficient by One) as St. Austin interprets it of the Ten Lepers. Wherefore not to go too far in these Mystical Matters, I proceed to

CHAP. XXXVI.
Of a Ten-Months BIRTH.

AS to this Point, it is not only True in Part; to wit, during the First Ten Days of the 10th Month, as Some would have it, but rather (in my Opinion) Altogether, and at any time of it, as Legitimate as the 9th Month; according to Plautus the Comick Poet; Tunc illa quam compresserat, decimo post exacto Mense hanc peperit Filiam.

FOR altho’ Women commonly reckon their Births more frequent in the Ninth Month; yet many Learned Men have left it (as a doubtful Controversy) undecided whether That or This be the most proper natural Time: Whereas Some of the first Rank[126] have more positively determined a Legitimate BIRTH to happen in the Tenth Month Only, according also to Virgil’s excellent Poetical Computation—

“Matri longa decem tulerunt fastidia Menses.”

MOREOVER, for a farther Proof of this Argument, I need only refer to Solomon, the wisest of Kings; who being the greatest Master of all ARTS, cannot be supposed to have been ignorant of This Truth: And whose express Decision of this Doubt, we have set down in the Beginning of the 7th Chapter of his Book of WISDOM; saying, “I myself also am a mortal Man, and the Offspring of him that was first made of the Earth, and in my Mother’s Womb was fashioned to be Flesh in the time of TEN MONTHS, &c.”

BUT farther yet, as to the Nature of this Month, MARS is presumed to succeed in it, who indulges the Infant by his amicable Qualities, or benign Influences: For He is deemed a Friend to LIFE, as he affords Vitality to the BIRTHS happening in it.

AND again, this Number Ten is reckoned a Compleat and Universal Number in all Sciences; because we cannot account beyond it, but by Replication, a Re-assumption of the Unit, or Repetition of the Nine Figures, to perfect the Progression. But farther still, to denote the Excellency and Perfection of this Month, there are Ten Singers of Psalms mentioned in Holy Scripture; namely, ADAM, ABRAHAM, MELCHISEDECH, MOSES, ASAPH, DAVID, SOLOMON, and the three Sons of CHORAH: Ten Musical Instruments: Ten Strings in the Psaltery: Ten Curtains in the Temple: Ten Commandments instituted and given directly by God himself: And, in fine, the Tenth Day after Ascension the HOLY GHOST came down, &c.

THERE are besides also Ten Parts, of which Man himself consists intrinsically; viz. the Spirit, Brain, Lungs, Heart, Liver, Gall, Spleen, Kidneys, Testicles, and Matrix: And likewise Ten Simple Integral Parts constituting the Man, to wit, Bone, Cartilage, Nerve, Fibre, Ligament, Artery, Vein, Membrane, Flesh, and Skin. In short just so, after this manner, there are Ten Months required to form and maturate the MAN, in the substantial Completion of These to Perfection.

BUT, after All, lest I should be thought, by this way of Reasoning on the Numbers of the MONTHS, to vend some fictitious Notions for mechanical Causes, or vain Fictions for the Laws of Nature, I shall in this Place, to avoid that Censure or Reproach, make a small Digression, and that upon NUMBERS in general.

FIRST then, I think it appears very Plain from the Three preceding Chapters, that NUMBERS are of a certain wonderful Efficacy and Virtue even in Supernaturals.

SECONDLY, In Natural Things also the Virtues of NUMBERS (so mystically constituted and mysteriously intended) are conspicuously manifest: As is evident in the Herb, call’d Pentaphyllon, which is said to resist Poisons by Virtue of Number FIVE; as one Leaf of it taken twice a day in Wine, cures the Quotidian; three, the Tertian; and four, the Quartan Fever. So likewise in the Herb Heliotropium Tricoccon[127], three Grains whereof cures the Tertian: and four, the Quartan Ague. In like manner, as a Serpent, if struck Once with a Spear, dies; but if Twice, is said to recover Strength. So much for the Curious.

HOWEVER, These and many other Things might be mentioned, both in Natural, and Supernatural Beings, upon the wonderful Power and Efficacy of NUMBERS: Which plausible Doctrine not only the most Eminent Philosophers, but also the most Learned Catholick DOCTORS, namely, St. Jerom, Austin, Origen, Ambrose, Athanasius, &c. All unanimously teach; as well as the most famous Dr. Rabanus (Archbishop of Mentz) who in his Time compos’d an excellent Book to this purpose chiefly upon the Virtues of Numbers.

BUT notwithstanding all This, I am far from believing that there is any peculiar Virtue in NUMBERS, considered abstractedly: Only, I would hereby demonstrate, that as the Omniscient CREATOR has appointed every thing a certain TIME for its Production, Augmentation, Perfection, Declension, and Duration; so in all probability, the same Decree or Good-Will of Divine Providence may have ordered NUMBERS, and Sett-Days or Times to concur with the apparent Necessity of Corporeal, Natural, and Mechanical Causes. For in Truth, at last, I cannot think that, unless there had been some great and distinct Mysterys of GOD and Nature comprehended in NUMBERS, the Great Divine[128] would otherwise have recommended That Search to the World of Understanding to count the NUMBER of the Beast: saying, It is the Number of a Man. But to proceed:

CHAP. XXXVII.
Of an Eleven-Months, and all posteriour BIRTHS.

As to this Month, many Authors[129] agree to legitimate its BIRTH; because of several repeated Instances that really happen’d in their Days: To which I can add ONE of my own proper Experience, during my itinerant Practice in the City of Prague. Where, as I came recommended to the Acquaintance of some Eminent Physicians of the Place, I happen’d once to be call’d (by one of them) to a Lady in Labour; whom I had the good Fortune to deliver immediately, of a fine, lusty, and lively Girl. After which, I had the Honour to attend her in Child-Bed; I mean, to visit and prescribe for her, by the concurring Advice of my Honoured Friend (the most Learned and Ingenious Dr. Von Overberg, who was her near Relation) in order to prevent some Disasters under which she had formerly suffer’d on the like Occasion. Upon This, she was pleas’d to tell me out of her own Mouth, that, before the Day of her Delivery, her Husband, (who was a Colonel in the Imperial Service) had been gone to the Army, then in Sicily, Ten Months and two Days; so that this Proculean Child was born (at soonest) the Third Day of the Eleventh Month. And in this Case, I dare say, I was no ways mistaken, or impos’d upon; that Lady being endued with no less true Honour and strict Virtue, than she was otherways deservedly esteem’d, of a singular good Character, and great Distinction in that Place.

UPON which happy Occasion, I was the first Time fully satisfy’d, and convinc’d, as to the due Proportion and Distinction of the Four controverted Terms; viz. that, by how much the latter Part of the Tenth Month is preferable to the Beginning of the Ninth; by so much is the Beginning of the Eleventh, preferable to any BIRTH[130] happening in the latter Part of the Seventh Month: So that, upon the whole Matter, I can find no plausible Reason why All Those may not be accounted Legitimate terms of Time in Child-Bearing, as well as the latter Part of the Ninth, and Beginning of the Tenth Month.

WHICH probable Opinion we may the more readily agree to, and acquiesce in; especially because (if what has been said of the rest of the Planets, in the respective Chapters of This and the First SECTION, be true) the Sun in this Eleventh Month returns to take care of the Infant (yet unborn;) by virtue of whose vivacious Influence and beneficent Quality, BIRTHS of this Month are accounted no less vital and successful, than any others differently time’d.

THERE are also many Authors, over and above, who make mention of BIRTHS, in the Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Month. Yes verily, and there is one remarkable Instance, of the Physical College at Montpelier, where a grand Consultation was held about the Year 1590, in Favour of a certain Marchioness; who (after some fair Legitimate BIRTHS) had Two[131] running successively, the one in the Eighteenth, the other in the Twentieth Month: upon which, divers curious Reasonings happened, and various Sentiments were deliver’d. However, because such Precedents are so very few and uncommon, I shall take up no more Time about them. Only

AS to what is said in this, and the preceding Chapters, touching the Months, I desire to be understood, as meaning Solar, not Lunar Months: By Solar Months, I mean that Space of Time, which the Sun continues in either, or every, Sign of the Zodiack, comprehending thirty Days.

BUT it may (perhaps) be objected, that the Antients (especially the Greeks) reckon’d their Years by Lunar Revolutions only, and had none else but Lunar Months. To which I answer, that the Wise and Divine HIPPOCRATES computes[132] the Time of Birth by Decads of Weeks; which Decad contains Seventy, as every Week consists of Seven full Days: Hence He makes out the Legitimacy of a Seven-Months Child; because that Term comprehends three Decads of Weeks, or 210 Days: And hence it is evident, that he has measur’d that Time of Gestation by Solar Months, of which each contains 30 Days, answering alike in Births of all Months. For if we divide those 210 Days by 7, for the Number of Months, we shall find a Quotient of 30 Days to each; or if we multiply 30 by 7, we’ll find a Product of 210 Days in all. And this Computation he farther elucidates, saying[133], As thirty Suns form the Fœtus, so seventy move it, and two hundred and ten perfect it. Hence it is evident and certain, that Hippocrates also considered and regarded the Circuits of the Sun. Which leads me farther, to

CHAP. XXXVIII.
Of the Reasons why ONE Number of Months, Weeks, and Days, is more Auspicious to BIRTH, than ANOTHER.

WHAT has been said in the Seven preceeding Chapters particularly, concerning Months, Weeks, &c. leads me directly to descant upon THESE in general: Which Topick, tho’ I could willingly resign it to the more Judicious to enter upon, and recommend to the more Learned to discuss; yet lest I may be thought to evade or omit any material Point which I have undertaken, I shall endeavour (according to the Best of my weak Capacity) to explain, en passant, and to unfold this Mystery, by declaring the most plausible Orthodox Reasons why ONE Number of Days, Weeks and Months, is more Auspicious to the BIRTH, and affords more Vitality to the Child than ANOTHER.

IN handling of which Subject-Matter, as I propose to be very Brief, so I shall only observe in short, that such Reasons are chiefly founded upon a double Principle; That is, of daily Experience, and natural Knowledge.

I. UPON daily Experience; in that it is notoriously well known that Children born in different Months, are not equally Vital or Lively; and in that it is evidently manifest, that the 7th, 9th, and 10th, and perhaps the 11th Month also, are endued with some certain Virtues, and prevalent Qualitys before all Others in this Case.

II. UPON Natural Knowledge; insomuch that it is the Opinion of all Judicious Naturalists (either Philosophers or Physicians) that this inferiour World is moved and govern’d by superiour Bodys, and that all Terrestrial Vicissitudes and Changes depend upon Cælestials, and those chiefly upon the Sun and Moon: which both possess great influential Virtues, and exercise great directing Powers over all Inferiour Bodys. From hence the Antients always maintain’d, that the Periodical Accessions and Circulations of many Distempers depended entirely on their noxious Influences; especially upon that of the Moon, because of her Proximity.

NAY, some Authors have advanced so far, as to ascribe the only Cause of them to the Powers of the Stars and Planets. But tho’ I am no ways to countenance These Notions to this ridiculous Length, nor in the least to defend the vain Fictions, or foolish Ostentations of the vulgar ASTROLOGERS; yet I shall make no scruple to assert that both the Stars and Planets are concurring or co-operating, tho not sole efficient Causes, in these Cases: And This, I hope, I may rationally be allow’d to do, supposing I had not the direct Authority of such a Great Man, as the most Learned and Excellent Dr. Mead[134], over and above to back me; who says, “It is moreover to be consider’d, that the rest of the Stars and Planets have each their Power and Influence, which tho’ they be not Equal to that of the Sun and Moon; yet notwithstanding they conspire to augment or diminish their Powers on human Bodys; and this Concourse is of so great Consequence (says this Eminent Author) that we must refer to it the sudden and hidden Power of most Distempers in all Countries, &c.”

BUT the Powers of the two great and glorious Luminarys, we are more sensible of, as they are more manifestly conspicuous; and These we may in many other Cases, (as well as in BIRTHS) hold for efficient Causes.

FOR who knows not that the Influence of the Sun fructifies all sorts of Grain, and ripens Fruit, Corn, &c? Who knows not that by its Force or Influx only, divers Animals, Insects, &c. engender and spring out of the Dust and the Earth? Or, who knows not that its Power prompts all Creatures to Coition, and excites them to propagate their respective Species, each one its own Kind, &c.

NEITHER is the Influence of the Moon less evident: For does it not change the Constitution of the Weather, raise the Air, heighten the Winds, swell and exagitate the Surface of the Sea, and finally, augment and increase the very Tides of the Ocean? Do not all Animals, as well as the Menstruous and Pregnant Woman sensibly feel the Power of the Lunar Influence? Yes verily, as my last quoted Author justly[135] observes, unless their REGIMEN be perverted, by which means the Body may be disqualify’d or rendred unapt to receive the Impression.

NOW this does not only happen to Four-footed Beasts, and all that possess the dry LAND; but also more especially to the Inhabitants of the SEA: And how remarkable is it, that the very Shell-Fish, (how closely soever shut up, and how low soever buried, as it were, in the very ABYSS of the Deeps) cannot be exempted from the sensible Impression of this Lunar Power? To this Point and Purpose (I think) Lucilius[136], that Learned Poet, manifestly alludes, saying,

“Luna alit Ostrea, & implet Echinos, Muribus

“Fibras & Pecui addit.

And after Him, Manilius[137], that great Astronomer, writes à propos upon this Topick, when he says,

“Sic submersa fretis Concharum & Carcere clausa

“Ad Lunæ motum variant Animalia Corpus.

THESE Things then being evidently so, and it being a most certain and undeniable Truth, that the Sun and Moon have each their respective Influence upon all Inferiour Bodys: (as has also been already shewn in Sect. I. Chap. 8.) I come now to observe that such Mutations as are Quick and Brief, or such Changes as are accomplished in a Few Days, may be entirely ascribed to the Power of the Moon: As in the Reverse of these Cases, which cannot be determin’d under a Long Time; the Course of the Sun is more chiefly to be consider’d and principally regarded.

SO Acute Fevers (because SHORT) are generally assuaged and dissolved in 14 Days: Whereas Quartans (because LONG) on the contrary are only determin’d in six Months. It’s true indeed, the Antients ascribed these Laws of Nature, to Pythagorean Numbers, and distinguish’d the Times of Fevers according to their Critical Days, which they strictly animadverted, as they laid great Stress upon that Ceremonious Observation.

HOWEVER, Galen made a far stricter Disquisition in this Matter, and conceiv’d (as the Truth indeed is) that the Accessions and Crises of Fevers had no Connexion with any NUMBERS or odd Days, but took Origin only from the Efficacy of the Moon: (as is more fully explain’d in Chap. 28. of this Section.) According to which MAXIM[138], Acute Distempers have their Circulations in Seven Days, and take their Accesses and Declinations from the Course of the Moon; which every Seventh Day, when New, Half-Full, or Full, has her greatest Influence.

HE farther observes that the Quarter-Day of the Moon may fall upon the 6th or 8th Day of the Distemper, and consequently either of these Days may determine it as well as the SEVENTH. For (according to Dr. Mead’s excellent Judgment) the Dissolution of a Fever sometimes happens To-day, which according to the ordinary Course of the Distemper ought to happen To-morrow; or, on the contrary, the same may be procrastinated till To-morrow, which might be expected To-day: And That for the various Reasons[139] most ingeniously by him alledg’d and irrefragably established.

IN fine, such Mutations and Circulations of Things as are perfected and perform’d in a few Days, are directed by the Property of the Moon: whereas such Changes and Alterations as require the Dissolution and Determination of Months, refer only to the Government of the Sun. Which I would have thus candidly understood, viz.

AS from the beginning of the Month to the Full-Moon are almost 14 Days, which accomplish half the Lunar Circuit, and comprehend two Quarter-Changes; so from the Beginning of Spring to the End of Summer are six Months, which comprehend two Seasons or half of the Year: And so that Mediety or Half of the Month, from FULL-MOON, to the Time of Occultation or NEW-MOON, answers to the other six Months, from the beginning of Autumn to the last of Winter, which conclude the other Half of the Year.

FOR as we divide the Course of the MOON by 4 Weeks, according to its 4 quarter Changes; so we distribute the Course of the SUN into 4 Stations, according to the four Seasons of the Year: Hence it is that all Times of the Year answer in proportion to the different Weeks of the Month, and all Stations of the SUN (in like manner) to the different Changes of the MOON. Wherefore as the 7th Day, which is the 4th Part of the Lunar Month, determines acute Distempers; so the Change of the Season of the Year dissolves Diuturnal Diseases. The SPRING commonly shakes off any Malady generated in WINTER, as the SUMMER does what is begun in the SPRING; and the AUTUMN discusseth any Affection excited in SUMMER, as the WINTER does what happen’d in AUTUMN.

THESE Things being thus cleared-up by the way, we have now only to consider, that the Time of GESTATION is no Acute, but a Diuturnal Effect; and that Birth is nothing else but the Crisis of the same Affection, according to[140]Hippocrates’s Sense. Which, if so, it is evidently manifest that, in defining the Time of Birth, we ought chiefly to regard the Course of the SUN, and strictly observe the Number of MONTHS; However so, as not to neglect the Motions of the MOON, and consequently, we ought also to consider duly the neat Number of DAYS: Wherefore (I say) in Birth we are to have a just Regard to, and take a strict Observation of, not only the Changes of the MOON, but also of the Mutations of the SUN; because both the One and the Other act very powerfully in BIRTH. Which I thus beg leave to illustrate as follows, viz.

AS the first seven Days have the greatest Power of determining Acute Diseases, so the first three Months of GESTATION (which answer to those Days) determine the CONCEPTION: And as of those the 7th Day is the most powerful, so of these the third Month is the most prevalent. From hence it is that the Foetus suffers such manifest Alterations and Changes of Nature in this Month: For it is now metamorphos’d or chang’d from an Inanimate into an Animate Being: It now becomes a Living and Moving Body, subsisting henceforward by its own proper vivacious Faculties; yet not so however, that this Month can be presum’d to produce a vital Birth: No, because as every perfect and plausible CRISIS of the 7th Day, requires the Concurrence of the digested Humour, together with the Ability and Strength of the PATIENT; so in Birth, the Disposition of the INFANT must necessarily concur with all These, which it can never be suppos’d to do in the short Space of Three Months.

MOREOVER again, as the Days of the Interval from the 7th to the 14th, have but small Power in dissolving acute Diseases; so neither have the 4th or 5th Months (which assimilate these Days) any Efficacy tending to Birth. Wherefore if an unlucky Ejection of the Foetus happens in these Months, it can be no otherwise judged of, than as when Symptomatical (not Critical) Excretions fall out on Days not Decretory: Hence we (of consequence) may collect, that the very First Time, in which a legitimate Term can be suppos’d to concur effectually, together with the Disposition and Strength of the INFANT, in case of Birth, will be (as Hippocrates has well observed[141]) about the 182d Day, or at the half Year’s End: Which (however) he calls a Septimestrian Birth, because the Ancients reckon’d their Year by Lunar Months, as they did their Months by the Course of the Moon; whereof 13 with some Days of the 14th Month constitute the Solar Year: Not that I mean they in the Interim were at all ignorant of the Solar Periods. And however, tho’ this Number of 182 Days make but up six Solar Months; yet, as it comprehends seven Lunar Months, and almost constitutes three Decades of Lunar Weeks, there can be no Repugnancy in that Wise Man’s Meaning, whatever some literal Interpreters may imagine to the contrary.

NOW this sixth Month being the second Solar Mutation, in it the Womb begins to be more severely oppress’d with the Weight and Bulk of its Burthen; for now the INFANT has assum’d Perfection, and (perhaps) got Strength sufficient to undergo its Fatigue in Labour, and Power enough to support Life, after its Birth; especially if procreated of the more vivid, valid, or excellent Seed; whose powerful Faculty and vigorous Quality may perhaps have perform’d the Work of Formation in 30, which otherwise would require 35, or more Days: In this Case (of consequence) the Birth will succeed at the above-mentioned happy Time; as appears more amply from what has been already set forth in Sect. 1. Chap. 9.

NOW from what has been said, I hope it appears highly reasonable to compute the legitimate Time of Birth, not only by Months and Moons, but also by Weeks and Days: Which however yet, I look not upon to be any very full, exact, or sufficient satisfactory Calculation; because (I think) we have also just Reason to compute this Time even by Hours and Minutes. Therefore how just soever Aristotle’s Observation (mentioned by Pliny[142]) may be, that no Animal expires but in the Reflux or Ebb of the Sea; I am yet positive, that Monsieur Paschal’s Notion (mentioned by Doctor Mead[143]) that all Births as well as Deaths fall out in the Reflux, and that no Animal is born or dies in the Flux, may be rationally controverted: For I must needs assert that, without any regard to his Senarian Fluxes and Refluxes, Births happen at every Hour of the Day or Night: and perhaps more naturally too in the Flux, than in the Reflux of the Sea. And this, I think, may appear evident, even from the self-same Reasons by which he endeavours to make out the Contrary[144]; namely, that intermitting Fevers have their greatest Paroxisms in the Time of the Flux, whereas they cease in the Reflux by sweating: collecting from hence, that the Motion, Vigour, and Force of Distempers are chiefly advanc’d in the Senary of the Flux; and on the contrary, that they are dissolved in the Senary of the Reflux. Which Observation, with respect to Fevers, this most excellent Doctor has found experimentally[145] True, as a great many others have also done.

BUT in the Case of a Woman in Labour, as (with Submission) I judge the Paroxisms to differ from the Nature of those in a Fever, so I humbly conceive that the Effect must prove the Reverse. For the Paroxisms in Birth, are nothing else than the Pains or Pangs of Labour; and who knows not that (in Case of a natural Situation of the INFANT and the WOMB) the greater These are, the more Success and Expedition attends the Birth? And who again knows not, that in this Case, the more vigorous Motion the INFANT makes, and the more Force and Strength that attends the Pains, the sooner the Delivery is perfected? Which, of consequence, according to his own Opinion, will fall out in the Senary of the Flux? In fine, again I farther observe, that, as the Reflux may be the appointed Time of Nature destinated to Death, so may the Flux be allotted to Birth; which (in my Mind) is as opposite to Death, as the Flux is to the Reflux of the Tide of the Sea.

WHEREFORE I am obliged to repeat it again here, that we ought to calculate the Legitimate Time of Birth, not only by Months, Weeks, and Days, but perhaps also by Hours and Minutes; and that because, according to the Great Galen’s Observation[146], as the Year, Month, or Week does not consist of entire Days, so neither does the Day of entire Hours: For as the Year consists of 365 Days, six Hours, and a few Minutes; and the Month of thirty Days, ten and a half Hours; and the Week of seven Days, two Hours, and twenty-seven Minutes; so the Day (in proportion) consists of 24 Hours and 21 Minutes: From whence I conclude (with that wise Man) that we can make no very nice Computation in this Affair, by full Days, without Fractions.

WHEREFORE it is that the most Learned and Inquisitive Boethogynists, or Female Physicians maintain, that they have always observed their Women to bring forth the self-same Hour of the Night or Day, in which they conceived: And This also daily Experience seems to confirm for Truth; because it is certain, that most Births happen in the Night-Time, or Dawning of the Day; at which Times, we may very probably suppose the Generality of Parents to be most employ’d that way: Whereupon, if This be True, Mr. Paschal’s Position will fall of course; and then that Assertion of a Legitimate BIRTH’s requiring, not only a certain and prefinite Number of Days, but also of Hours and Minutes, will more rationally be establish’d in its Room: Notwithstanding that Saying of Hippocrates[147] himself, after having distinguished upon the Times of BIRTH, That these Things fall out in a few Days more or less.

HOWEVER, in fine, from what has been said, (I hope) the Reasons I have given here, why one Number of Months, Weeks, and Days is more auspicious to the BIRTH, and more fortunate to the Child, than another, are by this Time made manifestly clear and self-evident. Now these Things being thus briefly accounted for, I must proceed in the next place (with the Reader’s good Leave) to provide for and prepare the Pregnant Woman, against the Expiration of these Months, Weeks, and Days.

CHAP. XXXIX.
Of the DIET and REGIMEN of the Woman, before and about the Time of BIRTH.

THO’ the Woman ought to be cautious of her DIET and REGIMEN during the whole time of Pregnancy, as advis’d in Chap. 3. of this Section; yet she is now oblig’d in the first place (especially from the beginning of the 9th Month) to be much more circumspect; to use nothing but Food of good Nutrition and easy Concoction, of an Aperitive and Laxative Quality, little at a time, but frequently taken.

II. SHE ought to stir often, and exercise herself moderately, without stooping or bending the Body too much, lest the UMBILICALS may entangle the Infant.

III. SHE should discreetly rest herself at certain Times, and indulge herself in composing Sleep; lying altogether on her Back, not on either Side, that the Infant may freely turn itself.

IV. FROM the tenth Day, proper Emollient and Laxative Decoctions by way of Baths, may necessarily be used twice or thrice a Week, for moistening the Passages, and facilitating the Birth: Or otherwise, the Belly and proper Parts need only be fomented with Cloths, or Spunges dipp’d in such Decoctions, and the neighbouring Places anointed with apposite Liniments or requisite Ointments: But no Laconick or Sweating Baths or Bagnio’s, ought to be used at this Juncture; notwithstanding some contrary Opinions.

V. THE Infant is to be cherish’d, and strengthen’d by proper Cordials inwardly taken, as well as by outward Applications.

VI. THE Room or Chamber in which the Woman is to undergo her Travail and Lying-In, ought to be conveniently temperate, neither too cold nor too hot: By reason that the one certainly constringes and shuts the Womb; as the other dissipates and debilitates the Spirits.

In short, I have known Women, who have often had most painful, lingring, and laborious Births before; to have been Laid afterwards with the greatest Ease imaginable in a very short time, by only carefully observing the above-prescrib’d REGIMEN. Wherefore I shall take leave to go on farther, to

CHAP. XL.
Of the Natural Causes of BIRTH, and Pains of LABOUR.

THE Causes of a Legitimate or timely natural Birth, are chiefly Three; viz. I. The suppressed or defective Respiration, by the encreasing Calidity of the Heart; which defatigates the Infant so much, that it cannot live without more free Ventilation.

II. PENURY or Scarcity of Aliment; the Infant now requiring More than it can possibly imbibe from the Mother; and therefore it is forced to seek, what Nourishment it farther requires, Elsewhere.

III. THE strict CONFINEMENT of its narrow Lodging; the Womb being now too little to accommodate and entertain the well-grown-Infant: Like to the Young of Birds or Fowls; which neither finding sufficient Aliment nor Room in the Egg, restlessly seek for Both, and in vain endeavour for Either, until at last they break the Pellicules: Which as soon as the Mother perceives, she scratches or pecks the Shell, and so brings out the oppressed indigent Chicken. Thus also in the Womb, it happens not unlike; for, when the Membranes break, the Humours and Blood flow plentifully; and upon this Occasion various Pains afflict the Woman: Which are always the greater and more severe in the First BIRTH; because of the Coarctation of the Passages, besides the Party’s being unaccustomed to such sorrowful Griefs, and penetrating Pains.

NOW the Reasons why Women only, are so much afflicted with dolorous Pains in BIRTH (the rest of the Creatures being in a great measure of Proportion exempted from them) ought, as some Divines would have us believe, to be ascribed only to the SIN of the First Woman; God resolving (for that Reason) to punish her whole Sex, by subjecting them to those Calamities mentioned in the holy Scripture[148]: “I will greatly multiply thy Sorrow, and thy Conception; in Sorrow thou shalt bring forth Children, &c.”——

BUT besides this Doctrine, I conceive there are Four very considerable natural Causes that may be reasonably assign’d for it; viz.

I. THE DEBILITY of Human Nature, which in Time of Labour requires sometimes the whole Strength of the Woman, and sometimes that of the INFANT too; and that commonly above what Either can well afford.

II. THE dull Sedentary Life which Women generally lead and indulge themselves in; as appears plain from what I have often observed in Germany and Holland: For the Women of those Countries generally accustoming themselves to some sort of active Labour and industrious Exercise, have much easier BIRTHS than any Others that I know.

III. BUT one general and universal Reason of it is, that the Bone call’d Os Coccygis, which is loosely join’d to the inferiour Extremity of the Bone call’d Sacrum, bending outwards during the Time of Labour; as the CHILD advances, its Head presseth the Gut call’d Rectum hard against it; which causeth most severe, acute, and extreme PAINS.

IV. ANOTHER principal and universal Reason of it, is, the Bulk of the Head of the INFANT; which (according to Albertus Magnus) is equal in the time of BIRTH, to the rest of the Whole Man; causing a violent Dilatation of the Womb, that is very strait in comparison of this Bulk; and That being a very sensible Membranous Composition, This must (of Necessity) occasion most grievous and almost intolerable PAINS. Whence I come to

CHAP. XLI.
Of the CAUSES of a sooner, or later BIRTH.

MANY great Men have written and answer’d promiscuously on this Head, suggesting a vast Variety of Reasons for it: But as Every One is left to think and judge the Best he can for Himself, so I shall (in this place) only animadvert upon Those Causes, which I most entirely approve of; and as they are Fivefold, so I think, they either depend upon the Genital Seed; the Formative Faculty; the Temperature of the Womb; the Constitution of the Woman; or the Influence of Superiour Bodies.

I. THE natural Cause may depend upon the Seed: Because as there is among Grain several sorts, some of which fructify and ripen in Three, some in Four Months, and others which require much longer Time; so it may be also in human Seed, that it may differ as much in its Kind. Which Truth is very evident from what has been frequently observed, that Women bring forth the Children of different Fathers, at different Times; whereof I shall only mention the remarkable Instance of Vestilia[149]: who was thus deliver’d of Three Children to her Three several Husbands, Herditius, Pomponius, and Orsitus, all noble Citizens of Rome: viz. Of the one in the 7th, of the other in the 11th, and of the last at the Expiration of 8 Months.

II. THE natural Cause may also depend upon the FORMING FACULTY; so far, as the Formation and Perfection of the FOETUS depend upon its Strength or Debility: For as it may be evidently observ’d after the BIRTH, that some Children grow a-pace and very suddenly; others (because of a sickly Constitution) thrive but very little, and grow slowly; so it happens also with the FOETUS in the Womb: for the stronger that this Faculty is, the sooner Formation is perfected, and consequently the sooner the BIRTH follows successfully.

III. THE Natural Cause again may depend upon the Temperature of the Womb: Because that the Woman (being the only one of all Creatures which tolerates Copulation during the time of Pregnancy) may be, by its frequent or immoderate Use, disorder’d in that noble Part; which may infallibly confound and pervert the regular Time. For as the Buds of Vines cherish’d in the Bosom of the Earth, may be easily cut or dissipated by the Plough; so as at least to alter the Time of Fructification, if not quite to destroy Them: So it is not very unlikely with the Infant in the Womb; and therefore wise Nature (sollicitous of Propagation and Preservation of the Human Foetus) will not allow that a Woman should have one precise Time of BIRTH.

IV. THE Natural Cause may also depend upon the Constitution of the Mother, so far as her Habits of Body, and Way of Living, are conducive (or not) to the Maturation, Perfection, Strength, or Debility of the INFANT.

V. AND finally, the Cause may depend upon a superiour Influence, in so far that, as we see with our Eyes, such Grain as is sowed, and such Plants or Trees as are planted in the Interlunium, or silent Moon, and before Full-Moon, to fructify and ripen sooner than others: Or, as we see and perceive our very Nails and Hair which are cut in that Time, to grow faster and sooner, than what is so cut after the Full-Moon: So we may as easily comprehend by our Reason, that these Times may have the same Natural Effect in the[150]Human Seed. And as then the Parts are more Succulent, and the Generative Virtue more excitated, not only in the Human Seed, but also in all other Seeds and Roots, what wonder is it, that the Womb be also more efficacious and prestant at the same Conjuncture?

This I take to have been Pliny’s[151] Meaning, saying none are born in the 7th Month, but they who have been conceiv’d in the very Change of the Moon, or within a Day of it, under or over. Hence I may justly observe, that all slower Births have been begotten at opposite Times; for which, I think, I have also sufficient Authority from[152]HIPPOCRATES himself, saying, when a Woman conceives after Full-Moon, that Conception must, of Necessity, reach the 11th Month.

HAVING thus far (according to the Best of my Judgment) dilucidated these Cases, and having hitherto conducted the Woman with Child, and brought her safe this Length, thro’ all the Difficulties she has been expos’d to, and the many Hardships she has met with in her Gestation or Bearing-Time, to the compleat Number of her MONTHS, or precise Time of her LABOUR: It remains now, that I should also direct her Safety upon that emergent Occasion; since if we should now lose our good and fruitful Woman at last, all our previous Pains and Care have been Labour in vain, and nothing but Frustration. But, because the Work of DELIVERY, does not always depend upon the Woman herself, and but seldom in these Countries, upon the Physician; before I commit her to the Hands of the rude or unskilful, (whether MAN or WOMAN-MIDWIFE) I shall in the next Place, (with all due Deference to my SUPERIOURS, especially the eminent Professors of Physick, and Practisers of Midwifery in the City of LONDON) endeavour to instruct such Persons in the Fundamentals of their ART, and to qualify them with the necessary Knowledge, and indispensible Duty of their BUSINESS.

IN fine, I shall attempt now to perform This Undertaking in the plainest and most succinct Terms following.

SECT. IV.

CHAP. I.
Of MIDWIFERY.

BIRTH, and whatever may depend of, take Rise from, or have any antecedent, concomitant, or consequent Relation to it, is the only proper Business of Midwifery, and justly deemed the common Boundary of the Knowledge and Practice of the Midwife.

WHICH Art of Midwifery is (in itself) as excellent and ingenious, as its Practice is useful, and absolutely necessary to the Commonwealth; insomuch that this will admit of no Contradiction, when we rightly consider the following few, but important, general Heads, to which I reduce it throughout this Work, viz.

I. THIS Art distinguisheth a Fertile from a Sterile or Barren Womb; it supports and corroborates the one, and rectifies and cures the other, in most (if not in all) Cases.

II. IT distinguisheth an impregnated from an unconceived Womb, a real from a false Big-Belly, and a natural from a preternatural CONCEPTION.

III. IT teacheth the Regimen of the conceived Woman, for averting the Severity of the Symptoms of the several Months, and all acute Diseases, in order to strengthen the Infant, and prevent any Miscarriage.

IV. IT instructeth by the Touch or Handling only, to discover, from time to time, the true State and Condition of the Conceived Woman, not only during the Time of Pregnancy, but also before and in the time of Labour.

V. IT immediately (in the beginning of Labour) discriminates a Natural from a Preternatural, and an easy and speedy from a difficult and lingring future Birth.

VI. IT presently discovers any one or more of the many different, general, or particular CAUSES of difficult or preternatural Births.

VII. IT informeth the fair Practiser how to remove and correct those CAUSES, and deliver the Woman, not at all by butcherly Instruments, but by Judgment and Help of Hand only.

VIII. IT sheweth not only how to extract dead Children, and sometimes Monsters, but also false Conceptions, Superfœtations, Moles, &c.

IX. AND Lastly, this Art teacheth the true Regimen of the CHILD-BED-WOMAN, and her BABE, together with the proper Methods and Means of HELP in all Cases incident to them Both.

THESE Heads (I think) fully comprehend the whole Art of Midwifery: And what can be more ingenious now? What can be more conducive to the common Good, or more serviceable to any Country, than the Preservation of the Health and Lives of its multiplying WOMEN and CHILDREN?

THIS Art has been in such Esteem among the ANTIENTS, that it was (in all Ages) the Study of the most Learned Physicians; tho’ its Practice succeeded best only, first in France, then in Italy, and afterwards in Germany. For in these Countrys their Women of all Ranks (the most Precise and Virtuous) have accustom’d themselves (upon this Occasion) to lay aside all childish Bashfulness and imaginary Modesty, in order to secure their Own and their Childrens Safety, by inviting the Assistance of both SEXES. And indeed MEN (whom I may justly call the truest and best Boethogynists) being better versed in Anatomy, better acquainted with Physical Helps, and commonly endued with greater Presence of Mind, have been always found readier or discreeter, to devise something more new, and to give quicker Relief in Cases of difficult or preternatural BIRTHS, than common MIDWIFES generally understand; By which means it comes to pass, that this Art is now brought to its greatest Perfection in these Countries: Insomuch that, if I might be allowed to adopt a new Term into our Language, instead of MAN-MIDWIFE, which seems to be a Contradiction in Terms, I would call him the Andro-Boethogynist, or Man-Helper of Woman, for his excellent Skill in MIDWIFERY.

MOREOVER, the Authors of these Countries have not been remiss, in communicating their Experience and Methods taken to prevent and remedy the many various Difficulties which have occurred in this nice Affair. No, Senertus, Rod. à Castro, Viardel, Mauriceau, Portal, Daventer, Bartine, Garofanzzo, Pfizerus, &c. have promerited our immortal Praises as well as Thanks, for such famous and generous Instances as they have given of their great Beneficence to MANKIND.

THE Four latter have made vast Improvements of this Art: but particularly, the most Learned, Ingenious, and excellent Physicians, and Men-Midwives, (as vulgarly called) Sig. Garofanzzo and Pfizerus (my most honoured Instructors in this Art) have absolutely perfected the Work begun by others; for their Rules are firmly founded on sound Anatomy, and their Doctrines are more extensive, particular, plain, and infallible, than all their PREDECESSORS Discoveries.

THEY explain this ART upon firm Mathematical Foundations, and solid Demonstrations of Truth. Besides they give many new, and most necessary Directions, in regard to Touching or Handling of Women; whereby MIDWIVES may not only foresee all Difficulties, which can possibly happen, but also prevent them in due Time.

THEIR great Ingenuity and Dexterity in this ART, has (to the Glory of GOD Almighty’s good Providence, and the Honour of their own Profession) rendred the Use of Instruments, not only needless and superfluous, but also odious and ridiculous. They instruct us how to remedy the most difficult Occurrences, by a right Understanding of the Business, and a nice subtile skilful HAND only, without any manner of other INSTRUMENT; excepting only in the Case of a MONSTROUS or dead BIRTH.

UPON whose great Authorities, and the small Knowledge I myself have of the Parts of Generation, if I affirm the imminent and manifest Danger of such dilating Instruments, as are commonly us’d upon every trifling Occasion, I hope it will not be taken amiss by the READER: Since my Design is not so much to discourage any in their Practice, as only to excite such Practitioners to apply themselves to the above-mention’d far more Safe, Easy, and Commendable Method: which if they shall think fit to do, the Excellency of the Profession will shine as bright Here as in other Parts of the World; and at the same time, the absurd Imputations and false Suggestions of the Ignorant (who imagine all Women to be deliver’d either by Chance, or by such barbarous Usage) will be clean wip’d off: For (I am fully satisfy’d) that our Art, no ways depends upon Chance or Fortune, and running any Risque or Hazard; but (to the contrary) on as firm a Foundation, and as infallible Rules, as a great many other Professions, which however yet are sometimes subject to ACCIDENTS. All which I shall endeavour to make evidently appear, in the next SECTION; where I shall treat of the Causes of difficult and preternatural BIRTHS, together with the respective Methods of preventing, correcting, or removing them effectually.

CHAP. II.
Of the Qualifications of the Ordinary MIDWIFE.

IT is indeed indifferent whether Men or Women practise this Art, so the Practisers be properly adapted, and duly qualified for the Purpose of so great a Work. As for Instance, in France, Men only profess this Business; in Italy, and Germany, Men and Women promiscuously; in England, Scotland, Holland, &c. Men are stiled Extraordinary Midwives, being seldom or never call’d but in extraordinary Cases of difficult and preternatural Births. Wherefore, upon this Account, I shall first observe and denote the Qualifications most requisite and absolutely necessary for WOMEN practising this Art.

NOW as all Arts and Sciences require Instruction, Application, Pains, and Time, for qualifying any Person to become a Master in the Practice of them; so the Art of Midwifery requires not the least Regard, Attention, and Information. Wherefore it is quite wrong for any Persons, who have not a Body and Mind particularly adapted to this Business, to spend their Time in qualifying themselves for, and applying themselves to the Performance of this good Office. For such as These ought to leave This Province to Those Persons, whom Nature has more signally mark’d out for the Purpose.

AND that I may the better distinguish upon what I have here propos’d, I shall first speak in the Negative, and then in the Affirmative Sense of the Affair; Or first, of her Natural, and then of her Acquir’d Qualifications.

I. THEREFORE, She who would discreetly undertake Midwifery, ought not to begin the Practice too YOUNG, nor continue it till grown too OLD: For the one will want, perhaps, due Experience, as well as decent Gravity and Solidity; the other will, peradventure, want requisite Strength and Vigour of Body, as well as the Free Exercise, and ready Use of her Senses.

II. SHE ought to be no weak, infirm, or diseased Person, incapable of undergoing the Fatigues which the Business too often requires: Such as watching Night and Day; turning the INFANTS, when in a wrong Posture; or extracting them at length; which Action frequently requires the full Strength of a strong MAN, instead of a weak Woman. For thus the most learned and excellent Fabricius d’ Aquapendente, testifies of himself, that he has often been so weary and tired, that he has been obliged to leave the Work for his Assistant to finish; and as Daventer also (a robust Man) relates of himself, that in the coldest Time of Winter, being but thinly cloathed, and at a Distance from any Fire, his Hair has been wet, and all his Body in a Sweat, and both his Loins and his Limbs have aked egregiously some Days after delivering a Woman.

III. SHE ought not to be too Fat or Gross, but especially not to have thick or fleshy Hands and Arms, or large-Bon’d Wrists; which (of Necessity) must occasion racking Pains to the tender labouring Woman.

IV. SHE ought not to be lame or maim’d, nor have stiff or crooked Fingers, Hands, or Arms; for these Parts are to be used in different Manners and Postures, even so that the Success of the Labour often depends upon their Readiness and Agility.

V. SHE ought not to be, negatively speaking, a conceiv’d or Child-bearing Woman; because This may be of bad Consequence, not only to the labouring Woman; (who depends on her, for more than she’s able to perform, especially in a strong Labour) but also to the conceiv’d MIDWIFE herself, and her own INFANT.

VI. SHE ought not to be an Ignorant, Stupid, Indolent, or a dull Person; and especially not incapable of conceiving Matters distinctly, or judging of Things aright: Neither ought she to be a Self-Indulger, Slothful, or Lazy; nor a Light, Dissolute, or Daring Person: She ought not to be inconsiderate, negligent, or forgetful; nor proud, passionate, or obstinate: Neither peevish, morose, or surly; nor fearful, doubtful, or wavering-minded: neither ought she to be a Tipler or Drunkard, nor a Tatler or Vagabond, nor a covetous, or mercenary Person.

BUT on the other Hand, in the Affirmative, SHE (First) ought to be a Woman of a good middle Age, of solid Parts, of full Experience, of a healthy, strong, and vigorous Body, with clever small Hands: Since nothing can be more agreeable and conducive to the Art of MIDWIFERY, than slender Hands, long Fingers, and a ready Feeling.

II. SHE ought to be Grave and Considerate, endued with Resolution and Presence of Mind, in order to foresee and prevent ACCIDENTS; Sagacious and Prudent in difficult Cases, so as not to take All upon her own Shoulders or Judgment, but to have immediate Recourse to the ablest Practiser in the Art, and freely submit her Thoughts to the discerning Faculty of the more Learned and Skilful.

III. SHE ought to be Watchful, Diligent, and Expert in all Cases and Conditions that can or may occur; so that no Opportunity in the Beginning of the Labour be lost: Since I have more than once observ’d, that the Neglect or Mistake of improving a critical Minute, hath cost the Mother many violent or heavy Pains afterwards, and the Child also its Life. For which Reason it is of the greatest Importance, to nick the Opportunity, conformable to Cato’s Saying——

Fronte capillata, post est Occasio calva.

IV. SHE ought to be a true Fearer of God, a Conscientious Person, of good Life and Conversation: Since Matters of the greatest Moment are committed to her Care; and depend entirely upon the faithful Discharge of her Duty: For she has the first and best Opportunity of shewing her Compassion, and Tenderness to Mankind, in this Infant and Helpless State. In short, Charity ought always to engage her, to be as ready to help the Poor as the Rich; the Life of the One being as Dear as the Other’s, and the Image of God being equally stamp’d upon Both: For the ineffable Recompence of Charity far exceeds all other Considerations of trifling Gain.

V. SHE ought to be Patient and Pleasant; Soft, Meek, and Mild in her Temper, in order to encourage and comfort the labouring Woman. She should pass by and forgive her small Failings, and peevish Faults, instructing her gently when she does or says amiss: But if she will not follow Advice, and Necessity require, the Midwife ought to reprimand and put her smartly in mind of her Duty; yet always in such a manner, however, as to encourage her with the Hopes of a happy and speedy Delivery.

VI. IN like manner as she ought to be Modest, Temperate, and Sober, so she ought to be Faithful and Silent; always upon her Guard to conceal those Things, which ought not to be spoken of.

THESE, in fine, are the chief of the natural Qualities requisite for MIDWIFERY; from whence I come to the Theoretical and Practical Part, without which all Others are (in effect) Nothing to the Purpose.

CHAP. III.
Of the THEORETICAL and PRACTICAL Knowledge of the MIDWIFE.

SHE, who finds herself thus (properly) adapted both in Body and Mind, according to the Rules of the preceding Chapter, does a Good and Laudable Work, if she also studies to qualify herself well, first in the THEORY, and then in the PRACTICE of Midwifery.

WHICH, in order that she may most easily and accurately do, I shall reduce the whole Theoretical Part (absolutely necessary) to the following Seven general Heads; of Which she ought not only to have a general and superficial, but also a distinct, special, and perfect Knowledge; viz.

I. OF the external and internal Parts of Generation, and the adjacent Parts; together with a competent Skill of the respective Substance and Nature, Connexion and Function of each of These in the Time of BIRTH.

II. OF the Pelvis, or Bason, and its Contents; together with the true Knowledge of its Bones, their Form or Figure, Office and Connexion, &c. upon that Occasion.

III. OF that Wonderful Body, the Matrix, and its Vagina or Neck; together with the understanding of its Substance and Structure, Duty and Function in Time of Labour.

IV. OF the Strange Natural Qualities, and amazing singular Faculties of This Body, in distinguishing all its peculiar Properties.

V. OF the Touch, or Handling the Woman; together with knowing its many various Uses, and manifold distinct Advantages.

VI. OF the Genuine, and Real; as well as of the Spurious or Bastard-Labour-Pains: How they differ in themselves, and are to be carefully distinguished.

VII. OF the Method of Laying the Woman, and Manner of extracting the After-Birth; together with all the heterogeneous and preternatural Contents of the Womb.

THESE speculative Heads, in short, shall be the particular Subjects of the respective Chapters, of the consequent Part of this Section, for the requisite Instruction and indispensible Qualification of all young MIDWIVES: As the Practical Part shall be the Subject-Matter of the two next following Sections. Which Practical Part, I shall now likewise reduce to the Three subsequent general Heads; of which she ought also to have a full and compleat Knowledge, viz.

I. OF the various Methods to be taken for the present Ease, and expeditious Relief of the Labouring Woman.

II. OF the discreet Method of Turning an ill-situated INFANT, (whatsoever the preternatural Posture may be) and drawing it forth safely by the Feet.

III. OF Her own personal Duty (as MIDWIFE) both to the MOTHER and the CHILD after Delivery; as also towards all Labouring Women, to whom she may be call’d, upon critical Conjunctures.

THESE I call practical Heads, because they depend more upon Practice and Experience, or Judgment and Charity, than upon any fundamental Rules; which however yet ought also to be reckon’d Branches of her THEORY.

BUT notwithstanding all these natural and acquir’d Qualifications, the young MIDWIFE is not to run at once into the Practice: Nor to hurry herself rashly to lay Hands upon the ARK, before she is thoroughly well accomplished for so sacred a Work; lest (like Uzzah) she be punished for her Temerity; whereof I have seen several exemplary Precedents. No, the Work is too important, and the Concern too weighty for that hasty indiscreet Undertaking; for there is no less than the Life of the Mother, and one Child at least, (if not sometimes more) at Stake: Both which may be soon saved, or quickly lost, according to the Good or Bad Conduct and Management of the MIDWIFE.

WHEREFORE, to the End, that she may obtain the necessary Experience, and perfect her Judgment, &c. in due Course, she ought to satisfy herself at first to go (for some time) as an Assistant to some skilful Woman of good Business, and so by degrees advance herself into the Practice: Because Dexterity in this ART, is only acquir’d by Time and Exercise; the practical Part of MIDWIFERY being attended with so many complicated Circumstances of accidental Difficulties, that it is almost impossible for any Persons, who never apply’d themselves this way, to believe how much it differs from all the THEORY, that the most ingenious MAN can make himself Master of.

I SHALL only (in this place) farther explain, what I mean, by the MIDWIFE’s Duty to all Women in LABOUR, to whom she may be call’d upon critical Conjunctures; as the latter part of the above-mentioned last General Head purports: namely this, That the MIDWIFE, in the Course of her Practice, ought always to observe carefully, and follow strictly the Rules of EQUITY and CHARITY: That is, supposing the MIDWIFE to be sent for by a Person in Labour, whose Case is Natural and all Things likely to go well; and in the mean time, after she has taken her in Hand, is peradventure sent for to another Woman, whose difficult or preternatural Case threatens imminent Danger.

IN this Case, the MIDWIFE knowing herself to be better qualified than Others, and that Another not equally expert is able to lay the Former, she ought to attend and assist the Latter: And That also notwithstanding the First be Rich, and the Latter, Poor; since GOD is no Respecter of Persons.

BUT, if it happen, that one Rich, and another poor Woman, want Help both at a time, and are in equal Danger: In that Case, without any regard to the one’s WEALTH, or the other’s POVERTY; the MIDWIFE is to assist Her first, whom Divine Providence first call’d her to, or first engag’d her withal. And as the Cases of Women in Labour may differ, so she ought impartially to act and dispose of herself; having always an Eye to something superiour to, and far above that of mean Lucre.

CHAP. IV.
Of the QUALIFICATIONS of the Extraordinary MIDWIFE.

THE Extraordinary MIDWIFE, or Andro-Boethogynist (whether Physician or Surgeon practicing this Art) ought not only to be endued with all the Qualities and Qualifications mentioned in the Two preceding Chapters, but also to excel the Woman-Midwife in many special Particulars, and ingenious Points; which no ways belong to her Female Province.

FOR it is not enough that He knows how to relieve and lay the labouring Woman, however difficult or preternatural her Case may be; nor is it sufficient that he understands how to help and succour both the MOTHER and the INFANT after such a Delivery: No, so much of his Business might be easily learn’d and enhanced by old Women, were they but Docile, and not such obstinate Creatures.

BUT He ought farther also to know (first) how to prevent all preternatural Disasters incident to both the one and the other, in their respective States of Child-Bed and Infancy: And, Secondly, how to administer Relief and perform the Cure, in Case of any dismal Accident whatsoever to one or either of them in their dangerous Condition.

MOREOVER, his Knowledge ought neither to commence nor terminate in these Things; it being also his Duty over and above to know, how to conduct the Woman safely through all the Months of GESTATION, and to avert from her the Severity of their respective SYMPTOMS, to which she is so much expos’d, as mentioned in their proper Chapters, Sect. III. And not only so neither, but He ought also to understand well, how to guard against the Accesses of all Acute Diseases, so as at least to avert their ill Consequences; and especially (of course) to know thoroughly how to prevent ABORTION itself.

THESE are the Cases which most commonly require the ingenious Assistance of the Extraordinary MIDWIFE: And These are they which try his Skill and Knowledge most, as the Tempest or Storm best discovers the Judgment and Capacity of the Master-Mariner.

AND yet, neither ought even these Limits to be the narrow Boundary of his Studies: Since the more extensive his Art and Knowledge is, especially in what relates to the natural Constitution of Women, the fitter Man He is to take upon himself the Practice of this noble and most ingenious Profession.

NOT that I would be thought tacitely to insinuate in this place by the By, as if my own Knowledge was in any degree Superiour to other Men’s: No, I am too sensible of my own Weakness, to mean so, or to entertain any such vain selfish Thought; neither have I any fond Ambition to aim at standing in Competition with others in these Respects. For it shall suffice me, and sufficiently gratify my Highest Aim, if possibly a simple Word may drop from my Pen, which the more Ingenious may sometime improve to the common Good of Women, and the Welfare of their Children: And this I would desire the more, because I know no larger FIELD, that the Learned can launch out into; nor any profounder Study, that they can descant upon, than the Nature and Constitution of this tender Sex, which is so peculiarly different from all other Natural Works, and so singularly discrepant from all other Created Beings.

BUT more particularly in order, that the MAN-MIDWIFE or Andro-Boethogynist may be thus duly qualify’d and completely accomplished;

I. HE ought not only to be liberally instructed and generously educated, but also to be a Man of good Breeding and Conversation, as well as Courtesy and Complaisance.

II. HE ought not only to be a Man of diligent Study and sedulous Application of Mind, but also of great Humanity and Integrity, Temperance and Sobriety, endued with solid Resolution, quick Apprehension, and great Presence of Mind.

III. HE ought not only to be a Man of strict Virtue and Chastity, but also of unspotted Life and Conversation, Charity and Companion; delighting in Hospitality, and doing Good; acting the Christian as well as the Gentleman in all respects.

IV. HE ought not only to be a Man of known Discretion and Secresy, Sagacity and Judgment, but also of a pleasant Countenance; neat and clean in Person and Cloathes, Agreeable and Decent in Words and Actions, carefully adverting (at all times) to give no Occasion of Shame or Confusion to the Labouring Woman, or the By-standers.

V. HE ought, in fine, to handle Her decently, and treat her gently; considering Her as the weaker Vessel, whose elegant tender Body, will admit of no rough Usage: Wherefore upon this Account it is, that I would have all Practitioners whatsoever in this Art, debarr’d from the Use of INSTRUMENTS, which would secure many a Mother from being wounded or mangled, and many an Infant from being cut or torn to Pieces.

NOT that I would be thought for all that to imitate Mr. Mauriceau, saying of himself (in some Passages of his Book of MIDWIFERY) that he differs from all others: No, far from it; For I have the Indisputable Authority of the most Learned and Polite Practisers on my side, as mention’d before in Chap. 1. of this SECTION.

HOWEVER yet, I do not deny, but that INSTRUMENTS have been universally used, till of late Years; but the reason of That is Plain: Because in former Times, Men were only call’d upon extraordinary Occasions; some of which (however Skilful and Ingenious) had not the Opportunity of Laying a Woman perhaps in many Months. For which Reason it could not be otherways, but that they must have been at a loss in not understanding thoroughly the Practical Part, having so few Opportunities of improving manual Operation: Whereas since the Politer Part of the World has call’d them generally to the ordinary and common Practice of this ART; they have advanced their Dexterity by degrees, and are now come to the length of discharging that Office by Slight of Hand only, which formerly required so many frightful INSTRUMENTS.

I may well indeed say frightful; for what can be more inconsistent with the tender NATURE of Women, or more terrible to them, than to see Men come armed against Themselves and their tenderer INFANTS, with Knives, Hooks, Iron-Forceps, &c. thereby (as it were) to help them in time of their extremest Agony? For my part, I am Positive, that let who will use INSTRUMENTS, they kill many more INFANTS than they save, and ruin many more WOMEN than they deliver fairly: And this, I think, will be easily agreed to, by all those who have any Knowledge of the Parts of Generation in that Sex; as (I believe) it is also sufficiently evident even to Those who have no Judgment that way, by the notorious Fatalities and tragical Events they daily hear of in Fact.

HOWEVER I know, some Chirurgeon-Practitioners are too much acquainted with the Use of INSTRUMENTS, to lay them aside; no, they do not (it may be) think themselves in their Duty, or proper Office, if they have not their cruel Accoutrements in Hand: And what is most unaccountable and unbecoming a Christian, is that, when they have perhaps wounded the MOTHER, kill’d the INFANT, and with violent Torture and inexpressible Pain, drawn it out by Piece-meal, they think no Reward sufficient for such an extraordinary Piece of mangled Work.

BUT, in short, I would advise such to practise Butchery rather than MIDWIFERY; for in that Case, they could sell what they slay; but in this, by handling Man so, they only bring Infamy upon their Profession, and expose it to the Contempt and Hatred of Others.

COVETOUSNESS is the blackest of Vices, and in this Case (I am sure) it is an unpardonable Sin, to thirst after sordid Lucre for procuring the Health or preserving the Life of our Neighbour; as, I doubt, is but too common among some mercenary People: Who (as we have been creditably inform’d) have refus’d to take Women in Hand at the very Point of Extremity or Time of Need, before a certain Sum of Money was first deposited; tho’ perhaps borrow’d upon Pledge, or collected amongst their charitable Neighbours for God’ssake.

I do not say however, but that the Workman is worthy of his Reward, and That which ought to be paid according to the Merit and Dignity of his Performance; not according to the Time he spends about it, as hired Labourers are paid their Wages: No, that fruitless Labour would not be worth while; no Gentleman would undertake Midwifery upon such unprofitable Terms: For as it is in his Power to save the Life of the Mother, or the Infant, or Both, (which he often does effectually) He undoubtedly deserves an extraordinary Recompence worthy of so great and good a Piece of Service.

BUT notwithstanding all This, an extravagant Price is not to be arbitrarily demanded, nor ought the Reward to exceed the Ability of the PATIENT; neither are Those to be forsaken or left destitute of Help, and expos’d to imminent Danger, at all Hazards of Life, who cannot afford us Money: But rather (on the contrary) they are to be forthwith taken in Hand chearfully, attended by Night or Day diligently, and a trifle of Money given (by us) rather than taken from them, when our Fellow-Christian’s Circumstances so require it. For this is the right way to secure God’s Blessing to Ourselves, and Success to all our Endeavours.

AND, in short, I humbly pray, that He may (out of his infinite Goodness and Mercy) always enable Me, according to my best Inclinations, faithfully to perform these good Offices, which I know to be so much my indispensible and incumbent Duty, in that STATION, his All-wise Providence hath allotted me, as to the Affairs of Life.

WHENCE I come, in the next Place, by due Order, to treat particularly of the Contents of the preceding Chapter; and, First, to set forth an Anatomical Description of the several Parts of Generation in manner following.

CHAP. V.
Of the External Parts of GENERATION.

THESE Parts are generally so well known, that I would not so much as mention them, out of Modesty, were it not, that, I presume, the young MIDWIFE may find something in the ensuing Description worth her singular Notice; which however, I shall not so much insist upon: But succinctly——

BEGINNING with the First, call’d the Vulva or Pudendum; we find it situated below the Os Pubis, having a great Chink or Fissure in the Middle, as it has the Frænulum and Perinæum in the lower Part. And above the Chink there is a little Protuberance occasioned by Fat under the Skin, call’d Mons Veneris.

THE two Labia Vulvæ being a little separated, the Nymphæ appear, join’d one to each interior Side of them: They are two small Pieces of red Membranous Flesh, much resembling Pullet’s Gills: They encrease the Pleasure of Copulation, and direct the Course of the Urine.

IN the upper Part of the Chink, next to the Os Pubis, are several little round Substances; which the most ingenious Fallopius call’d the Clitoris, almost hid under the Skin denominated the Præputium.

A little deeper, or straight below the Clitoris, is the Urethra, or Orifice of the Neck of the Bladder; being a little Hole as big as a Goose-Quill; which discovers itself by a small Eminence, and is about two Inches long.

BETWIXT the Muscle, call’d Sphincter Urethræ, and the inner Membrane of the Vagina, are several small Glands; whose excretory Ducts are the Holes observable about the URETHRA, call’d[153]LACUNÆ GRAFFI; which discharge a Liquor for lubricating or making the Vagina slippery, and encreasing the Venereal Titillation.

IN the Orifice of the Vagina, there is a slender subtile Membrane situated a-cross, which is call’d the Hymen, of a different Form in different Women; being sometimes Annular, and sometimes Semilunar: It is almost always to be found in young Girls, having a small Hole into the Vagina; which Hole in Adults is somewhat larger. In the first Act of COPULATION this Membrane is torn, which generally occasions an Effusion of a little Blood; but this may also happen by many other Procatarctick Causes[154], and accidental Occasions.

THE GLANDULÆ or CARUNCULÆ Myrtiformes are constituted of the contracted Fibres of the dilacerated HYMEN; and are situated on the Side opposite to the URETHRA, next the ANUS, in the FOSSA Magna, or Navicularis; being the same Place where the HYMEN was at first established. These are small fleshy Eminences, and are sometimes Two or Three, and sometimes Four or Five in Number: They are deficient in GIRLS, and defaced in those WOMEN who have had CHILDREN.

THE VAGINA or Neck of the Womb, is a long and round Canal, reaching from these Caruncles to the Orifice of the Womb; not very unlike a strong small Gut: Its Orifice is narrow in Virgins, and in All Women much narrower than its other Parts: It’s Substance (according to Ruysche’s Observations) is membranous, nervous, papillary, and wrinkled Within; which consequently must be of an exquisitive Sense: In Virgins the WRINKLES are very Large, especially in the Fore-Part; but after frequent Embraces they are Less, and after repeated BIRTHS, they entirely disappear.

THE VAGINA lies betwixt the Bladder and the strait Gut, or Rectum; with which last it is wrapt up in the same common Membrane, from the PERITONÆUM, adhering to it, all its Length upwards, from its Orifice to that of the Womb, and quite round on the lower Side, as it does to the Neck of the BLADDER above.

IN Maids, the VAGINA is about Five Inches Long, and one and a half Wide: But in CHILD-BEARING-WOMEN, it cannot be determin’d; because it lengthens in the time of PREGNANCY, and dilates in time of BIRTH; having likewise (in all) some little Holes or Ducts in it, which discharge a mucous Liquor. The VAGINA Serves also, in fine, for a necessary Conduit to the MENSTRUA and LOCHIA, as it does for a proper Passage to the INFANT, &c.

THESE are, in short, all the external Parts of GENERATION in Women; and these have all their proper respective Functions assign’d them by Nature; contributing conjunctly and severally to the Charms of COPULATION: Which ACTION alters the very Course of the Blood, and Motion of the Animal SPIRITS; and consequently sets all the describ’d Parts in full AGITATION. Namely, thus

THE Labia dilate: the Orifice swells: the Nymphæ give way: the Clitoris (of exquisite Sensibility) erects: The Glands (by a Protuberancy of the Parts) yield their succous Contents: The Vagina draws close: The Fibres of the Womb complicate to open its Orifice: The Branches of the Spermatick Artery contract to draw the Extremities of the Tubes to the OVARIA, as they carry the Seed to them: The Seed circulating in the Veins, which open in the Cavity of the VAGINA and MATRIX, it ferments immediately with the Mass of Blood: This Fermentation swells the Membranes of the Tubes, opens the Cavity of the Womb, and disposes All perfectly for the right Reception of the impregnated Egg.

FROM hence we may plainly see, in what a miraculous Order and Manner, all These Parts minister, and are subservient unto that (yet more) admirable and wonderful Body the Womb. Which being thus in brief anatomically described, I come next in Course to

CHAP. VI.
Of the Internal Parts of GENERATION.

IN discoursing of These, I shall begin with the chief Part, to which the rest are but Subservients.

FIRST then, the MATRIX or Womb, is situated in the upper Part of the Cavity of the PELVIS, or Bason, between the Bladder and Streight Gut. It is placed there in the Middle of the HYPOGASTRIUM, for the Convenience of Copulation, and the more easy and ready Extrusion of the Infant.

SECONDLY, The Bones of the PELVIS (as described hereafter below) stand as a Rampart, fencing it against all external Injuries; That is to say, the OS PUBIS protects it before; the SACRUM behind; and the ILIUM on each Side: Like as the BLADDER and RECTUM on the other Hand defend this Noble Part again from the Rigidity of these Bones.

THIRDLY, the Figure of the Womb, from its internal Orifice to its Bottom, in a Natural State, resembles a large compress’d PEAR. Its Length is about three Inches; its Breadth two in the Hinder, and one in the Fore-Part; its Thickness half an Inch large: But I take the Dimensions of it, in general, to differ accord-to the Age and Constitution of the Body.

IN MAIDS however its Cavity is much less, and can scarcely contain the Bigness of a Bean: whereas in Women with Child, the Dimensions and Figure, as well as the Cavity itself differs, according to the different Times of GESTATION.

AS I have said before, its Anterior Part coheres above with the BLADDER, below with the RECTUM; the Hinder Part being free: But the lateral Parts are tied by Four Ligaments of different Sorts; whereof Two are placed Above, and Two Below; the Superiors are called Ligamenta Lata, or broad; the Inferiors Rotunda, or round Ligaments.

THE two broad Ligaments are Membranous, and call’d Alæ Vespertilionum; which spring from the Peritonæum, and join the Womb on each Side to the OSSA ILIA: So that the OVARIA are fasten’d to one End of them, and the Tubæ Fallopianæ lie along the Other.

THE two round Ligaments arise from the Fore and lateral Part of the Bottom of the Womb, and pass thro’ the Rings of the Muscles of the Abdomen, terminating in Fat near the Groins. They are of a hard Substance, pretty Big at the Bottom of the Womb; but smaller and flatter, as they approach the OS PUBIS. Now Those Four Ligaments serve to keep the Womb streight, steady, and firm in its proper Place before BIRTH, and to restore it to its natural Position, by the Help of Contraction, After.

THE Orifice of the Womb opening into the VAGINA, is of the same Figure with the Nut of the PENIS: This in VIRGINS is very small, scarcely admitting a Specillum or Probe; in Others it is much larger; but in Women with Child, several small Ducts or Vesicles open among the Rugæ, which discharge a Glutinous Liquor to close and seal up this Orifice, till the Time of BIRTH.

THE Substance of the Womb is Solid and Muscular, composed of a various Plexus, or Web of fleshy Fibres, woven like a Net, with the Interposition of innumerable Vessels, of ARTERIES, VEINS, NERVES, &c. Without, it is surrounded with a Thin and Smooth Membrane from the Peritonæum; and within its Cavity, furnished with a Thick, Porous, and Nervous one, call’d the proper Membrane of the Womb.

THE Veins and Arteries of the Womb, proceed from the Spermatick Vessels, and Hypogastricks; which Vessels are all inserted in the proper Membrane. The Arteries convey the Blood for its Nourishment; which accumulating and abounding there in great Quantity, at Maturity of Years (when no more is requir’d for the Encrease or Growth of the Body) it distends the Vessels, and distills into the Bottom of the Womb: Whence proceeds the Blood which nourisheth the Foetus in the Pregnant Woman, and the Monthly Terms or Menstrua in the Woman not with Child; which Evacuation, Men Themselves are also subject to in a great Measure; (notwithstanding their inconsiderate Detractions and vain Talk on this Head) save only that in Them the Redundant Humour passes off a different Way by Urine, by the Nose, and sometimes by the Hemorrhoidal Veins, &c.

THE VEINS Serve only to reconduct to the Heart, the Blood which is neither wholly evacuated nor consum’d, as I observed more at large Before. But the Nerves arise from the Intercostals, and those of the Os Sacrum; remarkable Branches of which run along the Back of the Clitoris, from whence this Part is susceptible of the very slightest Impression.

THERE are moreover other small Vessels, springing one from another, which tend to this Orifice, and serve in Plethorick Women with CHILD, to carry off the Superfluity of the Humours. And, in short, prudent Nature, seems to have so ordered These to prevent ABORTION, which might easily happen, if the pregnant Womb was too much expos’d, or was to open itself for this Purpose.

THE Seminal or Spermatick Vessels are Four, like as they are computed to be also in Men, and differ only in being shorter. The Blood Vessels are very winding; and the Spermatick Arteries arising with a narrow Origin from the Aorta, form various Plexus’s, and Inosculations, as These do: And the Spermatick Veins (tho’ without Valves) have the like Inosculations with the Arteries, which however in These are more conspicuous.

THE OVARIA, or TESTICLES, are Two Bodies, on each Side One, annexed to the Bottom of the Womb, at about Two Fingers Distance, near the broad Ligaments: They are fixed to the Peritonæum at the Ilia, nigh the Spermatick Vessels: Their Figure is almost Oval, a little depressed on the Upper Part, where the Spermaticks enter.

THEIR SIZE is generally about half as Big as MEN’s are; but this differs according to the Age and Constitution of Persons: Their Surface is smooth, and even in Virgins; but wrinkled, uneven, and dry in old Women: They are encompass’d with a proper strong Membrane, deriving its Original from the PERITONÆUM; which also covers all the Spermatick Vessels.

THEIR Substance is Membranous and Fibrous, interwoven with a vast Number of Vessels; among which are some round Vesicles, containing a viscous Humour, when boil’d, of the Colour, Consistence, and Taste of the boil’d White of an Egg: From whence they are call’d Eggs, because of this Analogy. These also differ in Size and Number, according to Age and Constitution, although (ordinarily) the Biggest of them scarcely equals a Pea; and there are in some Persons 10 or 12 of them, in others (perhaps) but One or Two discernible.

THE Tubæ Fallopianæ, are Two winding Canals, resembling Two Trumpets, situated on the Right and Left Side of the Womb, annexed close to its Bottom, by their double Membrane; which is only a Continuation of the exterior and interior Membranes of the Womb: They in SIZE equal a little Finger about the Middle; tho’ the Cavity opening into the Womb, will scarce admit a Hog’s Bristle; but the other Extremity, floating loose in the Abdomen, will admit the Point or Tip of a little Finger: They are of a Membranous and Cavernous Substance, about 5 or 6 Inches long, and have the same Veins, Arteries, and Nerves, as the OVARIA.

THESE Tubes, to be brief, (in time of COITION) are erected by a copious Influx of Blood and Spirits; which also, by the Assistance of their muscular Fringes, embrace the OVARIUM, transmit the prolifick Masculine Seed, afterwards receive the impregnated Egg, and at last convey it thence into the Womb. In fine, these are all the internal Parts, as I conceive, tending to GENERATION. But more particularly, to proceed to

CHAP. VII.
Of the PELVIS.

THIS being that Cavity in which the Womb is placed, and through which the INFANT passes in time of BIRTH; it is my Opinion that a distinct Knowledge of it is highly necessary for all MIDWIVES to accomplish their Practice: For without that Qualification, they cannot help committing a great many Blunders, and being guilty of innumerable Mistakes; since they must proceed upon gross Uncertainties, and use their Hands like MEN groping in the Dark, as hereafter will more plainly appear.

THIS is that Cavity betwixt the Ossa Innominata and Os Sacrum; which join themselves in the Posterior Part of it on each side, by Cartilages and Ligaments: so that they, forming there a strong and firm Juncture, compose this Cavity of the PELVIS, which is vulgarly call’d the Bason of the Womb.

THE upper Part of the Ossa Pubis forms the Borders of this Cavity before, and the Hanging forwards or bending down of the Os Sacrum makes Those of it behind; as the Ossa Ilia compose the same on each side.

THESE Ossa Ilia are (by some) call’d the Wings and Bounds of the PELVIS; but they are mightily mistaken, who imagine that they surround or encompass the PELVIS: For they are only annexed to it on each side, and more extended towards the Back than the Forepart. As they are also very much in the wrong, who think that the Cavity of the PELVIS extends in its Length, according to the Length of the Back-Bone: since it rises from the Bottom obliquely, ascending Forwards, and so proceeds, as if a Person might, through its Passage, easily touch the Navel.

IN fine, it is here Remarkable also, that we do not always find the largest PELVIS in Women of the largest Size, but often the quite contrary; for it differs as the INFANT does in Bulk, exactly answering to the Bigness of its Head: And in some Women it is Deeper, in some Larger, in some Broader, in some Flatter, in some more Oval, and in some at last Rounder. From whence arise sundry Observations both useful and necessary, for the better Information of MIDWIVES.

CHAP. VIII.
Of the BONES of the PELVIS.

I Doubt not in the least but This and the proceeding Chapter will seem needless, and appear superfluous to some Persons, in the Practice of MIDWIFERY; namely, to such as know not the New Improvements of this Art: But especially to such as are accustom’d to the Use of Instruments, they’ll appear altogether Useless and Vain; since such Practitioners can easily (upon any Occasion, without the curious Anatomical Knowledge of these Parts) first slay the INFANT, and then either deliver or kill the WOMAN, as Chance may direct their SHARPS.

BUT for my Part, because I have no Notion of such sort of Weapons, I shall endeavour to acquit my self more honourably, and teach my Followers another way, and That without Blood-shed; as I hope will hereafter more amply appear.

AND First therefore in speaking of the Bones of the PELVIS, I shall begin with the OSSA Innominata; which are two large Bones joined to the Sides of the OS SACRUM. They are compos’d of Three distinct Pieces, each of which has its respective Name: The First and superior is call’d Os Ilium; because the Guts Ilia lie upon it directly. It is Large and almost of a Semicircular Figure, a little Convex and Uneven on its External Side; as it is Concave and Smooth on the Internal. In short, it is join’d to the Sides of the three Superior Vertebræ of the Os Sacrum, and is Larger in WOMEN than in MEN.

THE Second and Anterior is call’d Os Pubis; which is united in the Forepart to its Fellow-BONE of the other Side, by an intervening Cartilage: By the Extension of which Cartilage, the Ossa Pubis in Young Women, sometimes recede a little from One another, to facilitate a difficult Birth.

THE Third is the Inferiour and Posteriour, call’d Os Ischium, or Coxendix, which has a large Cavity call’d Acetabulum Coxendicis; and This receives the Head of the Os Femoris; the Supercilium or Top of which Cavity joins the Os Pubis.

THESE Three Bones, until the Age of Puberty, may be seen distinctly, tho’ afterwards they grow together, and become one BONE, without leaving any Mark of Division. They adhere on each side to the Os Sacrum by two Strong Ligaments; the Upper of which passes from the Posteriour Acute Process of the Ischium to the Sacrum; as the Lower joins the Tuberculum Ischii to the Sacrum.

THESE Bones in WOMEN are more distant or separated from One another, and are smaller than in MEN; especially the Os Pubis, to the end that the Cavity of the PELVIS, and the Angle betwixt the Os Pubis and Ischium, may be the Larger, for the more commodious Bearing of the Infant, and the more easy Exclusion of it in Birth. But from hence I would no ways infer, that the Ossa Pubis and Ilia sever themselves in time of LABOUR; (notwithstanding the Opinion of some Authors) for I am fully satisfied of the contrary: Because I have conducted more than one Woman in my Time, upon walking out of one Chamber into another, immediately after DELIVERY; which could never have happen’d in Case of such a distant or dislocated Separation.

THESE Bones call’d Innominata are of wonderful Use and Service: For besides that they form the PELVIS, and defend every Part of its Contents, they also give Connexion and Juncture of the rest of the Body, to the Thigh-Bones; as they likewise give Rise and Origin to many Muscles, and are the Basis of Support of the Spine of the Back, as well as of all the Superior Parts. Whence I come à propos to descant a little upon this particular Part, as far as concerns our present Purpose.

THE Spine then is that Bony Column or Ridge, which extends itself down the Back from the Head to the Fundament, containing the Spinal Marrow, and resembling the Letter S in figure.

IN This Spina therefore we must consider its Fivefold Division; namely, into Neck, Back, Loins, Os Sacrum, and Os Coccygis. The First Three consist of 24 Vertebræ; whereof the Neck has 7, the Back 12, and 5 belong to the Loins. Those of the Neck bend inwards; those of the Back outwards, for enlarging the Cavity of the Thorax; Those of the Loins bend inwards again; and Those of the Os Sacrum outwards, to enlarge the Cavity of the PELVIS.

THE Vertebræ of the two last concern us most in this Place; wherefore I shall say no more of the rest, save only by the By, or coincidently, as they fall in my way. Those of the Loins then are the Thickest and Broadest, and the Last of them is the Largest of all the Vertebræ; as their Cartilages are thicker and stronger than any of the Others, and their Acute Processes are at a greater Distance from one another. From whence it comes to pass, that the greatest Motion of the Back is perform’d by the Vertebræ of the Loins.

THE Vertebræ of the Os Sacrum grow so close together in Adults, that they make but one large solid BONE, of a Triangular Figure; and yet not without the Mark of a four or five-fold Division: As in Children, it consists of many more Pieces or Divisions. However, its Basis is tyed to the last Vertebræ of the Loins, and the Upper part of its Sides to the Ilia; as its Point is to the Os Coccygis.

THE Os Coccygis is also in Adults, for the most part, but one entire BONE; tho’ in younger Persons it is compos’d of 3 or 4 small Divisions; Of which the Lower is still less than the Upper; till the Last ends in a small Cartilage. It is join’d in its Glenoide Cavity to the Extremity of the Os Sacrum; being short and bent inwards: It supports the Intestinum Rectum, and yields to the Pressure of the INFANT in Travail: But MIDWIVES ought not to thrust it back or repel it with Violence; No, they should rather handle it gently, if they would prevent dangerous Consequences, as well as great Pain to the Woman in LABOUR.

FROM hence it is manifest, that they are mistaken who imagine that the Opening and Enlargement of the PELVIS, in making way for the INFANT, does depend upon the Separation of the Ossa Pubis: For it much more depends upon the yielding of the Os Sacrum, or its giving way naturally; especially This Part of it call’d Os Coccygis. Neither doth the Straitness of the Upper Part of the PELVIS so much occasion a difficult BIRTH, as the small Distance that is betwixt the Points of the Ossa Pubis, call’d Ossa Sedentaria or Seat-Bones, and the Os Coccygis: No indeed, neither of These can be any great Hindrance to the Passage of the Infant; since all Bones, never so closely knit together with Ligaments, may be moved extensively upon occasion, by carefully and gently stretching the said Ligaments. But, in short, it most commonly happens, that the Ill Position of the Infant itself, or the bad Condition and Situation of the Womb, or Both, occasion a difficult or preternatural Birth.

BUT I would here farther observe yet, that as these Bones differ frequently both in Form and Size, according to the different Constitution of the Body; so neither are they always of the same Substance: For in some Women, we find a great many Nervous and Cartilaginous Ligaments, which penetrate into the solid Substance of the Bones themselves; in which the Ligaments are so fast bound together, that it is hard to distinguish whether they are One or More Bones. From whence, however, it will hereafter appear, that One Woman is more easily delivered than Another; the Bones in One being more firm and immoveable, altogether resisting any Relaxation; which in Another are more loose and pliable, easily give way and yield freely to the Force of the Endeavouring and Struggling INFANT.

THE Contents of this Section will appear more evident, by looking curiously upon a Female SKELETON: In which (for Distinction’s-sake I recite This) that the lower Parts of the Seat-Bones, are generally more distant, and not so much bent inwards, down towards the Point of the Os Coccygis, as in a Male SKELETON. Which Difference, in short, the Omniscient Creator has so order’d, for preventing difficult BIRTHS; and yet, notwithstanding all this wise Provision of Nature, they happen too often in the World. However, having thus, in fine, described the Pelvis and its Bones, as far as is requisite for MIDWIVES, I come next, more particularly to describe that astonishing Piece of God’s Handy-work, to which all the afore-mention’d Parts are ordain’d to minister, and that both conjunctly and severally, without any Exception: viz.

CHAP. IX.
Of the WOMB.

I Say this is that Body, which the Learned Great Men of all Ages have esteem’d and look’d upon as the most wonderful Miracle of Nature, not only because of its singular Substance and Structure, but also of its peculiar Qualities and Faculties.

AS to the Substance and Structure, I have before observed in Chap. 6. of this Section, that it is singularly composed, of an innumerable Multitude of Fibrous Vessels and Muscular Parts; which being All most curiously interwoven, are admirably form’d together in its Constitution.

BUT how particular soever I have been on this Head, in Chap. 5, and 6. I must resume this Topick here, and add, that the Womb, and its Vagina or Neck, are closely join’d together: For it terminates in a Point near its Orifice, intrudes itself into the Vagina, and hangs so down, that in Women not with Child, and sometimes also in the first Months of Pregnancy, This sharp Point may be perceiv’d by the Touch.

AND how closely soever this Orifice of the Womb is shut after Conception or during Pregnancy; yet in a BIRTH it is so expanded, that the Womb and Vagina both seem to have but One and the same Cavity, like a Bag of equal Dimensions; there being then no Difference perceivable between that Orifice and the Vagina, excepting that the VAGINA is Softer and Thinner.

THE Womb may be otherwise aptly compar’d to the Earth; because the same Degree of Affinity that the Earth has to the Seed of Plants, the Womb bears to the Seed of Men: It being the very Secundary Cause in the Constitution of the Human Conception; not indeed the Instrumental only, but also the Active Cause: For whereas the Instrument takes Motion from, and operates by Virtue of Another, the Womb only acts of itself and operates by Virtue of its own Active Faculties.

BUT more particularly, the Womb has sundry proper Actions in this Constitution, which are peculiarly dependent of, and accordingly discharged by Itself only; and therefore it is not the sole or pure Instrumental Agent. But the Reason that I call it the Secundary or Disponent, not the Primary Cause, in constituting the Foetus, is, because the Actions of the Womb do not precisely terminate in this Constitution, but chiefly in disposing the Causes constituting the Man. And as (I think) there are Eight such Actions belonging to the Womb, I shall undertake to define them all particularly in a few Words. And,

I. THE FIRST Action of the Womb is, that by its attractive Faculty, it may allure the Masculine Seed infus’d by Coition into the Fund of its Capacity, after the same manner as a famishing Stomach snatches at the Victuals by the Gullet from the Mouth of the Eater.

II. THE SECOND is like unto the FIRST, and consists in attracting (after the same manner) the Muliebrian Seed from the Vessels of the Testicles, into the same Cavity.

III. THE THIRD Function of the Womb, is the Copulation and mutual Conjunction of the Seeds of both Parents; which it prepares and perfects by its innate Power, constricting itself in all Parts: And this Action, I do not (in this place) call a Permistion of these Seeds, as it is generally term’d, because a Mixture is properly perform’d only by the concording Qualities and mutual Actions of two or more miscible Copulatives, without any Assistance of the Thing Containing.

IV. THE FOURTH Office of the Womb, is an Effusion of the Menstruous Blood upon the aggregated Seed, from a Relaxation of the little Orifices of the Veins terminating in its interiour Surface.

V. THE FIFTH Action of the Womb, is, the Retention of those three conjoin’d Bodies; to effect which Work, the Womb contracts itself on all sides, and shuts up all its Orifices, even to the sensible Animadversion of the Woman.

VI. THE SIXTH Function of the Womb, is to excite the Virtue of the Torpent Lifeless Seed, and rouze it up from Idleness to Activity; as the latent Virtue of Physick in the Body is excited to Operation by the natural Heat of the Viscera.

VII. THE SEVENTH Office of the Womb, is (after the Foetus is Form’d and Organiz’d) the Attraction of the Blood from the Maternal Veins, into the Umbilical Vessels, for its Nutrication and Growth.

VIII. THE EIGHTH and last Function of the Womb, is Birth, which I shall remember to speak more particularly of in its proper Place.

FROM all which we may easily collect the sundry proper Uses of the Womb, and readily comprehend that it is not only destin’d by Nature to admit the Seed, and receive the impregnated Egg from the Ovarium and the Fallopian Tube; but also to contain the Organizing Matter, and all necessary Principles (Active and Passive) for constituting the Conception; fomenting the receiv’d Seeds, by its natural Calidity, preserving the same, and preparing the Maternal Blood by its inherent Temperament, for the Use of the Foetus: Which Foetus it surrounds and defends from external Accidents, by its Substantial Corpulency; containing and nourishing the Infant, about the Space of 9 or 10 Months, by its Faculties of Extension and Attraction; and at last forcing it into the World, by that of Expulsion.

UPON which Occasion, that the MIDWIFE may the better discharge her Duty, and assist the Labouring Woman more effectually, without Fear or Danger, and without committing any Blunder or Mistake; as I have already taught her in what Place the Womb is seated, to what Parts it tends, and how it is annexed, &c; so I shall now proceed to describe its Qualities and Faculties, so far as is necessary, and absolutely requisite in the Practice of MIDWIFERY. And, First, then——

CHAP. X.
Of the Extensive Faculty of the WOMB.

NATURE has endued the Womb with this Faculty, to the end that it may (in Pregnancy) extend and dilate itself Day by Day, in Proportion to the Growth of the Infant, Secundine, and Humours.

NOW the Womb in its lower Part being straitly tied to the Intestinum Rectum and Bladder; it is to be understood that the Distention happens mostly in its superiour Part or Bottom: Which is not only most Free and at greatest Liberty, but also Thickest and aptest for Dilatation.

THIS will appear more evident, when we consider how the Infant adheres to that Part, the Bottom, by means of the Secundine: How the Infant also as it grows, begins to separate the Humours in the Secundine, which (of consequence) encrease as the Infant does: And how again the Encrease of the Humours fill up the Chinks and Vacuums, as I may call them, which the Infant cannot possess. From hence it is that the Womb extends itself in the Form of a Pear, only a little Plainer at Both Ends.

THUS the Secundine adhering[155] to the Bottom of the Womb, by its thicker Part (call’d the Placenta,) thence it is that the Womb encreases and extends itself more in its Bottom, than in any inferiour Part.

WHEREFORE the Womb being most extended in its upper Part, call’d the Bottom; and both the Bladder and Rectum below being soft loose Parts, it necessarily follows, that the Womb may freely ascend and descend upon Occasion, as we often find it in the Cavity of the Belly; which, however, does not happen to All Women alike.

BUT, in short, these extensive and ascensive Faculties of the Womb, chiefly residing in its Bottom; I would have it laid down for a certain Maxim of Truth, that These exert themselves, without any the least Extenuation to the Uterine Substance: Which Position leads me directly to consider——

CHAP. XI.
Of the Substantial Density of the WOMB.

TOUCHING the Thickness of the Pregnant Womb, Authors have differ’d extremely: Some thinking, that as the Womb grows Larger, it grows Thicker; and Others the Reverse, that as it extends, it grows Thinner.

NOW these Opinions being both diametrically opposite One to the Other, as Both (perhaps) may be contrary to Truth, I shall freely and ingenuously offer my Sentiments in a few Words; not that I vainly desire to engage myself in any Controversy: Save only, because the true Knowledge of this Point, is so Material and Consequential for all MIDWIVES, especially in Cases of difficult and preternatural Births, that I cannot well excuse myself, should I pass it by with Silence in this Place.

Mr. MAURICEAU, in his Book of the Diseases of Women, contradicting the Authority of Riolanus, Bartholinus, and the whole Body of the most Renown’d and Ingenious Anatomists, both Ancient and Modern, is at great Pains to make us believe, that the impregnated Womb is (like the Bladder) in this Case; the more it is extended, the thinner it grows.

BUT as his quoted Authority of Galen and Carol. Stephanus cannot be sufficient against so many good Authors of the contrary Opinion; so neither will his Demonstrations of Wax, nor Comparisons with the Wombs of Animals, be sufficient to make out his Argument, against confirm’d Experience, common Sense, and current Reason. Which Point of Experience I judge this Author to have been deficient in, otherwise he would certainly have given us some particular Instance or other of it, and not had Recourse to Inconsistencies for supporting his new-fashion’d unreceiv’d Notion. For what Comparison can there be betwixt an Animate and Inanimate Body? Or what Affinity betwixt the WOMB of Animals and that of Women, who are form’d after the Image of God, and (by a Prerogative above all other Creatures) are furnished with a WOMB very different from them?

I ingenuously acknowledge, when I first met with this Author’s Works, not daring then to be too Positive in this Point, I was put into some Suspence of Judgment; which made me not only consult with the best of Authors and Professors of Anatomy, but also induc’d me to embrace every Opportunity of satisfying myself otherways to a full Conviction.

WHEREFORE at all Dissections of pregnant Women, where I have been present, I carefully observed and took notice of this particular Point; upon which I must needs affirm, that I always found the WOMB (however Big or Little) of its natural Thickness, and rather thicker than thinner: For tho’ It is expanded by the growing Infant, &c. yet it may (most probably) be equally condensed, by the Imbibition of the fluent Humours, which consolidate into itself by the Pores of its Plexus Body. Nay, I have not only satisfy’d myself in dead, but also in living Bodies, with respect to this Matter; for by passing One Hand into the WOMB to take away the Secundine, when the Other laid upon the Belly, I clearly discerned the Truth by Sense, and have sometimes found the WOMB not only incredibly Thick, but also Rigid withal: And in this Matter, I have not been singular; for I find the ingenious Daventer writes to the same purpose, upon this Head, in his Book of Midwifery. Having therefore thus, in short, perceiv’d the Thickness of the WOMB, both with my Hands and Eyes, I must trust my Senses, and prefer my Experience before any Man’s bare Conjecture; for tho’ I often see not those Things which I believe, yet I must still believe those Things which I see.

WHENCE I conclude, that the WOMB, tho’ of a different Bigness from the Conception to the Birth, is always, at least, of one Thickness with the unconceiv’d Womb: Which the Divine Wisdom (no doubt) has so ordered for the Preservation of the Mother and Infant; for if the WOMB in Time of Pregnancy did grow Thinner, according to its Extension, it must of Consequence grow Weaker, and, in that Case the Infant would be liable to perforate it with Foot or Hand, which would infallibly terminate in the Loss of both their Lives.

BUT besides, if the WOMB was so Thin and Weak as Mr. Mauriceau imagines; as the Pregnant Woman would be liable to imminent Danger every Moment Before, as well as In Time of Labour; so the Midwife would be expos’d to the greatest of Difficulties: For who then durst, without Horror, offer to turn the Infant, so closely compress’d in those thin Membranes of the WOMB? Or who could have Resolution enough to separate and pull away the After-Birth?

HOWEVER, I could produce innumerable Instances of most Learned and Ingenious Men to support my above-mentioned Opinion; but I shall content myself now with One, who (I think) is of sufficient Authority: For hearing lately that Mr. Mauriceau’s mention’d Book (which I had only read before in its Original French) was translated by Dr. Chamberlain, I doubted not but I should fully discover that Eminent Translator’s Sentiment upon this single Point; whereupon this most famous Physician and Boethogynist marks by way of Observation or a Bene Notandum, that his Charity for his Author makes him believe that French-Women differ in this Point from Our English, with whom it is apparently otherwise order’d. And in the farther Explication of his Author’s Opinion on this Head, he adds, That Experience will convince any inquisitive Person of the Contrary.

TO which I reply, in short, with all due Submission, that the French-Women do not differ one Jot in this respect from Ours, nor Ours from any Others: Which (no doubt) the worthy Doctor was very sensible of, notwithstanding his great Complaisance to his Author.

CHAP. XII.
Of the various Local Motion of the WOMB.

ALTHOUGH the Ligaments are fixed to the WOMB on each side, under the Tubes, near the Bottom, on purpose to keep it duly in the Middle, from falling to either Side; yet we may easily perceive, First, That the Pregnant WOMB, as it dilates and extends itself most (in the Bottom) above the Ligaments, so it rises Highest and becomes Heaviest in that Part; by which means it cannot always be contained in the narrow Compass of the Pelvis, and the Larger the INFANT is, the Higher the WOMB rises (above the Ligaments) in the Belly. Insomuch that when the Cavity of the Pelvis is not sufficient to contain a large WOMB, fill’d with One or more well-grown INFANTS, together with the Secundines and Humours, it must (of necessity) ascend into the Cavity of the Belly; as is evident from Chap. 10.

SECONDLY, The WOMB being in Form of a Pear, much larger above than below the Ligaments, and that superiour Bulk being only sustain’d at the lower Part by subtile Ligaments apt to extend, as well as supported near the Orifice by the Bladder and Rectum, which are soft, loose, and extensive Parts: Hence, I say, we may easily conceive, that as These are not sufficient to hinder a large Womb from ascending above the Borders of the Pelvis into the Cavity of the Belly; so neither are they able to keep it from leaning or inclining this or that way, by reason of its Weight in the Bottom, which is always the farther distant from the Ligaments, the more it is extended: And the extended Womb being not of the same Firmness and Solidity with That in a natural State, is the more apt and ready to move aside, either on the Right or the Left Hand.

NOW this various Motion of the Womb, in short, will appear more manifestly Probable, when we consider how variously Women with Child move their Bodies, bending them every way for Relief, when oppress’d with Pain; both sitting and lying in different Postures: All which may easily give the Womb a Tendency this or that way, sliding either Forwards or Backwards, to the right or the left Side of the Person.

CHAP. XIII.
Of the Oblique Situation of the WOMB.

I Doubt not in the least but among the Many, some will reject this Thesis as False or New-fangled; but They who are Ignorant of it, are meer blind Novices in the Art of Midwifery: For repeated Experience has taught Myself and many Others the Certainty of this Truth; as will more amply appear from the following Discourse.

THE Womb having then ascended into the Cavity of the Belly, if its pointed Parts tend perpendicularly into the Pelvis, so as that its Orifice may be easily touch’d on every Side with the Fingers, its Bottom is placed about the Navel; and This I call a right or natural Situation: But when otherways, the Posture is changed, inclining this or that way, and the Orifice suspended so High, that it can scarce or not at all be touch’d, I call That a wrong and preternatural Position, or oblique Situation of the Womb; which may not only be occasion’d (as is said) by the Weight and Bulk of its Bottom, above the extended and relaxed Ligaments, but also by many other different Causes; such as an obdurated Gland, a Cicatrix, an Ulcer, an Obstruction of the Vessels in the Ligaments or adjacent Parts, &c.

HENCE it is that the wrong Positions of the WOMB are manifold, which would be very tedious to enumerate exactly here; but only, that I may not pass by what is so material, I shall reduce them to a Four-fold Difference; as the Ancients did the Winds, because of the Four Regions or Limits of the Heavens. And Those Four will (I hope) comprehend all other wrong Situations of the WOMB, not very improperly or mal-à-propos, as Ovid[156] has comprehended These in the following elegant Verses, viz.

“Eurus ad Auroram Nabathæáq; regna recessit,
“Persidáq; & radiis Juga subdita matutinis.
“Vesper & Occiduo quæ littora sole tepescunt,

“Proxima sunt Zephyro, Scythiam septémque triones

“Horrifer invasit Boreas. Contraria Tellus

“Nubibus assiduis, pluvióq; madescit ab Austro.

THE first bad Position of which is, when the Bottom of the WOMB is placed on the left Side of the Woman, a little raised or depress’d; the Orifice being turn’d towards the Spine of the right Os Ilium or Os Pubis, against which the Infant in time of Birth commonly pushes its Head, beats out its Brains, and sticks there to Death: Or else passing the said Spine, it lies a-thwart the Pelvis.

THE Second ill Position of the WOMB is, when the Bottom is seated on the right Side; the Orifice being turn’d towards the left Part of the Pelvis, directly opposite to the other Position, and attended with the same Inconveniencies.

THE Third is, when, in Women having large Bellies, the WOMB hangs too much Forwards; the Orifice being turn’d towards the Os Sacrum: So that the Infant falls down by the Head into the Bent, or crooked Cavity of the Os Coccygis, where it fatally sticks fast.

THE fourth Oblique Situation of the WOMB is, when its Bottom is press’d too near the Diaphragma, and its Body too near the Vertebræ of the Loins; the Orifice being elevated, is thereby turned too near the OS PUBIS, where the Infant striking its Head against these Bones, remains immoveable and perishes: Or, (which is worse) sliding with its Head upon the OSSA PUBIS, it is turn’d on one or other Side or Backwards; when (commonly with Hand or Arm out of the Body) it lies a-thwart the Passage, and infallibly occasions its Own or its Mother’s Death, or Both; unless (as in the three preceding Cases) it be in due time prevented by the Assistance of some very skilful Hand.

THOSE are the Four most difficult and principal wrong, or chief preternatural Situations, of the WOMB; from whence we may easily frame a competent Conjecture of the Rest; to wit, when the Bottom of the WOMB is more or less turn’d to the right, or the left Side, or forwards, or backwards: Since as that differs more or less from the natural Position, so the Birth in like manner is (of consequence) the more or less Difficult, as will hereafter manifestly appear.

CHAP. XIV.
Of TOUCHING or HANDLING the Woman.

THE Midwife ought to have a special Knowledge in This Matter, since a Thing of so much Moment as Life itself often depends upon it; yea, and this Knowledge is of absolute Necessity to all Persons practising Midwifery, because many different Points of the greatest Importance, are thereby plainly discover’d: But before I enter upon these Things, I would have it rightly understood, that nothing else is meant here by the Performance of the Touch, than (upon having first pared the Nails short, equal, and smooth) passing the two Fore-fingers of either Hand, (previously well anointed with Fat or Butter, when proper Oils are not to be had) through the Vulva into the Vagina, in order to reach the Orifice of the WOMB, and to discern its Form, by feeling it on each Side.

AND it is not only requisite that the Woman in Labour be touched, before her Pains come on, because then the Membrane containing the Humours being loose, the Infant’s Posture may be the better distinguish’d; but the same Touch also is to be continued during the Force of the Pains, the better to know their Nature and Effects; whether the Infant continues still at the Passage or not; and whether the Humours are contracted length-ways, or press’d into a Flat Form, and the like. For after the Pains are over, it is easily to be perceiv’d, whether they have promoted the Birth or Not.

BUT during this Performance of the Touch, great Care must be taken not to handle the Membranes containing the Humours too roughly, lest they should break in the Action.

NOW that the Midwife may the more readily perform her Touch, she must take good Heed to what is said of the Cavity of the[157] Pelvis: for as it rises from the Bottom obliquely, ascending forwards; so, upon this Occasion, in seeking for the Orifice of the Womb, she must not thrust her Fingers streight along according to the Length of the Body, towards the bending of the Os Sacrum; but guide them upwards from the Bottom, as if thro’ the Vagina, she would touch the Navel: For Thus her Hand being turn’d inward, and her Fingers tending towards the Navel, the Orifice of the Womb lying directly in the way, she meets with it readily at first. Whereas they who go otherways to work, seek it in vain, and find it with Difficulty.

THIS Observation I thought the more requisite in this Place, because MIDWIVES not accurately understanding the Situation of the Bones of the Pelvis, think that the Womb and its Neck or Vagina reach according to the Length of the Woman, and make use of their Hands accordingly: First hurting the Vagina and Rectum in the Bending of the Sacrum; and then finding no farther Passage for their Fingers; but being altogether ignorant of the above-mentioned Method of finding the said Orifice, they are very often surpriz’d, fall into great Confusion for want of better Instruction. Whence I proceed to——

CHAP. XV.
Of the various Uses and Advantages of the TOUCH.

BY the Touch then, to be brief, the MIDWIFE gains the certain Knowledge of the following important Heads: viz.

FIRST, Whether a Woman be with CHILD or not: For I must needs own, that some of the most certain Signs of Pregnancy are discover’d by the TOUCH; since the Womb shuts itself close up, immediately after Conception, and its Orifice becomes more pointed, hard, and solid, resembling (according to Mauriceau’s just Comparison) the Mouth of a Puppy newly pupp’d.

BUT in time of the INFANT’s ripening, this Orifice begins to swell, and becomes softer, smoother, and thinner than it was Before.

SECONDLY, The MIDWIFE discovers by the TOUCH, whether the Time of Birth is near at hand, and how near it is. However, in speaking to this Point, I desire to be rightly understood, not meaning Miscarriages, or Illegitimate BIRTHS, but only such as are intirely Legitimate.

AS then the INFANT advances in Maturation, so the Orifice of the Womb from the Third Month, grows smoother, thinner, and softer; and consequently the more smooth, thin, and soft it appears at any time afterwards to the TOUCH, so much the nearer draws on the Time of Birth.

IN some Women, this ORIFICE begins to open two or three Months before Birth; and this Aperture enlarging itself by degrees, becomes soon as wide as a Shilling-Piece, when the Motion of the INFANT may be distinctly perceiv’d: And in others it is so much more enlarged, that one single Pain or two accomplishes the Birth.

BUT as all Women are not alike, so this RULE will admit of sundry Exceptions; for strong-body’d Women, Women of their First Child, and those somewhat in Years, their Wombs continue generally shut up to the last, and open not without the severest Pains: And not only so, but the Orifice of the Womb differs also, in all difficult and Preternatural Cases, as well by reason of its own oblique Situation, as of the INFANT’s ill Posture. For this Reason it is, that an Experienced and Judicious Hand is most requisite upon such Occasions; since such an One can clearly distinguish, what Another cannot so much as guess at.

THIRDLY, The MIDWIFE immediately knows by the TOUCH, whether the Woman be taken with the real and genuine Labour-Pains or Not. Which is a Point of the greatest Moment; since as it is of bad Consequence to delay the Birth, when the Woman is so taken, especially if the WOMB and INFANT be Both well situated, lest the Pains should vanish, and the Opportunity of Delivery should thereby be lost: so, on the other hand, to force a Woman to Labour, unseasonably, when but seiz’d with Bastard-Pains, is a most pernicious Thing.

BUT both these Cases too often happen, even to the Hazard, if not the Loss also of both Lives; especially the Latter, when the MIDWIFE does not know how to distinguish these False Pains, either the Cholick, or other Gripes, from the genuine Pains by the TOUCH: As will be more fully and amply explain’d in the next following Chapter.

GIVE me Leave to say then, that Birth is not to be provok’d by any Means, until the MIDWIFE, by touching the Orifice of the Womb, is certain, that the Woman labours under the True Pains; which is not to be judiciously suppos’d to happen before the Seventh Month at soonest.

BIRTH at that Time approaching, the Woman is afflicted with great Pains in her Groin, Loins, and about the Navel, tending downwards with a depressing Force upon the Womb and other Private Parts. But these Pains are not continual, for they only go-off and come-on by turns; at which Time, by their violent Depressure, the MIDWIFE finds the Orifice of the Womb open, or at least opening, and upon Renewal of the Pain, she finds it more and more dilated and relaxed: whereas, on the other hand, when the Pains are Spurious, they disperse themselves through the whole Body, as well as the Abdomen; and then the Womb (as if it were securing itself) is found more closely contracted.

FOURTHLY, It is likewise well known by the TOUCH, whether the Birth will be Easy and Speedy, or Difficult and Lingring, on several Occasions: 1. When the MIDWIFE finds the Head of the Infant and the lower Part of the Womb fallen into the Cavity of the Pelvis, so that She can touch it in the Confines of the Vagina: 2. When the Orifice of the Womb is very soft, thin, and wide-open, so that (through it) she finds the Head of the Infant foremost, without any Obstruction by the Arms or Umbilical Vessels in the way, between the Head of the Infant, and Orifice of the Womb; as often happens: And, 3. When the Humours, by the right Situation of the Womb and the Infant, are found compressed into a Flat Form. I say, when Matters are found so (by the TOUCH) in this Natural Posture, there is no great doubt (under GOD) of a Speedy and Easy Delivery.

WHEREAS, on the contrary, when the Orifice is found by Experience higher, little or not at all open; sharp, hard, and thick, with the Humours pressed up length-ways: Then the Case is quite revers’d, and the MIDWIFE, if she understands her Business, must resolve to sweat at her Work.

NOW the Reason of such Difficult Births commonly proceeds, either from the wrong Situation of the Infant, or That of the Womb; the latter of which always occasions the greater Difficulty, especially when it is accidentally join’d with the First, to a vast Degree of Aggravation: Of which, as follows of course.

FIFTHLY, Another Advantage of the TOUCH, is the truly Knowing whether the Infant be in a Natural, or Preternatural Posture. For the MIDWIFE finding the Orifice of the Womb so open, that it admits one or two Fingers, she may distinctly feel the Chin of the Infant in a Natural Position, lying forwards on its Breast, and the Neck in the Middle of the Orifice, or streight Before it; so that the Head being foremost and lowest within the Borders of the Orifice, the Fingers cannot pass any Farther.

HOWEVER, supposing the Clunes, Knee, or Elbow, to present themselves First in the ORIFICE; It is true, they have their Roundness, but then they are easily distinguished from the Head: For the Globular Part of it is much broader and smoother, than either Knee or Elbow, and harder than the Buttocks; which Fleshy Part is soon distinguished from the Bones, or the soft Membrane betwixt the Bones of the Head.

BUT as a capable MIDWIFE can hereby distinguish all These with Facility, even before the Waters begin to flow; so I need not mention the Hands, which distinguish themselves by the Fingers, as the Feet do, by the Toes or Heels; and the Navel-string discovers itself by its Softness, Thinness, and Roundness: All which, however yet, are more easily known when the Membrane is broke, and the Waters have actually flown. For the Parts, which were before covered with this Membrane, lie now naked in the ORIFICE: Hence it often unluckily happens, that few MIDWIVES make an exact Scrutiny, about the Situation of the Infant, till this Time of Flooding; erroneously thinking they are then soon enough, which is an unaccountable Mistake; as will hereafter abundantly appear.

SIXTHLY, It is perfectly known by the Touch, whether the Womb be in a Natural or Preternatural Posture, as is plainly taught more at large in the foregoing Chapter.

FINALLY, in short, we most assuredly know by the Touch, what is proper to be done in all Preternatural Cases, upon giving Assistance both to the Mother and Infant; as hereafter will fully appear by a more copious Dissertation to that Purpose.

CHAP. XVI.
Of the Genuine and Spurious LABOUR-PAINS.

THE sole Reason I add this Chapter, is, because our common MIDWIVES are so often mistaken, and do so frequently err in this Point, having no thorough-pac’d Knowledge of either sort of these PAINS: For when she comes to a Woman, taken ill with severe PAINS in the Belly or Loins, being ignorant of the accurate Nicety of the Touch, she presently concludes These to be the true labouring PAINS, because they indeed often resemble them very much; and she farther finding perhaps the ORIFICE a little relax’d and open, expects it to enlarge to her Satisfaction. Which, however, not answering her Hopes, nor the PAINS encreasing; she endeavours by stimulating Medicines and other sinistrous Means, conformable to the perverse Rules of her Practice, to raise and provoke Them: So that this, in short, is the Cause, not only of many an untimely BIRTH, but also too commonly of many an untimely DEATH.

NOW the Wind-Cholick, either in the Lower or Upper Part of the Belly, occasions frequent racking PAINS, as do also the Humours by Virtue of their Acidity, corroding the Intestines; and these Mordacious PAINS are generally attended with a subsequent Looseness. In which Cases, I always use proper mitigating and repelling Means, (such as a Carminative and Emollient Clyster, &c: upon extreme Occasions); which proper Means infallibly answer my Ends in either Condition. For if the PAINS that afflict the Woman are Spurious, They are thereby suddenly laid and repressed; and if Genuine, These very self-same Means most effectually promote and advance them to BIRTH.

BUT again, some Women are taken with a mix’d Complication of Genuine and Spurious, or Real and False PAINS, that are properly called Tergiversant; which one Moment seem to depress the BIRTH, and encourage the Woman to Labour; and the next convert themselves into scatter’d Cramps, and other contracting PAINS: And these dispersed Bastard-Pains are always more pernicious to the Woman, than the most severe natural Labour-Pains: This Case is also easily distinguished by the Touch; which done, the false wandring Pains are first to be assuag’d or carry’d off, before the BIRTH can well succeed.

NOW, as to the real Natural and Genuine Pains, They are, (methinks) in short, easily to be judged of by the Manner in which they always seize the Woman; viz.

I. FROM the Navel downwards to the Groin, reflecting towards the Loins, with a depressing and bearing down upon the Womb and Privities, as occasionally mentioned in the preceding Chapter: And tho’ These are intermitting (not continual) PAINS, yet their Severity and Violence extenuate the Umbilical, and protuberate the Genital Parts, opening and distending the Passages. But besides, as the Blood is exagitated and fermented, it excites a Velocity of Pulse, and a Redness of Face; whilst the Belly waxes Fiery-hot, and a Feverish Shivering or Trembling-Fit invades the whole Woman, especially the inferiour Limbs, but without any Frigidity.

II. THE Membranes, with their Contents, which MIDWIVES commonly call the Gathering of the Waters, now present themselves at the Orifice before the Head of the Infant, resembling (to the Touch) Abortive Eggs without any Shell: upon These breaking, the Waters begin to flow; at first more Sparingly, but by and by more profusely, and at last a waterish Blood follows, when a GIRL is to be born; or a pure-colour’d Blood, when a BOY: But I also farther distinguish the BIRTH of an approaching BOY from that of a GIRL, by the Labour-Pains; for in the first Case, these are far more severe and penetrating, and accordingly the BIRTH much more expeditious, than in Case of a GIRL: In which (however) the PAINS are more constant and regular.

III. AND now, at last, the OSSA COCCYGIS and COXENDICIS begin to yield, and give way; while the Bottom contracts, the Orifice of the Womb opens, and the Vagina dilates itself fully: So that now, and not before, most of the abovesaid Signs evidently appear, I give my patient Woman the Word to Labour her best; because if she begins sooner, she too much debilitates both Herself and fatigues the CHILD before its due Time.

MOREOVER, I have seen some Women in Labour taken with a sudden Vomiting, that I suppose proceeded from the natural Sympathy, which the Stomach bears to the Womb: Whereupon it discharges a certain Viscous Matter, which I have always observ’d, upon its turning Bloody, to presage an easy LABOUR, and an expeditious DELIVERY.

FARTHER yet, the MIDWIFE must always remember, that when the commenced real PAINS of Labour chance to cease, the Woman’s Labouring Efforts must also terminate with them in Course: And as this Case denotes a Debility of the Expulsive Faculty; so if it be not both Timely and Judiciously assisted, It may prove of the worst of Consequences. In a word, so much I have thought previously necessary to my Purpose, before I enter upon——

CHAP. XVII.
Of the True Method of LAYING the Woman.

UPON this Occasion, the MIDWIFE ought, in the first place, carefully to observe the Contents of the foregoing Chapter; and, Secondly, To follow this general Rule, which I lay down out of absolute Necessity: viz. That the Woman be delivered, and the Child brought forth into the World as soon as possible after Flooding; and that because the Womb immediately, after This is over, falls, shrinks, and contracts itself again, and of Consequence compresses the BIRTH very closely.

BUT in order to effect this Matter, as much depends upon the right Situation or Placing of the Woman; so I advise, in the first place, that, as soon as the Waters begin to flow, She be commodiously placed either in a Bed, Chair, or Stool, properly adapted for that Purpose, and laid with great Skill and Judgment, not too Supine, nor altogether Upright; but (as it were) between a standing and lying Posture: having her Back a little erected for the freer Respiration, and the better Labour; with her Thighs at a due Liberty and Distance, only separated as much as possibly they may; her Knees a little elevated; her Feet stayed against something Firm, and her Heels bending Backwards.

HOWEVER I must farther observe in this place, that the POSITIONS of parturient Women are very various and different; some doing this Work (as above) in a Bed, others in a Stool, and some again I have seen deliver’d standing, and leaning only a little Forwards upon the Bed-stead. Hence, I say, that the POSTURES in time of Labour, differ not only according to the Necessity, but also sometimes (in Natural Easy Cases) according to the Custom of the Woman.

BE that as it will, I would advise all Labouring Women, FIRST to make Choice of a dextrous and ingenious MIDWIFE to attend them at that critical Juncture, since the poetical Proverb (Accidit in puncto, quod non speratur in Anno) holds as True in BIRTH as in any Case I know; for some Women after having sundry repeated Natural easy BIRTHS, come at last to suffer by some difficult or preternatural Accident, which may happen in a Moment of Time.

SECONDLY, I would advise all parturient Women, to give themselves over into the Hands of such a MIDWIFE, to be universally advised and entirely directed by her Conduct: And thus being under the watchful Eye and diligent Care of the prudent and skilful MIDWIFE, the good Woman in her Travail has Nothing else to do (besides following Instruction) but only to assume Courage and Resolution to assist her own PAINS as she feels them coming on, by drawing and holding her Breath, as if she was to sob or sigh, by contracting the MUSCLES of her Belly, as much as possible; insomuch that the forcible Impression may bear alike upon each side of the Womb, and depress the Diaphragma, which (of Consequence) suppresses the Womb. But then again in this Case I would observe briefly, that she is strictly to regard the TIME of a right true Travail, as at that Juncture only to use these her best and strongest Endeavours.

BUT now to return to the Duty of the attending MIDWIFE; as occasion requires, She is to direct her Woman, either to lie, sit, stand, or walk, keeping her always Warm, and as close cover’d in Time of Touching as possible; for the least Breath almost of Cold Air may occasion Convulsions, and other most dangerous Accidents.

BECAUSE I have often observ’d Women to be Costive and bound in their Bellys upon this Occasion, which is of dangerous Consequence, I would therefore advise in this Case to adhibite a gentle Emollient Clyster; not only that (by the Rectum being so emptied) there may be the more Room for the necessary Dilatation of the PARTS, but also that the unfortunate Effects of Costiveness may be timely prevented: And the same Means I would use, in Case of Heavy, Dull, or Languid PAINS; ordering the Clyster only in this Case to be made a little more Carminative; as mentioned in the preceeding Chapter.

BUT this however I would have done in the Beginning of the Travail, and reiterated (if need so require) before the CHILD be advanced too far Forwards.

NOW the MIDWIFE finding all things in a Natural Posture, and the Child in a Forward way, is to advance her Hand skilfully, (which at every individual Touch ought to be fresh-anointed with the Oil of white Lillies, Roses, &c. or Fresh-Butter, Hogs-Lard, or whatsoever of this Nature is readiest at Hand) entering the ORIFICE with the Fingers-Ends, dilating it by opening them gently as the Pains come on: Thrusting gradually the Sides of the ORIFICE towards the OCCIPUT or Hinder part of the Child’s Head, and moistening these Passages also with what she uses for her Hands.

WHEN the VERTEX, or Crown of the Head, appears without the Privities, the MIDWIFE most commonly calls out or says the Child is in the Passage; and the parturient Woman then finding these Parts (as it were) scratch’d or prick’d with Pins, often groundlessly imagines that her MIDWIFE deals roughly by Her with Nails and Fingers; whereas that Pungency is only occasioned by a violent Distension, or perhaps a Laceration, sometimes inevitably made, by the Bulk of the Head of the INFANT.

HOWEVER that be, and whatever the Woman may think or say, the MIDWIFE is only to mind her own Business, and discharge her Duty faithfully upon this CRISIS; in order to which, it is now High Time that she also place herself in a convenient Posture to receive the BIRTH: Which (when advanced as far as the EARS, or thereabouts) she is to take gentle hold of, by both Sides of the HEAD with both Hands; so that by this Means she may be ready and able, against the first Onset of the next good Pain, to draw forth the Child. In doing whereof, she must take special Care that the NAVEL-STRING be not entangled about the Neck, or any other Part, lest the Secundine or the Womb itself thereby suffer Violence, and consequently cause either Flooding, or break the String, which may render the Case dangerous and the BIRTH difficult.

BUT in thus attracting the INFANT, the MIDWIFE must carefully observe, not to draw the HEAD straight-forwards, but move it gently from Side to Side, that the Shoulders may the more readily and easily take Place: For these must immediately follow the HEAD without Loss of Time, otherways the BIRTH may be strangled in the Passage by the WOMB shutting upon its Neck: To prevent which Tragical Catastrophe, the Cunning Expert MIDWIFE directly slides in her Fingers under the Arm-Pitts, and then draws discreetly the BODY forth without any Difficulty or Danger.

THUS, in fine, We have discreetly deliver’d our good WOMAN, in Case of a Natural Easy Birth; but on the other Side, in difficult and Preternatural Cases, the several Conditions and Circumstances will mightily differ from the Beginning; because in these the PAINS are not always sufficient to produce the BIRTH. Hence it is sometimes more convenient for the WOMAN to be Passive, rather than Active; especially when the Position of either the Womb, or the Infant is Preternatural: For then it is the MIDWIFE’s whole Business to labour more than the WOMAN; then her ingenious Touch is of infinite Service to the PARTURIENT, since by that only she can distinguish the Degree of the Ill Situation whether of the CHILD or the WOMB. Which being dextrously done, She is in the next Place, prudently to consider what kind of POSTURE, Sitting or Lying, is most convenient, that she may the better discharge her own good Office and Duty: Of which I shall treat more particularly in the following respective Chapters; since it still remains here, by the way, that we also deliver our above-mentioned Woman of her After-Birth, &c.

CHAP. XVIII.
Of the Method of Extracting the SECUNDINE,

&c.

AFTER all, to perfect or finish the Woman’s DELIVERY, it still remains that She be freed of her After-Birth, or Secundine. Now this I advise to be done with all imaginable Speed, after the Child is born, even before the NAVEL-STRING is cut: Because the Womb immediately contracts itself, so that This cannot be accomplish’d afterwards without great Difficulty.

HOWEVER, I know beforehand, that my Method of performing this Work, which I am about to lay down, will be thought a strange Innovation in Midwifery; but without any regard to that, in speaking to this Point, I shall First suppose this Body to be already loosen’d from the Womb; in which Case the Midwife has nothing to do, but to draw the STRING gently, which she holds in One Hand, twisted twice or thrice around one or more of her Fingers, while she passes the Other Hand into the Womb, following always the STRING (as her Guide) to the Place where the Burthen lies: And where, as in this Case, it naturally presents itself to the Orifice, She stretches her Hand up length-ways, taking hold of it betwixt her Fingers; and thus, by the Assistance of the other Hand always attracting softly the STRING, she brings it at last most commodiously away.

SECONDLY, I shall suppose, in the mean Time, this Body to continue fixed to the Womb, either in Part or in Whole: In which Case, if in Part, the Midwife finding by the Touch the other Loose Part, moves her Hand thither betwixt That and the Womb, shaking or stirring it gently backwards and forwards, until such time as it is entirely loosen’d, when she proceeds as Before: But if in whole, and that it sticks very Fast, then the MIDWIFE places her Hindmost Fingers on its Exteriour Part against the Womb, and her Fore-Fingers against the Inside; so that thus by pulling softly on all Sides quite round, it is easily loosen’d and extracted as Above.

THIRDLY, I shall suppose this SECUNDINE also (tho’ loosen’d successfully) to be so very Large, that it cannot pass through the ORIFICE: In this Case, I only desire my deliver’d Woman to concur with me, and behave herself as if she was forcing or expelling the CHILD; for then whilst I at the same time gently attract the STRING, it immediately follows.

I very well know that Mr. Mauriceau and all others either in and before his Time, teach quite different Methods of extruding the AFTER-BIRTH; such as are by the WOMAN’s blowing in her Fist, putting her Finger in her Throat, and the like; which when the poor Patient has done, and stood them All out ineffectually, together with their many other various uncertain Experiments to no Purpose, and none of them have succeeded (as it has often happen’d): Then at last, and not till then, they direct the aforesaid Method of the HAND to be used. But now-a-days, we know better Things than to run such indiscreet Risques, when we may go a safer Way to work; or to make use of Uncertainties, when we know more Infallible Means. As I shall, I hope, make this Method plainly appear to be; notwithstanding all the great Cautions of those Authors publish’d, and the Difficulties they make of it in our Practice of MIDWIFERY: And that I will endeavour to do from the following Considerations, viz.

I. IF after the Birth of the Infant, the Hand be presently pass’d into the Womb, it slips in together with Part of the Arm, as far as is needful, without the least Trouble or Inconvenience to the Woman; the Womb as well as its Orifice continuing always, so long as this may be done, sufficiently Open: And thus the Birth maybe skilfully accomplished or perfected, as it were, in an Instant; while others (trying their vain Projects) spend many trifling Hours about it, and it is ten to one, if at last they succeed.

II. BY these means, moreover, I presently know whether there be One, Another, or More INFANTS to follow; whether there be a dead CHILD, false CONCEPTION, or any Foreign Body whatsoever, lodged in the Womb; whether any Part, or Pieces of the Secundine, or Membranes, or Lumps of Clotted Blood, be left behind and retain’d: All which I propose to bring away either before, or after the Secundine, as Occasion serves, with the greatest Safety as well as Expedition.

III. AFTER having thoroughly searched on all Sides, and thus duly cleans’d the Womb, by continuing my Hand in it, until it contracts about that Hand, first above towards the Bottom, and then below towards the Orifice, which happens very quickly: I find myself then, by great Experience, able to rectify all Oblique and Preternatural Situations of the Womb; as in Case of a Prolapsus, (or Falling down) I can hereby move it carefully Up again: If it lies too much Backwards, by elevating it while it gradually contracts, I can easily bring it Forwards, to its Natural Position: If it hangs too much Forwards, I can quickly reduce it Backwards: If it tends to either Side, I can directly move it to its Center. And thus, in short, I hope I may be allow’d gently and gradually to restore the Womb to its Natural Place and Posture, how Preternaturally and Obliquely soever its Situation may happen to be disorder’d.

NOW This being so successfully done, I can, in fine, assure and secure any Lying-in-Woman, that her Womb is both duly purg’d, and naturally shut again as it ought to be; which I take to be the greatest Satisfaction the Child-Bed-Woman can conceive in her Condition. Whereas,

IV. THEY who leave all these Things to mere Nature, risque their Patient’s future Welfare, and very often her Life too, as innumerable Tragical Examples witness: For Nature itself most particularly requires our special Assistance in this Case. But (according to their indifferent Notions) it is Time enough to assist Nature, when it is found Deficient; and then, in Case of Extremity, they unanimously agree that there is no other way to help or save the Woman’s Life, but by this Method of Manual Operation. To which I answer, that Nature operates not in an Instant, but (in all Cases) requires a competent Time, to discharge its respective Functions; and being left too long to itself, for want of Help, is many a-time (by intervening Accidents) found at last Incapable: Upon which, then They, beginning their Endeavours to second it, generally come too late. For if the Case does not prove to be past all Remedy, it is at least (by this Protraction of Time) often rendred not only difficult, but also desperate; as will evidently appear in the Case in hand, from what follows, viz.

I. WHILE They (conformable to the general and universal Practice of common MIDWIVES) expect the Performance of Nature, or the Success of their trifling Means, in the mean time, the Orifice of the Womb is so closely shut up, that in the space of an Hour or two, it cannot be penetrated, without renovating the most severe racking Pains to the Woman, who (perhaps) has been sufficiently spent before, by the Delivery of her Infant, and is now consequently incapable of standing out the renew’d Pangs: whereby of course She must succumb at last, and give up the Ghost, for want of Timely Help; as innumerable Instances confirm for an undeniable Truth. But,

II. SUPPOSING the Woman to be able to undergo the PAINS, yet the Womb is however contracted, and the SECUNDINE bound so close up, that this Body, which before adher’d Cake-ways to its Bottom in a smooth and broad Form, is now so squeez’d into a small and long Figure, that it is even now a Difficulty next to Impossible, to reach the Bottom of the Womb, and still a harder Task to extract an entire Secundine, without prejudicing the Womb.

III. THEY who altogether neglect Manual Operation, may (I confess) sometimes deliver their Woman, when Success accidentally answers their Wish: But without this Mean, they cannot possibly restore a prolaps’d, fallen-down, or an obliquely situated Womb, to its natural Position. No, to the Contrary, Nothing is more common among ignorant unwary MIDWIVES, than to invert and draw down the Bottom of the Womb itself, by pulling the Navel-String, as they foolishly intend by means of it only to extract the SECUNDINE. Neither does the Mischief always end here, but mistaking this Body, when so found by their Touch, they immediately imagine it to be the Head of another Infant; and persevering in this false Conjecture, they manifestly expose the poor Woman to the Hazard of her Life. Neither,

IV. POSSIBLY can They, without the Use of the Hand, so cleanse the Womb of the Reliques of the SECUNDINE, which may stick up and down to the Womb; or of the Pieces or Parts of the Membranes, which may remain there; or of the clotted Blood, which commonly stays behind. From hence therefore it necessarily follows, that (without the Means of the Hand) They cannot be Positive or Certain in any Circumstance, relating to the True State of the Woman. They can neither assure Herself, nor those concern’d, that her Womb is duly purged; if (perchance) of the SECUNDINE, which they may guess at by the Sight, yet not of the Fragments of the Membranes, nor of the clotted Blood, which they can never be certain of, but by this Method. I mention these Things, because the least Part of Either being retain’d, or left Behind in the Womb, may cost the Woman her Life, as innumerable Precedents do testify. Nor,

V. CAN they possibly secure the Woman, that her WOMB is duly shut and contracted; much less can they (without these Means) affirm that it is orderly situated in its proper natural Center: By the Neglect or Fault of which Condition, she is not only rendred Barren afterwards, but also most infirm all the Days of her Life.

BUT notwithstanding how plain and easy soever, I have endeavour’d to make out the above-mention’d Method, I would over and above recommend It only to the judicious and well-qualify’d MIDWIFE; by no Means to those that are ignorant in the Parts of GENERATION, nor to any stiff clumsy-fisted Person: And that for the Two following Reasons; viz.

I. LEST the String (by some Accident or other) should break, and she, missing this Guide to the SECUNDINE, should take One Part for Another, and consequently dislodge the Womb instead of the After-Birth; which has undoubtedly often happen’d by such blind Doings, notwithstanding this very remarkable Difference between Them, that the SECUNDINE distinguishes itself from the Other, by a great many little Inequalities on the Outside, occasion’d by the Roots of the Umbilical Vessels. And,

II. LEST she should unwarily either break, tear, or scratch the Womb, with her thick, fleshy, rough, and rigid Hand, or with her stiff and crooked Fingers: Either of which Accidents, may give Origin to various Misfortunes; such as a Prolapsus, or Falling-down, a preternatural Flooding, an Inflammation, or Gangrene, &c.

BUT we will now, in fine, suppose that the Ingenuous MIDWIFE has after All discharged her faithful Duty in these Respects, with Care, Lenity, and good Conduct, as well as with great Art and Judgment: In which Case, it only remains, that she take the necessary and usual Care of the Child-Bed-Woman and Infant; as hereafter will be directed in the respective Chapters of SECTION VIth, to come.

IN the mean Time, these curious Things being thus amply premised in this Place, the Reader has no more superfluous Repetitions to expect concerning them in the following Performance: And therefore with these Preliminaries I conclude my Fourth SECTION.

SECT. V.

CHAP. I.
Of BIRTH.

MAN’s appointed Time may as reasonably allude to his BIRTH, as to his DEATH: His Days and his Months (mentioned by holy Job[158]) being as much determin’d, naturally speaking, in the One, as in the other Case.

THE INFANT thus being thoroughly ripen’d, and arrived to full Perfection of Maturity, the Hour approaches, in which it scorns any longer Confinement to such narrow Bounds. For the Animal Spirits being discontented, for want of due Liberty and free Motion; the Vitals, for want of Refrigeration and Refreshment; and the Natural Spirits, for want of sufficient Respiration and Nutrition: They all concur to make a Commotion, and (as it were) a victorious Revolt or an Effort pushing for CONQUEST.

THE INFANT being thus irritated, immediately shakes off its Fetters, breaks the Ligaments, rents the Membranes, thrusts through the Enclosures, and makes its most vigorous Attempts to enlarge itself from the Prison of the Womb, into that of the World.

WHICH Enlargement depends very much indeed upon NATURE, but more particularly on the Strength and Vigour of the INFANT, seconded by a peculiar Faculty of the Womb, that by degrees is drawn-in to Consent, and Endeavour to dislodge and expel its troublesome and obstreperous GUEST.

NOW the INFANT, during the whole Time of Gestation, adhering to the WOMB, by the Umbilicals, as the Fruit does to the Tree by the Stalks, upon this Occasion distends the WOMB, and having valiantly turn’d itself, breaks the Membranes, and dissolves the Acetabula: When also the Orifice of the WOMB is competently open’d; and That (in Avicenna’s memorable Words[159]) at the Command of the great God. Upon This the Waters flow; the Umbilicals parting from the WOMB and their proper Vessels, and the Veins and Arteries of the SECUNDINE severing themselves, in like manner; As ripe Fruit, or the Leaves of Trees in Autumn fall-off naturally, or break from their proper Stalks.

THUS the WOMB, exerting its extensive and expulsive Faculties, excludes the Legitimate INFANT: To which great Work also, the Painful Labours, and Labouring Pangs of the MOTHER (in the manner they happen with the contracted Spirits, depress’d Midriff, and compress’d Muscles of the Abdomen) contribute not a little Help. And, in short, this stupendous Work or Action is called BIRTH; and is nothing else, but an Exclusion of the mature CHILD.

WHICH BIRTH proceeds either from Causes of the INFANT, or from Causes of the WOMB: Of the INFANT, because through the strict Confinement of a narrow Place, and Defect[160] of Aliment, and Refrigeration, It kicks and spurns for its Exit: Of the WOMB, because about that Time, being overloaded and aggrieved by the Bulk and Weight of the Child, it endeavours, by its own expulsive Faculty, to disburthen itself, and propel or drive it forth to the utmost of its Power. For——

AS it is the proper Function of the Stomach, to eject the noxious Humours by Vomit, and deject the Natural Excrements into the INTESTINES; as it is also the Office of the RECTUM to evacuate the Fæces; as likewise the Profusion of the Urine is the Action of the Bladder; as again the Extrusion of all fuliginous Matters is the Work of the Heart and Lungs; and as, at last, the Effusion of the Genital Seed (in Venery) is the Operation of the Virile Testicles: So the Exclusion of the Mature FOETUS is the Eighth[161] and last proper Action of the WOMB; which is justly deem’d the only Primary Agent and Active Cause of BIRTH, as the excluded FOETUS is the Passive.

BUT this BIRTH is not always Uniform; for as it differs in Time, so it does also in Manner: From hence we have with respect to the Time, Legitimate and Illegitimate BIRTHS, which being already discuss’d[162], I shall resume nothing by way of Repetition in this Place: And with respect to the Manner, we have also two general Sorts, namely, Natural and Preternatural BIRTHS; which together with their particular Branches, I am now to enter upon, without any farther Digression.

CHAP. II.
Of Natural BIRTHS.

BY a Natural BIRTH, I mean nothing else, but that which is perform’d without any ART or Artificial Means; which BIRTH (of itself) strictly observes the Order and Appointment of Nature: That is, in the INFANT’s coming Head foremost, Face downwards, Arms following, extended (along the Sides) strait upwards, towards the Thighs.

HIPPOCRATES’s Reason[163], in short, for the CHILD’s thus turning and presenting itself, is very good; viz. Because of all the Parts, the Head is the Heaviest about the Time of BIRTH, as appears more at large from Sect. I. Chap. 10.

BUT besides this Argument, I believe Wise Nature has also order’d it thus; because This indubitably is the most safe and easy Manner of EXITION both for the Mother and Infant: Insomuch that by all other Methods of EXTRACTION, One or the Other, and sometimes Both Lives are, or may be, endanger’d, if not very dextrously perform’d, according to the best Laws of Art and Judgment, as by and by will more manifestly appear.

BUT because I have generally observ’d most Authors to treat promiscuously of BIRTHS, not only accounting some, which are really Natural, to be Preternatural; but also both handling and writing of them as such, only because attended with some difficult Circumstances: I shall (in this place) take Leave to make an agreeable Distinction betwixt the different Sorts of Natural BIRTHS, in order to make every thing the more clear and obvious to the Conception of the Reader. Upon which Account therefore, I shall reduce These to two Heads, and that under the Titles of Natural Easy, and Natural Difficult BIRTHS.

THE FIRST of which I include in this Chapter; but because in this Case (which I call a Natural Easy BIRTH), Nature alone always performs the Work, without any Help of ART or Artful Means; and because also the Midwife (upon this Occasion) has but little or nothing to do, save only to observe the concluding Chapters of the last preceding Section; and upon receiving the Child, immediately to manage and provide both for the Mother and the Infant according to their several Necessities, as hereafter shall be inculcated in the respective Chapters of the next following Section: I say, for these Reasons, I have no Room here to insist farther on this present Head; wherefore I proceed in course to the SECOND Sort of these BIRTHS. Namely——

CHAP. III.
Of Natural Difficult BIRTHS.

THO’ indeed every difficult Expulsion of the INFANT, from whatsoever Cause it may proceed, is verily a Difficult BIRTH; yet I shall here distinguish a difficult One from a preternatural BIRTH; not only that I may thereby, the better avoid the Confusion which others have led themselves into, by treating of Both promiscuously, but also that my Method may tend the more to the peculiar Benefit and Advantage of the Ingenious Reader.

WHEREFORE I call that a Difficult BIRTH; where, notwithstanding the Figure and Dimensions of the CHILD, answer in all respects to its proper natural Posture, in a Perpendicular Womb, duly situated, yet the Exclusion of the INFANT, is retarded, by some certain Opposition or Difficulty. From hence proceeds the real Difference between This and the Natural Easy BIRTH, forasmuch as This always requires less or more skilful Assistance, according to various Circumstances, and That but Little or none at all.

NOW the Causes of Difficult BIRTHS are very various, and according to the Nature of them, This sometimes proves equally as dangerous as the Preternatural; but when so it happens, I have commonly observed the Fault to be, for the most Part wholly owing to the arrogant MIDWIFE, who either knew not how to remove the Cause and facilitate the BIRTH herself, or delay’d applying betimes to some Abler Person, for the Relief and Safety of her Labouring WOMAN.

HENCE arises a Fundamental Maxim, which I would lay down for a memorable Rule to all such Ignorants; that no MIDWIFE ought to keep a Woman in this Condition under her Hands (especially in a Place where extraordinary Help is to be had) any longer, than she finds the Advances of BIRTH answer to the Proportion of Time spent about it: But forthwith she ought to deliver her up to the Care of the more Skilful and Judicious Practiser in this Art. In which Case, of Compliance and Condescension, she is to be highly commended for her tender Care, and cautious Concern; whereas upon acting contrary to this good Rule out of Pride or Obstinacy, and the fatal Accident ensuing, I have known the MIDWIFE to have been try’d for her Life in the City of Venice.

BUT that I may render every thing Plain and Easy to the Apprehension of the weakest Reader, by reason that the Causes of Difficult BIRTHS are both different and numerous, I shall again reduce them to Two Classes; namely, External and Internal: The External, I shall include in the next following Chapter; but the Internal Causes, requiring a more Curious and Extensive Dilucidation, may (I hope) be pertinently divided into a Three-fold Difference; viz. Causes of the Mother, of the Infant, and of the Passages; which I propose to handle particularly, all in their due Order. But First,

CHAP. IV.
Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from External Causes.

IN all difficult Cases, the Cure or Remedy chiefly depends upon the certain Knowledge of the Nature of the Case, and the Cause of the Difficulty: Since (according to Celsus[164], that noble Roman Physician) it is not to be suppos’d that He should know how to remedy Diseases, who knows not their Original Causes.

FOR as in other Cases, so also in MIDWIFERY, the Cause being known, the Difficulty is easily remov’d; but especially when it only proceeds from External Causes, it requires no great Art, save only the MIDWIFE’S particular Notice and discreet Animadversion.

AS, FIRST, for Instance, in Case of any Difficulty, occasion’d by an Intemperature, or inclement Constitution of Weather and Air; the more adverse or inclement the Weather is, the more tender Care ought to be taken of the Labouring Woman: Namely, in Summer, when the Heat scorches so much as to dissipate the Woman’s Strength, she ought to Labour in a Ground-Chamber backwards, which may be strewed (for the Purpose) with Vine or Willow-Leaves, Rose-Water, and a little Vinegar; as it is customary in hot Countries.

IN Winter, when the Cold pinches so as to condense and astringe the Womb and the Passages, she ought to Labour in an Upper-Room, kept moderately warm with one continued Fire; the MIDWIFE rubbing gently the Hypogastrick and Ischiatick Regions every now and then with hot Cloathes.

IN Spring and Fall, when parching dry Weather, with North and East Winds most abound, the MIDWIFE ought not only to rub these Inferiour Regions with hot Cloaths; but also to qualify the Influences of the Siccid AIR, by anointing the Passages with proper Unguents.

A Second External Cause may proceed from the Passions of the Will or Mind, as it often does from Fear and Despair, Dejection and Pusillanimity: In which Case, it is the MIDWIFE’s Duty to encourage her Woman by the Hopes of a Speedy DELIVERY, and doing well under God’s Blessing. When the Cause arises from Anger or Sorrow, these are to be assuaged by the repeated Christian Exhortations, and Friendly Admonitions of the Midwife and Gossips. When it comes from Pride and Obstinacy, as has been the Case of some Lofty Women; who (deeming themselves too good, to be treated after the common Course of Mankind) have refused to undergo or permit the proper Means, absolutely necessary for their own Relief; This ought to be severely check’d by the Company, especially by the nearest Friends; the Midwife (by proper Remonstrances) convincing her to her Shame of her obstinate Sin. When it proceeds, in fine, from Bashfulness or too strict a Modesty, she may be justly reprehended of Folly; for no Woman of good Sense (how Modest and Virtuous soever) will expose her own Life or her Infant’s to Danger, for the trifling Fancies or Caprices of her own vain Imagination, especially in a Case where like things happen to All equally of Flesh and Blood.

BUT when it happens to proceed from the Woman’s being ill-affected, or owing a private Grudge or Hatred to any in the Company, (as I once knew it to be the Cause of a difficult and lingring BIRTH) She ought to speak her Mind freely, at least to her MIDWIFE; who ought to give the Person civil Notice to retire forthwith, for certain Reasons, &c.

A Third External Cause of a difficult BIRTH may proceed from a wrong Position, or other sinistrous Methods taken to assist the Woman: In which Case, such Inconveniencies are to be alter’d, and better Measures practis’d; for thus the Cause being removed, the BIRTH differs in Nothing from That of the Natural Easy Case.

WHENCE I come, in the next Place, to speak of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from Internal Causes; and because they are Three-fold, as has been before observed, I shall assign them as many respective Chapters, treating of Each in their due Order, as mentioned.

CHAP. V.
Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the MOTHER.

IN this (as in the former Case) the Midwife must use her most acute and nicest Judgment, to find out the particular Cause of the Difficulty. Which being done,

I. IF She finds it arises from the Woman’s being too Young, or too Old, of her first Child, or too Lean at last; she is to anoint the Passages with proper Unguents, which ought to be done some time before, as well as in the Hour of LABOUR: When she is likewise to employ her subtile Hand, in assisting and augmenting the Dilatation of the Orifice; as is requisite also in Case of the Woman being too Fat or Gross.

II. IF the Woman be too small, short, crooked, or misshaped, not having a Breast strong enough to forward and bear down her PAINS; or if she be over tender, sensible, and apprehensive of PAIN; or too weak, and not able to contribute or assist by her own forcing Endeavours; or short-winded, and not capable to constrain her Spirits downwards: In all these Cases she is to be kept upright, for the more free Respiration, as well as for encreasing her PAINS, standing or walking about the Room, according to her Strength, being supported under her Arms, and not put to Bed until at least the WATERS are broke. But, in the mean Time, the weak and tender Woman ought to be now and then comforted and refreshed with fresh soft Eggs, good Broths, Jellies, a little Wine and Toast, a little Wine and Water, or such like convenient Things, as well as with the Hopes of a speedy Delivery.

III. WHEN the PAINS are not Natural or Genuine; but Spurious, Faint and Languid; or Shifting and Tergiversant; such are to be assuaged by proper Lenitives and Anodynes; which being regularly done, the Genuine Pains may be excited by proper Clysters, and divers other Means. But I would advise none to a Profuse Use of MEDICINES in such Cases, since I well know that many a Woman has lost her Life by using dolorifick Medicines, prescribed by imprudent MIDWIVES, without considering, or so much as knowing the true Circumstances of the Condition: Whereas in most Cases, by the ingenious Motion of an Experienc’d Hand only, the Pains may be sufficiently awaken’d, and the Birth safely promoted.

IV. WHEN the Difficulty proceeds from the Debility of the Womb, or its Expulsive Faculty, not being able or capable to Exclude the INFANT, because of a more strong and valid Retentive Power: In this Condition, if there be no evident External Cause to be obviated, it depends chiefly upon the Subtile Hand of the MIDWIFE, to assist the Womb in its Function; and otherways the PATIENT is only to be treated as in the Case of the weak and tender Woman above-mentioned.

V. WHEN the Woman is taken with any Acute Disease, the BIRTH is to be prompted by all safe Means; and if a Natural DELIVERY does not presently succeed, an Artificial one must (without Loss of Time) be undertaken. As in the Case of immoderate and continual Floodings, with concomitant Convulsions, which always proceed from the Separation of the SECUNDINE (either in whole or in part) from the Womb, and happen many different ways, as already mentioned at large[165].

IN these Cases, especially if the Secundine is found (by the Touch) at the Orifice, there is no Hope of Stopping them by any other Means, than by delivering the Woman; which now the sooner done, the better (for saving two Lives) and that whether at full time of Reckoning or not. But this Operation, I conceive, is to be most discreetly Undertaken in the manner following, viz.

THE Woman is to be placed in Bed, with the Upper and Lower Part of her Body almost equal, then the Midwife is gently and gradually to introduce her Fingers into the Orifice, dilating it cautiously with one or two, until she can enter them All; when opening the Matrix by Degrees, she gets in her Whole Hand, and thereby first carefully tears the Membrane with her Nails, if the WATERS are not previously broke: Then she puts her Hand in the same Membrane to the Infant’s Feet, seeking them in their Place, where they are to be found, when they don’t present themselves at First: Because, the Hold by the FEET being Better, it is more easy to deliver by Them, in this Case, than by the HEAD, or any other Part. After this the FEET being found, the Child is easily turn’d, as long as the Womb is loose and slippery, and the Humours not quite flown off; which being nicely done, the FEET are to be drawn out both together, if possible; but if otherways, they must be drawn down separately, with great Caution: And so being conjoin’d or held fast together, they are to be drawn forward with one Hand, whilst the other is circumspectly thrust towards the Knees or Buttocks of the Child, in order thereby to turn also the whole Body of the Infant, so that its Face, Belly, and Toes may tend downwards towards the RECTUM.

IN this Posture the Child may be gently and gradually extracted with Ease; next the SECUNDINE must be fetch’d away in its Turn, and lastly the Womb is to be thoroughly cleans’d of all heterogeneous Bodies, as formerly directed[166]. And thus the Womb (having yielded up its Contents) immediately contracts, by which MEANS of divine Appointment, the Vessels close and shut firmly, and consequently the FLUX ceases, together with all the concomitant SYMPTOMS.

BUT it is to be well remembred, that this Operation ought to be timely perform’d; that is, before the Woman has lost too much Blood, or is too much spent; in which Condition such a painful Attempt would but accelerate her Death. As to her Regimen next, upon this melancholy Occasion, She must be duly provided for beforehand, that she may be able to undergo and stand out such an extream difficult DELIVERY; and afterwards, that she may recruit her Spirits, and retrieve her exhausted Strength: For which Purposes, she ought to be supplied from time to time with some good Broths, Jellys, and a little generous Wine, smelling continually Rose-Vinegar, and applying repeated warm Toasts dipt in Wine (in which Cinnamon has been infus’d or boil’d) to the Region of her Heart, as also Napkins dipt in a Mixture of Water and Vinegar about her Reins, in order for turning the Course of the Flux.

THESE Things being all duly and artfully perform’d, the Patient (under God) will soon recover and be in Statu quo. Now These, in short, are all the principal and most common Causes of difficult Births proceeding from the part of the Mother; which being thus discussed with all Brevity, I go on to——

CHAP. VI.
Of Difficult BIRTHS proceeding from Causes of the INFANT.

IT sometimes also happens, that the Difficulty in Labour arises from the Infant: And that FIRST when Two or More strive for Priority in BIRTH.

NOW this Condition the Midwife can no otherways distinguish or discover, but by the Touch; and when the one is more forward than the other, ’tis not to be done or known, until she has even touch’d the very Fund of the Womb: Because sometimes it so happens, that One Child has its Hands and Feet so intermix’d, that whatever way She turns her Hand, she finds Legs or Arms, Hands or Feet, which often deceives Midwives, believing there are TWINS. But in this perplex’d Case the most sure and only certain Sign, is, when she feels two Heads or two Backs; for then she cannot be Mistaken, since one Body cannot have two Heads, unless it be a Monster, which may be soon discover’d by feeling if the double Head be fix’d to one and the same Body.

BUT in the Case of TWINS or more Children (as long as they come right) the Delivery is perform’d, as if the Woman had but One, in the Natural Case already Stated; so that I shall repeat or recapitulate Nothing of what I have said, only that the After-Birth, or Births are not to be touch’d, until all the CHILDREN are Born: Upon which drawing gently the Navel Strings (in their Turns) with the One Hand, the Other brings them forth easily and orderly; as is set forth more fully in Sect. IV. Chap. 18.

A SECOND difficult LABOUR may proceed from the Weakness and Debility of the Infant, or from its being too Small-grown; in which Case, both the Woman and the Midwife are to use their best mutual Endeavours to promote the BIRTH, since the CHILD can do little or nothing for itself, and the Less it is, the less it is affected with the THROWS of the Mother, and the less Impression her Impulses make upon it: Whereupon Nature is to be assisted in this weak Condition by all convenient Means, whereof THAT of the Agile or Nimble Hand is the most effectual.

A THIRD difficult BIRTH may proceed from the Infant’s being too Big; In which Place I must previously apprize the READER, that I no ways mean a MONSTER or Hydropical CHILD, but only One full, well, or Big-grown, which is only reckoned too Big in regard of the Maternal Passages, which may be too Small in Proportion.

IN this Case, there is an absolute Necessity for Manual Assistance, since the PAINS (however penetrating or forcible) cannot effect the Work. But and if the INFANT is fallen down (well turn’d) into the Pelvis, the Midwife using her best and most skilful Endeavours to dilate the Passages below near the Os Coccygis, the Child may be easily brought forth (without any dangerous Instrument) by her dextrous Hand only accomplishing the Work. In the mean Time, however, it is to be minded always, that This is still more safely and commodiously done by the Feet, than by the Head, after carefully dilating the Os Coccygis, taking this Opportunity in the beginning of the Labour, before the INFANT is too much press’d down into the Pelvis.

NOW these are, in fine, the most common Causes on the Part of the INFANT, whence I come to touch upon difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the Passages; which, because they are various, I subdivide into a Fivefold Diversity; viz. Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the Membranes, from Causes of the Pelvis, from Causes of the Bones of the Pelvis, from Causes of the Bladder and Rectum, and from Causes of the Vagina: And because all these require to be singularly explain’d, and particularly insisted upon, I shall assign them as many respective Chapters. And First——

CHAP. VII.
Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the MEMBRANES.

SUCH Difficulties as These, in BIRTH, may arise, FIRST from the Strength and Firmness of the Membranes; when they happen to be so gross, callous, or thick, that the INFANT cannot easily break through them.

In this Case, when the MIDWIFE finds the Orifice of the Womb sufficiently dilated, for the Circumference of the Head, and the Child so forward in the Passage, that it is ready for BIRTH, and only impeded by the rigid or stiff Membrane; then she has just Authority to break it gently with her Nails and Fingers; taking Care in the Act not to draw the Membrane towards her, because thereby the Secundine (of which the Membrane, tho’ distinguish’d from the Placenta, is in Effect, but the Thinner Part) would be untimely separated from the Womb, and the INFANT undone, unless presently Born.

BUT the MIDWIFE, after All, must always remember, not to attempt This, before these mentioned Signs are obvious to her Touch; otherways the Waters being too soon discharged, the CHILD is left behind, the Passages grow dry, and that which might have been an Easy and Speedy, proves a Difficult and Lingring BIRTH.

AND the self-same Consequences arise from the Weakness and Tenuity of the MEMBRANES; when they are so thin and soft, that they break, and the Waters (which are destin’d to lubricate and moisten the Passages) flow before their Time: In both which Cases, the Office of the Waters must be supply’d by proper Fomentations, and Oils, which (however costly) falls far short of the Effect of what is so Natural. However, in short, neither of these Conditions, under the diligent Hand of the expert Midwife, can differ far from the Case of an Easy BIRTH, as already defin’d; wherefore I proceed regularly to——

CHAP. VIII.
Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from the Causes of the PELVIS.

DIFFICULT BIRTHS on part of the Passages, happen frequently, because of some perverse Form of the PELVIS, in these Respects; as by its being either too Large, too Narrow, or too Smooth. But that I may be the better understood in this Matter: FIRST, by a PELVIS too large, I mean such an One, as is so in comparison with the Womb or Infant; in which Condition, as the Womb can neither be firmly fix’d, compactly inclos’d, or duly supported, so neither can the Head of the Infant and the WATERS be exactly depressed upon the Orifice: Hence it often happens, that (besides the Midwife’s careful Hand) the Privities are the best, if not the only Defence, against both the Womb and the Child’s falling out of the Body.

SECONDLY, By a PELVIS too small, I mean, such an One as is so, in Consideration of the Size of the whole Body; in which Condition, the INFANT commonly answering to that Proportion, its Head can by no Possibility pass thro’ the PELVIS, in a Womb well seated, without great Force, by which Means the Womb may be easily turn’d obliquely: And thus consequently the Smallness of the PELVIS, may sometimes prove the Cause of a Preternatural, as well as of a Difficult BIRTH; and not only so, but also the Death of both the MOTHER and CHILD may ensue thereupon, unless timely deliver’d by an Artful Hand.

THIRDLY, By a PELVIS too smooth, I mean such an One, whose Distance betwixt the OSSA PUBIS and the prominent Part of the OS SACRUM is too narrow; in which Condition, tho’ the Womb be well placed, it cannot admit the Head (especially if large and well-grown) without great Difficulty: And this smooth PELVIS may also very easily turn the Womb (either way) obliquely, and consequently prove of the same dangerous consequential Effect with the preceeding Case.

HENCE (I think) it evidently appears, how necessary it is that all MIDWIVES should not only know the Form and Size of the PELVIS, but also the Situation and Connexion of its Bones, as already describ’d at large[167], that she may thereby the better distinguish the Circumstances by plainly discerning the Causes, and judge accurately of the Position of both the WOMB and the INFANT; so that in the beginning of the Labour, she may immediately discover how the Pelvis and its Entrance is form’d, whether Large or Narrow, Smooth or Round.

FOR this Reason, the first Thing that the MIDWIFE ought to do, when she comes to a Woman in Labour, is to try by the Touch, how all is circumstantiated, with respect to these Things; and This is to be done before the WOMB and the CHILD are fallen down into the Pelvis, that she may contrive her Work accordingly. Because sometimes the Exclusion of the INFANT, is to be hoped for, from the Pains only; sometimes Nature is to be prudently assisted; sometimes there is an absolute Necessity for extracting the Child (without loss of Time) by an Artful Hand, as will hereafter more clearly appear; and sometimes again the same Necessity obliges us to protract the BIRTH, than we may save One or Both Lives: As in the Case of a smooth Pelvis, the Os Pubis and the Vertebræ of the Sacrum being but little distant, the Child’s Head is stopped; when if the Mother should labour much, or endeavour to force an expeditious BIRTH, its tender Head (of course) must suffer in proportion; Or perhaps the Brain may break, by so hard a Pressure against the Bones; or, finally (which is worse) it may be so closely squeez’d between the Bones, that both the MOTHER and the INFANT may peradventure die, before any BIRTH can possibly succeed or come happily into the World.

BUT in this critical Condition, the Woman is to labour gently, and bear her PAINS (how violent soever) patiently; the MIDWIFE always directing the Head, at the same time by her safe Hand, into the larger Space; by which Means at last, it passes gradually through that narrow Passage without the least Danger.

THE same also is the Condition when the PELVIS is too small or narrow; for by the Woman’s labouring gently and deliberately, the Head is depressed softly into an oblique Figure, and passes easily by Degrees: Whereas, on the other hand, if it is forced by Violence, it becomes flat and broad, and consequently incapable of Passing, if not also dash’d to Pieces, as aforesaid.

HENCE we clearly see, how easily Ignorance in this Point, may lead common Midwives into the grossest of Mistakes; For what is more ordinary with them, even in all Cases, than to advise the Woman to strong Labour, and to force her to violent Depressions: Insomuch that Some have Arrogance enough to carry their Bottles or Powders about them, of which they neither know the Quality nor Virtue; taking them only as they are told (by the confident Quacks or Mercenary Hands which vend them) that they may encrease and promote the Pains of Labour, and This without having any regard to the Form of the Pelvis, or the Position of either the WOMB, or the INFANT.

IN short, the mature Consideration of this very Case, was not the least Motive which induced me to the Work in Hand; since I cannot but heartily commiserate so many fine delicate Women, as are thus every day miserably handled, tormented, and exhausted, by the preposterous Management of such indiscreet and imprudent MIDWIVES. I may well say exhausted, or worn-out; This being too evident, from the vast Number of most beautiful Women, who, by this ill-manag’d Condition, (notwithstanding they have all along heretofore, enjoy’d a good State of Health, together with the Affluence of other Worldly Blessings) have been more dejected and broken both in Complexion and Constitution, after one or two BIRTHS, than some others (judiciously and expertly delivered) have been after Twenty: Such is the great Difference betwixt the unskilful Hands or Conduct of common Midwives, and those Dextrous Touches or ingenious Operations of the more judicious Andro-Boethogynists. Whence I come in Course to——

CHAP. IX.
Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the Bones of the PELVIS.

THE Reader may easily conceive, by the way, that these are neither to be made bigger or lesser by Art; notwithstanding which, by using them Skilfully, and treating them Judiciously, many a Difficult BIRTH may not only be prevented, but also many a Life saved, as will manifestly appear from what follows.

NOW the Bones, upon which the Success of the BIRTH chiefly depends, are the Os Coccygis, and the Point of the Sacrum; which sometimes bend too much inwards, and thereby obstruct and render the Passage so narrow, that no BIRTH can possibly succeed. And again, It sometimes happens, that the INFANT falling down into the PELVIS, and presenting itself Head foremost, is oppos’d and stopped there by the Os Coccygis: As it also sometimes falls out, that the Shoulders stick fast against the Edge of these Bones; or the Buttocks falling down and offering themselves first, may be so fastened or affixed to them, that they can never be extracted.

THESE Misfortunes may proceed from Either of these two different Causes; viz. Either from the Grossness or large Size of these Parts of the Infant, or from the Narrowness of the PELVIS, occasion’d by an ill Position of its Bones, particularly of the Os Coccygis; which Bone when the Head cannot make it yield or move, neither can it then possibly reach the Orifice of the Womb, to dilate it sufficiently: And, in short, if the Head cannot effect this essential Point, much less can the Buttocks, or any other Part be supposed capable of doing it.

BUT in all the above-mentioned Cases, I am sensible, that most MIDWIVES (not knowing better) ascribe the whole Difficulty to the Orifice of the Womb and the Vagina; upon which they ignorantly fall atearing and dilating both the One and the Other, (never minding the Point of the Sacrum); and finding these Orifices but little open’d, notwithstanding the frequent Repetition of very severe PAINS, they imagine that their substantial Hardness or Thickness is the only Cause: So that therefore (without regarding any adjacent Part) they go on violently dilacerating sometimes the Mouth of the Womb, and sometimes That of the PRIVITIES, (as I have found it by Experience) quite to the Rectum. For such is their Stupidity in this Condition of Life (as Daventer well observes) that whilst they thus tear and rend the Woman to Pieces in a manner, they allow her to sit over and above with the Point of the Os Sacrum, upon her Seat or Bed; or in some other wrong Posture, which so presses and confines the Os Coccygis at the same Time, that neither of these can move: Not minding at all that the chief Pressures and Impulses of the Head, must first bear upon the Os Coccygis in order to remove it, before it can effect the Dilatation of the Orifice or Mouth of the Womb. Thus they spend the Woman’s Strength in vain, break her Spirits, and ruin her Constitution thro’ Ignorance; whilst a capable Person, administring seasonable and judicious Help, according to the Circumstances of the Case, refreshes Nature, renews Strength, gives Courage, and fills the (otherways languishing and despairing) WOMAN, with Hopes and Assurances of a happy DELIVERY.

IN short, the True Method of Delivering and helping the Woman conveniently, in the different Conditions contain’d in this Chapter, depends entirely upon repelling or thrusting back the Point of the Os Sacrum, together with the Os Coccygis. I say (therefore) the whole Point of the Os Sacrum, and that Fleshy Part lying about it, is to be thrust back and dilated, so that the Passage may be sufficiently opened for the Infant to pass through; which patent Dilatation is to be promoted by pressing also back the Os Coccygis. Now these Things, in short, may be all done cautiously without creating any intense Pain, or the least Damage; and thus the obstructed Passage being clear’d and open’d, the Birth advances regularly of Course, and the CHILD is born with the greatest Ease, in the Space of a few Minutes: Whereas otherways (without the Use of these Means) both its Own and the Mother’s Destiny may be precarious or uncertain after some Days Labour.

THUS it is certain, that by assisting a Woman in Labour seasonably and skilfully, her PAINS are happily excited and encreased; whereas, on the contrary, by imprudent Treatment they unhappily cease and vanish, to her great Prejudice. Moreover, daily Experience teaches us, that the very different Touching of Things, occasions different Sensations; and from thence it is, that the dextrous MIDWIFE knows by one way of Touching, how to promote the PAINS of Labour; and by another, how to retard or put them off according as the Necessity of the Case requires; which hereafter will appear more at large.

BUT that we may more particularly satisfy such MIDWIVES, of our Method of repressing these Bones, and Delivering the WOMAN in the abovesaid Cases; I must add, that, after placing the PATIENT in the most convenient Posture for a WOMAN in Labour, as before fully enjoin’d[168], I would direct Her to be supported by two Women, and mov’d so far off the Bed or Couch, that the Point of the Os Sacrum may be free to yield or give way backwards, without any the least Impediment: Then I would pass my whole Hand at once (being first well anointed or dipp’d in Oil) into the VAGINA, and from thence (if the Head will admit it) into the WOMB, as occasion should require: where, upon opening my Hand broad, that it may press equally every where, I turn the PALM upwards, and the BACK downwards against the RECTUM, and the OS SACRUM: Thus I extend my Fingers as far as possible to the Head, thrusting it a little backwards, rather than hinder my Hand from being firmly placed against the Os Coccygis: Upon my Hand being thus properly placed, as soon as the PAIN begins to threaten (which I commonly perceive before the WOMAN) I advise her, to make good Use of the approaching Pains, in order to Labour mutually, and depress with all her Power, promising her my most faithful Assistance: By which Time, as soon as the Pains have seiz’d her, and she doing her Part, I press my Hand backwards, first softly, and by degrees more strongly, against the Point of the Sacrum, bringing it at the same time gradually downwards, that I may thereby make Room for the Head sliding the same way; so that the more severe the PAINS are, the more I depress still, and the harder I press down with Effectual PAIN, the more vigorously and successfully the WOMAN is able to Labour.

THUS I enlarge the Passage with great Moderation, so that the Infant’s Head succeeds or follows my Hand, as I bring it by little and little back again; and this adviseable Method I would reiterate as often as the Case should require, always encouraging my WOMAN, by the most obliging Words: Upon which She suffering no PAIN in vain, finds immediate Relief, recovers her Strength, recollects her Spirits, and by jointly labouring her Best with all her Force and Might, at last produces her Child with Comfort and Satisfaction, whilst I congratulate her upon the Success of being a joyful MOTHER.

BUT supposing by the way, that the INFANT offers its Buttocks first, they being neither so round nor hard as the HEAD, I would then intrude all my Fingers into the Womb more easily; some of which (or sometimes All) I would pass into the Orifice of the Womb under the Buttocks as before into the VAGINA. Now my HAND being placed there, I intently observe the PAINS as they come on; then inviting the Woman to Labour, I gradually press backwards as hard as I can conveniently, drawing my HAND downwards as before: But if in attracting it so, the HAND should slide too much out of the Womb, (which however I endeavour to prevent) while the PAINS are yet upon her; then as soon as they are over, I pass it up again, that I may be ready against their Return. And this I would reiterate upon every PAIN, so that the Child (guided by my HAND) may slide down at every Turn, until at last the Passage is so dilated, that it may advance gradually with ease into the World.

BY these judicious Means; forcing back the OS COCCYGIS by the Pressure of the HAND, as the PAINS come on, I may not only dilate the Passage, and enlarge the Orifice of the Womb; but also upon retracting the HAND by degrees, I can gradually attract the CHILD out of the Womb, through the Narrowness of the PELVIS: And thus, by this curious Art, (which I take to be one of the chief Points belonging to Midwifery) I do fairly deliver the Woman, who by no other Means whatsoever, could be preserved, together with her INFANT, in all Probability.

HOWEVER, tho’ I have candidly laid down this Method, (conformable to the Doctrine of the most excellent and ingenious Instructers) yet I would not advise every coarse Clumsy HAND to undertake it, nor such as are not thoroughly acquainted with the Parts of Generation: For this Performance requires Judgment and Prudence, as well as Art and Experience. But however yet in Case of Necessity, where no Extraordinary Person’s Assistance can be had, as it often happens in the Country, the Ordinary MIDWIFE ought not to neglect her Duty: nevertheless, before she offers to attempt this piece of extraordinary Skill, she ought to be very certain that these BONES are the great Impediment and Difficulty of the Delivery.

CHAP. X.
Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the BLADDER and RECTUM.

DIFFICULTY in BIRTH may also proceed from the BLADDER, as (in like manner) it may from the RECTUM or Strait Gut.

I. FROM the BLADDER, when affected with Tumours, Ulcers, or Glands, obstructing the Passages; which however is more frequently occasioned by Stones lodged in the BLADDER, or in its Neck: In either of which Conditions, the Midwife, by dilating the Passage with a subtile HAND, must repel the OS COCCYGIS according to Art (as taught in the preceeding Chapter) that the HEAD in falling down, may the less offend the BLADDER.

II. THE same Difficulty may arise from the RECTUM, when it happens in the same Manner, to be affected with such obdurated Glands, Tumours, &c. for the Consequence is the same in shutting up the Passages: In which Case the MIDWIFE is to depress gently such Excrescences, of what kind soever, with her cautious HAND, and consequently to dilate the Passages by degrees (how much soever obstructed) for receiving the Head of the INFANT; always having a respect to the affected Parts, and bearing no harder upon them than Necessity requires.

MOREOVER sometimes it happens, that the only Difficulty in LABOUR proceeds from hardened Excrements in this Gut, which may as effectually stop or shut up the Passage, as any thing else, until duly voided and evacuated by one or more proper CLYSTERS, as Occasion directs.

BUT sometimes it also happens, that such Difficulties arise from the falling out of the Fundament by the strong and violent THROWS that the Woman Suffers in Labour: In which Condition, if the CHILD is very forward in the Passage, before it happens, it may be prevented by dissuading or hindering the Woman from Labouring so vehemently; but if it happen’d before that time, it must be left so until the BIRTH be accomplished; after which time, it is to be put up exactly, and reduced to its proper Place, in the same manner as the Womb might be (in Case of its Prolapse, as mentioned in the following Chapter) after duly fomenting and bathing it with proper Applicatives: advertising always to use no CLYSTERS, in time of Child-Bed; because such Means would readily excite it again to a slippery Relapse.

CHAP. XI.
Of Difficult BIRTHS proceeding from the Causes of the VAGINA.

DIFFICULTY likewise in LABOUR may also arise from the VAGINA, or Neck of the Womb; this Part being no less liable to the Affection of Tumours, Glands, Ulcers, &c. than any Other before-mentioned: In Either of which Cases, my above-mentioned Method in the foregoing Chapter, shall suffice for the MIDWIFE’s Instruction; as also in Case of an Inflation or Inflammation of the Pudendum.

BUT sometimes also this Difficulty happens from the falling down of the VAGINA; which Accident may as well precede as follow after the Birth, and that by the Orifice of the Womb pressing hard into that of the Privities: So that sometimes, when the MEMBRANE is broke, the Head of the INFANT, as well as the Orifice of the Womb, slides down so far, as to hang out of the Body; whereby the stressed Ligaments (being too much relaxed) give way to the falling down not only of the VAGINA, but also of the Womb it self.

IN this sad Condition the Woman must keep her Bed, and her Body equally situated, that either the fallen VAGINA or WOMB, may recover and be immediately restored to its proper Place; which being done, other Matters may be easily prevented by the Care and Diligence of the prudent MIDWIFE, stopping and restraining the Orifice of the Womb before it comes so far to that Extremity: Wherefore she ought to keep it up in the VAGINA (as much as possible) with her Hands, until the Woman has happily extruded both the CHILD and the AFTER-BIRTH.

UPON This afterwards, she is to use her best Endeavours, to restore both the Womb and VAGINA to their due Situation; laying the Wrinkles Smooth in their proper Order, not one upon another, then placing the Woman conveniently in Bed, with her Head and Shoulders declining, Exsiccant or drying MEDICINES are to be judiciously applied, and Strengthening or Astringent Fomentations often used; whereby (in good Time) both may be again confirmed in their proper Natural Places.

NOW having thus, in fine, candidly explained the Different Causes of all Difficult BIRTHS, and carefully laid down the genuine Methods of correcting and removing them, and consequently of Delivering the good Woman successfully in all such nice Cases, it remains now in Course that I proceed to——

CHAP. XII.
Of Preternatural BIRTHS.

SUCH BIRTHS, (properly speaking) are only Preternatural, which degenerate from the Natural, in respect either to the Situation of the Infant, or the Womb, or of both these jointly: Such (I say) may be well call’d Preternatural, because of the imminent Danger that (in these Conditions) threatens both the Mother and the Child.

HENCE we find the Difference between This and the Natural BIRTH; in as much as the One depends entirely upon Art, and the Other merely upon Nature: In That the INFANT is artificially extracted by the Hand, but in this it is naturally extruded by the PAINS.

HIPPOCRATES gives[169] us a Two-fold-Cause or Reason of a Preternatural BIRTH; to wit, the Amplitude of the Womb, and the inordinate Motion of the Woman about the Time of LABOUR: Who, because of her afflicting PAINS and great Ailments, keeps her Body in a restless and unsteady Posture, throwing herself sometimes here, and sometimes there, sometimes on One side, and sometimes on Another through Uneasiness. By which means it cannot be otherways, but that the INFANT may be easily turn’d into some Preternatural Situation.

AND to These Causes, Senertus, Rodericus à Castro, &c. add the Two following; namely, the Solidity of the MEMBRANES, and the Debility of the Head of the CHILD: Because (as they well observe) when This is not strong enough to break through Those, the INFANT endeavouring it otherways, (with Feet or Hands) may readily fall into some Preternatural Position.

BUT because I find, that Preternatural BIRTHS deviate in different Degrees, and vary in many respects from the Natural, and that also according to a great Variety of CAUSES (no ways known to those most Learned Authors) but only of late discovered; I shall now again reduce the different Species of Preternatural BIRTHS to four Classes; namely, Preternatural BIRTHS on Part of the INFANT, on Part of the Womb, on Part of Both those jointly, and lastly on Part of some intervening Accidents.

IN treating of which, I shall according to my best Judgment, state these respective HEADS in due Order, and assign each its proper Branches; which I shall particularly discuss in brief Terms, for the Facility and Benefit of the Candid READER, whether MAN or Woman-Midwife; That they may (by this plain and easy Method) be enabled the more readily to judge of, and distinguish the several Circumstances, and consequently the better discharge their Duties (upon Occasion) to the Comfort and Satisfaction of those PATIENTS concerned, and the Honour of their own ingenious Profession.

BUT before I enter upon These, I would willingly in this place, previously subjoin a Word or two of Advice (by way of Precaution) to the Young Andro-Boethogynist: Which, in short, consists in this Point, that as it is the too common Practice here in England, for an obstinate Set of Women to keep their Labouring PATIENTS so long under their own Hands only, until the very last Extremity; so I would not counsel him at that Time, when sent for, upon such a ticklish Occasion, to go Head-long to such a Work, nor to undertake the Delivery of such a Woman, before He makes some requisite Observations: And that I mean no ways because of any Danger of the Preternatural BIRTH which she labours under, how difficult soever it may be; but merely, on account of the Woman’s exhausted Strength and Ability, to undergo the respective Operation in her weaken’d Condition; which I would very much question in most Women, after One, Two, or Three Hours strong Labour, and that in Some far sooner, notwithstanding that others have been known to stand it out, and struggle a much longer Time.

HOWEVER, be this as it will, I commonly guess at the Woman’s State of Ability, not only by her Pulse, if strong or weak, unequal or intermitting; by her Eyes, if dejected; by her Speech, if faint; by touching the Extremities of her Body, if frigid: but also by some other Symptoms, which infallibly appear, if the Woman be too far spent, such as Cold Sweats, Swoonings, Convulsions, Loss of Sense, &c. Whereupon I say in these Cases, it is more adviseable to let alone or decline the Office, than to undertake such a precarious uncertain Piece of Work; because if the Woman happens to die under his Hand, He may perhaps be (however unjustly) blam’d for the errant Midwife’s Faults, or at least He will scarce avoid the Censure of the Ignorant and Malevolous.

YET this Advice (however wholesome and prudent) is, I confess, what I would but seldom have Recourse to, or follow myself, notwithstanding the worst Consequences of the Case; since as long as there is Life, there is Hope with me, by the Blessing of God: Which tho’ never so little, I should think myself obliged in Conscience to do what both Art and Nature command, and rather in all Conditions of Life to attempt an uncertain Cure[170], than abandon the Distressed to certain Death, as some Politicians in Physical Affairs commonly do, who prize their vain Reputation above the Life of their Neighbour. But thus, in short, (for my own Part) I would chuse to act, because I have often seen, and known NATURE to have perform’d, and recover’d a weak spent parturient Patient, even beyond all human Probability.

NOT but that I would take the proper Precautions along with me, before putting my Hand to the critical Work, upon any such desperate or dangerous Occasion, by giving my ingenuous Prognostick to the nearest Friends and By-standers of the extreme Danger that both Lives may be in: Whereupon after thoroughly examining all Circumstances, with respect to the Child, whether One or More, Dead or Alive, &c. I would chearfully begin my Endeavours to relieve the afflicted Woman, encouraging and exhorting her in the first Place, for God’s-sake, as well as her own, and the tender Infant’s Life, to put herself entirely into my Hands, to undergo her Labour patiently, and contribute what she can to the Delivery.

BUT to return from this pardonable Digression to what is here proposed; as I come first to speak of Preternatural BIRTHS on the part of the Infant, I would observe that all ill Postures of the Child, in a Womb well situated, are the only Causes (meant in this place) of Preternatural BIRTHS on its own Part: Which Postures being very various and different, and each requiring a different peculiar Operation; I shall state them particularly (as above-mentioned) and that in their respective Chapters, after the manner following: viz.—

CHAP. XIII.
Of Præternatural BIRTHS, by the FACE’s being turn’d upwards; or bent forwards, and the CROWN backwards.

AMONG the many various Preternatural Positions of the INFANT, I cannot but reckon This One: First when, tho’ the CHILD offers itself Head foremost, yet the Face is turn’d upwards; and that because the INFANT in such a Posture can never be commodiously bent and adapted to the Form of the Pelvis.

IN this Case, the MIDWIFE ought to take special Care, that the Head fall down directly and safely, without being hurt, whilst she endeavours to bring it forward: For this Purpose, she is to enlarge the Passage as much as possible, dilating the Privities, and depressing the Os Coccygis; which however must be done, without lifting the Head with her Hand, for fear of bruising the Face against the Os Pubis. By this Method the BIRTH (how Preternatural soever) may be pretty well and easily perform’d.

BUT because the CHILD can only be said to be well turn’d, when it comes with its Chin leaning upon its Breast, and its Top or Crown of the Head tending directly to the Orifice; I reckon This another Preternatural Position, when the INFANT presents itself with the Crown bent backwards, and consequently with the Face forwards: By reason that in this Case, the Orifice itself and all the rest of the Passage must be much more dilated, than in the natural Condition; and the Head (being thus bent backwards) requires more severe Pains and hard Labour, to make it slide through the Passages.

IN which Case, the MIDWIFE, having timely discover’d this Situation by the Touch, ought immediately (upon the flowing of the Waters) to bend the Head gently forwards to the Breast, all the while adverting to handle the Face, especially the Nose and Eyes, very tenderly: And to this End, the Woman may be laid down on her Back, with her Head low; by no means labouring with the PAINS, before the Head of the CHILD is so conveniently turned: which may be thus most properly perform’d; viz. By laying the Palm of the Hand on the INFANT’s Breast, near its Throat, pressing it entirely back towards the Fund of the Womb; by which means the Head falls forwards of its own Accord upon the MIDWIFE’s Arm, and she with-drawing her Hand, will find the Head well turn’d.

BUT supposing the Head to be very strictly bent or pressed back, then the MIDWIFE is to attract it gently forwards by her Thumb, or Fore-Finger thrust into its Mouth; or by the Points of all Four thrust betwixt the Womb and the back Part of the Head. And thus, in fine, the Head being well Turned, and dextrously brought into the Passage; the Woman is then to be placed commodiously for BIRTH, and to labour her Best as in other Cases.

HOWEVER to this Case, I must add, by way of Remark for the MIDWIFE’s farther Information and better Government, that, if the Head is not brought into the Passage, as soon as the Waters have flow’d, it commonly happens, that the Hands offer themselves first; which if she do not instantly repel, the Head is turn’d up forwards with the Face, near the Chin, upon the Os Pubis; in which Condition, by reason of the Siccity and Contraction of the Womb, the only Expedient is to thrust back the Arms, and so passing the Hand under the CHILD’S Breast, to take hold of, and extract it by the Feet.

CHAP. XIV.
Of Præternatural BIRTHS, by the Hand, Elbow, Shoulder, Knees, or Buttocks presenting first.

THE CHILD also sometimes offers itself preternaturally to the Orifice, with its Hand, Elbow, Shoulder, Knees, or Buttocks first: In which Condition, the Hand always gives an easier BIRTH than the Elbow, the Elbow than the Shoulder, the Shoulder than the Knees, and the Knees than the Buttocks: For the Hand being commonly placed near the Head, it is no great Wonder, if it presents itself before, or along with it; as sometimes (after Flooding) the Hand may slide together with the Head obliquely to either Side, and thereby either Elbow or Shoulder unfortunately fall into the Passage.

THIS is one great Reason, why I have before inculcated, that the MIDWIFE ought to be diligent and accurate in Touching her Woman, even before the Membrane breaks, that she may thereby discover and prevent this Case: Which is easily perform’d, either by repelling the Hands, or by pinching the INFANT sensibly by the Fingers, and then it soon retracts them; for thus, in short, by moving my own Hand seasonably, the Head (of its own accord) slips of course down into the Passage. But and if it happens otherways, ’tis no difficult Matter to turn and bring it down, by directing my Fingers beyond the Face to the CHILD’s Forehead; which however must be done immediately after Flooding: Whereas, if This be neglected until the dry Womb is contracted, Then, and in that Condition, the FEET may be looked for, which (in such a Posture) are soon found, with the KNEES next the Belly; and the INFANT may be readily drawn out by them. But

WHEN it so happens, that the CHILD comes with its KNEES foremost, it commonly has its LEGS folded towards the BUTTOCKS; by which means many a MIDWIFE has been deceiv’d, especially when she feels but one KNEE, mistaking it for the HEAD, because of its Hardness and Roundness.

IN this preternatural Condition, the INFANT must be stopped and hindered from advancing farther; wherefore having placed the Woman aright, I would gently repel the KNEES, that I may the more commodiously unfold the complicated LEGS, one after another; which I commonly do by directing one or more Fingers under the Ham, gradually along behind the LEG, until I come to the Foot; drawing always a little obliquely, that I may come the easier to its Extremity: And thus, in short, having disengaged the One, I accordingly manage the Other after the same manner; and by bringing both FEET at last together, I finish my Work, as if the Child had come FEET foremost, of which in course.

MOREOVER again it also happens sometimes, that the CHILD falls with its BUTTOCKS forwards; in which preternatural Condition, the Midwife must industriously prevent it from coming too low in the Passage, before it be duly corrected or rectify’d; since the Infant cannot possibly come, after this manner, into the World; unless it be very small, and the PASSAGE, on the other hand, very large. Wherefore in this Case, after the Woman is decently laid upon her Back, with her Head declining, I would advise to thrust back the BUTTOCKS as well as possible; then passing up my Hand along the THIGHS to the Legs, I would take hold of the FEET, and bring them gently, and one by one, forth gradually; which being done, I would attract them by the HEELS towards the Side as far as the Length of the BUTTOCKS; and then at last taking good Hold under the HIPS, I would easily and softly with the greatest Deliberation, draw out the whole Body successively.

CHAP. XV.
Of Preternatural BIRTHS, by the Breast, Belly, or Back, presenting first; and the INFANT’s lying transverse.

SOMETIMES likewise the CHILD offers its Breast or Belly first, along with the Navel-string; which Preternatural Figure is most dangerous for the BIRTH, because of the Body’s bending backwards.

IN this difficult Case, the attentive MIDWIFE places her Woman conveniently, as soon as the Waters have flow’d, and sliding her Hand into the Womb, removes the String, and endeavours to bring the HEAD forwards into the PASSAGE; which she easily performs, as long as the Infant is suspended on high, and its Back not too much bent, by putting-in her Hand gently up to the hinder Part of the CHILD’S Head, attracting it gradually downwards. But if in this Condition the BIRTH be fallen too far down, it is more adviseable first to attract the FEET considerately.

I say considerately, because it is not sufficient to penetrate with the Hand to the FEET; which however yet, in this Posture is pretty difficult: But also to know exactly in what manner they are to be drawn down; since it is no indifferent Matter to understand how that is to be rightly perform’d with Success. Wherefore I shall in this place take upon me to set forth two different Ways of Turning the INFANT in this Condition; viz.

I. I would either First pass my Right Hand to the Left Thigh of the CHILD, and taking hold of it near the KNEE, push it upwards with my Thumb, drawing it at the same time downwards with my Fingers placed behind: Thus I would bring down one KNEE to the Passage, leaving the Foot yet above, and then the other KNEE in its Turn; which being done, I would change my Hand, and put the Left up to the INFANT’s Belly or Breast; where, as I thrust back its Body upwards, there is presently Room enough: then I would take hold again of one or both KNEES, to move the CHILD higher, that so the FEET may be more conveniently brought into the Passage one by one, if not Both at once: Or, upon the LEGS being bent with the Right Hand, and the KNEES brought into the Passage (as above) I would take hold of them below the Ham, and bring them past the Orifice of the Womb, till the FEET are before the Passage; whereupon I would then readily endeavour to extract the Infant by the FEET. Or, Secondly,

II. I would put my Right Hand up along the Belly to either Thigh, or Knee, having at the same time a thin Bandage doubled and dipp’d in Oil, upon my Fingers’ Ends, in order to be put about the Knee, that I may attract it gently thereby; which I would draw out again by the Right Hand, whilst my Left holds the Ends of the Bandage, that they may not move out of their Place: Then I would take the Extremities of the Bandage in my Right Hand, attracting it softly thereby, whilst I pass up my Left into the Womb, to thrust the CHILD’s Belly upwards. By which ingenious and regular Means, I think, Dr. Daventer first moved the upper Part of the Body upwards, and the Feet downwards, because the Knees are thereby brought nearer to the Orifice. Now these, in short, are the only safe, and proper Methods to be taken in this present Case, or nice Conjuncture; because, by all other inconsiderate and temerarious Means, the INFANT’s Loins may be twisted, its Hips or Knees disjointed, its Feet lamed, and itself at last quite lost or destroy’d.

IN like manner it happens not very seldom, that the INFANT comes with its Back forwards into the Passage; and in this Posture the Navel-String falls commonly down there, so that besides itself, nothing else is to be felt by the Touch: In this Case, the Midwife is to observe well the Flooding; immediately upon which, she is to seek for the Feet, which are more easily come at than the HEAD, tho’ the same is even also a very difficult Task, by reason that the CHILD’s Back takes up the whole Space of Room; which, notwithstanding, must be cautiously done, and the INFANT discreetly extracted by them.

BUT again sometimes, the BIRTH lies also Transverse, or a-cross the Womb; in which dangerous Case, I confess the MIDWIFE cannot well perceive, so as to distinguish Matters by the Touch, before Flooding: Because the INFANT (swimming in the Waters) is as yet seated high, and then moving its Hands and Feet variously, she sometimes feels one, and sometimes another Member at the Orifice; or, one Moment she finds Something, and another Nothing at all there. However, in fine, she may perceive the Humours most commonly compressed into an acuminated or oblong Form.

WHEREFORE in this difficult Preternatural Condition, the MIDWIFE ought primarily and chiefly to consider and discover the Posture of the Womb, whether it be direct or oblique; since according to That she must proceed in assisting her Woman with true Discretion. As for Example, if she finds it in a streight or natural State, and the Waters sufficiently exuberant, extended length-ways, &c. as aforesaid, She must, without Loss of Time, break the MEMBRANE, and presently, removing all Impediments of HAND, FOOT, or NAVEL-STRING, judiciously direct the HEAD into the Passage; which may be very easily and safely done immediately upon the Flooding. Whereas if this Method be delay’d, or not taken in due Time, and consequently the HANDS (as the readiest) present themselves to the Orifice first: In this Condition, I would lay the Woman discreetly upon her Back, with the upper Part of her Body lowest; after which, I would move the INFANT’s Hands back with my own; whereby at the same time bringing its FEET into the Passage, I would in the next Place gently extract the whole Body with all possible Conduct and Success.

CHAP. XVI.
Of Preternatural BIRTHS, by the Feet presenting first.

IN like manner again, it often happens, that the CHILD offers its FEET foremost; which next to a Natural BIRTH is the most easy and safe Position, however I have been oblig’d to postpone it to the rest, for Method’s sake: In this Case, the MIDWIFE, observing one FOOT presenting itself in the Passage after FLOODING, ought to stop and retain it there, that it may not slide through, until she meets with the other. In order to which Performance, she must immediately seek for it, with either Hand, according as she perceives the INFANT’s great Toe situated, since it is only to be sought for along its Side; and being found, it is to be gently drawn down, and placed near its Fellow in the Passage.

BUT it falls out sometimes, that the MIDWIFE comes too late, and finds one LEG so far through, that the Buttocks are strictly confin’d: In this Condition, I would advise to lay the Woman conveniently upon her Back, with her Head low, that both the Womb and the Child may retreat a little; then taking hold of the right LEG with my Right Hand, I would thrust the INFANT back, till the whole Foot (or at least the Knee) is brought back into the Orifice of the Womb, in order that I may have the more Room for passing my Hand along the LEG: By which means I get hold of the other Foot; and bringing it also into the Passage, I place it along with the other, that both may come forth successfully together.

WHICH Thing, happening so when it will, that both FEET are excluded, whether done spontaneously or by Art, they are never to be repell’d or thrust back again; but, on the contrary, the way is to be duly cleared for their Passage; This being a very commodious Situation, provided the Child be well turned, I mean, with HEELS and BUTTOCKS upwards, and TOES and BELLY downwards: Whereas, if otherways, the CHIN may be easily hooked upon the OSSA PUBIS; which (if not so happily turned at first) I commonly prevent in the most adviseable manner following; viz.

UPON attracting the INFANT, I turn it cautiously at the same time, using both Hands in the ensuing Method; namely, The One I put up under its Body as far as possible, whilst with the Other I hold both FEET together: Insomuch that by this Means I gradually turn, not only the FEET and the LEGS, but also the whole Body; bringing it always forwards in the Interim, till at last it lies with its BELLY downwards, and is out above half way: Upon this I then give my Woman the Motion, to begin her Labour and endeavour her Best; because the HEAD and ARMS must necessarily pass through All at once. For notwithstanding the contrary Opinion of most Authors, who teach us to draw down the Arms one by one, and place them upon the Body, I cannot but agree with Daventer, and positively advise in this and all such other like Cases, to leave the Arms about the HEAD, that they may be excluded along with it: Because, as he says, tho’ the Woman in so doing, is obliged to force her INFANT forwards with all possible Endeavours, yet like a small transient Cloud, it is soon over.

WHEREFORE I commonly make it my Business to prevent the Woman’s PAINS, until I have brought the CHILD this Length; when allowing her a little Time to rest, I heartily encourage and positively promise Her, that, she performing her Part effectually, (by using all her Strength, and behaving herself as if the PAINS were most really pressing upon her, whether so or not) the BIRTH will immediately succeed: And upon this Promise, with the PATIENT’s mutual Assistances concurring, I never yet fail’d; neither will any Persons who faithfully and ingeniously follow this Method, in comfortably helping the Woman upon such an Occasion, by drawing the CHILD cautiously downwards, with whatsoever judicious Force: I mean not downwards, according to the Woman’s Length, but downwards towards the strait Gut. And as I every Moment insinuate to the MOTHER, that her BABE’s Life depends entirely upon her vigorous confederate Labour; so she mutually concurring with me, in endeavouring to do our Best, the Agrippa INFANT is presently brought forth to the great Satisfaction of Both.

BY these Means and Methods, we prevent the Tragical Consequences, which Mr. Portal and many others confess they have often met with in their Practice; viz. That the HEAD has been sometimes pulled-off from the SHOULDERS, or that the CHILD has been frequently stifled, by the Womb’s contracting and shutting-up about the NECK: Which was altogether owing to the injudicious Method of their Practice, in drawing down the Arms awkwardly (as mentioned above) along the Sides of the Body.

CHAP. XVII.
Of Preternatural BIRTHS, by Two, or more INFANTS presenting themselves ill-Turn’d.

THIS Case also happens sometimes remarkably; upon which, if Both or All are contain’d in one and the same SECUNDINE, or when the MEMBRANES are broken, then the right Version is very difficult; not so much for want of Room, as because their HANDS and FEET are commonly interwoven and twisted together: In which preternatural Condition, when so complicated and entangled, they are to be unfolded and cleared off one another with the nicest Circumspection and Judgment.

BUT besides, farther, they are otherways, only to be treated in this difficult Point, as if there was but one CHILD; for turning them always One by One duly, I would bring all their Feet into the Passage, and consequently handle them, as if they had offer’d themselves so at first. The first CHILD being born, I would give it to the next capable Person to tie and cut its String; whilst I directly repass up my Hand, to seek for the other’s Feet, by which I would also draw it forth, after breaking its proper MEMBRANES, in Case the second Flooding is not yet over, and that notwithstanding the Head should present itself First.

BUT and if it happens, that each CHILD has its own proper and distinct SECUNDINE, and That of the INFANT already brought forth chance to be loose and separated from the Womb; In that Case, I would presently fetch it away, and then extract the other INFANT, as long as there is any yet left behind, and that also by the Feet, as aforesaid: Whereas otherwise, the BIRTHS, together with the Constriction of their UMBILICALS, are to be previously accomplished.

IN fine, having thus accounted for all the Preternatural BIRTHS whatsoever, which may or can occur on the Part of the INFANT, and that conformable to the most nice and polite Rules of Art; It remains now in the next place, that I acquit myself in a consonant manner, with respect to Those proceeding from the Part of the Womb. Of which First in general——

CHAP. XVIII.
Of Preternatural BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the WOMB.

MOST, if not all, Authors having hitherto imagin’d, that all Preternatural BIRTHS took their sole Rise and Origin from the wrong Positions of the INFANTS only; I come in this place, with all due Submission, not only to affirm a quite contrary Opinion, but also to lay down a directly opposite Maxim: Namely, that the most difficult and dangerous Preternatural BIRTHS proceed merely from the ill Situation of the Womb; which I take to be the most common Cause of the Child’s wrong Posture. The Truth of which I hope to make evidently appear, to all such, who know and will consider, that this Noble Part is no less subject to various Accidents and different Diseases, than the Rest of the Body; which springing from divers Sources, may rationally be suppos’d to occasion Preternatural BIRTHS, and those more or less dangerous, according to the Nature of the Efficient: as for Instance,

IN Case of an Inflammation, Exulceration, Putrefaction, or the Womb’s being Schirrous, Callous, or Hard; affected with a Carcinoma or Cancer; an obdurated Gland, Cicatrix, or any carnous Excrescence; or in Case of the Womb’s being Dry and Rigid, and the Orifice’s being Hard and Thick, as commonly happens to Women in Years, especially of their First CHILD; I say, from either of these, or any such like Causes, a Preternatural BIRTH may ensue, and that even tho’ the Pelvis and Passage be larger, but much more if those be narrower, and the Point of the Os Sacrum bent Inwards.

I. IN the Larger Pelvis, the greatest Difficulty of this BIRTH proceeds from too great a Descent of the Womb; which relaxes the Ligaments and Fibres of the Vagina, and so much depresses the Bladder, that an Incontinency of Urine presently follows, which in this Case is commonly succeeded by a Falling Down of the Womb or Vagina, as already observ’d in Chap. XI. where the Diligent Midwife will find the due Method of preventing such growing Mischiefs, and of opening the Orifice of the Womb both safely and readily, and consequently Delivering her Woman more easily and expeditiously, with good Success as well as Security.

II. IN the narrower Pelvis, the MIDWIFE needs no ways fear the above-named Accident, and therefore is not to be at so much Pains in retaining the Orifice in its proper Place, whatever Trouble she may have in opening it; which would be no easy Task, was not the Os Coccygis to be thrust back, (as set forth, Chap. IX.) And which I must (for this Reason) recommend once more to all Careful MIDWIVES, as the best and most effectual Method of performing this happy Apertion.

FROM what is said here therefore, we may now conclude, that a great Variety of Causes may subject the Womb to a Diversity of Accidents, and those of sundry Degrees, which may more or less affect its Motion and Situation, as already set forth[171].

AND hence it is that we have so many Degrees of Preternatural BIRTHS on Part of the Womb, All which to enumerate particularly in this Place, would be a Work as Superfluous as Tedious: wherefore, to be brief, I shall here also reduce them to the Four following, (as before mentioned, Sect. IV. Chap. 13.) viz. Preternatural BIRTHS, proceeding from an oblique Situation of the Womb inclining Forwards, or Backwards, or to (either Side) Right or Left: which fourfold Situation of the Womb may be rightly and properly compar’d to the Four Cardinal Points of the Compass, as the rest of its oblique Positions may be analogously adequated to the Collateral and Middle Points: For because, as they decline from the Meridian, and derive themselves from East, West, North, and South, as formerly observ’d[172]; so those are less difficult BIRTHS, and branch out from the Four mentioned Extremities: since the Womb, like a Magnetick Needle, may run quite round, and be ill-seated every way, or on every side. In all which Cases, the INFANT must absolutely be Turned; which Performance in any oblique Womb, requires a competent solid Knowledge and sound Judgment, as well as the best adapted and experienced Hands. But of those, more particularly hereafter; and First, accordingly——

CHAP. XIX.
Of Preternatural BIRTHS, from the WOMB’s inclining Forwards.

IN speaking to this critical Point, I shall first give the Reason of such a BIRTH, occasion’d by this Position; to wit, The WOMB hanging much forwards, especially in Women carrying it too low in the Abdomen, the INFANT (betwixt the Pains) must needs be forced upon the Os Sacrum, or the Vertebræ bending inwards; which stops the Head that it cannot conveniently or without Obstruction fall into the Pelvis.

HOWEVER, in this Condition we suppose the INFANT to be well turn’d, I mean (both here and elsewhere) well turn’d in respect of the WOMB, with the Crown of the Head lying against the Orifice; than which nothing can be more Right or Natural in regard of the WOMB itself, nor more Wrong and Preternatural in respect of the PELVIS and Vagina of the WOMB, in this forward Situation: Because by reason of this Posture, the INFANT falls transverse upon the Ossa Pelvis, especially upon the Os Sacrum or hindmost Vertebræ; upon which it commonly offers itself with the Face prone or turn’d Downwards, tho’ it is not brought forth, but with the Face Supine or Upwards. For as it passes, it must be turn’d round, partly in a Circle, with its Head prone, and Feet drawn up under it; which happens not in the WOMB, but only as it passes the Orifice into the PELVIS or VAGINA.

NOW what I mean is more plainly This, that as soon as the Infant comes into the Turning (which it must pass) it necessarily bends and crooks itself, as it finds its Passage bent or crooked; by which means the Face is sometimes turn’d down, and sometimes upwards: And This proceeds from That, in short, as soon as the Head begins to enter the Orifice, it presently fixes upon (and sticks fast to) the last Vertebræ of the Loins standing forwards, or to the Os Sacrum; so that it cannot naturally or possibly go forwards, except the Head is bent downwards, and the Neck and whole Body be accommodated to that Bending.

HENCE it is, that THAT which just now was situated prone upon its Belly in the WOMB, now passing through the VAGINA, is bent upwards supine upon its BACK; and from thence it’s evident, that That Inversion is not properly in the WOMB, but in the VAGINA, or (if you please) in the Confines of Both: And, in fine, this forward Inversion (as it happens) occasions a most difficult Preternatural BIRTH.

BUT this, in short, happens to the Woman with CHILD, because her WOMB hangs forward, or is resupin’d, according to the Depression made on the WOMB by the Intestines, forcing it this or that way; or to either Side, as will by and by more fully appear[173]. But——

SINCE it is most requisite to know presently in the Beginning of LABOUR, whether the WOMB be placed forwards, in order that the Means of Help may be taken accordingly; I shall in the second place add the SIGNS, or Tokens, by which the MIDWIFE may know this Position of the WOMB, and what she has best to do in such a nice ticklish STATE of Affairs.

FIRST then, She may know it, principally, by the Hanging forwards and Thickness of the Belly, or perhaps by the good Woman’s Information of the Place, where she chiefly feels the INFANT stirring; for it cannot move but where ’tis placed.

HOWEVER yet a prudent MIDWIFE will have no great regard to such Uncertainties, but betake herself immediately to that which cannot fail her, the Touch; which (in this Case) affords her the following certain SIGNS; viz.

I. THE Orifice of the Womb is suspended higher than usual; which she cannot Touch, by reaching, without a great deal of Difficulty.

II. SHE can only Touch the lower Border of the Orifice, and that only as the Womb hangs more or less forwards; and by no means the upper Edge, except the Orifice has begun to fall down.

III. SHE cannot at all, or very hardly, get her Finger into the opening of the Orifice, and because of that Difficulty, it must then also be crooked or bent.

IV. SHE will find the Orifice opposite to the bending of the last Vertebræ or the Os Sacrum, and feel it so strongly pressed against the said Vertebræ, when the Pains come on, that it cannot fall down: and lastly, she’ll feel the Waters (if they hang over the Passage) in a thin slender Form.

UPON This the Skilfull MIDWIFE finding these concurring SIGNS, she may be assur’d that the Womb hangs too much forwards; which Condition requires the immediate Help of Ingenuity and ART to correct this ill untoward Position, and to promote the BIRTH expeditiously. But then these Things are to be carefully perceived and distinguished in the Beginning of Labour, before the Pains have either closed up, or too much depressed the Orifice; yea, in short, even before it sensibly opens: since afterwards all those SIGNS are variously chang’d and alter’d, till at last they entirely vanish.

WHEREFORE let it be deem’d as a certain Rule, that the true Posture of the WOMB is always best discover’d by the Touch in the Beginning of the Labour: At which time may the Orifice be suspended never so high, the MIDWIFE ought to penetrate so far, until she reaches it; if not sufficiently with her Fingers, the whole Hand is to be judiciously used, and passed up that Length, because this particular Touch is absolutely Necessary for that good End: Insomuch that if any Labouring Woman be against this manual Operation or opposes it, she thereby debars her MIDWIFE of an infallible Method, of discovering the true Posture of her Womb, and consequently of taking the most immediate proper Means for Her own as well as her Infant’s Relief.

BUT now supposing, after all, the MIDWIFE to be certain that the Womb hanging too much forwards, in a prominent Belly bearing pretty much out, is deeper depressed than it ought to be; She is obliged then in this Circumstance to consider accordingly how to correct this Preternatural Situation, and assist both the Mother and Infant for the best: To which End, She ought First to endeavour that the Head may fall down into the Pelvis, even to the bending of the Os Coccygis; and then, Secondly, She is thence to advance the Head gradually, that the Exclusion of the CHILD may be expedited and intirely perfected at last.

NOW in order that the Head, together with the Orifice of the Womb, may be so discreetly brought forwards into the Pelvis, the Woman is to be placed with the upper part of her Body lower than the inferiour; I mean, with Head and Shoulders bending downwards, and the Buttocks upwards; by which Means, the Bottom of the Womb is elevated, and gives the Orifice an Opportunity of being brought more easily into the Pelvis.

THEN the parturient Woman being so placed, the MIDWIFE (using both Hands) ought to clear the Womb, together with the Head of the Infant, by putting the one up, as far as there’s occasion, into the Vagina, and laying the other upon the Woman’s Belly, in manner following: viz.——

THE Hand in the Vagina is (by having two or three of its Fingers Ends extended to the upper Border of the Orifice of the Womb) to move it a little beyond the Head of the CHILD, and to direct it into the Mouth of the Pelvis, so that it may fall the more readily down into the design’d Place. But in this critical Juncture the MIDWIFE must always take special Care not to squeeze or press the Top of the Head too much, nor to handle it too hard, lest She should thereby wound, if not also kill the Infant.

AGAIN the Business of the other Hand, used externally, is to drive back the Womb, by pressing the Abdomen; which must be perform’d also with great Caution and Judgement, not by drawing the Hand from above downwards, but pressing as much as the Woman can bear it, from below upwards; so that (if possible) the Womb may be thereby resupin’d or turn’d backwards. Minding always, by the way, that

THIS Pressure of the Womb is not to be attempted, before the one Hand is first conveniently placed within. But if all This Menage should not yet succeed the first time according to Wish, then it may be safely repeated again by turns so often, until the MIDWIFE feels the Crown of the Head; that is to say, till She feels the Borders of the Orifice quite round about hanging over the Entrance of the Pelvis. Upon which happy Discovery, she may with reason rejoice in her Labour, and be heartily glad of her good Success: Because now the Force of good depressing Pains only will effectually perfect the Work.

BUT before Matters are happily brought this prepared Length, the bearing Woman is upon no account to begin her LABOUR; since That would not only be in vain, and otherways debilitate the Strength of her Body; but also be of great Hindrance to the Midwife (to whom all the LABOUR hitherto belongs) who, as she feels the PAINS growing and rushing in upon the Woman, before their proper Time, ought to charge her strictly, to forbear working along with them, and as much as possible to abstain from any co-operating Depression. And in fine, as the MIDWIFE by having her Hand diligently apply’d to the Orifice of the Womb, by strict Attention, may most commonly observe, and previously discern the approaching PAINS, before the Patient Woman herself can be sensible of them: So she ought also for her own helping Part, ex Officio, to be quiet and attempt nothing till Then, but take her convenient Opportunities, always as soon as the PAINS are over.

THUS by seasonably lending Nature an artificial helping Hand, Both jointly may easily effect, what neither can do separately: For as it sometimes happens, that the MIDWIFE ought to cease, while she perceives (by the Pains) that Nature is a working, and therefore ought to work only when the PAINS are past; so it also falls out often, upon other Occasions, that she is to work along with the PAINS, and when those are past, to cease. And thus, in fine, according to different Circumstances, the discreet MIDWIFE knows always the Needfull, what’s to be done, or let alone.

BUT in this Place, I doubt not, many MIDWIVES will object, and say, How is it possible for Us to perceive the PAINS coming on before the parturient Woman herself? To which I ingenuously answer, that This also is one of the many Advantages of the Touch; since by That, I can presently feel a kind of subtile Motion, Contraction, or Compression beginning in the Orifice of the Womb; which is only observable as the Muscles are affected with a New Sense, excited by a New Influx of the Spirits; occasioning a New Force or Impression upon the Womb, which we commonly call a Pang: So that, in short, by distinguishing this Motion from others, I am always able to foretell or advise the Woman of what is a-coming, and to admonish her accordingly of her bounden Duty, as the Case requires.

MATTERS now being fairly brought thus far, that the Orifice and the Head begin to slide down into the PELVIS; the MIDWIFE is at this Time to study how to succour and assist the CHILD, by rendring its Passage easy. In order to which, she must first observe to raise the upper Part of the Woman’s Body a little, and give her some short Respite, before she offers to bring the Orifice into the PELVIS; because the Posture above-directed, occasions considerable Pain as well as great Inconveniency: Which being done, the Woman for the future is to sympathize with every PAIN, and Labour as much as possible, co-operating mutually with them; since now the Pains (by the Assistance of the Head) begin to open the Orifice, and gradually force the Infant forward to its Birth.

HOWEVER yet the MIDWIFE ought in this Case, to be very careful in sustaining, and nice in keeping up the Orifice of the Womb, lest it should fall down together with the Vertex or Crown of the HEAD into the Sinus Sacri; which is a Point so curious and critical, tho’ an Accident too common, that I dare well say, not one in Fifty Practitioners in MIDWIFERY understands it thoroughly; otherways I am confident, and morally certain, that many fine Women would have been living Monuments of their Ingenuity, who are at this day only the Dead Remains of their Ignorance.

THIS I think is past all Contradiction, when we consider, how some Practisers sacrifice the Infant, first by opening, and (as they call it) braining the HEAD, and then by drawing it forth with their Instrument call’d FORCEPS: How others also esteem themselves Masters of the greatest ARCANUM, boasting that they can, without so much as braining the HEAD, extract the INFANT by their Tool call’d an EDUCTOR: How a Third Set again pretending themselves to be the only genuine Sons of Apollo, come slily to correct the Rest, by fixing only a couple of Hooks in the Eyes, Ears, or somewhere else in the Child’s HEAD; by which means they as wretchedly produce the innocent dead Babe as any of the others: For it can no more be suppos’d to survive this cruel Treatment, than the other mentioned Barbarities; not to speak of the Anguish and Perplexity over and above, besides the real Danger all the while brought upon the distressed Mother.

UPON this grand Affair of Life and Death, the Desidious and Capricious MIDWIFE cries at length, God knows I have taken all the Pains and Care I could, but to no Purpose, for this or that trifling Reason, falsely alledged. The SURGEON (if he don’t pretend the CHILD to be already Dead) says, Come, it is better to dispense with one Life than Two; One must go, &c. In consequence of which, he prepares his FORCEPS, EDUCTOR, KNIVES, HOOKS, &c. to draw out the INFANT Dead, or Alive, Whole or in Pieces, by such disingenuous and barbarous Means to save the MOTHER. Thus behold the excellent Art of MIDWIFERY ignorantly perverted! O Deplorable Woman! O Miserable Babe! How much abused! when there is no other Mean left to rescue the tender Life of the poor Mother, but by the massacrous Death of her dearest CHILD! This Case indeed would be very Melancholy, but Glory be to GOD who has neither left the One nor the Other to perish at this untimely or inhuman Rate, excepting it be by Ignorance, or Wilfulness, &c. as aforesaid: No, on the contrary he has provided an EXPEDIENT for every Extremity, and a REMEDY for every Malady, as in the present Case will appear farther by what follows, Viz.——

THAT such Tragical Events may be prudently prevented, I use my constant and unwearied Endeavours to sustain the Orifice, that it may not come below its proper Place; and that having clear’d the HEAD of the WOMB, I may only bring it alone down; which I can much more easily do, than if it was cover’d about with the Womb, sticking fast (as above) in the SINUS SACRI. And supposing the MEMBRANE to press strongly instead of the Head, I treat it all one as if it was the Head, taking always Care not to break it, tho’ the forming of the WATERS is not to be obstructed; for which Cause, I upon all Occasions stretch out my Fingers wide, applying them only to the Edges of the Orifice, not to the Membrane: And this I continue doing, until the MEMBRANE spontaneously breaks; upon which I manage the Head as aforesaid.

THUS the Infant’s HEAD being excluded with the Crown foremost, there is no more Occasion to be at any Pains in keeping up the Orifice; wherefore I now suffer it, together with the HEAD, to fall down past the Bending of the OS SACRUM; which now also, the major Part of it being bare, more easily happens, than it possibly could whilst it was cover’d with the Orifice. Upon this, that the Child may be farther relieved and brought out, I now again make use of both Hands, the one inwardly, the other outwardly, as before: But as the Condition is now much alter’d from what it was at that time, I at present proceed after a quite different Manner, and work along with the Pains, resting only as their Force ceases: For thus I not only observe the Pains my self, but also at the same time encourage my Woman to Labour, and to persist in her LABOUR with all her Strength; and by Turns, as the PAINS come on, to conjoin their Force with her own and my mutual Endeavours, in the manner following: namely,

HAVING One Hand in the Vagina, with its Back turn’d towards the Rectum, I thrust very cautiously the Points of my Fingers as far as I can under the HEAD, where I hold that Hand constantly, until the PAIN comes on; laying the other Hand upon the Belly, about that Part where the Bottom of the Womb lies: Then as I perceive the PAINS come on, I begin to work with both Hands; to wit, by pressing the internal Hand gently downwards, against the Point of the Sacrum to remove it back out of the way; whilst by the external Hand, I gently raise the Womb into a resupine Posture, pressing it also softly downwards: I mean softly in Proportion (howsoever) to the Force of the PAIN: for as it gradually encreases, and more and more excites strong Labour; so I also by degrees press down more strongly.

HOWEVER yet the External Depression ought always to be Moderate, as the Internal ought to be Strong and Vigorous: Whereupon Matters being carefully well observ’d, (as laid down in Chap. 9.) no MIDWIFE needs be afraid of hurting her Patient Woman in the least; no rather, on the contrary, the more Strength I use now, the more grateful and agreeable I prove to Her being thus circumstantiated. And, in fine, the upper Part of the CHILD’s Body being once past that Sinuous Bending above, it presently breaks out all together, and comes away so happily into the World. After which the MIDWIFE is only farther to behave herself with respect to both the Mother and the Child, as in the Natural Case[174], carefully cleansing, restoring, contracting, and shutting the Womb as Before. In a Word, with so great Success at last the BIRTH is accomplished, provided these Precepts be carefully and timely observed.

BUT that the Ingenious may be at no Loss in this momentous Affair upon any Occasion, we shall now particularly state the Case, in which the ordinary Midwife has thro’ Ignorance or Negligence, let Matters come so far, that the acuminated or lower Part of the Womb is fallen into the Pelvis; and the Orifice, together with the Head, is broken thro’ into the crooked Sinus of the Os Sacrum, and is fixed-up there; that the Membrane is broke; that the Infant’s Head is but a little bare; that the poor Woman (after the Fatigues of a strong or long Travail) is quite spent and tired; and finally, that all these Things have happen’d before the extraordinary MIDWIFE is perhaps sent for, or at least before He can conveniently be with the Woman.

IN this Pitiful Case, the Head being yet but a little bared, and sticking fast in the Sinus of the Os Coccygis (as abovesaid) the CHILD cannot possibly make any Impression upon the Orifice, so as to open it; and therefore the Situation of the Womb is to be alter’d: In order to which, I first place the Woman on a commodious Seat adapted to the Purpose, such as upon a Pallet, or Low Bed, or some Pillows laid on the Ground; that she may lie with her Face downwards upon her Knees, with her Head low; her Arms being supported with so many Pillows as are requisite to sustain her Body (leaning upon them) without moving.

NOW I doubt not but some People will think this a strange helpless Posture; but as strange as it is, it is certainly the most effectual, and the absolute best One, which can be devis’d for the Woman’s desir’d Relief in this desperate Condition: For by the Help and Means of it, the Womb is carried down into the lowest Part of the Belly, through its own Weight only; and consequently releases itself out of the foremention’d crooked Sinus; which that it may the sooner and more commodiously do, I put my Fingers into the VAGINA behind, betwixt the Rectum and the Head of the Infant, where I press down the Womb, till the Orifice is so far forced back, that there is Room enough to hold it up, in order that it may not relapse; and also that there may be Room for the Head to be depressed into, and open the Orifice. Thus the Womb and the CHILD being at last forced so far back, by an expert Hand, the BIRTH may be successfully perfected by the above-prescrib’d Means and Method; provided always that the Woman has sufficient Strength and PAINS to carry her through the fatiguing Tryal.

BUT we will how suppose, for better Instruction-sake, her Strength to be quite spent, and the PAINS to be deficient; in this Case the happy Issue of the BIRTH is most dubious; but however, then I place the Woman again as before, and depress the Womb as much as I can, until I reduce the Orifice farther up into the larger Space of the PELVIS, that I may the more conveniently open it by the Help of an inward Hand; and by that also moving aside the Child’s Head, I then seek for, until I find, the Feet; which, upon the Infant’s being right turn’d, with its Toes downwards towards the Mother’s Rectum, I bring into the Passage. Now the Feet being thus in the Passage, the Woman needs not lie any longer in the abovesaid Posture; but, turning herself, may now lie with her Face upwards: When I also give her previous Notice to prepare herself to depress vigorously; I mean as much as she can possibly, when occasion requires.

IN the Interim, holding the Feet all the while with my internal Hand, I attract them gently outwards, until the Buttocks and the Belly are excluded: Then taking fast hold of the CHILD by one Hand under the Belly, and the other upon its Back; I advise the good Woman, in Case she feels no PAIN, to behave herself as if the PAINS were most pressing upon Her, and to contribute by forcing downwards what lies in her Power; whilst I continually attract, and gently draw the Infant towards me, until by this discreet Management the Head is totally excluded, together with the Arms into the World. And thus at length the Distressed Woman may be happily delivered in all these different Cases, and difficult Conditions of Life. Whence I come to——

CHAP. XX.
Of Preternatural BIRTHS, from the WOMB’s inclining backwards.

Experience teaches us, that the Womb may be also too much resupin’d; or tending with its Bottom backwards, may be pressed too much towards the Spine: So that its Orifice is not only raised too high in the Belly, but is also so obliquely seated, that it no more answers to the VAGINA in a right Line, varying more or less, according to the Proportion of this Tendency to the Back-Bone.

FROM this Posture of the Womb now, it necessarily follows, that the Head (tho’ never so well turned) falls upon, and is violently forced against the Ossa Pubis; where the tender Head sticking, often happens by its own Struggles and the Mother’s PAINS, to be grievously squeez’d and gradually crush’d, so that, until it is removed and brought into the PELVIS, the Woman can by no means bring forth her INFANT. Wherefore the diligent and careful MIDWIFE must (by due Attention) make it her Business to discern at the first Touch this ill Position of the Womb, and presently upon the first Pang of Labour, try to help both the MOTHER and the CHILD.

WHEREAS otherwise the slothful and ignorant MIDWIFE, may continue the poor Woman in an irregular Labour perhaps some Days, without perceiving the Head to be fixed upon these Bones, always erroneously imagining the INFANT only to be situated too high, (because it lies out of the reach of her shallow Touch) and that it must in due Time fall down lower within her Ken. Or peradventure otherwise, when by the Touch, she feels a kind of Roundness or Hardness, thro’ the Womb, mistaking This for the Head, she thinks the INFANT is well turned, and wants only strong PAINS to drive it forwards with Success.

THIS Ignorance is chiefly owing to her own Stupidity, in that she cannot clearly distinguish between the Womb and the Vagina by the Touch; nor the Orifice of the Womb from the Parts of the CHILD, or MEMBRANE; which (in this Case) frequently occasions the Death of many a Dear MOTHER and INFANT.

BUT here it is to be moreover noted of this difficult Situation of the Womb, that the MIDWIFE (how skilful soever) perhaps can either not touch the Orifice at all, or but very little, except it lies wide open, when she may touch at least some Part of the Circle of the Border: For the Head being fixed upon the Pubis above, the whole upper Part of the Edges of the Orifice can no ways peradventure be touched with the Fingers, which may only reach the lower Part that is Open.

UPON which, these Fingers are cautiously and prudently to be thrust in farther betwixt the Neck of the Bladder, and the Orifice of the Womb: Then being so near the Neck of the Bladder, a discerning MIDWIFE will feel a sort of a Circular Border, namely, that of the Orifice of the Womb; which if she penetrates with her Fingers, she will also find the hard Part of the Head, which is Smooth and Globular, or the opening of the Vertex; whence she may be certain, that the INFANT, as well as the WOMB, is too close to the Spine of the Back. Whereupon she ought, without loss of Time, to assist and help the CHILD in the following Manner; viz.

SHE is to hinder the Woman from labouring all this while, advising her to bear and put by her PAINS, until this Posture of the INFANT can be duly corrected: In order to which, I would First order the Woman to make Water, if she can, that the Bladder being thereby emptied, may not be hurt by the Pressure of the MIDWIFE’s Hand, or the CHILD’s Head: Secondly, if the MEMBRANE is not yet broken, and the Pains but few and faint, I would prescribe a gentle Clyster, not only to awaken These, but also to remove all Inconveniencies of the RECTUM: Thirdly, I would then advise to lay the Woman in a convenient manner, upon her Back with the superior Part of her Body lower than the inferiour, that both the Womb and the Infant may the more easily recede or give way back.

THEN taking cautiously Hold of the Border of the ORIFICE with the Fingers of either Hand, I would press and draw it back towards the RECTUM, whilst I employ’d my other Hand outwardly upon the ABDOMEN, a little above the OS PUBIS: I mean, that the Child’s HEAD ought to be thrust back a little with the Hand on the outside, pressing it discreetly down; as the ORIFICE is to be drawn back towards the RECTUM, and at the same time also downwards, with the internal Hand.

IN the next Place, as I feel the Head and the Womb mov’d a little downwards, so I would also advise the good Woman to raise the upper Part of her Body, yet so as not to stir the Lower, and to bend herself as much as possible Forwards, sitting as if she was going to Stool: Because by this Posture, she raises both the Infant and the Womb behind, and consequently drives them BOTH Forwards, whilst I would in the Interim keep my HANDS very fast placed as aforesaid, ready to depress the HEAD before, that it may fall directly into the Pelvis. In short, the HEAD being thus disengag’d, I would now advise the Woman to observe her PAINS, and mutually labour with them what she can, with her Body mostly still in a Sitting Posture, or kneeling with her Arms conveniently supported.

BUT supposing the INFANT to stick very fast upon the Pubis (which commonly happens by Loss of Time, or by misimproving a critical Minute;) and that the capable Midwife finds both the Mother and the Child in this miserable Condition, thro’ the Neglect and Ignorance of Another: In this Case I would lay the Woman altogether upon her BACK, with her HEAD low, and her BODY a little elevated; then by the abovesaid Method I would try to depress the Infant’s HEAD, observing however yet not only to press it down from above, but also first to thrust it back, and depressing it at the same Time: By thus repelling it, I would save the tender HEAD from being hurt by the Depression; since otherways these Bones would leave a Dent or an Impression upon it, if not also wound it over and above.

MOREOVER, supposing that the MEMBRANE should break by Chance, and that by enlarging the Orifice, the HEAD should be much bared: Then I would let the Border of the Womb alone, and endeavour to thrust my FINGERS betwixt the HEAD (towards its Upper Part) and the OSSA PUBIS; by which means One may most probably draw the HEAD downwards, along with the Orifice. However, in fine, this Case, (as well as all other preternatural BIRTHS) absolutely requires a sound Judgment, a quick Comprehension, a good Conduct, an easy soft Hand, and a dextrous gentle Method of treating the parturient and patient WOMAN. But, farther——

WE will again in the next Place state the CASE thus, that suppose the HEAD is too Big, and the Child so much compressed, that it cannot be brought into the PELVIS without great Trouble and Difficulty: In this Condition, before Matters come to an Extremity, I would (without Loss of Time) find out the Feet; in order to which, the Orifice (which is now commonly less open) ought to be cautiously open’d with a gentle Force, by thrusting first one, and then more Fingers upwards, which are to be gradually distended, until at last the whole HAND is entered up to the Wrist: Whereby (after prudently breaking the MEMBRANE) I would now and then thrust back the Head, and put it upon one Side, as much as possible by Art.

BUT upon This here it must be carefully observ’d by the way, that I would pass my Hand close up along the INFANT’s Body from the Orifice to the Fund of the Womb, or to the Feet, that it may not come between the SECUNDINE and the Womb, but betwixt the MEMBRANE and the CHILD: By this Method I shall neither hurt the Womb, nor the INFANT; but the HAND distinguishing clearly all the Parts of the CHILD, I cannot miss finding the Feet with the greatest Certainty. Tho’ I must acknowledge by the By, this to be the Work of a very strong and agile HAND, as well as of a sound and ready Judgment; because of the immense Labour and Difficulty, first in opening the narrow ORIFICE, and then in penetrating through it to the Bottom of the Womb, as the INFANT obstructs the Way: not to mention the great Inconveniencies also besides, which arise from the Turnings and Windings, as well as from the Length and Constriction of the Passage. However yet——

THUS having found one or both FEET, I would draw them down both together, if possible, always turning the TOES towards the FACE. Whereas if only ONE can be found to be conveniently attracted, as it often happens, I make it fast by a running Knot on a broad Ribband, or by a certain Bandage, called MITRA, or with a soft Linnen Rag about four Inches broad; which I twist together, and hold in the Hand without the Body, as I pass the other up along this LEG, duly observing whether it is the Right or the Left, that I may know which of my HANDS will most commodiously find out the other LEG; and that HAND having reached the CHILD’s Belly or Buttocks, I slide it along the THIGH to the other LEG: So that the FOOT being thus found, I bring it also down into the PASSAGE, according to the POSTURE of the INFANT.

BOTH FEET being now thus brought down, if they chance to be ill-turned, that is, with TOES up and HEELS downwards, I discreetly turn the CHILD, whilst I gradually draw forth the FEET. These, together with the BELLY, being fairly excluded, I hold the FEET with one Hand, whilst I put the other under the BELLY and BREAST, as far as possible: Or, resting the FEET in my Lap, with one Hand above, and another below, I take good hold of the BODY, attracting it gently. Upon this I advise and encourage my Woman now to labour her best, and that whether she feels any PAINS or not, since they are now no longer to be waited for with the Impatience of a happy Delivery.

BY this regular Method, in fine, the HEAD and both ARMS pass thro’ the Orifice at once, and that without the least Danger; because the Smoothness of the TEMPLES affords always sufficient Room for the ARMS, as the Orifice relaxes and dilates, as has been already observed[175]. Now this, in short, I take, with Submission, to be the only genuine METHOD of perfecting a successful DELIVERY in the present preternatural Condition, whether the BIRTH be Dead or Alive: So that hence I proceed in course to——

CHAP. XXI.
Of Præternatural BIRTHS, from the WOMB’s inclining to either Side.

THO’ the WOMB may be obliquated (as has been said) either to the right or left Side; yet, to abbreviate this Work, I shall contract both Situations into one; and because the ingenious Reader may easily apply what is said of the one to the other, I shall only treat of that inclining to the right Side.

THE most difficult Posture of this kind is, when the Bottom of the WOMB is placed deeper in the right Side towards the Loins, tending more to the Back than the Forepart. Which the Midwife may know to distinguish by the following Signs; namely, 1. By the Place where the Woman feels the INFANT move most. 2. By that part of the Belly which is most pointed and hard on the Outside. 3. By trying the Woman in the beginning of the Labour, before the Pains have moved the WOMB out of its Place, she will find the Orifice of the WOMB suspended higher, compressed to the Spine of the left OS PUBIS or COXENDICIS; by which means the said Orifice cannot be touched without Difficulty; and by no means the whole of it, but only the lower Border. 4. She will find the INFANT’s Head thro’ the WOMB and VAGINA (tho’ not bare) laid a-cross the PELVIS, but cannot come at the lower Part of it; only with one or more Fingers, she may sometimes penetrate betwixt the Spine of the said Bones, and touch the VERTEX.

BY these Signs the MIDWIFE soon finds her Task most heavy and perplexed; for from thence proceeds the following Difficulties.

I. IN this Posture the INFANT’s Head (as soon as it makes the lead Apertion of the Orifice) is fixed upon the Spine of the left OS PUBIS or COXENDICIS; and the Head thus fixed cannot pass forwards, because those Bones cannot give way: From hence arise the Aquæ Furtivæ, or a flowing of the Waters by Stealth, or as it were, by Distillation; the Orifice as well as the INFANT’s Head being shut up by the said Bones, so that neither the Head nor the Humours can open it; save only a little on the lower Side: Where the Waters, by pressing the Membranes downwards in an acute Form, break thro’ that acuminated Part as they also force the Head upwards, near to the Border of the said Bones.

II. IT often happens, by these means, that the right Arm is excluded, and falls down to the Shoulder in the PASSAGE, the INFANT being left dry by the unseasonable flowing of the Waters: And the Arm being thus thrust forwards into the PASSAGE, the Head is more and more forced-back upwards, so that the Neck of Consequence is so bent, that it may easily break; and the Crown of the HEAD (falling against the Spine of the PUBIS or COXENDICIS) is so pressed upon it by the violent Pains, that the BRAIN may be readily affringed, and consequently the INFANT die before BIRTH.

III. THE most deplorable Condition of all is when, after all Pains and Labours suffered in vain, the Mother herself expires, without bringing forth her Child; as it too often happens, that after a long continued and miserable Torment, the Birth is not a Jot advanced, whereby of course the wretched Woman must undoubtedly yield up the Ghost for want of effectual Help. I say for want of Help, because the Help of such Midwives as are ignorant of the various Postures of the Womb, and the Method of correcting them; and of such as do not thorowly understand the Touch, but place all their Hopes in Nature and Divine Mercy; is as nothing, and of no Effect upon this critical Occasion: Since the audacious Ignorance of such Creatures serves only to tempt God and his Providence.

HAVING thus defin’d and laid down the fatal Inconveniences of this Preternatural Situation, I come now to shew People concern’d how to correct it and dispatch a happy BIRTH: In order to which, the præliminary Articles are the MIDWIFE’S indefatigable Industry, and accurate Attention to the Circumstances of Things.

THEN supposing an INFANT to be brought forth HEAD foremost; the Woman is to be placed with the upper part of her Body a little elevated, the MIDWIFE then finding (by the Touch) the Orifice to be but moderately press’d upon the Left OS PUBIS, or COXENDICIS; in this Case, she is to be laid down full upon the right Side a little obliquely, that the Womb may fall back by its own Weight, and not relapse against those Bones.

NEXT after this I would endeavour to get my right Hand-Fingers above the upper Border of the Orifice, and thereby remove it a little, and bring it down nearer the Cavity of the Pelvis. To facilitate which Work, I would order some of the By-Standing Women to raise her right Side a little, which of Consequence raises the Womb itself; and thus I would, by raising and letting it down by Degrees, move it forwards into the PELVIS: However, always taking special Care, that the Womb, together with the Head, do not slip down too far into the crooked Sinus of the OS SACRUM, so as to stick there, (as has been already precaution’d in the preceding Chapter:) to prevent which unlucky Accident, I would advise to apply all possible Care and Pains in the Beginning, to sustain and keep up the Orifice, and to bare the HEAD sufficiently before its Descent; observing also the same Management in point of the Humours, until the Membrane breaks; which being broken, I would treat the Head in Manner as aforesaid.

NOW tho’ the HEAD in this Posture offers itself as if it were bent aside, because of the lateral Distorsion of the Womb, I would first bring it to a right Position, and then manage it as if it had presented itself directly: And besides, the HEAD being thus directed into the Pelvis, I would always take care that the Woman’s Body be bent a little towards the left Side, that the Child may the more readily be carried down by its own Weight into the PELVIS. But, in short, as to the farther Exclusion of the Infant, and After-Birth, as well as the Cleansing and Contraction of the Womb; These Things are to be perform’d, as directed by the foregoing Chapter.

HOWEVER, we will now state the Case, and suppose that the Woman is spent and tired out with continual hard Labour, before the capable MIDWIFE is sent for: Upon this Condition the BIRTH is to be hastened by all possible prudent Means. In order to which, I would (without Loss of Time) endeavour to turn the INFANT, and extract it by the Feet; Because to direct it otherways into the Pelvis, would be too tedious upon this Juncture. For to bring it Head foremost, would create vehement Pains, which infallibly would expose both Lives to extream Danger. But now, in fine, having thus at large insisted upon the various Cases of Preternatural Births, arising from the four extream oblique Situations of the Womb; It remains yet still, that I also subjoin a few Words, upon such Preternatural Cases, as may proceed from the less oblique Positions of the same Body; and that briefly in manner following——

CHAP. XXII.
Of Præternatural BIRTHS, proceeding from the Median oblique Situations of the WOMB.

AS the three preceeding Chapters concern only the Extremities of an obliquated Womb, so they necessarily lead me in this Place to offer a short Hint Upon the Median or Less oblique Uterine Positions. Which notwithstanding their great Variety, according to the just Comparison formerly made[176], I shall for Brevity-sake comprehend in One, and treat of in general Terms as subsequently follows.

I. I observe that however conspicuous and remarkable the Difference of these Preternatural Postures may be, especially That betwixt the Four mention’d Extremes and the Natural Situation of the Womb; yet I fear, that there is too much Reason to suspect, that this Difference is but little known to the generality of Practitioners in MIDWIFERY, otherways I am sure Patience would not be so much cry’d up, or at least Time would not be so much trifled away, (at every difficult LABOUR) by the Ordinary Boethogynists, neither would the Use of SHARPS be so much practis’d by the Extraordinary MIDWIFE.

II. I observe, that tho’ a Womb less oblique, occasions a less Difficult, or more easy BIRTH, than any of the Extremes, yet the least Degree of an oblique uterine Posture, may be of great Hindrance, and imminent Danger to the Woman, whose attending MIDWIFE is ignorant of it, as well as of the exact Method of restoring it to its Natural State.

III. I would observe by the way, that as the fatal Consequences of such Ignorance, have already been sufficiently precaution’d in the preceeding Chapters; so it would be supervacaneous, and altogether needless to re-assume or repeat them in This: Wherefore I shall only farther, once for all, exhort and adjure such MIDWIVES, as have any regard for their own Consciences, and the Lives of their Neighbours, that they would qualify themselves duly in these excellent Points of Knowledge. And This I have the more Reason to inculcate, because I never yet knew an assiduous MIDWIFE, who was thus perfectly well endued with the essential Qualifications of her Profession, but the great GOD rather (to whom the Glory of all Things is due) perpetually compleated his own Gifts, and crown’d the Labour of her Hands with desirable Success.

FOR as the Husband-Man, who never sowed, can never expect to reap; or as the Gardener, who never planted, can never hope to gather; so neither can the MIDWIFE who was never regularly qualified, ever justly hope or expect to effect a happy DELIVERY; especially not in Cases of Difficult and Preternatural BIRTHS: Neither can the Consequences of her Mistakes or Ignorance on the other Hand, ever detract from, or lessen, the Divine Power, which is still the Same, and can always do all Things that it will, but will not always do all that it can. Besides HE, who has been pleased to lay such Burthens upon us, to try the Patience and Constancy of One, and to exercise the Industry and Charity of another; HE, I say, often executes his Judgments upon some, for the Sins of both Offenders, that all Things may the more manifestly tend to his own eternal Glory.

IV. I come now in the fourth Place by certain Demonstration, to explain the Nature of a Womb less obliquated, and to lay down the genuine Method of correcting any Preternatural Situation whatsoever of the disorder’d or distorted Womb.

IN order to which, I would previously observe, that all such Postures of the Womb, whether more or less, either tending aside, or prone, or supine, are only best discover’d by the TOUCH: Because the Orifice always answering in a strait Line to the opposite Situation of the Bottom of the Womb, can never fail to shew its Posture to the judicious MIDWIFE.

HENCE if the MIDWIFE does but know exactly the Natural Position of the ORIFICE, she may thence easily conceive by how much it differs in an obliquated Womb, and accordingly thereby readily judge whereabouts the Bottom is seated: Which Situations of Bottom and Orifice being known, she can consequently be at no loss to comprehend the Disposition of the whole Uterine Body. And if she now remembers or recollects what has been said of restoring and replacing the most extream, or most oblique Womb, she will have no Difficulty in restoring any Womb less oblique to its Natural Posture; This depending entirely upon that Method, to which I refer[177], for Brevity’s sake.

IN short, I shall here only add, that if the INFANT offers itself well turn’d, in this less oblique Womb; the MIDWIFE, having restored the Womb to its right Place and natural Posture, will find nothing more to do, but to take Care to facilitate and enlarge the Passage, and receive the CHILD tenderly with the Head foremost. Whereas in Case the INFANT presents itself ill-turn’d in this Womb, it is to be very circumspectly extracted by the Feet; as by and by will more amply appear from what ensues, Viz.——

CHAP. XXIII.
Of Preternatural BIRTHS, proceeding from complicated Causes, of both the INFANT and the WOMB.

BY this sort of BIRTHS, I mean such as are Preternatural, both in respect of the Situation of the CHILD, and of the Womb. Which complicated Preternatural BIRTH is (of all others) the most dangerous; because of an Indefinity of Accidents and Difficulties with which it is always attended, according to the many various Postures in which both the INFANT and the Womb are found: All which to enumerate here, and to guard particularly against them, as I have done in the preceeding Cases, would not only augment the Bulk and Charge of this WORK, but also be in some respect altogether Needless: Because if I was to content my self to treat this Chapter in general (without descending to particular) TERMS, I would not doubt but that the ingenious Reader would even thence readily form a clear IDEA of all such BIRTHS, from the many different Cases already stated and discussed; which if thoroughly well understood, the Rest cannot but be easily comprehended.

HOWEVER, that I may not leave the weaker Capacity, or the doubtful MIDWIFE to the Uncertainties of her own scrupulous Judgement, I shall propose and resolve some of the most difficult and dangerous Cases belonging to this preternatural Subject, and that as far as is really requisite, in manner following; viz.——

I. WE Shall suppose that the INFANT is ill-turned, and presents itself preternaturally, with Face, Chin, Hand, Elbow, Shoulder, Breast, Back, Belly, Side, Buttock, Knee, Foot, or any other Part or Member first, in a Womb tending obliquely forwards. In this Condition, I shall first show the MIDWIFE how, and by what Signs, she may know and discover such perverse Postures; and secondly how, and by what Means, These may be rectify’d, the CHILD extricated, and the MOTHER reliev’d in Life.

THEN as to the First Point, I would have it minded, that the Touch is the only Expedient, by which the Situation of the INFANT in any Womb, whether Oblique or Direct, is to be discover’d and perfectly known. Which when the MIDWIFE finds to be preternatural, she needs not much trouble herself about what precise Part offers or comes first in the PASSAGE: Because of this short Rule, which I would not have her to forget; namely, That, when the Head does not present itself first in this complicated Case, the CHILD is to be drawn out by the FEET. For in this ill Position of both the INFANT and the WOMB, the Version of the CHILD succeeds more easily than if the Head was foremost: Wherefore I would lose no Time, but as Soon as I had discover’d all Circumstances aright, I would commence my Business upon this Occasion, before either the MOTHER or the INFANT are much spent, that I may perform my Work, while they both can mutually concur with me towards their own Relief; That is, while the Womb is yet suspended in the upper Part of the Pelvis, and the Membrane not yet broken.

IN order to this Second Point, the Woman being commodiously placed, the MIDWIFE is to pass up her Hand into the VAGINA, and dispose the Orifice of the Womb to open, which is now sooner done than if the Head came first: This being done dextrously, she is to put first one or two Fingers, then all of them successively into the Aperture; and when that is sufficiently enlarged, she is to penetrate into the Womb, and either break the MEMBRANE, or wait its spontaneous Breaking, as she judges best by occurring Circumstances. In the next place, she is to look for and find the FEET; and, the TOES being always turn’d towards the Rectum, they are to be forthwith brought into the Passage: proceeding still farther in the due and regular Method of extracting the Child, as already taught[178] and dilucidated.

II. WE will suppose moreover, that the Infant is ill-seated, and presents itself preternaturally with any of the aforementioned Members first, in a Womb hanging obliquely to either Side. In this Case, I would sincerely advise the MIDWIFE, to lose no Time in opening the Womb, breaking the Membrane, turning the Child, and extracting it by the Feet: Because in this Posture of both the BIRTH and the WOMB, Experience has taught me that nothing can be safer and less dangerous than this Method, when ingeniously and presently perform’d with Dexterity.

IT is true indeed it may be objected, that I dissent in this Matter, from most (if not from all) Authors: To which I answer, in short, that Those from whom I do differ, were never acquainted with this complicated preternatural Condition, but always supposed the WOMB to continue in its proper Place, never dreaming of its various Motion, nor suspecting its oblique Situation; erroneously imagining all preternatural BIRTHS to proceed merely from the ill Version of the Infant: In which Circumstance however, when it happens so, I confess they are so far in the right, that the Head is to be first brought into the Passage, and the Child excluded by it with all possible Expedition.

BUT that I may farther elucidate the true State of this Case, as it becomes me to speak the Truth ingenuously, it is my candid Opinion that, in any oblique Posture of the WOMB, it is the safest, quickest, and most convenient Method to extract the Infant by the Feet, and that presently in the Beginning of the Labour, either before or at least presently after Flooding, as occasion requires. For this very Reason, and to this Purpose, I hope, I may farther justly lay down one certain Rule; namely, that all BIRTHS ill-turn’d, in a WOMB ill-seated, are to be rightly turn’d again, and drawn out by the Feet. Which Rule, if duly observed, will, I am positive, save a World of Women and Children, that otherwise must inevitably perish; since as for my part, I know no Situation of the Infant in an oblique WOMB, more difficult or dangerous than the Head’s offering itself first; and that because the BIRTH cannot be then turned without the greatest Difficulty and most extreme Pains.

THIS, in short, will be readily granted by All, who do consider or conceive that the WOMB (being fixed by Ligaments on both sides) is always more inclinable to fall Forwards or Backwards, than to either Side, and first most commonly bends back before it comes to any lateral Posture; and that from hence of consequence, the WOMB is distorted as well as obliquely situated. By reason of which Distortion, if the CHILD comes Head foremost, it falls down in the Pelvis obliquely; and tho’ a judicious MIDWIFE may bring the Head directly into the Pelvis, yet the Shoulders following, must needs fall upon the Pelvis a-cross, in its narrower Part; whereby of reasonable Consequence the Infant must be distorted in the Passage.

NOW in this Case, no Pains, how violent soever, can avail to force forwards the BIRTH so fixed upon these Bones; wherefore (I say) when the WOMB is thus seated, it is most safe in the Beginning of the LABOUR, to open its Orifice, break the Membrane, turn the CHILD, and take it out by the FEET; since by the Head’s coming now foremost, both Lives are at Stake and in great Jeopardy.

HOWEVER yet it may be again objected, that I have already prescribed another Method in Chap. 21; viz. of bringing the Orifice together with the Head into the Pelvis, and promoting the BIRTH in that Manner: To this I answer, that my Reason for so doing, was not only to convince some People, that I know their Method as well as my own; but also to whet or assist the Judgment of such good MIDWIVES as cannot forsake their own old By-Paths; Not that I ever design’d to recommend it to any, tho’ I must however acknowledge, that sometimes it may effect the desirable Ends; but according to the Rules of irrefragable Truth, and sound Judgment, we find that, in this Position of the Womb, let the BIRTH offer itself as it will, the only laudable Method is without Loss of Time to extract the Infant, and deliver the Woman as above-directed.

III. I observe upon the whole, that as the immediate present Case is applicable to either (right or left) Side; so what is said of the foregoing Condition, with respect to the Womb’s inclining forwards, may be easily apply’d to the Case of its tending backwards: Only with this considerable Difference, that the oblique forward Posture of the Womb, is the most commodious of the Four mentioned Extremes, and consequently admits of a more easy Exclusion of the BIRTH by the Head, than any of the rest mentioned.

NOT but that either of these grand or complicated preternatural BIRTHS imply and prognosticate imminent Danger to the MOTHER, or the CHILD, or Both; as well as incredible Labour and Fatigue to the faithful MIDWIFE; who, in such Cases, can less distinctly feel, less commodiously handle, and more difficultly come at the Matter, so as to dispose the INFANT’S Members for Attraction, than in any other Condition of BIRTH: Hence it is, in short, that so many MIDWIVES are liable to the most egregious Mistakes, and unaccountable Deceptions upon these unlucky Occasions. But——

AGAIN farther, I hope I may freely speak my Mind, and openly avow, that the most of these Births proceed merely from want of seasonable and skilful Assistance in the beginning of the Labour: Because the BIRTH (however well seated then) by reason of the bad Situation of the Womb, cannot possibly pass thro’ the Pelvis of itself; and not being judiciously assisted at that nice Juncture, behold, from a Natural, it falls on a sudden also into a Preternatural Posture. From hence we have this extreme difficult and most dangerous sort of Preternatural BIRTHS, as will more conspicuously appear from a deliberate Reflection upon the preceding Chapters. And This much (I hope) may finally suffice any intelligent Reader, to conceive the different Circumstances of all complicated Preternatural BIRTHS whatsoever. Whence I go on to the Fourth and last Sort of Preternatural BIRTHS proposed; namely, Those proceeding from intervening accidental Causes; which because they are also different, I shall handle briefly and separately in the ensuing Manner; viz.——

CHAP. XXIV.
Of Preternatural BIRTHS, proceeding from the NAVEL-STRING’s coming first, and that either alone, or with some other Member.

AMONG the various unhappy Accidents, which may happen in or about the Time of Labour, the present Case is none of the most auspicious; in as much as it may, in sundry Respects, occasion a very difficult Preternatural BIRTH, according to the Difference of Circumstances: For the Navel-String having fallen down and come first in the Passage, may be variously turn’d, and consequently cause several and sundry Inconveniences, as follow, viz.——

I. WHEN the Umbilical Vessel falls down alone into the Passage, without any other Part, the BIRTH is then commonly situated a-cross in the Womb; and in this Condition, BACK or BELLY, HAND or FOOT, may be probably expected to come first: Wherefore the active MIDWIFE ought to discover the real Posture by the Touch, and that at least before all the Waters are yet flow’d off and evacuated; and then betimes to fetch away the CHILD by the FEET, unless the Head be more convenient or pat for the Purpose. But these Cases being already particularly discussed[179], I shall add nothing farther upon them in this Place.

II. THE String may fall down double, and so swell with Cold, as to obstruct the Passage, which however is but the smallest Consideration in this Condition, because by its hanging down double, it may be so shortned, that the CHILD may be detain’d, appending by it in the Orifice, until the Blood of the Umbilicals coagulating either by Cold, or by Compression in the Passage, the due Circulation is obstructed, and the Infant expos’d to the greatest of Dangers, if a very speedy DELIVERY does not prevent the fatal Accident.

THE Prudent MIDWIFE ought always to be very sollicitous about this Case, making it her particular Care from the beginning of the Labour, as soon as perceiv’d by the Touch, and before the Waters break, to avert or hinder its either coming before, or along with the Head, by removing it judiciously according to Art. But supposing she comes too late to prevent the Mischief, and that the String is already in the Passage; then it is to be put back behind the Head immediately, and kept there until the Head be fully directed into and lodg’d in the Passage. However it sometimes happens that it cannot be kept-up so long, and that the MIDWIFE, whatever Pains she may take, cannot hinder it from extruding itself at every Pang: In this Condition, I would advise her (without delay) to extract the Birth by the Feet, and that notwithstanding the Head should be foremost.

III. IT also happens sometimes, that the String without hanging down, is variously compress’d betwixt the Head and the Bones of the Pelvis, which (stopping or impeding the Motion of the Blood) soon occasions the Infant’s inevitable Death.

IN which Case, if pressed against the Ossa Pubis, having laid the Woman on her Back with her Head low, and the lower Part of her Body raised, I would press back the Infant’s Head, and put the STRING as much as possible behind it; upon which, then I would bring the Head forthwith into the Pelvis, unless it be more convenient to turn and extract it by the FEET.

AS also, tho’ seldom, it may happen, that the Umbilical may be pressed back by the Head against the Os Sacrum: In which State of Affairs, I would turn the Woman, if Strength may permit, upon her Knees, whilst I employ either Hand on the Back Part, in order to remove the Head, how firmly soever fixed: Whereas if the Patient be weak, I would lay her upon either Side, drawing up one Foot to her Belly, for the Advantage of obtaining more Room, in order to effect the same Thing; which, tho’ difficult, is no impossible Task for the expert MIDWIFE.

BUT if it chances to be pressed against either of the Ossa Ilia, having laid the Woman on the contrary Side, with the lower Part of her Body elevated, I would remove the HEAD with the opposite Hand, and free the STRING; proceeding otherways as in the former Cases, with HEAD or FEET, as I should find most convenient.

IV. AGAIN, it also sometimes comes to pass, that the STRING is found lying upon the Forehead, which is indeed most dangerous; but it is easily removed with good Judgement to the Temples of the Head, which I take to be a safe Position, because there the Pressure is much less aggravated.

V. MOREOVER it likewise sometimes happens, that the STRING comes along with the Shoulder, Elbow, Hand, Foot, &c. without touching the HEAD: Upon this then as soon as the Humours have flow’d, I would pass my Hand quickly up, and bring the CHILD, Head or Feet foremost into the Passage, according to its Situation, always detaining or stopping the STRING from coming out before the BIRTH: Whereas if the STRING be already excluded along with the Foot or the Arm, it is to be repelled with all necessary Speed, Conduct, and Caution, and then the INFANT ought to be dextrously drawn out by the Feet.

VI. I have also seen the CHILD brought forth by the HEAD, with the Umbilical circumvolv’d, or turn’d twice or thrice round the NECK; by which means of the STRING’s being so much shortned, the BIRTH was stopped or retained in the Passage: Upon this Occasion, I endeavour’d to slacken the STRING, and so bring it over the HEAD, but finding it too strait and short to be so ordered, I tied it in two places (at about two or three Inches distance) and then cut it in two betwixt the Ligatures: That being done, it was my Business to lose no Time in attracting the INFANT and delivering the WOMAN; otherways in this Condition, it would have soon expired.

CHAP. XXV.
Of Preternatural BIRTHS, from the AFTER-BIRTH’s coming first into the PASSAGE.

ANOTHER Preternatural Accident to which the BIRTH is also sometimes liable, is the Falling down of the Placenta into the Orifice of the Womb; which of course must needs obstruct the Passage, and prevent the timely Egress of the INFANT.

NOW tho’ the ignorant Midwife often occasions this untoward Accident by her own unskilful and imprudent Treatment, or rough and indecent Usage; yet the Ingenious MIDWIFE discovers this Case in time by two certain different Ways: Namely, First, by the Touch, when she can neither feel the MEMBRANE, nor the naked HEAD; but (on the contrary) perceives a thick, soft, fleshy, boneless Substance: Secondly, by a Bloody Flooding, which constantly attends this Condition; whereby both the MOTHER and the CHILD are imminently endangered, as is already more abundantly set forth[180]: Unless the skilful MIDWIFE can prevent the fatal Consequence, by accelerating the BIRTH; which, however yet, is not to be rashly attempted without due Circumspection.

BUT notwithstanding the daring Difficulties, and time-serving Precautions, mentioned by most Authors of my reading and revolving, in this Case; I can conceive no extraordinary Perplexity which can attend it, if the DELIVERY be but timely or seasonably undertaken, before the Woman’s Strength and Blood be too much exhausted. I know Daventer, Peu, and some others, make long Ambages or Circumlocutions upon this Head; for some are at great Pains to teach us how to perforate the SECUNDINE with a Hair-Needle instead of our Fingers, and others how to keep it back, until the INFANT be first born: But for my part, as I already foresee sundry Difficulties that will arise in these Practices, so I shall be loth to come into them, and that because——

FIRST, in penetrating the Placenta with any acute Instrument, the CHILD (if not the MOTHER also) may be easily wounded: Secondly, supposing it to be done with the Fingers, the Hole must be dilated in proportion to the Aperture of the Mouth of the Womb, and then this mangled Mass must be dispersed to all Sides of the Orifice; by which Means, Daventer himself acknowledges, that it often perfectly congeals with Blood, and sticks so fast to the Womb or Vagina, that the Ignorant would not only take them to be grown together, but also believe them rather to be one and the same Body: Which consequently must require both great Pains and Difficulty to be separated, and at last a very diligent Scrutiny must be made, that no Fragment be left any where Behind, since in this Condition no just Conjecture can be made by the Eye: Thirdly, by retaining the SECUNDINE in the Womb, when its heaviest and most bulky Part (the Placenta) is fallen down into the Entrance, let it be never so judiciously managed and moved, it possesses a considerable deal of Room, and consequently obstructs the Operation of the MIDWIFE’s Hand, lying as a cross thwarting Impediment in her way, which at the same Time blockades or totally shuts up the Passage of the CHILD.

WHEREFORE, and considering that this Body, when so loosened and separated from the Womb, can never possibly be any more serviceable; but, on the contrary, highly detrimental to both the MOTHER and the INFANT, as aforesaid; I cannot but be of Opinion, that it is both the safest and shortest Way, to extract the SECUNDINE first; by which expeditious Step, the MIDWIFE not only gains more Room to turn the Child, but also (this being done) she can much more commodiously draw it out by the Heels: Animadverting always by the way, that in this critical Condition, the BIRTH must immediately follow the SECUNDINE, without the Loss of one Moment’s Time, and that especially for stopping the Floodings, which would otherways not only soon suffocate the weak Infant, but also in a short Space of Time effect the certain Death of the tender Mother.

CHAP. XXVI.
Of Preternatural BIRTHS, proceeding from the Death of the INFANT.

AMONG the many Preternatural BIRTHS mentioned, I think that of a Dead CHILD, may now at last justly take place.

BUT because this Case is too commonly mistaken, and that the Live INFANT is too often taken for Dead, and consequently the wretched innocent Creature treated accordingly; I think it may not be amiss, before I enter upon this Delivery, that I make a few previous requisite Remarks; by which the extraordinary MIDWIFE, who is commonly sent for too late, may perfectly know whether the BIRTH be dead or alive; to the End that, so also in Case of Necessity, it may be accordingly managed: Since in this fatal Condition I have known several Persons to have been grossly deceiv’d, who have depended upon the Relation of the sick Woman, or taken it upon the Credit of the ignorant attending MIDWIFE.

FIRST then I know it to be Alive, if, by laying my Hand on the Mother’s Belly, I find it stir or move: Or, Secondly, If I have not full Satisfaction this way, I would convey my Hand into the Womb, as soon as the Waters break, to feel the Pulsation of the Navel-String; which the nearer I feel to the CHILD’s Belly, the stronger I find it beat, if Alive: Or, Thirdly, I would put my Finger into the INFANT’s Mouth to feel its Tongue, which (if Alive) I should perceive it to stir, as if it would suck.

WHEREAS, on the contrary, we may know it to be Dead, when a certain nauseous and cadaverous Humour flows from the Womb: Or, when the Woman feels a great ponderous Weight in her BELLY, tumbling always towards that Side, which she inclines to, or lies upon: As also when we find the CHILD cold in the Womb; or the Umbilical Vessel without Pulse; or the Tongue immoveable: Or lastly, when I perceive the Dissolution of the Cuticle on the Top of the Head, I am then positive that the Foetus is Dead; because, as this is not easily dissolved, neither does it happen immediately, but some Space of time after Death.

IN this Case then of a dead CHILD, the Labour is commonly lingring and dangerous, because of the few, faint, and slow PAINS which seize the Woman; so that Nature, being half overthrown by the Death of the INFANT, which now can no ways help itself, absolutely requires to be assisted by the most expeditious Art: And that best, in my humble Opinion, by the Means and Method following, viz.——

FIRST I would endeavour to awaken and promote the PAINS, by one or more sharp and strong Clysters: But Secondly, if these do not succeed so expeditiously as necessary, I would introduce my Hand into the Womb, sliding it all along under the Belly towards the Feet; and so, with Face and Breast downwards, I would gently extract it by them; in the same manner, as if it was Alive. Only, in this Case, great Care must be taken, that the Head may not unhappily sever itself from the Body, and consequently stay behind in the Womb; which Accident may easily happen in the Passage, especially if the BIRTH is any ways putrefy’d.

HOWEVER, after all, in Case of such an untoward Occurrence, I would still excuse myself from the Use of an Eductor, and debar myself from the Practice of any Instrument whatsoever, save only that of my own natural Hand; which, I think, in all Conditions of BIRTHS, whether Natural or Preternatural, Dead or Alive, is solely obliged, and only best serves, according to the Rules of my Profession, to discharge the Duty of all the INSTRUMENTS in the Surgeon’s Shop; excepting only in the Case of a MONSTER or a very Hydropical CHILD.

BUT in the present Circumstance of the Head’s being separated from the Body, as soon as I have extracted the CARCASE, as above; I would instantly convey back my Hand into the WOMB, and put one or two of its Fingers into the Mouth of the HEAD, placing my Thumb under the Chin: For by thus taking Hold of it by the Jaw, I would extract it gently, and that with the greatest Ease and Safety to the PATIENT Woman.

NOW having thus, in fine, both particularly and at large, treated of the several Sorts of Natural, Difficult, and Preternatural BIRTHS: And having also for the common Good of Mankind, without any Affectation, Hesitation, or Reservation, candidly laid down, and ingenuously set forth the most certain, brief, plain, easy, and unprejudiced INSTRUCTIONS, which perhaps have ever yet been committed to Print, upon the excellent Subject of MIDWIFERY: And having likewise, in a Word lastly, for the true Direction and good Government of all MIDWIVES, fairly laid (as it were) and faithfully delivered the big-belly’d Woman, in every relative Case or Condition of BIRTH, which may or can happen to her: It now only remains, I would modestly think, that I should (in the next place) come to take all the necessary Care, and make the most requisite Provision possible for the perfect Recovery of my Child-Bed-Woman; and that in the ensuing Method.

SECT. VI.

CHAP. I.
Of the DIET and REGIMEN of the Puerperial or Child-Bed-Woman.

THE Good Woman being now delivered, and laid in Child-Bed, may rightly be compared to a Ship, which, after a dangerous nine or ten Months Voyage, rides at Anchor in her Port; where, tho’ arriv’d with great Security, yet if not well moor’d against sudden Winds and Storms, she may perhaps at last drive from her Anchors and suffer Shipwreck: So in like manner if both the Mother and the Child be not duly taken Care of after the BIRTH, Both may be still expos’d to the Danger of DEATH. Wherefore, to prevent all such melancholy Accidents, I shall first point out the proper REGIMEN of the One, and then successively direct That of the Other, in the following Manner; viz.——

I. THEN, immediately after the BIRTH, a soft gentle Closure may be apply’d to the Womb for repelling of the cold Air; of which we must be now very cautious, if we will avert the fatal Consequences that may thereby happen: As also a small Plaister of Galbanum with a little Civet in its Center, may be applied to the NAVEL for attracting, or rather retaining the Womb in its proper Place, where the MIDWIFE’s careful Hand has fixed it after the DELIVERY.

II. THE Patient having her Body wrap’d about with a warm Cloth, and her Hips girt round with the same, is to be placed conveniently in a warm Bed; that is, directly upon her Back-Bone, with her Head and Body a little elevated, for her breathing and cleansing the Better; as her Thighs and Legs also are to be stretched down close together: Whereupon now, if not before, she ought to have a little good Chicken or Pullet-Broth for her Refreshment; which being done, all Doors and Windows are to be shut, and the Bed-Curtains drawn close, that she may rest and sleep quietly.

III. IN the next place, the Closures are to be remov’d, and the clotted Blood taken away; which being diligently done, the BELLY, LOINS, and PRIVITIES are to be anointed with the Oil of sweet Almonds, or white Lillies, mixed with a little warm Wine, which may be repeated at pleasure, for allaying the PAINS of these Parts: And as the Woman is to be carefully kept always very warm, as well as disposed to Rest and Sleep; so every now and then, she is to be comforted with some small Matter of any convenient Food; abstaining however chiefly from strong Meats, as well as from all hot or strong Liquors.

IV. A Decoction of Barley, Linseed, and Chervil, or Marsh-Mallows and Violet-Leaves, with a little Honey of Roses, may be afterwards used Milk-warm three or four times a Day, by way of Fomentation for the first five or six Days of CHILD-BED: Or, instead of these Things, fresh warm Milk, or Barley-Water only may be properly used; always remembring that the Parts be duly cleansed from the clotted Blood, &c.

V. IN the mean time, the Woman’s Breasts are all along to be kept very close and warm-cover’d with soft Cloaths, that the MILK may not curdle; which however is no ways yet in the beginning fit for the CHILD’s Nourishment, until the Conflux of the MILK and the Humours is over; which, upon the first days after DELIVERY, run in abundance to the Breasts.

VI. SPECIAL Care also must be taken, when the Woman is resolv’d not to Nurse the CHILD herself, that the Lochia or Child-Bed-Evacuations flow-off plentifully, in order that thereby the Shock of the BLOOD may be averted from the BREASTS; which if not sufficient to prevent that Inconveniency, they may be properly anointed with the Oil of ROSES and a little Vinegar beat-up together; or a CATAPLASM of the Meal of Beans and Vetches mixed with Oxymel may be applied to the BREASTS; or they may be fomented with a Decoction of the Leaves of Mint, Dill, or Parsley.

VII. IN the time of Cleansing, all Noise and Clamour about the Woman ought to be suppressed; and as she herself ought not to talk much, or aloud, neither ought any Person about her to be obstreperous: Because her Repose is not only thereby disturb’d, but also her Spirits exagitated; which violent Commotion of Humours may readily stop the natural Course. And as for the same Reason, all Passions of the Mind are to be suppressed; so the Woman is to keep herself as much as she conveniently can upon her Back, carefully avoiding frequent TURNINGS to either Side.

VIII. AFTER ten or twelve Days, proper Measures may be taken to fortify and strengthen the Members; and after she has fully done cleansing (which may be about the 20th Day, sooner or later after DELIVERY, according to the Patient’s Constitution, or her way of Living) some proper Astringent Medicines may be discreetly made use of, for corroborating and reconsolidating the Parts.

IX. AS to her DIET, during this Time, she ought to be very regular, and live abstemiously (especially the first Days) as if she had a Fever, using only good Broths, Jellies, fresh-laid Eggs, Ale-soup made with fresh Butter, or the like; after which, she may begin by degrees to eat a little Chicken, Pullet, Capon, Veal, Mutton, or any thing else of good Nutrition and easy Concoction.

AS to her DRINK, if she has no Fever, she may use besides her Cawdles, small White-Wine and Water for Variety’s sake; but in case of a Fever, Water boil’d with a little Cinnamon, or Coriander-Seed; or a Ptisan of Liquorish, Figs, and Aniseeds boil’d in Water; or small Ale a little butter’d, as the Woman pleases, are far more convenient; observing always carefully that her DRINK, of whatsoever sort, be at all times a little warmed.

X. FINALLY, as the Child-Bed-Woman’s Body is always to be kept open, if not otherways naturally so, by a proper gentle CLYSTER, repeated as often as Necessity requires, until the Course of the Lochia is quite over; so afterwards she ought to take one or more proper gentle Purges, for cleansing the Stomach and the Bowels of such vitious Humours, as Nature could not otherways evacuate: Upon which, a repeated Strengthening BATH may be most pertinently used, as also, in order that she may again the more successfully begin upon a new Score, other proper Measures may be prudently taken.

THUS we suppose that all things have succeeded well with our Puerperial Woman; in which Condition the above-mention’d is her only requisite REGIMEN: But in Case of any Preternatural Accident, we must come to her Assistance, according as the Nature of Circumstances does require: Of all which in their Order, as they most commonly happen to the Woman in her present Condition; and FIRST——

CHAP. II.
Of the AFTER-PAINS.

THESE Pains, which usually accompany or follow after the BIRTH, are common to all Child-Bed-Women; and in that Natural Sense, as they proceed only from the quantity of BLOOD abounding in the relaxed Womb, distending its MEMBRANES, or arise from its Acrimony; so they gradually cease, and in two or three days quite vanish: Wherefore I am not to insist upon Those, which only affect the debilitated Womb.

BUT it often and too commonly also happens, that another Sort, justly call’d Preternatural AFTER-PAINS, afflict the Woman; which she sometimes feels about her Loins and her Groins, sometimes about the Navel, sometimes all over the Belly, and sometimes in the Womb only, and that sometimes with a little, and sometimes without any Intermission.

THE most common Cause of which PAINS is generally one of the Five following; Viz. 1. The External AIR, especially the more frigid, which easily penetrates into the Womb, if not carefully prevented: 2. Clotted BLOOD, or some other foreign Body left behind in the Womb: 3. Some Acrid, and Mordacious Blood adhering to the Womb, which excites and stimulates Excretion: 4. The SERUM vellicating or twitching the excoriated part of the Womb: Or, 5. WINDS elevated from the Humours fermenting in its Substance; which, together with those turgent Humours, tear its tender TUNICKS.

NOW because these Pains often excruciate the Woman as much as the real Labour-Pains do, and since they are not always without Danger, Necessity demands that they should be either cured, or at least mitigated: Which may be most properly done, by convenient relaxing and attenuating Medicines outwardly applied, as well as inwardly taken, when the Case does not require the Hand-Cure, or manual Operation.

HOWEVER, yet more particularly, in respect of the Pains, from what Cause soever they may proceed, CLYSTERS of Milk with the Yolks of Eggs are proper; as are also emollient Fomentations mix’d with attenuating and Uterine Medicines; a Fumigation of BRANDY; a Decoction of the Recrements of the Regulus of Antimony; such things being of a sulphurous Nature: And moreover, in fine, all AFTER-PAINS are eased by Aromatick and Carminative Remedies; such as Seeds of Anise, Carway, Cummin, Fennel, Penny-Royal, Roman-Camomil, &c. infus’d or boil’d in Wine or Water, adding thereto a very little Mace and Saffron.

CHAP. III.
Of the Suppression of the LOCHIA, or Child-Bed-Purgations.

THE LOCHIA are nothing else, but the ignobler part of the Blood and congested Humours, which after the BIRTH Nature evacuates and discharges out of the Uterine Vessels, in consequence of the Divulsion and Separation of the Placenta from the Womb. Which LOCHIA however differ always according to the Constitution and Disposition of the Woman, and that not only in Quantity, but also in Quality: For if the PATIENT be otherways Healthy, and Well-disposed, these are at first of a florid rosy Colour, degenerating day by day into a Pale-dye; Whereas if otherways, they are sometimes Aqueous, and sometimes Bilous, Melancholick, &c. And, according also to the usual Habit of Body, and Way of Living, some Women flood more plentifully, others more sparingly; some a longer, and others a shorter Time: as for Instance——

A Woman given to Ease, and high Living, being delivered of a Male, may cleanse from twenty to thirty Days; and if of a Female, from thirty to forty-two Days at most, however still declining in Quantity from Day to Day: Whereas another given to Exercise, may flood only from eight to fifteen Days; and that also perhaps more sparingly, or by Intervals of one or two Days. But it oftentimes happens, that this Evacuation is either suppressed in Whole, or in Part; of which Suppression or Preternatural Retention, I am now about to speak.——

FIRST then, the Cause of this Evil, proceeds either from an Obstruction of the Uterine Vessels, occasion’d by thick BLOOD stopping the Passages: Or, Secondly, from a Constriction or Compression of the same Vessels, occasioned by an oblique Situation of the Womb, or by cold Air, cold Drink, or the like, which readily constrict their Orifices, as well as contract the Womb itself: Or, Thirdly and lastly, the Cause may proceed from the BLOOD’s being retracted and converted to some other Part of the Body; which is most commonly occasion’d by some Passion or Perturbation of Mind, that may not only turn the Shock of the BLOOD to the Breasts, but also retard the Motion, and thicken the Mass of the same BLOOD.

THE DIAGNOSTICKS however of this Distemper are manifest; for either no BLOOD is voided at all, or too small a Quantity, in respect to the Size, Temperament, and Constitution of the PATIENT: But besides, it may be also known by the following Symptoms; viz. a SWELLING of the BELLY, upon the Retention of the Humours that ought to be evacuated; a Difficulty of Breathing arises; Pains seize the Abdomen, as also the Loins and the Groins; a Fever and Tremblings follow; as Faintings do upon a weak, quick and unequal Pulse; something fuliginous appears in the Urine; and a livid, black, grumous, or nauseous Matter is excreted.

HENCE proceed various PROGNOSTICKS; viz. Fevers, Spitting or Vomiting of Blood, Melancholy, Inflammations of the Liver, Quincy, Pleurisy, Frenzy, Dropsy, Apoplexy, and Madness itself: The least of which may prove of fatal Consequence, wherefore Delays in this Condition are most dangerous; because when any of these heavy Symptoms has befallen the Woman, there is scarce any Hope left for her Recovery; whereas before, they may be artfully prevented, and the Cure duly perfected by convenient DIET, Venæsections, Revulsive Medicines, &c.

BUT more particularly the Cure ought to vary, according to the difference of the co-incident Symptoms: For since continual Fevers and Inflammatory Diseases most commonly follow upon this Suppression or Diminution of the Lochia, we must take great Care that, endeavouring to promote the FLUX, and to open the Uterine Vessels, we do not augment the FEVER and Inflammation; which will certainly happen, (if without distinction) we use the hot Medicines prescribed by many Authors.

WHEREFORE in this Case repeated Venæsections sometimes in the Ancle, and sometimes in the Arm; and cupping Glasses applied to the Thighs and Shins; as also Rubbing of the Legs and Thighs well, are generally sufficient Remedies; especially if followed with one or more Cleansing, or partly opening, partly cooling, and Emollient CLYSTERS, of a Decoction of Mallows, Pellitory, or the like; in which strain’d Liquor, the Pulp of CASSIA with a Dram of Nitre, and Sugar, and Honey may be dissolved: As also Fomentations and Fumigations of Emollient and Aperient Medicines that are not sharp, may be very pertinently used. Finally, the Infusion of Jesuits-Bark in Water, may be properly given three or four Times a day; and purging PTISANS, after the first days, are of good Service in the present Case.

CHAP. IV.
Of the immoderate Flux of the LOCHIA.

THE too copious and long lasting, or immoderate Flux of the Child-Bed Purgations, is no less Preternatural, than the former Case of their being altogether suppressed, or in part diminished. Tho’ it is however to be observ’d, that there can be no certain Quantity of flowing Blood, nor any certain Time of Duration of this Flux prefix’d or determined to the Puerperial Woman, as aforesaid: Wherefore the Excess of this Evacuation is best known by the Loss of Strength, sinking of the Spirits, and the great Uneasiness of the Patient.

THE Cause of this Distemper is, either 1st, a too great Plenty of the abounding Blood; or 2dly, its Tenuity and Acrimony stimulating Nature to Excretion; or 3dly, too great an Apertion of the Uterine Vessels; or 4thly and lastly, a violent Extraction of the AFTER-BIRTH: For the Flux of the LOCHIA proceeding meerly from the Separation of the Placenta from the Womb, the more strong and violent this Separation or Divulsion is, the more the Vessels in the Concave Part of the Womb are torn or dilacerated; and so being either too much opened, or too difficult to reconsolidate, they discharge Blood immoderately.

HENCE, I say, this immoderate FLOODING, is not only known by the great Quantities of BLOOD voided, by its Continuance, or by coming away in Clods, and much at a time; but also by the Loss of Strength, and a Defect of SPIRITS; upon which follows a low, debilitated and frequent PULSE; Loathing of VICTUALS; PAINS in the Hypochondriacks, with a Twisting of the GUTS, and Griping of the BELLY; a Dimness of SIGHT; a Hissing of the EARS; and at last Swoonings or Convulsions, proceeding from the Depauperation of the BLOOD: Which after an immoderate FLUX always disorders the SPIRITS, because when the Mass of it is much lessened, it cannot keep its due Mixture and Disposition.

IN this Case the true Prognostick is, that, if all immoderate Hæmorrhagies are dangerous; because by them, the Treasure of LIFE (the natural Heat) is exhausted: Then, without Controversy, the immoderate Flux of the Lochia, whether after Labour, or after a MISCARRIAGE, is full of Danger; as coming upon the PATIENT at a most unseasonable time, when her Strength is already spent.

THE Cure of this Distemper ought to be well-weigh’d, and very cautiously perform’d, because the definite Quantity of BLOOD to be evacuated cannot be well or certainly known: And because if any Part of That be stopped, which ought to be ejected, it of course flows to some other Part, and excites Inflammations or other heavy SYMPTOMS. Wherefore this is only, in the Beginning, to be corrected by proper DIET, and some other convenient light Means: But afterwards by repeated Venæ-Sections in the Arms, if Strength will permit; and proper Astringents inwardly taken, as well as outwardly applied; continuing always a Thickening, Cooling, and Astringent DIET: But farther yet, as the Patient grows weaker, she ought also to have some corroborative Remedies, to enable her to stand out the Cure. Fomentations for the lower Belly of Oxycrat, or an astringent Decoction; Fumigations of the same Decoction, or of hot Oxycrat, are very convenient and helpful on this Occasion, as are also astringent Injections.

BUT however sometimes, and not seldom, it happens, that this Case proceeds from the negligent or ignorant MIDWIFE, by her not duly cleansing the Womb; by which Means, some part (how small soever) of the SECUNDINE or Membrane, or some clotted BLOOD, or perhaps a MOLE, miscall’d a false Conception, may be left behind in the Womb; which distending that Body, occasions not only an immoderate Flux, but also stirs up violent Pains, not unlike to those of Labour: In this pitiful Condition, all possible Diligence must be prudently used to fetch away and remove this Cause, which is only most effectually to be done by the Hand-Cure, in the manner already abundantly set forth.

AFTER which, the PATIENT is to be treated as before, laying her equally flat upon her Back, and keeping her very still and quiet in Bed; which Bed may however in this Case be kept a little Cool, as well as her Chamber, lest Heat should provoke and continue the Course of the Flux.

MOREOVER, in fine, it also sometimes happens, that immoderate Purgations proceed from some gross Excrements contain’d in the Rectum antecedent to the Time of Labour; which, as they puff up the Belly, so they also commonly occasion severe Cholicks; but these being discreetly evacuated by a pretty strong emollient Clyster, the Flooding immediately ceases.

CHAP. V.
Of the Acute Distempers incident to CHILD-BED-WOMEN.

WE are in this place only to consider the Acute Distempers of the Puerperial Woman, because the Time of lying-in is not of such a long Continuance as to admit of Chronick Diseases: And these Acute Ones, in short, which they are most commonly subject to, are continual Fevers, (Either, 1. Essential, that is, Fevers proceeding first from the Blood; or, 2. Symptomatick Fevers, that is, such as follow upon the internal Inflammations, which often attend the Child-Bed-Woman;) as also Frenzies, Watchings, Lethargies, Convulsions, Epilepsies, &c.—

BUT more especially there is one particular kind of Fever, which invades almost all labouring Women the third or fourth Day after the BIRTH, and is commonly call’d the MILK-FEVER; because about that time, the MILK begins to generate more plentifully in the Breasts, taking its Rise from the Motion and Agitation of the Blood, which converts it from the Womb to the Breasts. This Distemper, resolving itself about the ninth Day by Sweat, is of no dangerous Consequence; provided the PATIENT observes a good and proper Diet, and duly prevents all Cold, that might readily stop the Sweat, and carefully preserves the Milk from coagulating or putrefying in her Breasts, whence the Symptomatick FEVERS commonly arise: Wherefore, I say, this MILK-FEVER, being of the extended Ephemerick Sort, and ceasing of itself, requires no great Cure.

ONLY in this Case, it is a vulgar Error among the good Women, that because this FEVER lasts only four or five Days at most, coming on about the fourth, and ending about the ninth Day after the BIRTH, they take all Fevers in this time, for the MILK-FEVER; and consequently thro’ this Mistake, neglecting, or not regarding duly the true Condition, the Patient is very often endanger’d: Which Mistake, that they may for the future diligently avoid, I shall subjoin here some certain Signs of Distinction in due Course. But previously——

THE Causes of all FEVERS incident to the Child-Bed-Woman, are either the Suppression of the Lochia in whole or in part; or the vitious Quality of the Humours accumulated in Gestation, and exasperated in the Birth; or a vitious irregular DIET in the time of lying-in; or the cold Air, or any such Accident by bad Management, may readily convert the MILK-FEVER into a putrid and dangerous one; as a latent CACOCHYMY may also easily dispose it to Corruption.

THE true DIAGNOSTICKS, in my Opinion, are as follow, viz. First, the MILK-FEVER is known from hence, that it always begins about the Fourth Day, when the BREASTS begin to fill with MILK; and then the LOCHIA flowing regularly, the Woman finds a certain Gravity or Weight in her Back and Shoulders.

BUT, Secondly, when the LOCHIA are suppressed, whether in whole, or in part, ’tis then certain that the present FEVER proceeds from thence; the BELLY thereby swells and is puffed up, as also it is pained when touched; and the Humours, at last, putrefying in the WOMB, it ejects a certain fœtid or corrupt Matter.

WHEREAS, Thirdly, if the FEVER neither proceeds from the MILK, nor from any Irregularity of the LOCHIA, why then it must necessarily either proceed from the vitious Quality and Preparation of the Humours; or from a Cacochymical Habit of Body; or from an irregular Way of Living in time of GESTATION.

THE most certain PROGNOSTICKS are as follow, viz. First, All Acute Diseases in Child-bed Women, whose Strength is impaired by their LABOUR, are much more dangerous than in any Others. Secondly, These which proceed from the Suppression of the LOCHIA are most dangerous; because the Humours putrefying in the WOMB, occasion most severe SYMPTOMS, yea and too commonly DEATH itself, unless a lucky Diarrhæa, or a timely Ejection of the corrupted Matter, prevents the Misfortune. Thirdly, The self-same is the unfortunate Consequence, when the Distemper proceeds from the vitious HUMOURS; for Nature then not being able to expurgate their abounding Superfluity by the LOCHIA, the PATIENT must needs be greatly endanger’d, if not overwhelm’d.

THE most adviseable Cure, First, as to the MILK-FEVER, is only to be committed to Nature, the Woman using always a proper DIET, and carefully animadverting, that the SWEAT, in which it commonly terminates, be no ways checked, impeded, or obstructed.

SECONDLY, As to the Watchings, Deliria’s, Epilepsies, &c. which the PATIENT is subject to in this Condition; as they proceed only from Vapours of the BLOOD and Humours, ascending to the Head, when the LOCHIA do not flow regularly, or when the Woman is Feverish: So the Cure of these distemper’d Cases depends (at first) chiefly upon retracting the HUMOURS from the Head to the inferiour Parts, and correcting the Course of the LOCHIA: Because, if these flow orderly, and the vitious Humours, from which such depraved Vapours as affect the Head, be removed and evacuated, all such SYMPTOMS quickly cease and vanish of their own Accord.

THIRDLY, in the other above-mentioned Cases, the PATIENT ought always to be treated according to the various Circumstances of her Condition; I mean, according to the attending SYMPTOMS, conformable also to which the ingenious Physician will always judiciously take his prudent Measures: Since the Cure does not always depend upon the same Method; especially when a symptomatick, or concomitant FEVER, joins the first, as it very often happens, by an Inflammation of some particular Part, proceeding from something of the vitious HUMOURS enforcing itself upon the same very Part.

NOW, in short, tho’ such Inflammations may affect any Part of the Body, yet (I think) the most common Case is, that which affects the PLEURA; and from hence (the Pleurisy joining the FEVER) the Woman labours under both these complicated Acute Diseases at once. The Cure of which difficult and dangerous Condition belongs only to the ablest Physician, to whom I should be justly censured, in impertinently offering any Instruction upon this Subject. Finally, in a word, from what has been said in the Chapter of the Acute Diseases of Women with CHILD[181], we may more fully gather what is to be prudently done to Women in CHILD-BED, afflicted with the like Distempers.

CHAP. VI.
Of the various other Accidents incident to the CHILD-BED-WOMAN.

FIRST then, Because these accidental Distempers are very many and numerous, as well as various and different in Kind: SECONDLY, Because some of them have been already treated, or occasionally discoursed upon at large: And, THIRDLY, because others are only to be named in this Place; I shall take leave to include and comprehend them all, for Brevity’s sake, in this present Chapter.

IN order to which, I may first observe, that most (if not All) of these unfortunate Accidents, depend entirely upon the indiscreet Conduct of the MIDWIFE in time of LABOUR, or the ill Management of the Woman after the BIRTH: Since by the prudent and judicious Means of the expert MIDWIFE, many Accidents may be prevented, which otherways must necessarily happen, especially in difficult or preternatural BIRTHS; as also, on the other hand, by treating the Woman orderly, and guiding her carefully, many Distempers may be totally averted, which otherways will inevitably seize the PATIENT. As for Instance——

IT sometimes happens, that she is troubled with a Prolapse, or bearing down of the WOMB, or Vagina, or Both; as also sometimes with a Falling out of the FUNDAMENT: In all which unhappy Conditions the industrious MIDWIFE will find her Instructions, not only with respect to the Cure, but also with respect to the Prevention (which concerns her most) particularly set down and accounted for in SECT. V. Chap. 10, and 11. as she will also, upon Perusal, find the Method of preventing that deplorable Accident, of making a Rupture in, or renting the Perinæum, in Chap. 9.

BUT in case of Contusions, or Smaller Rents in the VULVA, or Vagina, which sometimes cannot be well prevented, especially in the First BIRTHS; such are by no means to be neglected, lest they degenerate into malignant ULCERS: Wherefore they ought to be cured, as soon as possible, after the Woman’s DELIVERY; which Cure is easily performed, when taken in hand betimes, by proper Fomentations, and convenient CATAPLASMS.

SOMETIMES again, the WOMB, the Belly, and the Feet swell much after the BIRTH; which SYMPTOMS commonly proceed from some Cold, or from drinking too much, or from either a Suppression or Diminution of the LOCHIA, or from any irregular way of Living during the time of GESTATION: By which means the vitious HUMOURS, resolving themselves into Flatulencies, swell and puff up both the WOMB and the ABDOMEN; and these Winds descending, have the same Effect upon the Legs. But the Cure, however, of all such SYMPTOMS, is readily accomplished by convenient DIET, proper Fomentations, and discutient Medicines.

HENCE I might orderly descend to an Indefinity of Particulars, deriving from the following general Heads, which I Shall only name at this time; viz. the various Diseases of the PUDENDUM and Vagina, as well as of the MATRIX itself, together with their co-incident SYMPTOMS; as also the divers Distempers, and different SYMPTOMS of the Woman’s BREASTS. But These Subjects being as different as numerous (which I have already hinted) I must refer them to another Opportunity; being resolved to keep the present Work, for the common Good, within the Purchase of all sorts of People as far as possible; and until such time as something on these Heads appears more judicious or elaborate, either from my own, or some more capable Hand, I hope English Women can be at no great Loss for good Instruction, or ready Assistance; especially not in this famous City of London, which is, by the Divine Mercy, abundantly well-stock’d, and singularly well provided, with some of the most excellent Physicians of the Age, as well as with some very ingenious Practisers in the Art of MIDWIFERY.

AND, thus, in fine, having piloted the good Woman (as it were) thro’ the three Gulphs of GESTATION; BIRTH, and CHILD-BED, and at last brought her into safe Harbour; we may now (I hope) securely leave her there, to refit for the same prosperous Voyage again; whilst we, in the next Place, undertake to provide for the Safety of her CARGO, or direct the Regimen and Nursing of the CHILD. And FIRST—

CHAP. VII.
Of the Constriction of the NAVEL-STRING, and the Swaddling of the Infant.

IF after the Torrents of Difficulties and Oceans of Danger that the Mother has painfully gone through, and narrowly evaded, the Child should at last be lost; the Comfort of her Burden would be but small, and the Reward of her Sufferings but very little: Wherefore special Care ought to be taken to prevent such melancholy Events; in order to which, we are not only to remedy such Indispositions as it (too often) brings with it into the World, but also to defend it from the many periculous Contingencies, to which the Tenderness of its Body, and the Debility of its Age expose it.

THE first Duty then, that the INFANT requires of us after BIRTH, whether born by the Head, or extracted by the Feet, is the tying and cutting of the Umbilical Vein, or NAVEL-STRING; which being a thing generally well known, I shall have no Occasion to insist upon it, especially since tho’ the common Gossips may differ in the Performance, yet they always agree in the Fact.

HOWEVER, that we may not pass this essential Point by in Silence, in case a notable Word may drop by the By, I would,——

I. OBSERVE, that, until the STRING be cut, the Child is to be carefully laid on one Side, not on its Back, for fear that the HUMOURS, running to its Mouth or Nose, may choke it, for want of free Evacuation.

II. I would take notice, that, if need require, while the MIDWIFE is busy about the Mother, in extracting the AFTER-BIRTH, cleansing the WOMB, &c. the most capable of the Gossips should tie and cut the STRING, especially if the INFANT is weak or ill; otherways it may be deferred until the Woman be entirely delivered, and fairly laid. Then,——

III. AS to the Performance of this Matter, it may be tied with a good strong Thread, laid four or five-fold, according to its Strength; and the Knot tied close within two Inches of the CHILD’s Body: Tho’, I say, that the Knot is to be tied close, yet it must not be so strictly tied as to cut asunder the STRING; which might easily happen, especially to the INFANTS of a tenderer Constitution. And the Reason that I would have the Constriction made two Inches from the Body, is this, That in case any Blood should happen to drop out afterwards (as it often happens) there may be room enough to tie it again nearer the NAVEL.

IV. THE STRING is not to be cut off close to the Knot, but also two or three Inches from it; so that, if it happens to swell with Wind (as is very common) after being tied, it may be loosed again, the Wind discharged, and itself conveniently retied. But the far better and preferable way is, to tie this Vein in two Places, and cut it asunder betwixt the Ligatures; being thereby secure from losing Blood. Some (I know) will not have the Vein to be tied before the CHILD cries or makes Water; but, however, long Delays in this Case are no ways convenient, nor without Danger.

V. THIS Vein or String being cut, must be wrapped up in a three or fourfold Rag, to defend the BABE from Cold or Pains of the Belly; which otherways might ensue from the naked Vein’s lying upon its Body: Which being done, this Part of the String is to be laid on the upper Part of the Belly, with a small Boulster on the Top of it; and then swathed with a Linnen Swath of about four Inches broad, to keep it firm and steady.

VI. THE first time that the CHILD is unswathed, a new Knot ought to be made or tied, and that to prevent all Danger by Loss of BLOOD, which may readily happen by the first Knot’s relaxing, as the STRING begins to wither away or contract.

THIS being so duly taken care of, it remains only in general, that the Infant be presently washed, cleansed, and examined all over, and at last orderly swaddled. All which if the MIDWIFE does not perform with her own Hands, she ought at least to see it carefully accomplished: Upon which she may then say, she has faithfully discharged her Duty to both the MOTHER and the CHILD.

VII. BUT more particularly, in the seventh Place, I must take notice, that as soon as the NAVEL-STRING is thus duly handled and provided for, the INFANT is to be tenderly cleansed of the adhering Excrements, and washed all over in a little warm Wine, Milk, or Ale; especially its Head, Arm-Pits, Groins, Cods, or Privities, &c. are to be softly cleansed and gently bathed with a soft Spunge or Rag, dipt in the same Liquors: But if the viscous Matter sticks too fast or close to the tender Body, a little Oil of sweet Almonds, or fresh Butter, may be added to either of the foresaid Liquors. As also the Ears and Nostrils ought to be well cleansed and unstopped with small Tents of fine Rags wet therein; and the Eyes wiped with a soft dry Cloth; as the Mouth, Tongue, and Jaws may be cleans’d by the Finger.

VIII. THESE things being all very carefully and tenderly performed, every Part of the Body ought to be diligently searched, in case of a Dislocation, or any other Accident, happened by Violence in the BIRTH, or otherways; that present Remedies may be used, according to the Nature of the Circumstances: And especially the two Conduits of the URINE and ORDURE are to be examined; since it sometimes falls out that these are not perforated, and consequently that the Meconium cannot be voided, which inevitably proves fatal, unless timely Care be taken.

IX. AS to the URINE, all Children discharge it as soon as born, at least as soon as they feel the Heat of the Fire; when if the Excrements, properly called MECONIUM, tho’ improperly COLLOSTRO by the Italians, do not follow a little after; I mean within an Hour or two; then a small Suppository may be used, such as a sugar’d Almond anointed with a little boiled Honey; or a Piece of Venice-Soap anointed with fresh Butter; as also a little Syrup of Roses or Violets, mixed with the Oil of sweet Almonds by Expression, that is, drawn without Fire, may be given in the Mouth, anointing the Belly with the same Oil, or with fresh Butter; in like manner as a small Clyster (upon occasion) may be discreetly used and managed to purpose.

X. THE INFANT being in these respects provided for, it is now to be duly dressed and swaddled in its Swathing-Cloathes; and beginning with the HEAD, a Compress of a three or fourfold fine Linnen Rag, about four Inches broad, is to be applied to the MOULD, for defending the (yet open) BRAIN from Cold, &c. which Compress is to be carefully covered with, and pinned to the ordinary CAPS made on purpose. Next then, some small soft RAGS are to be laid behind the Ears, upon the Breast, in the Arm-Pits, and the Groins; after which the BABE is to be wrapped softly up in warm Blankets, and discreetly swathed; not too strait, especially not about the Breast and Stomach, that it may breathe the freer, and the better retain the MILK it sucks. The ARMS are to be stretched along the Sides, and the LEGS equally streight, with a little of the Bed betwixt them; and the HEAD is always to be kept steady, as the whole CHILD is to be preserved thus warmly wrapped up, and judiciously appointed. But now because the INFANT is commonly committed to the Nurse’s Care, I shall, in the next Place, enter upon the Description of the proper Person for that purpose.

CHAP. VIII.
Of the NURSE and her Regimen, together with the requisite Qualities of her MILK.

THO’ the BABE may be brought up by the Hand only, without Suckling, as many Instances of very thriving Children testify; yet because the most natural, common, and commendable way is to suckle it, I come now to touch upon the proper NURSE, her Milk, and Diet. Upon which I first observe, that the prime and chief Quality of a good NURSE is, that she be the Mother of the Fosterling INFANT herself; and that because her MILK, being generated of the same Blood, of which the CHILD is formed, and has hitherto been nourished, is of a nearer Affinity with the Nature of her BABE, than the MILK of any other strange Woman whatsoever; which can differ no less from the Maternal Milk, than the own Mother, and the other differ in Constitution and Temperament of Body, Regimen, and Method of Living, &c. All which affect the INFANT in no small Degree; for as the Blood is generated of the Chyle, and the Spirits of the Blood, so the CHILD imbibes the very Manners and Disposition, as well as the gross Humours and Qualities of the NURSE with her Milk.

AS a Lamb sucking a Goat, changes not only its Nature, but even its Skin and Wool into the Goat-Kind; so it is also among the rational Creatures: From hence we have justly the old Proverb, touching an ill-natured Person, that some Brute or other has been his NURSE. And hence it is that Romulus and Remus, the Sons of Mars (without any Reality) are said to have been nursed by a Wolf[182]; Pelias, the Son of Neptune, by a Mare; Telephus, the Son of Hercules, by a Hind, &c. Not that they ever actually sucked such Creatures, only their NURSES were of such Tempers and Natures, which they were thus supposed to have by the Breast infused into them.

AND, in short, daily Experience, as well as many Learned Authorities, may sufficiently convince us, that Children really suck in the several vitious Inclinations and depraved Passions of their NURSES; such as Anger, Malice, Fear, Melancholy, &c. Agreeable to which Opinion, Diodorus says[183], that Nero the Emperor’s NURSE was very much addicted to Drinking; which Habit Nero imbibed from her, to such a Degree, that the People took notice of it, and from thence instead of Claudius Tiberius Nero, call’d him Caldius Biberius Mero. The same Author relates of Caligula, that his NURSE used frequently to moisten her Nipples with Blood, that he might take the better hold of them; which (says the same Diodorus) was the Cause of his being so cruel and Blood-thirsty all the Days of his Life; that he not only committed frequent Murders by his own Hand, but even wished that all humane Race was but one Neck, that he might have the pleasure to cut it off.

IN short, honest Parents perceiving their Children to incline variously, one to Thieving, another to Drinking; one to Stupidity, another to Barbarity; are amazed at such Degeneracies of Mankind, not knowing after whom the Child can take those Propensions. But abstracting from this, how many fine Children do we daily see thrown into Fits, Rickets, Consumptions, &c. merely by sucking their imprudent NURSES, when enraged, or otherways in a Passion? If then the Case stands thus, that every Disorder of the NURSE is a real Detriment to the INFANT, surely, upon this Account, all Parents ought to know Her well, to whom they entrust these Dear Pledges of their sacred and natural Desires.

MOREOVER yet, besides all these Things, the tender Care, as well as the Love and Affection of the Mother to her own Child, by far surpasses that of any mercenary NURSE whatsoever. Wherefore the Mother, tho’ perhaps not the best NURSE in other respects, is always preferable to a STRANGER: Which if People of Probity and Honour would more observe, I sincerely believe that there would not be so many graceless, disobedient, and undutiful CHILDREN of our Age. I do not think what I have read of Scipio Africanus to be any singular Instance; namely, that He esteemed Her more for his Mother, who nursed him two Years after his Birth, than Her who brought him forth, and then forsook him in the World. Agreeable to which, and most à propos, was the Answer of the Philosopher, Favorinus[184], to the Mother of a certain Noble-woman in CHILD-BED, who was dissuading her Daughter to nurse the CHILD she had born; viz. I entreat thee Woman (says he) suffer her to be the whole and entire Mother of her own Son. And verily, She only can be properly so called, who carefully nurses as well as brings forth her own CHILDREN. Hence it is that the Earth is called the Mother of all Things, not so much because she produces all Things, as because she maintains and nurses what she produces.

ALL which, notwithstanding, there is sometimes a Necessity (on account of sundry Reasons) to provide another NURSE for the CHILD; wherefore I come now briefly to describe the most proper Person for this TRUST, and to set forth the Qualities of the most convenient MILK, for the wholesome Nourishment of the Infant.

FIRST then, the NURSE ought to be a Woman between the 20th and 35th Year of her Age, perfectly graced with the Blessings and Ornaments of Nature; and a Person of Probity and Reputation in her Rank, endued with Love, Pity, and Tender-heartedness: As she also ought to be sound and healthy, of a good Habit and Disposition of Body and Mind, of a sanguine Complexion, and rosy Colour; of a middle Stature, having black or brown Hair, a lively Eye, sweet Breath, sound and white Teeth, with an agreeable chearful Countenance. In short, she ought also to be a well-mannered, modest, and sober Person, having middle-sized, well shaped, not flabby nor hanging down, but solid fleshy Breasts, with elegant, firm, and well perforated Nipples.

SECONDLY, As to her MILK, it ought neither to be too new, nor too old; but at any time from the Puerperial Flux, until the 6th or 8th Month thereafter, it is not to be rejected; especially if it be of a good Consistence, neither too thick nor too thin, of a pure white Colour, an agreeable pleasant Smell, and a perfect sweet Taste.

BUT it sometimes however happens, that the Milk of a NURSE, otherways a very proper Person, degenerates from some of the abovesaid Qualities: In which Case it is no ways convenient to change the NURSE, especially if it so happen to the Mother; only the MILK is to be corrected according to Art, which may be easily performed by proper Medicinal Means, and that as well with respect to its Quality as Quantity: However, as this Case belongs to the SYMPTOMS of the Breasts, which I have already declined speaking to, as in the foregoing Chapter, so I shall no ways enter upon it in this Place. But again——

THIRDLY as to her Regimen, such a Nurse is to make use of, and enjoy a good and convenient Diet; abstaining carefully from all salt and sharp Victuals, as well as from high-spiced Meats, and strong or spirituous Liquors. In short, as she ought to avoid all Sorts of intemperate Air, and keep herself clean both in Person and Cloaths; so she ought always to exercise herself by some light Labour, and keep herself in a moderate active Motion; prudently suppressing, at all Times and upon all Occasions, the various Passions of the Mind: By which means, any Woman as above described, may make a very good NURSE, and that even without abstaining altogether either from the moderate Use of Wine, or of Conjugal Conversation; notwithstanding the contrary Opinion of most Authors, provided only that she does not give the CHILD suck for an Hour or two after Copulation.

CHAP. IX.
Of the Diet and Ablactation, together with the farther Regimen of the CHILD.

BESIDES the external and internal Excrements mention’d in the foregoing Chapter, the Infant in a few days after BIRTH, pukes up a certain Sort of viscid Phlegm; for which Reason it ought to have no SUCK until this Humour be evacuated, lest the Milk incorporating with that Matter, both should corrupt: To prevent which Inconveniency, some order a little Oil of sweet Almonds by Expression, and a small Quantity of Sugar-Candy, or a little fresh Butter and Honey mixed.

INSTEAD of which, however, I have seen some Jewish Matrons give also the new-born Child for the first Thing, a little Salt dissolv’d and mix’d in a Spoonful of Hysop, or Saxifrage-Water; which (tho’ no improper Prescription in itself) yet I conceive their chief Reason for it to proceed from Ezek. 16. 4. where the Lord summing up the Duty of the MIDWIFE, says, Thou wast not salted at all, &c. Again farther——

THE Learned Arnoldus de Villa Nova, advises us to give the CHILD, for the first Thing, half a Scruple of fine pulverized Coral in a little of the Woman’s MILK; and that (says he) to prevent FITS, to which new-born Children are very subject.

ALL which may be indifferently us’d, according to Pleasure, tho’ I take a small Spoonful of Sugar’d Wine, given twice or thrice a day, for the first four or five days running, to be the most preferable Remedy for Prevention: By reason that the Wine cuts and loosens the Acid Humour, preparing afterwards by Concoction and Digestion what remains, as the Sugar temperates and helps to expurge the Acrimony: Which being duly done, I would order the Infant always to rest, laying it not on its Back, but on its Side, that this morbifick Matter may be the more commodiously voided by the Mouth, as already precautioned in Chap. 7.——

THIS Humour being then thus prepared and discharg’d, the Breast of some other clean and sound Woman may be given the CHILD, until the Mother’s Milk be purified for its proper Use; which it can scarce be supposed to be, before the Dissolution of the MILK-FEVER, that is before the ninth day after DELIVERY: From which time, it is to be maintain’d and nourish’d for the first three or four Months by BREAST-MILK only; augmenting however its Allowance from day to day, in proportion to its Age and Strength, that the weak Stomach may never be overloaded, so as to occasion Vomiting, or (which is worse) a DIARRHÆA: To prevent which Inconveniency, let the INFANT rather suck often, and a little at a Time, than too much at once.

AFTER these first Months are over, a little thin PAP may be given it every Morning, and in time twice a day; which is commonly made of Flower and Milk, or Ale, with a little Sugar and Butter: But because FLOWER is of itself humid and viscid, and may not only occasion Pains and Obstructions, but also, engender Gravel and Worms, it ought to be first well dryed in a new or clean earthen Pot in an Oven; or, what is better, the Pap may be made of the Crumb of a Loaf: Which Diet is properly observ’d, until the time of Teething, laying it still, a little after its Meal, to rest upon its Side, or now and then upon its Back, with the Head a little rais’d; however not in the Bed with the Nurse, for fear of overlaying it, but in a Cradle close by her Bed-side; always very carefully covering the Child’s Face, that the Light may not offend its tender Eyes, and render them any ways distorted or goggled: And as the Infant may be brought up by the Hand without Suckling, so it may easily be accustomed to Sleep without Rocking. But be that as it will, as soon as the CHILD is furnish’d with Teeth, it is proper by degrees to use it to a little more solid Food, such as Bread and tender Meats or Fleshes, however, a little chewed by the NURSE: In the mean time no Crude, or Meats of hard Digestion, are to be allow’d it, because such Things produce a Corruption of Humours, whence Worms engender, and other various, grievous, and irregular Symptoms arise.

BUT before I proceed farther, I ought to observe, that the Duty of the Nurse does not consist entirely in the abovesaid Conditions; for the BABE must be as duly washed and shifted, unswaddled and reswaddled as Fed: Wherefore from the Birth, until the third or fourth Month, it ought to be loosed and washed all over in warm Water twice or thrice a day, before the warm Fire; as also in the night time if necessary, that the Acrimony of the Excrements may not offend it: Upon which at every singular Occasion, the Nurse may also rub its tender Body gently, not only for the better Concoction of its Aliment, but also for strengthening and consolidating its Members; which Offices being all carefully and affectionately done, the Infant is to be shifted toties quoties, and orderly reswaddled in clean, dry and warm Clouts and Blankets. However yet, from the third Month until the Teething-Time, the Body needs only be washed once a day, or (if you please) every other day; as from thence forward it may only be twice a Week.

MOREOVER, when the CHILD begins to use its Hands and Feet, if it moves briskly from place to place, it is a good Sign of a strong and lively Constitution; as it is the Reverse, when it sits torpidly or drowsily still and unactive. Which notwithstanding, these brisk INFANTS are not to be allow’d such Motions too soon, I mean not to use their Feet prematurely or too fast, as many ignorant Nurses commonly encourage them to do: Because by these means, their tender Legs may be easily distorted or become crooked. Whereas when they are more firm and well-grown, they may be learned to walk by the help of the Nurse’s Hand, or of a Leading-String; as afterwards they may be inur’d to walk of themselves, by the means of a small Vehicle or Chariot, as is generally well known in populous Places.

AS to the time of Ablactation, or weaning the CHILD from the Breast, it is not always the same; some being more robust and lively than others, and consequently may be sooner wean’d; but others are more weak and tender, and accordingly require longer time of the Breast. However this be, the Infant ought not to be wean’d before it has its compleat Sett of Teeth; because if sooner, it can no ways duly prepare its VICTUALS by the Mouth, for Concoction in the STOMACH, which may be of very bad Consequence; Besides, in the time of Teething, especially about the Eruption of those call’d the Dog-Teeth, the Child is subject to Fevers, Pains of the Gums, and various other Symptoms, which would certainly be of more Danger by far, if it was at that Juncture to be deprived of the Breast.

OTHERWAYS, I take the due and proper Time for Weaning the Infant, to be about the 18th or 24th Month, rather longer than shorter; because it surely finds the Benefit of this proper and benign Aliment all the Days of its Life. Yet at what time soever it happens to be done, the Child is not on a sudden to be accustomed to different sorts of Victuals, but rather, while it yet Sucks, to be gradually brought to the Use of what is most convenient for its Nutrition, such as Hen or Chicken-Broth, or the Soup of other Meats, mix’d with a little Crumb of Bread; or a Soup made of Ale, and Crumbs, with a little Fresh-Butter, which is of excellent Nourishment: As before, or about the Time that the Infant is to be Wean’d, a little half chew’d Meat of any Sort, provided sweet and fresh, may be given it for a good weaning Repast.

UPON this Head, I shall only farther observe, that the Ablactation, or Weaning, always happens more conveniently in the Spring or Autumn, than in the Summer or Winter, and that more auspiciously with the encreasing than with the decreasing Moon: And this, because otherways, besides the Alteration which happens to the Child from the Change of its Diet and Aliment, another may easily affect it from the Calidity or Frigidity of the Ambient Air.

BUT besides, in short, that the Infant may be the better and the more readily Wean’d, the Nurse’s Nipples may be anointed with the fresh Juice of Wormwood; or with a Liniment of the same Juice, Honey and Aloes; or any other proper Ingredients, discreetly us’d, that its tender Lips or Gums may not be inflam’d, nor the weak Stomach hurt or offended. However, the better way is, that the Nurse withdraw herself from the Child’s Presence; upon which it is to be plentifully fed, as already advis’d, allowing it a little Ale, but no Wine, for its Drink.

NOW as to the Diet and Regimen of Children from Ablactation to the first Seventh Year of their Age, I would farther observe, that it differs yet altogether from that of more adult Persons, since their infirm Habits and tender Bodies can no way tolerate, or withstand the consequential Effects of an irregular Diet, or an Erroneous Regimen: Besides this Age requires Victuals frequently, and that not only what is sufficient for Nutriment, but also for Growth: And moreover they ought still to be now and then bathed or washed at Times.

BUT touching the Affections and Passions of their Minds, great Care must be taken, that they be not provoked to Wrath or Anger, nor frighted with fearful Notions or Phantasms; since such Things make strong Impressions upon their soft Bodies, and frequently give Origin to Convulsions, Epilepsies, &c. However, as Children are naturally more prone to Evil than to Good, and to Vice rather than to Virtue, they are not to be too much indulged; but from their Infancy upwards, all such perverse Faculties and Passions of Mind are to be so curbed and moderated, that they may become subservient and obedient to Reason; and that because this very Age is the proper Time to lay the Foundation of their future good Qualities and Disposition, agreeable to the Rules and Præscripts of a right rational Oeconomy.

I know This is sometimes accounted a hard Task, but if we consider that the Whelps of Savage Bears and Lions may be so tamed, as to obey the Motions of their Keeper, how much more easily may the Sons of Men be inur’d to follow the Laws of right Reason? Their Passion first discover themselves most commonly by Crying and Tears, tho’ sometimes also otherways; wherefore such Fits of Anger or Passion ought to be prudently reprehended in them; and when neither Admonitions nor Commands may prevail, then Threats ought to take place, that all Frowardness and Obstinacy may be stifled in the Bud; for the Mind of Youth may be justly compar’d to a Mass of Wax or Clay, on which we may readily stamp what Impression we please to make.

FOR these Reasons, their Attendants, or such other Persons as may be occasionally about Children, ought carefully to avoid doing or saying any mean, base or vile Thing, especially in their Presence or to their Knowledge; since here the old Proverb holds most true, that, we are drawn by Precept, but led by Example. Wherefore to moderate and mitigate their Passions, Children ought to be allowed proper Diversions, and such Exercises of Body as their Age and Constitution will permit; and that also, because if they were to be brought up lazily or sluggishly, without Motion or Exercise, their Victuals which is now commonly given them both plentifully and frequently, could not possibly disperse itself nor digest, upon which the innate Heat would infallibly suffer a sensible Decay.

THESE Things being duly observed, it now only farther remains, that the Child be well train’d up, and carefully educated; instilling all along into its Mind the Principles of Humanity and Morality, and instructing it gradually in the Knowledge of Arts and Sciences; which it will even at this tender Age be found capable of Conceiving: For the Human Mind being naturally adapted to attain to the Cognition of all sublunary Things, may be thus endued and furnished with the most laudable Arts, before it can distinguish the Use of them; since according to the Philosopher’s wise saying[185], Nostrum scire nihil aliud est, quam Reminsisci. Because (I say) the Mind of Man perceives and comprehends the Notion and Knowledge of all temporal Things in it self, notwithstanding that it cannot easily display it self, by reason of the burthensome Oppression of the Body and its gross Humours: Like as a Fire, overlaid with Ashes, must be raised up and fomented, before its engender’d or retain’d Sparkles can exert themselves with any Lustre; so it is even with us, before the Light and Instinct of our Natures can shine forth: For as some Roots cast no Smell, or breathe no Fragrancy of themselves, unless they be softly touched or squeezed with the Hand; so neither do our Natural Powers and Faculties exert or show themselves, unless they be diligently exercised and cultivated.

THUS we have now guided and conducted the Child from its Birth, to the Seventh Year of his Age; which being only meant by the Infant, that was safely Born, and continued all along in Health; I come now in the next place, to hint upon what is farther Requisite towards the rearing of such Children, whole Misfortune it may be, either to come into the World with Infirmities, or to be afterwards subjected to them in their Cradles. And First,

CHAP. X.
Of the various Symptoms and Indispositions wherewith the Child may be Born.

SINCE some only, not all Children, happen to bring Infirmities with them into the World; and because such Indispositions as are chiefly meant here, discover themselves presently at the Time of Birth, and require immediate Cure; I shall concisely enter upon, and briefly comprehend them All here, as they most commonly fall out, in this present Chapter.

IN order to which, I shall previously observe, that such Inconveniencies happening to the Infant, may have a double Origin, and proceed either from a Defect in Nature, or the Effect of a difficult Birth: The First may take Rise from various Causes, such as of the Parental Seed, the Forming Faculty, the Maternal or Uterine Constitution, an illegitimate Time of Birth, and the like; as the Latter may also arrive, not only from a Difficult, or Preternatural Labour, &c. but also from the ignorant, rough Usage, or barbarous Treatment of the Midwife. However, not to insist too long on these Things, it very often, and too commonly happens.

I. THAT, The Child suffers so much in the Birth, that (when born) it is hard to know, whether it be dead or alive, not one part of the Body being perceiv’d to move; which however may be thus well known, viz. by laying my Hand upon its Breast, I shall feel the Motion of the Heart, if alive, tho’ never so weak; as I shall also perceive a small Pulsation of the Arteries, by touching the Navel-String near the Belly.

IN which Case, I would immediately order the Infant to be laid in a Warm Bed or Blanket, and quickly carried to the Fire; where its Mouth is to be open’d, as its Nose is to be clean’d and unstopp’d with small Tents dipp’d in warm White-Wine, and Linnen wet with the same applied to its Breast and Belly; spurting always in the mean time, a little of the same Wine into its Mouth and Nose, until it begin to stir: Or then I would distil a drop of Aqua-Vitæ, from time to time upon its Tongue, bathing its Pulses and Nostrils with the same, while I anointed its Mouth with Honey.

II. IT sometimes only happens, that the tender Face is bruised Black or Blew, Pale or Livid; which may also as well proceed from the Bones of the Pelvis, or from the Child’s being Born Face-upwards, as from the Midwife’s hard Usage. In this Condition, I would only order it to be frequently anointed with the Oil of Sweet Almonds, drawn without Fire, that is, by Expression; upon which it soon recovers its Natural Colour.

III. AGAIN sometimes the Infant is born with a Knob or Tumour on the Crown of its Head, occasion’d by its hard Pressure against the Orifice, or by its strict Compression in the same: In which Condition, I would immediately foment it with warm Wine or Aqua-Vitæ, and apply a Compress to it, either wet in the same, or in the Oil of Roses and Wine beat together; and the same Fomentation and Compress may serve for any other Part of the Body, which may be swell’d by rough Usage, or otherways, in a difficult Birth. But in Case of Suppuration, it must be open’d in a proper place with a Lancet, applying afterwards a Plaister of Betony. As also in Case of a Fracture, or any sort of Dislocation, the Parts must be join’d and reunited, and duly retain’d in their Natural Position by convenient Boulsters or Splinters, until they be firmly closed and reconjoin’d. Moreover

IV. IN Difficult Births, it very commonly falls out that the Head is pressed into an oblong Form by the Bones of the Pelvis, because the Scull not being made of one piece, is not equally hard or firm; the Sutures being only surrounded with Membranes, especially the Top of the Head is so Membranous and soft, that the Bones forming the Scull may be easily pressed one upon another; from whence we have this oblong Figure of the Head. However, in short, this may be corrected and reduced to its Natural Shape, by frequent, but cautious and skilful, Handling.

V. WEAK Children, and such as come præmaturely, or before their Time, into the World, have the Mould and Sutures very open, and the Bones far distant: In which Condition they are only to be softly bound about with a small Cross-Cloth, committing the rest to Nature; which in time, and by degrees, will close up and consolidate these Sutures; and sooner or later, according to the innate Heat and Moisture of the Infant, unite and join the Bones of the Head.

VI. SOMETIMES also it happens that the Child is Tongue-ty’d, by the too strait Astriction of its Bridle; so that this Member cannot freely extend or move itself, thro’ the Capacity of the Mouth; which in the Infancy impedes or hinders its Sucking, as in riper Years it does the Faculty of Speaking: In this Case, the Tongue, being supported or held up, on each side of the String, by a small forked Instrument, ought to be cut a-cross by sharp Scissors as much as is needful; which however must be done with Caution, not to hurt the Veins under the Tongue.

VII. THE Infant is also sometimes troubled with a small round Tumour under the Tongue, fill’d with vitious Blood, or pituitous Matter; which Aëtius and Paulus Ægineta call’d Ranula Linguæ; Which Case may be managed, and the Tumour dissolved by a little Ammoniac Salt, or such other proper Remedies; but if Occasion require, the same may be open’d by a Lancet.

VIII. IT also happens, tho’ but seldom, that the Child is born with a close Fundament; and that sometimes shut up by the single Skin, and sometimes by a fleshy Substance: In the first Condition, there appear some livid Marks of the Meconium thro’ the Skin, which feels soft to the Touch. Upon which occasion, an Apertion must be made with a small Incision-Knife, a-cross, not long-ways, that it may the better receive a round Form, and not so easily grow again together; which however must be done with great Caution, that the Sphincter of the Rectum may not be hurt: And the Meconium being afterwards voided, whether by a Suppository, Clyster, or otherways; the Orifice is to be stopp’d up with a Linnen-Tent, anointed at the beginning with Rose-Honey, but afterwards with some drying and cicatrizing Ointment, such as Unguentum-Aleum, Pompholyx, &c. Dressing it always as often, and as soon, as the Excrements are evacuated, lest the Apertion should turn to an Ulcer.

BUT in the other Case, where the Fundament is stopped up with Flesh, that neither any Mark nor Appearance of the Rectum is seen or felt, whereby its true Situation may be known, or the proper place where the Aperture ought to be made; The Operation is much more difficult, and the Infant but seldom escapes the fatal Consequence of this Misfortune: Which Difficulty notwithstanding, we are diligently to do our Best upon such Occasions; to which End, an Apertion must be made within half an Inch of the Child’s Rump, being the certain place of the Rectum; which in the interim must be perform’d with the greatest Care and Judgment by a small Incision-Knife with one Edge, turning the Back upwards, and thrusting it so forward, until the Aperture be made big enough for the Excrements to pass thro’, always prudently regarding the Sphincter as above; upon which the Wound, &c. are to be dressed and order’d, as in the preceding Case.

IX. IN like manner, it also may happen that the Infant is born with its Urinary Passage shut up; upon which Occasion, a convenient Apertion must also be made with a proper Lancet: Which Operation must likewise be perform’d with great Prudence and Ingenuity.

X. MOREOVER, It also sometimes falls out, that the Child is infected with the Venereal Lues, from the Predominancy of that Distemper in the Mother; which Case easily discovers itself by many Pustules and Ulcers appearing at the Birth in diverse Parts of its Body, especially about the Head, Belly, Thighs and Clunes: Upon which the Cure may be pertinently protracted to a more advanced Age, tho’ prudent Measures may be taken, to keep the Distemper under, but if the Condition be Malignant, the Remedy is commonly prevented by Death.

XI. FINALLY as to the small or puny Faults of Nature, such as a distorted or wry Mouth, crooked or flat Nose, thick or flabby Lips, rough or ugly Visage, or the like Blemishes,——

THE Child’s Body being tractable like a piece of Wax, or the Potter’s Clay, These may be Judiciously corrected and Ingeniously amended, and a more Delectable and Amiable Form given to[186] every Part; as in Case of any Blemish of the Eyes, whether they be Discoloured, or Sparkling, Dim or Short-sighted, Squint or Goggle, Rolling or Goat-eyed; a Lovely black Colour, and a graceful Beauty, may be also artfully given them[187].

NOW (I think) These are all the most common Symptoms or Indispositions which the Child brings with it into the World; which being thus briefly discuss’d, I come at length to——

CHAP. XI.
Of the Sundry Symptoms and Diseases, peculiarly incident to the Infant after its Birth.

NOTWITHSTANDING that the Child may be born free from all apparent Symptoms of any Indisposition, and however careful the Honest Nurse may be of its Diet and Regimen; yet it seldom happens, but it undergoes some one or more of the following subitaneous Inconveniencies, viz.——

I. Gripes or Pains of the Belly, which may proceed either from the Meconium, its not being timely, or not fully evacuated; or from the Nurse’s Milk, its generating Wind and acid Humours, either by her using improper flatulent Food, or from the Babe’s sucking more Milk than its Stomach can digest: Or the same Pains and Gripes may also proceed from the Effects of cold Air, or from Worms in the Intestines, or from the unseasonable use of Pap, &c.

THIS Affection in general is known by the Inquietude and Crying of the Infant, which is now (in a manner) averse to the Breast, continually turning itself here and there, without Rest or Intermission of Pain; But more particularly, This proceeding from the Meconium, may be distinguished and known by the Colour of the Excrements, since the Meconium is always black, and as soon as it is altogether voided, the Stool becomes pale; and that may be readily cured by the means already prescribed[188]. If this Affection proceeds from Wind, it may be known by the Child’s frequently belching and the Belly’s swelling, if from Cold, the use of Pap, or from any pituitous viscid Humour, the Belly is most commonly bound, and the Cure differs but little from the preceeding Case. If from corrupted Milk or acid Humours, the Condition is most commonly attended with a Diarrhæa, and the Excrements are of a greenish or Saffron Colour: The Cure of which, depends upon proper Abstergents and Evacuations. If at last from Worms, their proper Diagnosticks shew it, of which in their Place.

II. SOMETIMES an Extension or shooting forth of the Navel happens to the Child, and that frequently to the Bigness of an Egg, more or less; which Case is properly call’d an Exomphalon, and proceeds either from the continual Cries, or violent Coughs of the Infant, or from a Laxation or Rupture of the Peritonæum, or sometimes from an Exulceration of the Navel.

IN this Condition, whatever the Cause may be, the sooner that the Cure is undertaken, the more easily it is perform’d; for which End, after removing the Causes of Crying or Coughing, the relaxed Peritonæum may be strengthened and astringed; as when bursten, it may be reunited and consolidated by proper Cataplasms and Swaths; after replacing the Intestines (if fallen down) keeping the Child for the most part in Bed, with its Belly always loose, and never too full.

III. AND the same is the Method of Cure, in Case of an Intestinal Rupture, otherwise call’d Enterocele, i. e. Hernia; only, That a Truss is now more convenient than a Swath: However in this Place I would observe that all Tumours of the Scrotum, are not to be mistaken for the present Bursten Case; because the same may also happen from a Watry Humour collected in that Part, which is more properly call’d an Hydrocele, and is easily distinguish’d from the Enterocele: Insomuch, that, in this Condition the Tumour is most commonly, in one part of the Scrotum, I mean in its Right or Left Side; when also the fallen Intestines may be perceiv’d by the Touch; as the Rupture or Hole through which the Intestines are fallen, may be by the Finger: Whereas in the Case of an Hydrocele, the Tumour is commonly in both Sides, and the Scrotum is more puffed up, neither is there any Hole of a Rupture to be found in the Peritonæum. The Cure of which Case depends entirely upon proper Absorbents, or Discutients, for resolving and drying up the Water, or dissipating the Wind, and afterwards upon Corroboratives for confirming the Parts. But after All, in the mean Time this Tumour is also sometimes, upon occasion, properly open’d by a LANCET to evacuate its preternatural Contents.

IV. AN Inflammation or Exulceration of the Navel may happen to the Child, by the String’s falling off too soon, or before it be fully clos’d and cicatriz’d; which may proceed from any violent Agitation of the Belly, by continual Crying, vehement Coughing, &c. as it also may from an unskilful Ligature of the String, or from cold Air; upon which sometimes follows a great loss of Blood, and even Death itself, if not timely prevented.

THIS Inflammation is known by the Navel’s swelling-up, being red and hard with Heat and Pulsation; In which Case after appeasing the Infant’s Coughs, or Cries, &c.—I would apply to it the Unguentum refrigerans Galeni & Populeon, each one half mix’d; or a small Bolster dip’d in the Oil of Roses with a little Vinegar.

BUT, and if the Navel continues Ulcer’d after the falling of the String from it; in that Case proper Desiccative and Astringent Medicines are to be apply’d, such as small Rags dipp’d in Lime-Water, but not too strong; or in Plantane-Water, wherein a little Alum has been dissolved. If the Ulcer be but small, a Pledget of Dry Lint will be sufficient; observing always to keep a good Linnen Compress on the Top of whatsoever Remedy is us’d, with a Swath to keep all fast, until the Navel be perfectly heal’d and cicatriz’d; lest at the same time it should also force itself outwards, as in the ’foregoing Case.

V. THE Child is also very frequently troubled with the Aphthæ, or Ulcers of the Mouth; commonly call’d the Thrush: Proceeding either from vitious Milk, or from its Corruption, in the Stomach; emitting sharp Vapours, which readily affect the tender Skin and Superfice of the Infant’s Mouth, and that the more easily, because the same Tunick, or Skin, which invests the Mouth, is common to the Gullet, which naturally communicates the Affections of the Ventricle to the Jaws. Hence it is that the Nice Taste of the delicate Tongue so readily distinguishes all Relishes; and hence it is that the Ingenious Physician, by looking upon the Tongue only, is able to judge of the prevailing Intemperament of the whole Body.

THE Cure of these Thrushes, proceeding as aforesaid from the acid Vapours of bad Milk, or from its ill Digestion, depends properly and entirely upon defeating and obtunding the Acrimony, by proper Absorbents, and gentle Purgatives.

VI. ANOTHER Symptom not only familiar, but even Natural, to all Children, is their Teething; which tho’ This be the mere Work of Nature, yet because of the various Distempers and Symptoms, which commonly attend and conjoin this Dentition, it is not improperly reckon’d in the Category of the Diseases of Infants: Which however is to be understood, not of the Simple Dentition, but of the difficult Breeding of Teeth; Not but that the Child is furnished with Teeth even before Birth, tho’ they lurk so long in their proper Sockets, being cover’d with the Gums, until their due Time of Eruption[189]. Tho’ in the Interim, it has been observed that some Children have brought eminent Teeth with them into the World[190], as it is also for Instance, particularly reported of Lewis the XIV of France.

BUT however the Teeth most commonly break out about the Seventh Month, and first those call’d Dentes Incisores, or the four fore-Teeth; which after a short Interval, are followed by the two Dog-Teeth, commonly call’d the Eye-Teeth; and at last succeeded by the eight Cheek-Teeth or Grinders, in each Jaw; the two last of the Molares, properly called Dentes Sapientiæ, springing only out about, or after the one and twentieth Year. Now as this Eruption, particularly that of the Dog-Teeth, because of their very deep Root and small Nerve, cannot happen without an exquisite Sense, and intense Pain to the Infant; so, from the continual Solution of the Gums, many præternatural Affections seize the Child, according to Hippocrates’s Catalogue[191]; to which, in short, I must only refer: Because if I was to enter upon the particular Detail of all These, I should extend the Limits of this Work beyond all measure; wherefore I shall endeavour to comprehend them all under the one following general Head; viz.——

CHAP. XII.
Of the Acute Diseases of Infants.

THE very tender Nature and infirm Constitution of Children, subject them to many various and grievous Symptoms, besides those to which they are expos’d by a vast variety of Procatarctick Causes. But as I am not in this place to enter upon the Detail of these particular Symptoms, neither shall I enumerate their respective Causes: Which however is the less requisite, considering the Regimen and Nursement of the Child already prescribed in the foregoing Chapters; since the least step, degenerating from what is there inculcated, may prove an effectual mediate Cause; for all that indeed, according to the most Learned and Excellent Dr. Harris, the only immediate Cause of all Children’s Diseases is, an Active and prevailing Acid[192].

THIS Doctrine, in as much as the Constitution of Infants is undeniably most Humid, appears also evident from Hippocrates’s his own Words, saying, the Rise of all Diseases is one and the same, the Place only makes the Difference[193]. Hence we may justly conclude, First, That, however the Symptoms may differ in degree, the Diseases of the Infant-State are but very few: Secondly, That the Cure of these is far more Safe and Easy, than those of full grown Persons: Thirdly, That the Younger the Sick Child is, the more easy still is the Cure: Because its tender Body, abounding with Natural and acquired Moisture, is soft and flexile, and consequently apt to receive any Alteration: And Fourthly, I observe that the Infant easily falls into Sickness, or may be suddenly taken Ill, and as readily restored to Health, if but carefully and ingenuously treated: Because any Impression whatsoever, good or bad, is sooner received by a Soft, than by a Hard Body; tho’, I confess, the same is more Lasting, if once strongly impressed upon the Hard adult Constitution.

NOW as to the Diagnosticks of Children’s Diseases, These depend chiefly upon the Relation of the Nurses; since all Sentiments taken from their unruly Pulses, or their (naturally) thick Urines, prove most Uncertain. However, as the Stomach is always affected with an Acid Distemper, (whatever the reigning Disease may be, or howsoever it may be intitled by ingenious Authors) so it most commonly produces Fastidy or Loathing of Victuals, Vomiting of a thick Gelly, or a viscid and coagulated Phlegm, sour Belchings, and Excrements of a sourish Smell, and a greenish Colour, especially in the Beginning. As afterwards——

IF the Distemper continues, the Patient turns gradually Pale, and its discoloured Face is tinged a little Green or Yellowish; The Belly swells with Wind, which breaks frequently upwards; one or more red Pustules (a certain sign of Acidity) commonly rise in the Face, or upon some other upper Part of the Body; and the Infant growing daily worse, breathes high, and smells sour or Acid.

Again, As to the Prognosticks of these Distempers, of what kind soever they be, which afflict the Infant; I cannot in short, but readily agree with the most Ingenious Doctor before-mentioned, who plainly tells us, that These depend chiefly upon the Method of Cure, and the Conduct of the Nurse; Wherefore I proceed to the Cure.

AS to this point then of the Cure of Children’s Diseases, I shall First observe that, how many soever these Distempers are accounted, according to the Registers of Polite Authors, by what Name soever they are denominated, and how learnedly soever defin’d, as they all proceed from one immediate efficient Cause, (which has been already hinted at) so the Cure of them all is the same, and depends, in like manner, upon One only regular Method.

SECONDLY, I observe that as this Cause is nothing else than an Acid Humour, abounding in the Stomach, and coagulating the imbib’d Nourishment of the Infant, (as is evident from all the given Diagnosticks) so the proper Method of Cure, depends entirely upon obtunding that Acidity, dissolving those Coagulations, and eliminating the peccant Matter. But more particularly,

HAVING always a great and due regard to the natural Debility, and tender Constitution of the Young Patient, the Acid ought first to be prepared by prudent means, and then to be carried off by proper Medicines. I say prepared by prudent Means, because this is no indifferent Matter; For if we should take the same Method with these tender Creatures in this Case, that we do with more adult Persons we would certainly miscarry in our Attempts; or if we should attempt this Preparation, by Alexipharmacks, Cordials, (improperly so call’d) Causticks, or Sudorificks; these Things being most prejudicial to the Nature of young Ones, would rather promote the Crudity, than the Concoction of the Humours.

THEREFORE the ingenious Doctrine of the Excellent Doctor Harris, must certainly take place here, namely[194],that the most temperate Things most securely absorb the prevailing Acidity, and that the more Simple and Gentle the Remedies are, the more Safe and Certain the Cure is.

HENCE the simple Testaceous Medicines mentioned by him, are not to be paralleled in the present Case; since they effectually mitigate all Ebullitions, and gradually become the most safe and powerful Anodines: Insomuch, that they, in a word, as certainly asswage all the Pains, Gripes, Disquiets, Watchings, &c. of Children; as Narcoticks, or Opiats, do allay those of older People.

THE Body being then alter’d by these means, and the Humours duly prepared, they are to be forthwith ejected, or timely purged off, even from the youngest Infants, as well as from those of riper Years: The Doses and Quantities of all sorts, being discreetly adapted to the Age and Strength of the Child, under what Form soever they may be given.

UPON this Head, I might indeed pretend to expatiate, but because, whatever I, or any other ingenuous Person, understanding the Matter in Hand, may attempt to offer, will only terminate in, and be consentaneous to, what my last quoted Author has plainly laid down, and concisely comprehended in a few emphatick Words; I shall here also, for Brevity’s-sake, set Bounds to my Progress. And thus, in short, having at large, and in every particular Respect, faithfully discharged my Duty, both as Physician and Midwife, to the Child as well as to the Mother; I now take leave of both the one and the other, and in the next place, come briefly to touch upon the Reverse Cases.

SECT. VII.

CHAP. I.
Of Præternatural Conceptions.

HAVING particularly defin’d the Natural Conception, in Chap. I. Sect. III. and hitherto treated of its various different Consequences, both in Gestation, Birth and Child-Bed; I come in the next place (conformable to my promise before-mentioned) to treat of the opposite and reverse Case, commonly call’d (by the Authors) a vitious or depravated Conception: Which however, I shall distinguish by the general Title of præternatural, as I have one Set of Births under the same Denomination, contained in Sect. V. But——

NOW, because I judge all such Conceptions as well as Births, to be præternatural, which, tho’ not according to the ordinary Institution of Nature, are yet however not repugnant to Nature: And because such Conceptions, as well as the Præternatural Births already defin’d, happen after many different ways and manners; I shall also reduce and divide them into two Classes, viz.——

FIRST, Præternatural Conceptions in respect of the Number; to which belong all Superfætations, and other Numerous Conceptions; And Secondly, Præternatural Conceptions in respect to the Form or Substance; to which belong all false Conceptions, Moles, Monsters, &c. Of all which particularly and briefly in their due Order, and First——

CHAP. II.
Of SUPERFÆTATIONS.

A Superfætation is nothing else than a Second (after a First) Conception: Since if divers Infants may be conceiv’d at one Embrace, as will evidently appear from the following Chapter, we may easily believe, that two, three, or more Embraces, may most probably have the same Effect: Which is sufficiently confirm’d by the Experience of Hippocrates[195] himself, as well as by many other most Learned Authors[196].

WHEREFORE I shall spend no time in reciting here any Instances I have met with of this Nature; only I refer the Curious to a very famous collected History of such Births, as in the Margin[197]. Whence the Certainty of Superfætation is not to be doubted, and much less to be disputed: And according to Aristotle the same may happen, after the Second or Third Day, from first Conception, as well as after so many Months[198]. But farther,——

THE Cause of all Superfætations is only an Apertion of the Orifice of the Womb, at the Effusion of the Virile Seed. Which however (according to Avicen) only happens to such Women, as have plenty of Blood, or a Calid Womb, desirous of Copulation, or to such as have their Menstrua after the first Conception.

SUPERFÆTATIONS however are not easily discover’d before Birth; at which time, Avicen advises to take Notice of the Navel-String; For (says He) if it be without folds or wrinkles, there is but one Child; if otherways, there’s a Child for every Wrinkle: But I think the expert Midwife using her Hand, as I have not unadvisedly inculcated[199], will have but small Occasion for such Observations, and far less Need to trust to them.

BUT when more than one Child is found, they are distinguishable, (I mean Superfætations) from These conceiv’d at one time; those having each a peculiar Secundine; these One only in Commune: As the one is also less vital and more imperfect, than the other; according to the interval of Time betwixt their Conceptions.

THE Cure or Prevention of this Case is much the same with the following, viz.

CHAP. III.
Of a Numerous Conception.

A Numerous Conception may happen either with, or without Superfætation: And that without, may be truly call’d Monstrous; as all Births, exceeding the Number of the Woman’s Breasts, or the Sinus’s of her Womb, may be justly accounted.

I could also give many Instances of this sort of Births, where 3, 4, 5, and more Children have been born at once, but shall satisfy myself with This, which I think is one of the most remarkable, viz. That of the Countess Margaret,[200] Daughter to Florent IV. Earl of Holland, and Spouse to Count Herman of Heneberg; who, on Good-Friday, in the Year of our Lord 1276, and of her Age 42, brought forth at one Birth 365 Infants; whereof 182, are said to have been Males, as many Females, and the odd one an Hermaphrodite: who were all baptized, those by the Name of John, these by that of Elizabeth, in two Brazen Dishes, by Don William, Suffragan Bishop of Treves. The Basons are still to be seen in the Village Church of Losdun, where all Strangers go (on purpose) from the Hague, being reckon’d among the great Curiosities of Holland. For farther and more instances of this Nature, I refer the Curious to a large collected History of such, by the Author mentioned in the Margin[201] From whence the Certainty of Numerous Conceptions will evidently appear.

AGAIN the Cause of such Numerous Conceptions is (according to Avicenna’s just Opinion) the Division of the Seed in numerous Portions, or Proportions; which may happen, either because of the Womb, or because of the Injector: Because of the Womb, when its Cavity is larger than ordinary; or when it too greedily attracts to all its Parts; or when the divided Seed adheres separately to the singular Uterine Veins: Insomuch, that if what has been recorded of the abovesaid Countess be true, it is not improbable that, there may be a Conception for every Orifice of the Uterine Veins, and that every Vessel may attract its own distinct share of the Seminal Matter, and thereupon initiate a respective Conception, tho’ it cannot possibly bring it to Perfection.

MOREOVER the same may also happen, because of an irregular Injection, namely, when that is perform’d by stops and intervals; then the Womb attracting accordingly, may occasion different Conceptions, according to the different Immissions or Divisions of the Seed.

BUT these Conceptions, whether two, three, or more, are always annexed to, and contained in one common Secundine. And tho’ the Woman, by reason of her good Constitution of Body and Womb, may do well in the time of Gestation, yet her Præternatural Condition in the Birth, always threatens Danger, as is already made out more manifestly[202].

NOW as to the Cure or Prevention of both this and the preceding Case, I know but one only grateful Method of performing it; viz. by refrigerating and reducing the too calid Womb to a convenient Temperature, and using a proper Regimen of Health and Diet; and that both before and after Conception.

CHAP. IV.
Of False Conceptions.

HAVING already also particularly defin’d the real or true Conception in Sect. III. Chap. I. I come now in like manner to the Reverse of that Case, properly call’d a false Conception. But that I may, in this Point, be well understood,——

A False Conception, in my Opinion, is nothing else, but a Protuberancy of the Woman’s Belly, attended with some, if not with most, of the Symptoms of the Months of Gestation: which however, is no ways occasion’d by a humane FOETUS, but (on the contrary) either by Water and Winds, or Wind and Water vitiously mixed; which is also pertinently call’d a Dropsy of the Womb: Or then, by a corrupted Viscid, or pituitous Matter collected in the Womb; and that either proceeding from weak and vitious Seed, or from some extraordinary Intemperature of the Womb, which may hinder the Elaboration of the Seed and Blood, and consequently the Accomplishment of the Conception: Or the same may also finally proceed from the Impurity of the Menstrua, which may corrupt the Seed, and convert it to Aqueous, purulent, or other Humours.

THIS false Conception is attended (besides the common Symptoms of a true Conception) with inordinate Fevers, Pains of the Head, Neck, Loins, Groins, Back, and Belly: Which Belly swells sooner than in the Condition of real Conception; and which, if struck with the Hand, gives a Sound like a Drum whence ’tis also call’d a Tympany: The whole Body is hence discoloured; the Feet, and sometimes the Face swells; and only a little (if any) watery Milk is found in the Breasts. THE Cure of the Case depends entirely upon proper Evacuations, peculiar to the Quality of what is to be evacuated. Whence I come to treat of the Conception of Moles.

CHAP. V.
Of Moles.

A MOLE is properly nothing else, than a fleshy Mass (instead of a FOETUS) engender’d, of an imperfect Conception, in the Womb. And is so call’d, because (quasi Lapis Molaris) like a Mill-Stone, its weight infests the Woman.

THERE are two immediate Causes of this Conception of Moles, viz. the Superfluity of Matter, and the infirmity of the forming Faculty. Which, I think, is agreeable to Hippocrates his meaning, saying, that too much Menstruous Blood, or too little, weak, or insufficient Seed, is the only Cause of a Mole[203].

I know, that besides these, there are many other various Causes given by diverse Authors; yea I know that the Mole it self is variously accepted among them: But as I am not to insist upon the quibbling Notions of other Men, so I shall only here observe,——

FIRST, that there is a vast Variety and Difference in the Substance, as well as in the Form of Moles: Secondly, That there is sometimes but one, and sometimes two, three, or more Moles, contain’d in One Womb; and that, sometimes with, and sometimes without the Natural FOETUS as also sometimes separately, and sometimes adhering the One to the Other: THIRDLY, That in this Case, if the FOETUS be not directly kill’d by the Compression of its tender Body, it is at least in Danger of being misshaped, or perhaps monstrously formed, according to the Bulk, Weight, and Solidity of what is contain’d with it in the Womb.

HOWEVER in regard to the FOETUS, when we are certain of its Existence; tho’ in the Womb, with one or more Moles, it may perhaps be very safe; Therefore I again observe, that, in this Case, as long as the Woman is no ways endangered, the Exclusion of Both ought to be Natural, and accordingly the appointed Time waited for: When according to all Authors, the Mole comes sometimes before, sometimes with, sometimes immediately after, and sometimes a few Days, or perhaps Weeks, after the FOETUS. But such Midwives as follow my Method, already plainly laid down[204], will scarce trust their Woman with the Charge of a Mole, one moment after the Birth of the Infant and Secundine: Because by such means, yea, even by a small Clod of Blood, which is a far less matter, retain’d after the Birth, Millions of Women have lost their pretious Lives.

IN the mean time, as Moles are most commonly generated alone, without any FOETUS; I come now to indicate their peculiar Diagnosticks, which the Reader may take as follows, viz. First, the Woman’s Belly swells equally in all its Dimensions; whereas in Case of a Natural Conception, it is raised, and as it were acuminated or pointed towards the Navel, and a little compressed on both sides.

SECONDLY, The Orifice of the Womb never shuts in this, as it does in the Natural, Conception: And the Mole may be distinctly felt by the Touch, like a Globular Mass, in the Region of the Womb and Loins.

THIRDLY, Any expert Woman may also distinguish this Case, by its Motion; which is very different from that of a FOETUS, as also from that occasion’d by a false Conception as above described: The FOETUS having not only a total, but also a Partial Motion; which always differs according to the Part or Member moved; and is consequently first perceived about the fourth Month: Whereas the Mole has no distinct Motion; only, as the Woman turns to either Side, she may feel it (like a Stone) falling to the same Side; and in her walking, she may easily perceive its suppressing dead Weight.

FOURTHLY, Her Breasts swell, but give seldom any manner of Milk, and about the 4th and 5th Months, when she, who has a Natural Conception, is commonly best in Health; then the MOLE-BEARER falls worse; Her Limbs and Legs extenuate; her Face and Skin are all over discoloured, as the whole Body languishes; Pains of the Back and Groins follow of Course, together with a Difficulty of Respiration; as sometimes also, Wind and Humours break out of the Womb.

UPON the whole, the Prognostick of this Case is, that as the MOLE-BEARING Woman must in all respects, be very much discommoded, and afflicted with heavy threatning Symptoms, so she lives continually in Danger of her Life: And the longer she entertains this unwieldy Guest, the more rigid it grows, and the closer it sticks to her; so that consequently, the more difficult it is to dislodge or extract this præternatural Body: For as the Mole has no Secundine, nor Umbilical Vessels, but adhering by its own gross Substance to the oppress’d Womb, attracting its Nourishment directly from the Uterine Vessels; So it also fixes it self more and more strongly, and the longer the more firmly among them, to the great Prejudice and Damage of Nature.

NOW, as to the Cure, or the Delivery of the Mole, as has been said, the sooner it is undertaken, the easier it is performed: And in this Case, I know all Authors advise only, to endeavour its Expulsion by Bleeding in the Feet, by proper Baths, by strong and Acrid Clysters, &c. in order by such like means, to excite or stir up Throws to open the Womb and irritate the expulsive Faculty. But for my part, I would not too much afflict the Patient with these uncertain means, especially if the Præternatural Body be of any long standing; but rather at once betake my self, to that which cannot fail me, that is the Hand-Cure; after Bathing, relaxing and moistening the Passages with Oils or emollient Ointments: And This I would undertake, and perform after the same manner, as in the Condition of a Dead Child, when the Pains are altogether Deficient. Again farther——

I observe that, of all the Countries I know, there is none, whose Women are so subject to Molar Conceptions, as the Provinces of Holland: And moreover, by what I have diligently observ’d my self in those Parts, as well as by what I have comprehended from their most Learned Men, the MOLES generally conceived there, are very different from Others commonly conceived in other Parts; Insomuch that Those are of a strange, astonishing, deformed shape, having (as it were) something in them like the Rudiments of a Work imperfectly begun; such a Piece, as, for Example, a Limner may draw at the first Draught, with a rude Pensil; together with something of both Life and Motion: Living however only (as it were) Vitâ Plantæ, and moving but by Palpitation; as I have also seen and observ’d this Body to contract it self sensibly at the Touch, and immediately again dilate it self perceptibly. In the interim I must farther observe in this Place, that most commonly Nature ejects these Bodies happily about the fourth Month; however yet, not always all at once, but most frequently by Piece-Meal and in Heaps, not unlike as the Pump does the Bilge-Water out of the Ship.

BUT here it may be ask’d, why the Dutch good Women, should be more subject to these Præternatural Conceptions than any others? To which I answer, according to the Sense and Sentiments of most of their own greatest Men; First, that all over these Provinces, the very Borders of the Sea are inhabited, and a World of People live (as it were) in the very Jaws of the Ocean; whose bellowing Waves and tumultuous Surges, are not only obvious to their Eyes all Day, but obnoxious also to their Ears all Night long; as they continually beat upon their Coasts, and sometimes too near their very Doors: From whence these Women cannot but be much affected and disturbed, if not also frighted in their very Embraces.

HOWEVER yet, I do not conceive This to be always the Cause, since MOLAR CONCEPTIONS are also very common in their greatest Cities; But as those happen there most frequently among the Sea-faring Men’s Wives; so, I think, we may rationally account for them after this ensuing manner, viz. The Sailers arriving from their Voyages, and coming Home merrily with full Sail up to their very Doors, incontinently embrace their Wives, without having any regard to their Natural Course, the Silent Moon, or any other Circumstance; And the honest Wives, having perhaps long wanted their Husbands, make no Procrastination, but eagerly fall to enjoying One Another; the good Women attracting as greedily the virile Benevolence, as Nature can prompt, or as Cerberus could snap at a Piece, or the Hunger-starved a Bit of Bread. Upon which, if no Efluxion happens in the Beginning, NATURE being incapable of elaborating such an unapt confused Matter, it is converted to a MOLE; which (as aforesaid) is frequently cast forth about the fourth Month, and call’d by them een Manekindt, as we for the same reason call it a Moon-Calf.

CHAP. VI.
Of Monsters.

WHEN the Parts destinated to the Generation of Man, are in all respects well constituted, Nature in the Beginning fabricates a fair and comely Conception, and at last produces a Lovely Creature of its own kind, absolutely perfected, and compleatly furnished with all its own graceful Ornaments: Whereas if any Deficiency, Enormity, Fault or Blemish be actually in Those Parts, then the conglomerated Principles of GENERATION are variously form’d into different Sorts of prodigious CONCEPTIONS and Monstrous BIRTHS. However——

WITH respect to the Variety, as well as the Veracity of this SUBJECT, that I may make short Work on’t, I refer the Curious Reader to the Works of Jacobus Ruffius, Cornelius Gamma, &c. who have not only described at large, the various Shapes and Figures of the most remarkable MONSTERS which have been Born, but also particularly noted the Times and Places of their BIRTHS; which they have authentically collected from many creditable Authors.

IN the small Conversation, by the By, which I have had either at Home or Abroad with the Learned, I have met with none who have deny’d the Truth of this POSITION in general; tho’ some of my Superiors in this Place, have been pleas’d to contradict in particular, what I am just now going (and chiefly for that very reason) about to publish to the World, in the next following Chapter.

BUT notwithstanding that we all agree as to the FACT, yet I have found but few ready to discuss the proper Causes of Monstrous BIRTHS: Only so far, that some would have them to proceed immediately from the Commixture of Humane with Brutal SEED; others, directly from the INFLUX of the Stars; Some again, from a vitious Constitution, or oblique Situation of the WOMB; others also, from a Lascivious and enormous Act of Copulation; and some at last, from the sordid and corrupted SEMINAL Matter of the Persons Copulating. Which may be all indeed, in some respect, consentaneous to Reason; but notwithstanding, in speaking to such Causes, I think, we ought previously to consider the Requisites concurring to the Production of the FOETUS; what they naturally are, and how they ought to be qualify’d.

THE First and chief of which is the Forming Faculty; 2ly. The two Instruments, by which this Faculty operates, viz. the SPIRIT or innate Seminal Heat, and the Imagination, 3ly. The MATTER, viz. both the SEEDS, and the Menstruous Blood; 4ly. And lastly, the PLACE, namely the Womb: Whence I conclude that any one, or more, or (perhaps) all of THESE, degenerating from their due state or natural Qualities, may prove the Cause or Causes of a MONSTROUS CONCEPTION, or Æquivocal GENERATION.

AS to the Forming Faculty, it never errs or fails, but always performs its Duty, as far as depends upon it self, or its own Intention; tho’ indeed it often happens to be frustrated by the Instrumentary Causes: As the most ingenious Artificer cannot finish his Work, however successfully begun, without a proportionable Metal to work upon, and corresponding Instruments to work by; So it is, in this Case, with the Forming Faculty: Hence it is that MONSTERS are also pertinently call’d, as they undeniably are, the Works of NATURE; however degenerating from its proper END, that it may effect something, even such a MONSTER, rather than that the indigested and unalterated Matter should remain in the WOMB, and turn either to a MOLE or a STONE, as has often happened[205]. Which being thus consider’d, we shall find the Error or Fault to ly either in the Instruments, in the Matter, or in the Place.

FIRST then, as to the Instruments, of the two above-mentioned, I take the Imagination to have the most prevalent Power in CONCEPTION; which I hope may be readily granted, considering how common a Thing it is, for the MOTHER to mark her Child with Pears, Plums, Milk, Wine, or any thing else, upon the least trifling Accident happening to her from thence; and that even in the latter ripening Months, after the Infant is entirely formed, by the Strength of her Imagination only, as has been already manifestly set forth at large[206].

WHICH if so, Pray, what wonder is it, if the Woman in time of CONCEPTION (which is by far the more critical Juncture) should by the same reason conceive, and at last bring forth her FOETUS with a Calf’s, Lamb’s, Dog’s, Cat’s-HEAD, or the Effigy of any other thing whatsoever? And this the more especially, considering, that not only the conceiving Woman, but also the copulating Man, may effect the same thing; if he should imprudently set his Mind on such Objects, or employ his perverted Imagination that way. Now this absurd Imagination takes even place also among the very BRUTES, as Lemnius relates[207] of a Sheep with a Seal’s, or Sea-CALF’S HEAD, having no doubt seen that Animal in the critical Time of Conjunction or Conception.

IN like manner, supposing such Women to conceive in their Minds, some deformed SPIRIT or ANIMAL, with Horns, Snout, Wings, Cloven-Feet, &c. (as has sometimes happen’d) What should hinder this Woman to produce a Birth with these Monstrous Marks? THIS is also therefore very possible, but more especially, when the Disposition of the Matter acquiesces, which it certainly does when the Seed and Blood are impure: For, Is it not manifest to our Eyes, that some Children bring with them long Hair and Nails into the World, merely from the Impurity of these material Substances? Then supposing the Force of an absurd Imagination to have seconded the Efficacy of such Sordid Stuff, what a Monster might not these Jointly have produced? Wherefore I shall only add upon the whole of This, that as such impious and foolish Imaginations ought to be suppressed, so both the Seed and the Blood ought to be pure and temperate, to prevent such præternatural Productions.

NOW, as to the Heat and Spirit contain’d in the Seed, we may easily conceive its Effects, and such as have been in Glass-Works, and have seen Glasses, made, may readily comprehend how Monsters are formed in the Womb: For in modeling the Glass, if the Work-Man blow the Pipe too much or too strongly, the Stuff is so extended, that the Glass becomes both longer and wider than its due proportionable Form; and so it may also happen in the Womb, by an immoderate Action, or too great an Extension or Diffusion of the Seminal Spirit, which sometimes may only affect some particular Part, such as the Head, Nose, Mouth, Ears, &c. and sometimes the whole FOETUS disproportionably.

SECONDLY, Hence we may rationally conclude, that a superfluity of Seed, and super-abundancy of material Humours may, in like manner, produce duplicated Members, such as Two Heads, Four Hands, Four Feet, Six or more Toes or Fingers, &c. and this especially, in case of the Woman’s strange Imagination concurring; which may easily happen, by fancying herself sometimes to see double with her Eyes, which Deception may probably proceed from the Concourse of Humours, gross Vapours, and confused or distracted Spirits. And This in short, it is evident, holds also good among the other Creatures (Irrationals) as Lemnius writes[208] of himself, that He saw a Sheep and a Calfe, each with two Heads, and a Hen with four Feet and as many Wings.

AGAIN, as from the Superabundance of Matter, Geminated Members, or Superfluous Particles may proceed; so from the Scarcity of these Matters, Want of requisite Aliment, or from any partial Invalidity of the Natural Faculties, some Members or certain Particles may be either maim’d and destitute of their Natural Use, or then (which is worse) be altogether irregular, defective, or Unnatural.

LASTLY as to the Place, I mean the Womb, in which the Conception is made; It ought not only to be perpendicularly seated in the PELVIS, or in a direct line from the VAGINA upwards, but also to be well conform’d and proportion’d: Otherways, as an ugly or unshapely exteriour Form or Mould of Wax or Clay, produces a corresponding deformed Image cast therein; so the Womb may as effectually be the Cause of a Deform’d or Monstrous Birth. And moreover not only so, but the Womb ought also to be in its due Temperament and Natural State, free of all Distempers and Inconveniencies, such as obdurated Glands, Ulcers, Cicatrices, &c. Otherways, as a Tree planted in Stony Ground, its Root cannot diffuse or spread it self round every way, but being cramp’d and oppress’d, it crooks and bends back; So it is with the FOETUS in the Womb, if oppos’d and resisted by the Constriction or Coarctation of the Place, or by any inherent Præternatural Substance, its Members cannot possibly be articulately and distinctly form’d, much less can they attain their Natural Growth and Figure.

IN short from what is here said, I think, the Notions of such Men, as will have Monsters, only and immediately to proceed from a Coition with Brutes, may evidently appear as absurd as they are verily groundless[209]: And for strengthening or backing of my Authority, I may add Galen’s own Words[210], saying, Vel semen Humanum in Utero Equæ, vel Equinum in utero Muliebri, aut non admitti, aut admissum corrumpi. Which is also farther confirm’d by Holy St. Jerom, saying,[211] non minùs absurdum est, Animal construi ex Equo & Homine, quàm Vitem Olivæ insertam, simul vinum & oleum proserre. Which Doctrine seems also most agreeable to Truth, in that there can be no Affinity or Concord betwixt these Specifically different SEEDS, neither in their Natural Actions, Aliment, Maturation, Time, or Manner of Birth, &c. to pass by all other disconsonant or incongruous Circumstances.

IN Fine therefore, for these Reasons, I believe Nothing of the many fabulous Relations extant, of the Hippocentauri, Onocentauri, Minotauri, &c. inhabiting the Land, nor of the Tritons, Nereids, Syrens, &c. which are said to possess the Sea; tho’ indeed both St. Antony[212], and St. Jerom[213], maintain the Existence of the Satyri and Sylvani: But be these Things as they will, I believe, that the Production of every MONSTER, concurs to the Perfection of the UNIVERSE, and that sometimes such Prodigies, or rather Dæmonical Illusions, may appear, as well as Monstrous Births happen, by the Will and Pleasure of the great CREATOR, who would thereby signify and portend something extraordinary, or more than Natural to us Mortals.

CHAP. VII.
Of various deformed Conceptions.

THE particular Description of MONSTROUS CONCEPTIONS in the preceding Chapter, leads me, of Course, to treat of another Sort; which I shall comprehend under the Title of Deformed CONCEPTIONS. This Sort happening almost in all Countries promiscuously, tho’ in some more frequently than in others, becomes almost in all Parts Daily obvious to our Eyes, so that we need be at no great Pains to prove the Reality of deformed Births, but rather inquire into the Causes of such uncouth CONCEPTIONS.

IN short therefore as to these, if we only look back and reflect on the three preceding Chapters, we will find the Causes of the present Case very evident and sufficiently manifest, if not particularly included in the Latter: Wherefore I have only farther here to observe, that all such Præternatural CONCEPTIONS, degenerate from the Natural, in proportion to the Prevalency of their Cause or Causes; So that the Cause being less considerable in this, than in the foregoing Case, instead of a MONSTROUS, we have only a deformed Birth: Such as a Scurf-Head, a discolour’d Skin, an ugly Visage, disagreeable Features, distorted Mouth, crooked Nose, Legs, or Arms, maim’d in whole or in Part, Tumours, Pustules, or Bubos about the Groins, &c. Which, tho’ these and such like Accidents may verily proceed from either of the forementioned Causes; Yet I think, the most common and ordinary One, in all Countries, is an impure and unseasonable Copulation: Such as is not only precisely forbid by the Express Word of God[214], but also repugnant to right Reason, and even to common Sense.

FOR who can be so stupid as not to conceive, that this Menstruous Contagion, will naturally (tho’ insensibly) creep into the Blood, invade the whole Habit of the Body, and tacitely infect the very soundest Constitution, even sometimes with the Venereal Pox, or perhaps with an Elephantiasis, or the Leprosy it self? Nor does this Evil end always here, but such Births are also generally as perverse in the Mind, as they are Heterogeneous in the Person; for like Bastards of Nature, they are commonly denudated, or destitute of all her laudable Gifts and Graces, which others, her Legitimate Sons, are happily born with and enjoy in Abundance.

HENCE it is, that, if they become not altogether Jolt-Heads, Foolish, or Delirious, they are most ordinarily otherways Lewd, Vitious, and Licentious Persons, if not also envious Traducers, and crafty Cozeners of Mankind: From hence likewise the Italians and Germans derive a memorable PROVERB, which they never forget upon dealing with such Persons, viz. to this purpose; Take Care of Him whom God has marked. For tho’ some of Them, are capable of undertaking Nothing of any Moment, much less of accomplishing any laudable Work, NATURE it self thwarting their Career in every Enterprize, and the very Stars (as it were) concurring to their Frustrations: Yet others have subtile Witt enough to scrape together (per Fas aut Nefas) Heaps of contemptible Dross, much of affinity with their own vile Substance; which however, seldom prevents a base or ignominious CATASTROPHE to themselves, who are thus found established upon such a præternatural Basis of Pollution.

IF then these be the direful Consequences, how unreasonably cruel are such Parents, who thus by Enterprising the Work of PROCREATION without humane Decency, and contrary to the very Institution of NATURE, involve their Posterity, in such miserable Calamities? But this sort of Births, I have also diligently observ’d, happens most frequently in Holland, and that chiefly for the Reasons and Causes mentioned in the foregoing Chapter. Which Observation leads me to the following Matter of Fact, which (without any intended Reflection, or Reproach upon any particular Country, or rather, as this would be, upon Human Nature it self) I shall ingenuously relate, not only to clear up the MYSTERY of a certain Truth, which I have found, to be controverted in this Place, and that even among some of the more Learned themselves; but also for Morality and Instruction sake to the Reader in particular, and for the common Good of Mankind in general, viz.——

THAT these Births in those Parts, are often attended and accompany’d with a Monstrous little Animal, the likest of any thing in Shape and Size to a Moodiwarp; having a hooked Snout, fiery sparkling Eyes, a long round Neck, and an acuminated short Tail, of an extraordinary Agility of FEET. At first sight of the World’s Light, it commonly Yells and Shrieks fearfully; and seeking for a lurking Hole, runs up and down like a little Dæmon, which indeed I took it for, the first time I saw it, and that for none of the better Sort. Moreover——

THE following accidental Passage is so remarkable, that I cannot pass it by, in order to satisfy and convince others of this admirable Truth; Namely, that, not many Years ago, in coming from Germany over East and West Friesland, to Holland, I took Passage in the ordinary Fare-Vessel, from the City of Harlingen for Amsterdam, over what they call the Zuyder-Zee; Which is commonly reckon’d a Voyage of 10 or 12, Hours, tho’ at this Time we happen’d to be near 36 Hours on our Passage. Amongst the better Sort of the Passengers, who possess’d the Cabine, there happen’d to be a Woman big with Child, of a very creditable Aspect, who afterwards told me, that She was bound for Amsterdam, on purpose to buy some Necessaries for her lying-in at the easiest rate; when in the interim, the good Provident Woman, was taken all at once, aboard the Ship, with a sudden and surprizing Labour: Upon which occasion, in short I immediately lent her a helping Hand, and upon the Membrane’s giving way, this forementioned Animal made its wonderful Egress; filling my Ears with dismal Shrieks, and my Mind with greater Consternation.

WHEN not immediately recollecting what I had either heard or read of this MONSTER, I could not help continuing in my Surprize, until I heard some of our Accidental Company call it de Suyger, as they went about to kill it: Upon which I immediately laid the Woman of a pretty plump Girl; who, notwithstanding all this, had no Deformity upon it, save only many dark, livid Spots all over its Body; which I prognosticated might turn to a Universal Scurf. In the mean time I order’d the Express’d Oil of Almonds to be diligently us’d, as soon as we landed.

AFTERWARDS I had occasion to talk with some of the most learned Men, of the several famous Universities in these Provinces upon this Head; who ingenuously told me, that it was so common a Thing, among the Sea-faring, and meaner sort of People, that scarce One of these Women in Three escaped this kind of strange Birth; which my own small Practice among them afterwards also confirmed: Insomuch, that I always as much expected the Thing de Suyger, as the Child it self: And besides the Women in like manner, make a respective suitable Preparation, to receive it warmly, and throw it into the Fire; holding Sheets before the Chimney, that it may not get off; as it always endeavours to save it self, by getting into some dark Hole or Corner. They properly call it de Suyger, which is (in our Language) the Sucker, because, like a Leech, it sucks up the Infant’s Blood and Aliment.

UPON this Head, and to this Purpose, I might produce the Authorities of sundry good Writers, but shall content my self here at present with One of the same Nation, viz.[215] The most Learned and Eminent Levinus Lemnius, who gives us a very remarkable and particular Account at large, of a certain Birth, which began with a MONSTROUS MOLE, succeeded by the Sucker, and ended with the Production of an excarnificated Male-Child.

THESE things then being so, and proceeding merely from the immediate Reasons above-mentioned, ought to serve for a memorable Caution to all Parents, that, in their conjugal Duties, they behave themselves orderly and decently, not like insatiable Brutes; but, like rational Men, to the end that their Families may be preserved, and their Persons succeeded, not by an opprobrious Race, but, by a univocal Generation of hopeful Children, Men of Probity and Integrity both in Body and Mind.

CHAP. VIII.
Of Imaginary Conceptions.

THERE remains yet one Sort of spurious Conception, which happens without any virile Help or Assistance, merely by the Force of Imaginary VENERY: Especially among Salacious Women, a Seminal Fluxion may happen upon many coherent occasions; which joining and incorporating with the Menstruous Blood, may be so much fomented by the Uterine Calidity, and the other Faculties of the Womb, that the Rudiments of an imperfect Animal may be amassed and conceived. But——

AS the Masculine SEED (the efficient Cause) which ministers both Form and Life, is wanting, it can assume neither of these Perfections: The Maternal Matter serving only to bring it to a rude indigested Consistency, or a confused fleshy Substance of a strange and uncommon FIGURE.

THIS in short, is no ways improbable, if we consider that HENS, without the COCK’s assistance, lay Eggs; however, of such a Nature, that whatever Pains the HEN is afterwards at to sit and brood upon them, the Eggs can never be animated so as to produce CHICKENS. Or, if we consider, that tho’ feminine Trees or Roots, having of themselves less Power and Strength, as they are only imbued with a frigid and infœcund Humidity, may smile a little in their SEASON; yet, because of the natural Deficiency of HEAT, and their innate Debility or Impotency, they only yield an empty or imperfect Rudiment of either FRUIT or SEED, unless, by the Vicinity and delectable Conjunction of the MALE, they participate of its Fœcundity, as Pliny testifies[216] of the Palm.

AGREEABLE to this Position, the Practical Observations of many eminent Physicians, teach us, that WOMEN have and may conceive at this rate, without any virile Energy or Concurrence; of which Dr. Burnet[217] gives us a notable Instance, concerning a certain Noble-Woman, a Matron of undoubted Virtue, who some Years after her Course of Nature had alter’d, in the 56th of her Age, brought forth several fleshy Moles, as he calls them, and that attended with a great Flooding, and the most severe Pains of Labour, as if in the Case of a Natural Birth. Again moreover——

DO we not know, in fine, that the necessitous, and such as suffer Want, may be refreshed purely by the Savour of our Dishes? And that the Hunger-starved may be satiated merely by the Odours of our Kitchins? As possibly thus may the marriageable Girl, but more readily however the Widow, fill her self with her own odd Imagination; and being debarr’d the Enjoyment of her Paramour, hug him tacitely in her Bosom, and embrace him heartily, however absent, in her Mind. Which, if frequently done, may occasion a Collection and Commixture of gross Humours in the Womb; whence a deformed Concretion, or shapeless Mass, may be engendred, and that only by Imaginary VENERY. To which Case and Purpose, I think, Virgil, very pertinently alludes,[218] saying——

Scilicet ante omnes furor est insignis Equarum,

Continuóque avidis ubi subdita flamma Medullis,

Vere magis (quia vere calor redit ossibus) illæ

Ore omnes versæ in Zephyrum stant rupibus altis,

Exceptantque leves Auras, & sæpe sine ullis,
Conjugiis vento gravidæ, mirabile dictu,
Diffugiunt.——

AND thus at last having particularly, treated of all the distinct and different sorts of Conception, to which the Woman can be subject; I come now in the next place, to address my self to Her, who was never yet capable of any Conception; and that in the Chapter and Manner following, viz.

CHAP. IX.
Of the Sterility or Barrenness of Women.

AS Sterility is in it self a Præternatural Faculty, so I cannot but think, that, in the Class of Præternatural Conceptions, that of a NON-CONCEPTION may at last pertinently take place.

NOW I remember the Reader was referred to this Place, by Sect. II. Chap. 5. where I promised to expound the unsuccessful Act of Copulation; as I there briefly did the Reverse-Case: And after having all a long thus far forward, safely conducted the Fertile or Fruitful Woman, thro’ the different Trains and Consequences of the successful Act, I have left Her in a safe Condition, together with the Dear Pledge of her Natural Fœcundity; whilst in the next place, I come now to treat of the Præternatural BARREN WOMAN.

IN order to which, I First observe, that the Jews, and almost all other Nations, deemed it the greatest Mark of Infamy imaginable, for a Woman, to yield no Children; as is evident from the Scriptures, how Hagar, the fruitful Chamber-Maid,[219] despised Sarah, her barren Mistress, &c. But moreover——

SECONDLY, We may observe, that, upon every provoking Occasion, the Lord himself threatned them with this Curse; as one of the greatest Instances of his heavy Displeasure, and One of the severest Judgments, that his VENGEANCE could inflict on them for their Sins, as is also manifest from repeated Instances of Scripture, particularly from the Words of the Holy Prophet, saying,[220] They sowe the Wind, and shall reap the Whirlwind: Their Glory shall fly away from the WOMB: Their Root is dryed up, they shall bear no Fruit, &c.

THIRDLY, We may easily conclude that, such a Sentence passing from the Mouth of the most high JUDGE, the Supreme Physician, and Omnipotent himself, could never be revers’d by the Art or Ingenuity of Man: But as Christians have no Reason to suspect themselves to lay under this accursed Sentence, so they may well look nearer Home, and take a view of the many different mediate and immediate Causes of STERILITY or NON-CONCEPTION in them.

FOURTHLY, however, before I enter upon these, I would previously have it noted, that, sometimes the Fault, or Cause of the Woman’s not conceiving, lies in the Man; and may proceed from many diverse Diseases or Symptoms in him, as particularly mentioned, and treated of at large,[221] by the most Learned Senertus, to which we refer the Curious; Because we have nothing to do with the Man in this place: Wherefore that I may return to the Woman, I say——

THE immediate Causes of STERILITY in her, are manifest from the very Definition of CONCEPTION: Which, according to Galen,[222] is nothing else, than a Comprehension of SEED in the Womb, for the Generation of Man. But here it may be requisite, to explain this general Term of Comprehension, which I would have understood to imply four particular Qualities of the Womb, viz. Attraction, Retention, Distribution, and Fomentation. Hence it is that such Women must needs be Barren, as cannot either attract the effused; or retain the attracted; or distribute and alterate the retain’d SEED through the Parts of the Womb, and excite its latent Virtue to Action; or lastly, such as cannot duly foment and nourish the same SEED, when regularly distributed; and These, I think, are all the immediate Causes of BARRENNESS: As Those, for which the SEED either cannot be attracted, or retained, or distributed, or fomented, are the mediate Causes of STERILITY.

NOW, as to the First of These then, the Attraction, or the attractive Faculty, may fail in its Duty two ways, viz. either because of its own Debility; or because of some præternatural Impediment. The Debility or Imbecility of this Faculty may proceed either from a Defect of Spirits in the Seminal Vessels; or from either of the Intemperatures of the Womb, whether Natural or Adventitious: And Impediments may happen in Attraction many different ways, such as by a læs’d or extinct Venereal Appetite; by the Woman’s Aversion or Indifference to her MATE; by the perverse Affections of the Mind, such as Melancholy, Grief, Anger, Fear, &c. by Causes of the Vagina, or Orifice of the Womb; by a Coalescence, Ulcer, Membrane, Carnous or Scirrhous Substance, or any other kind of Tumours; as also by a Constriction, Distortion, or Compression of the ORIFICE; or at last by too much Fat, &c.[223]

SECONDLY, the Retentive Faculty may come short of its Duty three different ways; namely, either because of its own Imbecillity, or because of some Præternatural Impediments; or because of the Object it self. The Imbecillity or Impotency of this Faculty may proceed either from the Intemperature of the Womb; or from the Abundance of some slimy Mucous Humour in the same: And its Impediments may happen from a Prolapsus, an Inflammation, an immoderate Flux, the Whites, a Gonorrhæa, Worms, Scirrhous, or other Tumours, Ulcers, or the Cicatrix of an old Sore in the Body of the Womb; as also from the Amplitude or Laxity of the Orifice, whether Natural or Adventitious: Which Accident frequently happens even to Child-bearing Women, sometimes by an Abortion, sometimes by a difficult Birth, and sometimes also by the rude Usage of an ignorant Midwife, that they can never more Conceive, until they be duly Cured: Again, the Cause may be in the Object, or Seed it self; when it is either impure, acrid, vitious, and disagreeable to the Womb; or deprived of its natural Heat and Spirits.

THIRDLY, the Distributive or Alterative Faculty may be also impugned in its Function, 1st, by its own Debility, occasion’d by either of the Diseases, or Intemperatures above-mentioned; or 2dly, by the discording Qualities of the Seminal Matter; or 3dly, by some certain Disproportion betwixt that Matter and the Womb it self: Since as all Seeds do not answer alike in one Field, some requiring a Pinguid and Loose Soil, others a Lean and Slender Ground; so it is with the Womb and the injected SEED: For, however fruitful the One may be, if the other be not of a proportionable Fœcundity, no CONCEPTION can possibly follow: Hence it is that many Women have been accounted BARREN in their first Marriage, who have had several Children to a second Husband. Again, as some SEEDS perish and are quite lost in moist, clayish, or marshy Ground, and others decay and are burnt up in an Acrid, Sandy, or Gravelly Field; So it is also with the Human SEED: For, in the too cold, or moist Womb, it is extinguished, and in the too Hot or Dry Womb it is corrupted[224].

FOURTHLY, the Fomentation, or the Nutritive Faculty may be deficient in its Office of attracting sufficient Aliment to foment and nourish the Seed; which however, is most commonly occasion’d by Want, or Scarcity of Blood in the Womb, proceeding from perverse Evacuations, Penury or Necessity, an Atrophia, Consumption, or the like, or then, in fine, by the Impurity, or vicious quality of the Blood.

NOW These, I think, are all the most common, as well as the most prevalent Causes of Sterility: Tho’, according to Johannes Anglicus, there are also several external Causes[225]; which however, I shall here pass by in Silence; lest, as some good Women are at great Pains to rectify their barren Wombs, others should thereby take Sinistrous Measures to suppress their Fertility. And in this Class may be included the Medicines call’d by the Greeks φθόυα, because they are endued with certain occult Qualities, which extinguish the SEED and obstruct the CONCEPTION[226].

HAVING thus defin’d the mediate and immediate Causes of reputed Sterility, I can scarce, because of either of these, call a Woman really Barren; Since I have known some of the most difficult of these Cases to have been duly cur’d, and diverse Women to have conceiv’d, after many Years BARRENNESS, and prov’d the Joyful Mothers of hopeful Children; of which I could give some signal Instances, if I took Pleasure in swelling this Work: Hence it is, that the great Philosopher and Physician, Daniel Senertus, only disswades the Ingenuous from undertaking this Cure, in the Cases of vicious Hereditary Dispositions, venenated Constitutions, or other heavy Diseases[227].

MOREOVER, we find that the very best of the Ancients have been at great Pains, in distinguishing exactly the curable, from the incurable Barren Womb: Yea Hippocrates, Galen, &c. have given certain Directions, founded upon the solid Truths of their Immense Knowledge and Heavenly Wisdom, to try and discover the One from the Other; as they have also taught us to Judge of every particular Cause affecting the Curable Womb. But to facilitate these Nice Discoveries, I shall subjoin some few Diagnostick Signs; because except we know the particular Cause, we can never pretend to remove it, and without removing the Cause, the Effect can never cease, or be cured. Not but that——

I KNOW, that the ingenious Physician, undertaking this Cure, requires none of my Instructions; which notwithstanding, I hope, He will allow me to prosecute my Method in treating of this Case, as I have done of some others; and that the rather, considering it is generally well known, that sometimes a Fool has put a Wise Man in the right way. Wherefore I heartily wish that some Word may drop from my Pen, that may prove instrumental to wipe off the imputed Blemishes, and promote the real Glory of Women; And this I could wish the more, because I am fully convinced that many are ignominiously branded with BARRENNESS, without any sufficient Cause: Insomuch, that I verily believe, that, upon an ingenuous Tryal, not one real or incurable BARREN WOMB, would be found in Ten of those, which are this Day so reputed. But à propos——

As I have reduced all the Causes of STERILITY to the above said four CLASSES, so I shall reduce the Diagnosticks to the same number; and thereby demonstrate how it may be easily discover’d, whether the Fault lies in the Attractive, Retentive, Alterative, or in the Nutritive Faculty of the Womb; and how every particular Cause in any of these may be plainly distinguished, &c. In order to which, then—

TOUCHING the First, inquirendum est primò, an ad Venerem apta sit Fæmina, & quidem an Veneris Appetitum habeat, & an Membrum virile rectè admittere possit. Horum enim si alterum desit, Causa, cur non concipiat, procul dubio in Attractrice hæret; ut etiam, si statim à Coitu, aut post breve Intervallum semen effluat. I say, These are the infallible Marks of a læs’d Attractive Power, which also denote some Fault of the Womb, such as an oblique Situation, a Compression of the Epiploon or Cawl, or some obdurated Substance, impeding the SEED to reach the Cavity of the Womb: The Particular of which is easily to be discover’d; the Situation by the ingenious Touch; the Compression of the Omentum or Epiploon happens only to Fat Women; the Substance or Tumour (of whatsoever kind) if not found in the Passage, lodges in the Womb it self.

SECONDLY, If the Party labours under any of the aforesaid Causes debilitating or impeding the Retentive Power; some are manifest to the Woman her self; as in the Cases of any immoderate Flux, a slimy or illuvious Evacuation, a Gonorrhæa, the Whites, a Falling of the Womb, &c. others are obvious to the Midwife’s Touch, as in the Case of Tumours, Ulcers, &c. and in Case of either Intemperature, Dropsy, Inflammation, Worms, &c. all such are abundantly evident to the Physician, after duly examining, and considerately weighing the Disposition or Temperature of the whole Body in general, and of the Womb in particular.

THIRDLY, if the Alterative or altering Faculty be læs’d or impotent, then, after some Days Retention, an Effluxion of the SEED happens, and that either because of some Intemperature of the Womb; or of some discording Quality in the SEEDS, or in the Womb, as above; or lastly, because of a Want or Scarcity of Blood for forming the FOETUS. As to the Intemperatures, I have already observ’d, that, they may be readily distinguished by the ingenious Physician; But the Disproportion betwixt the commixed SEEDS, or between these and the Womb, how much, and in what they may differ one from another, is not so easily known; because this Fault may be as much in the Man, or perhaps more, than in the Woman, as has been already hinted: In this Case, the Physician is to weigh and consider well the Temperatures of the whole Body, and especially that of the Genital Parts of both the Man and the Wife; and as much as possible, to reduce that of the One, to the more convenient Temperature of the Other,[228] correcting Both in what may be found requisite; according to the Direction of Lucretius, in these Verses:

“Usq; adeo magni refert, ut Semina possint

“Seminibus commisceri generaliter apta,

“Crassáq; conveniunt liquidis, & liquida crassis.

FOURTHLY and lastly, if the Nutritive Faculty be faulty, the Case is plain and manifest; since it generally proceeds from one or more of the following Causes, viz. from Want or Penury; a Pining away or Consumption; immoderate Hæmorrhagies, whether happening by Superiour or Inferiour Parts; hard Labour; too much Fat, or too much Leanness: As the same may also happen from an Obstruction or Suppression of the Menstruous Course; or from its vicious or impure Quality; and, in fine, from any severe Symptom or Disease whatsoever.

THUS having discover’d the genuine and precise Causes of Sterility, the Cure is as good as half perfected; but that it may be altogether and effectually perform’d, the next thing requisite in this place, would be to treat of every Cause and its respective Cure particularly;[229] but as these do chiefly belong to the Diseases of the Pudendum, Vagina, and Womb; which I have already declin’d entring upon at this time, for the Reasons mentioned in Sect. VI. Chap. VI. I shall here only add in general Terms, that tho’ the barren Womb is justly compar’d to an insipid, ungrateful, or unfruitful Field, because neither the one nor the other produces any thing Good of it self: Yet as we see the barren Lands emproved and become fruitful by the Industry of the Husband-Man; and even wild Roots and barren Trees in time produce plentifully by the Care and Diligence of the Gardener; So the Heavenly Art of Physick exerts it self strenuously in improving the barren Womb, miraculously supplying the Defects, and regularly correcting the Defaults of Nature; restoring or replenishing it with a desirable and grateful Fœcundity: I say, as convenient Dung comforts the sterile Field, so does proper Physick the barren Womb; It elevates the low and renovates the exhal’d Spirits; It vanquishes the Imbecility, and corroborates the Nerves; It reduces the languid Heat, and all the Intemperatures of the genital Parts, to their respective, due and natural Temperaments; removing naturally all Obstructions, and wonderfully curing all the Causes hindering or withstanding the Procreation of Humane Race.

AND, in fine, because proper Diet is of great Service to alter the elementary Qualities, and to convert the Bad into a Good Habit or Body; such Women are to be carefully directed to such a Judicious Regimen of Diet and otherways, as is most efficacious and convenient for their Purpose, either of Health or Generation. Now having so far prosecuted my Design, with respect to the Barren, as well as the Fruitful Woman; I, at present, take Leave of Both, and come, in the next place, to address my self to the Widow.

SECT. VIII.

CHAP. I.
Of the Symptoms incident to the State of WIDOW-HOOD.

AS the Widow has in her former Days, tasted both of the Sweets and the Sours of the Maiden, as well as of the marry’d State; so she is now also subject to all the Affections of the One, as well as to some of the Other. Whatever she may judge of her self, and however she may, in some measure, be liberated from the Solicitudes of the First, and freed from the Anxieties of the other; yet she is still so far from being exempted from the Morbifick Consequences of the Natural Imbecillity of her tender Sex; that she now, tho’ in different Respects and various Cases, participates of the Indispositions of Both.

HOWEVER yet, notwithstanding this Variety of Afflictions, to which the Widow is actually expos’d; I confess, that, I know not so much as one Disease or Symptom, which is singularly peculiar to Her self, that is, but what either the Maiden or the Wife may be lyable to, as well as the Widow: Tho’, in the mean time, I must also acknowledge, that, Those which I am now about to touch upon, may however, be justly esteem’d to be more familiar to Her, than to either of These, as will by and by more evidently appear.

UPON which Consideration, I hope the following Heads may here pertinently take place; not but that the others, I mean the Maid and the Wife, may also sometimes, and perhaps frequently too, find their Case included in the Theme of this Section, as well as the Widow Her self, according to the Diversity of their Circumstances.

FOR these Reasons, I shall begin with That, from which none of the Three, that is, neither the Maid, nor the Wife, nor the Widow, can altogether plead Exemption, which notwithstanding, according to my best Judgment, is more immediately the particular Root and Source of the most, if not of all, the Widow’s Distempers, which however, that I may not too much over-run my Design of Brevity, I shall briefly comprehend under One or Two Heads, viz.——

CHAP. II.
Of the Hysterick Passion.

WELL might the excellent Democritus write to his Scholar, the far more excelling Hippocrates, that the Womb is the Source of Six Hundred Griefs, and the Spring of innumerable Sorrows to the Woman: Because of the manifest Sympathy or Affinity, which the Womb has with almost all the other Parts of the Body. And as we may reasonably conclude from such an Affinity, that these Symptoms must needs be both Numerous and Different in Kind; so I think, for the same Reason, they may be All pertinently comprehended under the General Title of Hysterick Maladies.

BUT before we enter upon the Particulars of these Uterine Affections, it may be first requisite to make out the Reality of this Affinity or Consent; which will be no difficult Matter, when we consider First, the three Principles, in which the same consists, viz. in a Similitude of Parts; in a Vicinity of Parts; and in a Connexion of Vessels. Secondly, how by these, as the Womb is a Membranous Substance, it has a Substantial Affinity with the Membranes: And by its Vicinity, with the Bladder, Rectum, and Intestines; As by its Veins, Arteries, and Nerves, it has with almost all the other Parts of the Body; such as with the Brain, by Veins and Arteries, as well as by the Nerves and Spinal Membranes; with the Heart, by Arteries; with the Liver, by Veins; with the Stomach, by certain Anastomoses, betwixt the Veins of the Womb, and those of the Mesentery, as well as by Arteries; with the Spleen by Arteries; with the Breasts, partly by Veins,[230] and partly by Nerves, &c.

HENCE it is that I can scarce find any Part of the Body, which may not be affected by the Indispositions of the Womb; the Heart, the Diaphragm, the Head, the Brain, and consequently all the Organs of Sense and Motion, the Liver, the Spleen, the Ventricle, the Mesentery, the Belly, the Bladder, the Rectum, the Back, the Loins, the Thighs, the Legs, the Arms, &c. All which Parts are from thence subject to innumerable various Symptoms, which commonly come and go by Periods, after the manner of Convulsive, or Epileptick Fits, to which the Hysterical have also a very near Relation; in that the Circulation and Recourse of all the Three, and some more such, Distempers agree exactly, sometimes with the Course of the Moon, and Sun, and sometimes with the very Motion of the Sea; and as these vary, so the Fits of either Affection come on quicker or slower[231].

THESE Things are also most Judiciously made out by the excellent Dr. Mead, saying, that, the New and Full-Moon being of equal Power, this sort of Distempers sometimes reign in the one, and sometimes in the other, as the Body happens to be more or less fitted and adapted to receive the Influence; and as the abounding Humours are more fitted for this, than that period of the Planet[232]. And the same Author of great Experience, gives us an Account of a certain Boy of a Year old, who every Flood-Tide, was taken with Convulsive Fits, and every Ebb came to himself again[233]. Which Influence of the Sea, no doubt depends upon the Moon’s approaching our Vertical Point, or that directly opposite, as the Flood encreases and comes to its Height, Moreover again,——

CONSIDERING the Womb, not only as the Center, in which the vitious Humours are accumulated from all the other Parts, but also as the Pump of the Body, we may readily conclude that as long as it regularly ejects the Menstruous Blood, it does at the same time duly evacuate together with it, all those Humours of whatsoever sort they be: Whereas we may easily conceive that whatever obstructs or impedes the Womb in any of its natural Functions, may occasion various Symptoms to the Woman: However the most of these, as well as the most dangerous, take their Origin from the Retention of the Seed and the suppression of the Menstrua.

THE Menstruous Blood flowing in a natural Course to the Uterine Veins, when its Passage is so obstructed, that it cannot break forth; whether in Virgins, because of the Astriction of the Orifices; or in Widows, because of the Thickness of the Blood, or of any other gross viscid Humour; in these Cases, it must of course regorge thro’ the Branches of the Vena Cava and the great Artery, to the Head, Heart, Liver, and Veins of the Midriff; whence of Consequence proceed various Symptoms in all these and their dependent Parts: Which notwithstanding, I take the too long retain’d SEED to occasion the more dangerous and severe Symptoms to the Woman.

BUT in Case of either of These, namely, either the Seminal, or the Menstruous Matter, beginning to corrupt, and consequently to acquire malignant Qualities, then they produce divers most severe and dreadfull Symptoms; and that not only in different Patients, but also sometimes in one and the same Woman; and not only at different Times, but also sometimes at one and the same Time: However these Things always happen, according to the different Quantity and Quality of the corrupted Humours, as well as according to the Constitution of the Womb, in which the Corruption succeeds. Again more particularly——

IF the Malignant Vapours arising hence, penetrate to the Heart, (the principal Organ of Life, as well as of the Circulation of the Blood) I would observe, that, they occasion vellicating Palpitations, as also a Dejection of Spirits, and Anxiety of Mind, attended with frequent Lypothymies and Syncopes: If to the Diaphragm and Lungs, a Difficulty of Breathing, attended (as it were) with Suffocations or Strangulations.

IF the Matter ascends to the Head, and diffuse it self thro’ the external Parts, diverse grievous Pains assail the Woman, and that very differently; insomuch, that, sometimes the whole Head is (as it were) tortured, and sometimes but in Part; sometimes on the right, and sometimes on the left Side; sometimes in the hind Part of the Head, or Crown, and sometimes in the Fore-Head or about the Eyes: Whereas if it tend to the Brain, and distribute it self among the Organs of Sense and Motion, both the internal and external Senses must needs suffer accordingly; upon which the poor Patient is not only taken with an Aphonia for Want of Speech, but also with a Helpless or Senseless Stupidity; and moreover, not only seiz’d with a Resolution or Debility of Hands and Feet, but also with Trembling and Convulsive Fits.

IF the same ascends to the Liver, the whole Habit or Constitution of the Body is perverted: For as the vitious Humours are easily communicated from the Womb by the Veins to the Liver, so the affected Liver again readily diffuses its Infection by the Veins to the whole Body. If to the Spleen and Mesentery, Murmurings, Pains and Torments arise in the Belly; which are commonly attended with a Pain in the left Side and left Breast, extending it self to the Jugulum, or fore-part of the Neck, Difficulty of Breathing, frequent Belchings, a siccid bound Belly, and all the other Symptoms which usually are the Concomitants of the Hypocondriack Affection.

IF to the Ventricle, thence proceed Fastidy, Pica, Vomitings, Pains and Gnawings of the Stomach, Sobbings, Yawnings, Belchings, &c. But, and if the said Matter distributes it self thro’ the whole Circuit of the Body, then the Patient is frequently seiz’d, sometimes with a sudden red, and sometimes with a pale Colour; as also sometimes with a sudden Heat, and Ardour in her Face, which she commonly perceives or feels to vanish and go off as suddenly: Again she is sometimes also taken with sudden Cold, and sometimes with as sudden hot Fits.

FROM all which, it evidently appears, how justly Galen says[234], that the Hysterick Passion (under one Appellation) comprehends innumerable various Symptoms: Even so many, that at least (I think) they cannot be possibly comprehended in this Volume, which extorts another Apology from me in this Place; namely and plainly, that as I have no Ambition to be accounted any extraordinary Person of great Learning or Reading; so I far less desire to set up or give my self out for One of Universal Practice or Experience: And as at the Beginning, I only design’d this Book for the immediate Service of Midwives, and the common Good of WOMEN and their CHILDREN, the Poor, I mean in general, as well as the Rich; So I am yet resolv’d, rather, to stifle or restrain my Inclinations for the present time, and suppress what might be otherways pertinently added on these Subjects, than to put it out of the reach of the Purchase of either of THOSE. I say, for these reasons, I shall not undertake at this time to enter upon every particular Head or Branch of the HYSTERICKS; only that I may not be censur’d as Churlish or Peevish to the more delicate LADIES, and tenderly constituted Women, who always labour and suffer most under these Distempers, I shall however yet endeavour to discuss particularly the most dangerous, as well as the most common Case, belonging to this general Topick; and not only so, but, according to my Ability, I shall also endeavour in it, if possible in a few words, to include and comprehend all the rest of these Female Indispositions: And that to the Purpose, and under the Title, following, viz.——

CHAP. III.
Of the Strangulation of the Womb.

THE preceding Chapter contains a general Account of the sundry various Hysterick Passions, together with their respective Symptoms, as they affect the chief and Principal Parts of the Body; whence I might descend to a great Variety of particulars; but as neither my present Time nor Design will permit my entring upon These in this place, I shall content my self with treating of This ONE; which as it is the chief and most dangerous of all the Uterine Affections, so ’tis the most Universal and Common.

IT comprehends, in short, many various severe, and even wonderful Symptoms in it self; whence I conclude, that, he who sufficiently understands the present Case or Condition, may easily comprehend all the other Circumstances, belonging to the foregoing general Head; Since with whatever difference of Symptoms, or Diagnostick Signs, they may appear, the Causes and Effects are originally of the same Nature: For This is the very Affection which Galen[235] call’d the ωνὶξ ὑσεικὴ, that is, the Hysterick Passion, and he might as well have said the grand Hysterick Passion: The Latins call it Strangulatio, or Suffocatio, or Præfocatio Uterina; because in the Fit, the Woman seems to be Suffocated or Strangled by the Womb. But to the Purpose,——

HOWEVER variously and copiously the Ancients have defin’d this Evil, I think the few following Words, may properly explain it, viz. This Suffocation is a Distemper of all the Natural, Vital, and Animal Actions, proceeding many different ways, from an ill or disaffected Womb.

I say many different ways, according to the many different Sorts of the AFFECTION; because One is, when the Symptoms of the læs’d Natural Faculty only appear; in which the PATIENT labours under Inflations, and frequent Rumblings of the BELLY, Murmurings, Belchings, Pains of the Stomach, Anxiety, Uneasiness, and sometimes Vomitings. Another different AFFECTION is, when the vital Faculty is læs’d or indisposed, in which the PATIENT is not only taken with Heart-Beatings, but also with Faintings and Swooning-Fits, with a small, frequent, and unequal PULSE. A Third is when the Animal Faculty is læs’d or disaffected, which may happen many ways; and in this Condition the Woman is depriv’d of Motion and all external Sense, however she retains the principal Functions, together with her PULSE and BREATH.

AGAIN, farther yet, there is another Sort of this Hysterick AFFECTION, in which the Motion is deprav’d, turning to various Convulsions of the Legs, Arms, Teeth, Lips, Eyes, and so of the whole Body. As also moreover, there is still ONE, or a Fifth different Sort of this Suffocation, in which all the Faculties of Life are seemingly abolished; so far, that (according to common Sense and Apprehension) the PATIENT differs in Nothing from a dead Person. Hence it has often happen’d, that such Women (upon a mistake) have been imprudently buried (for DEAD,) and sometimes had the good Fortune to return from their Graves to their Houses again; whereof many learned Authors give us remarkable Instances[236].

BUT if it should be ask’d, in short, how it is possible for the Woman to live, after she has lost both her PULSE and her BREATH? I can only refer the Curious to Galen, who has fully answer’d that Question[237] (according also to the Sentiment of Heraclydes) viz.——That tho’ the Refrigeration of the whole Body, and its principal Parts, is so great as to intercept both the Pulse and the Breath; Yet the Woman, no less than other Animals, such as Snails and others of that kind, which live in strict obscurity, may have Transpiration sufficient, thro’ the whole Circuit of the Body, to defend LIFE[238].

IF so, then, that there are so many different Sorts of UTERINE STRANGULATIONS, there must also (of Consequence) be as many peculiar Causes: Which, tho’ all take Origin from the Womb, yet do not arise to this Pitch, unless two other Causes concur with it. Viz. ONE from the Part affected; ANOTHER from the Passages, thro’ which the Womb communicates this AFFECTION to it. But in short, the principal immediate Causes are THREE[239] viz. retain’d Menstruous Blood, vitiated Seed, and putrid Humours, or corrupted Matter, contain’d in any part of the Womb; which immediate, and concurring Causes, I come now to Speak to, viz.——

AS to the First then, I think the retain’d BLOOD, is not sufficient of it self to induce this AFFECTION, because we know, many to be free from it, who yet labour under the suppress’d MENSTRUA; wherefore the Imbecillity of the Principal Parts admitting the Humours, must concur with the Latitude of the Passages, thro’ which the Blood is communicated to them: Which Three conspiring together, the Suffocation of course succeeds with Aggravation.

IF this Blood flows thro’ the Veins and Arteries, into the HEART, it occasions a SYNCOPE, which is a most severe Affection.

IF it ascends into the Brain, it occasions various Symptoms according to the Quality of the Blood, viz.——If it is Pituitous, it induces a Suffocation with SLEEP, resembling a LETHARGY: If it be Bilious, the AFFECTION is most furious, and the PATIENT is (as it were) almost Mad, tearing her self, pulling her Hair, renting her Cloaths, &c. If the Blood be sweet, she only fancies Amours, and meditates upon pleasing Chimeras: As, in fine, if Melancholick, it seizes her with a Sadness of Heart, and Dejection of Mind.

BUT as to the Second Cause, the retain’d Seed induces not only These, but more grievous Symptoms, since as soon as it is corrupted and refrigerated, it becomes the worst of Poyson[240]: And as it reaches the principal debilitated Parts, it draws on the most dangerous sort of Suffocations; in which the Patient lies for Dead, the whole Body being extremely refrigerated, or benumb’d by this venenated Matter. Which Accident however may happen promiscuously to all Women, abounding with such morbifick Contents in the Womb, as sometimes falls out to Maids, but more commonly to Widows, whose Bodies as well as Wombs abound with pituitous Humours; as also sometimes to Pregnant Women of Cacochymical Habits, and to Puerperial Women not cleansing sufficiently.

I know by the way, that some modern Writers define the Case otherways, and will have Men to be also lyable to the same Distemper, which they alledge proceeds chiefly from the Blood and Spirits: But the Reason why I think they are exempted from it, at least from its Severities, is because, what they lose in Nocturnal Pollutions or otherways, is always ejected or thrown without Doors; whereas what the other Sex so emitts, may be still retain’d within; and consequently by a long Detention there, may be converted into Venom, or a Poysonous Humour.

HOWEVER, this happens more readily and frequently to Widows, than to Virgins, because in the one, the Passages are not only dilated, but also Nature is accustomed to such Emissions, as the other is yet wholly a Stranger to. Moreover——

AGAIN, this Affection may also proceed from too great an abundance of SEED in those, call’d the Seminal Vessels; tho’ not to such a dangerous Degree: In which Case, if the SEED be Acrimonious, a Convulsion may happen; if otherways, the Patient seems only to faint and fall away, with a sort of a grateful Indulgence, without any great Change of Countenance, or Alteration of Pulse; tho’ she often continues with her Eyes shut, Starting and Wakening (as it were) frequently: And as upon returning to herself, she falls a-sighing, so a little after, the Symptom recurs again.

FINALLY, as to the third Cause, Supposing this Affection to seize Women, who not only Purge regularly, but are also satiated with Virile Conversation; or, as it sometimes happens, to take Old Women: In these Cases, the Cause is undoubtedly very different from those mentioned, and proceeds either from Winds, Vapours, or putrid and corrupted Humours, contain’d in the Womb, and communicated by various Passages, to the Heart and Brain: And this Corruption may readily succeed in the Womb, because, as it is a part very different from any other of the Body, endued with peculiar Faculties, so if it be not well disposed, the vitious Humours may also corrupt in it, after a peculiar manner; if not in its own Cavity, in the Uterine Vessels, as most frequently happens.

UPON which, I observe that, if these Winds or Vapours are communicated to the Heart, thro’ the Veins and Arteries, the Suffocation happens with Palpitation: If to the Brain, with a Vertigo, a Tingling of the Ears, and a Suffusion from the Phantasms of the Eyes: Whereas, if the deprav’d Humours or Vapours, ascend there, thro’ the Nerves, various Convulsions happen; especially if the Brain abounds also with frigid Humours. And these, in short, according to the foresaid Authorities, are all the Proximous and immediate Causes of the Hysterick Passion.

HENCE I come now to touch upon the mediate Causes of the same Distemper, which may be easily conceiv’d by any who understands those of the suppressed Menstrua, Gonorrhæa, &c. which Cases I can by no means enter upon at this Time, for the reasons mentioned in the last preceding Chapter.

BUT from what is said (I hope) this Uterine Strangulation, together with all its Differences, may be easily distinguished by the ingenious Reader. However yet, because all its different Sorts have some degree of Affinity, with other diverse Symptoms, which no ways proceed from the Womb; I come now to propose some Signs of Distinction, first in general, and next in particular, viz.——

THE general Signs then are Three, by which I think, the Hysterick may be readily distinguished from all other Affections, namely,——

I. IT is a Muliebrian Disease, and that only familiar to some of the more delicate Women: When therefore we know, from the Patient herself, or from those about her, that she is obnoxious to this Affection; the Hysteric Symptoms also appearing, we need not suspect any other Distemper. II. Hysterical Women complain frequently of their Wombs being ill-disposed, and out of order. As, III. They are most commonly helped and freed from the Paroxysm, by holding Fœtids to the Nose, and Suaveolents to the Pudendum; which holds good in no other Affection. But more particularly——

THIS Distemper differs from a Syncope, in that, a Syncope is precipitant, and seizes the Patient all at once, tho’ ’tis but of short Duration; Whereas in this, some evident Signs of an approaching Paroxysm always precede, and the Evil continues sometimes for several Hours and perhaps Days: In that, the Pulse is quickly abolish’d, or at least seemingly ceases; in this, it remains, however small, except in the aforementioned extreme Fit: In that of a Syncope, cold Sweats appear, and the Countenance changes pale; and when the Heart is severely affected, it may be probably conjoin’d with the Hysterick Affection.

NOW This Distemper differs also from an Epilepsy: For in That the Convulsive Motions are not always join’d with it, or if they be, they are not so universal, affecting only one or other Member: In Epilepticks, the Pulse is greater than ordinary; but in Hystericks, it is the Reverse: In that the Patient foams at the Mouth, and loses the principal Functions of Life, especially the Memory; in this they foam not, neither commonly lose any internal Sense; but only awake like those who have been asleep.

THIS Affection differs again from the Apoplexy, in that the Parts are not so much affected, nor their feeling so much abolished; in that there is no continual Snoaring, and the Pulse is only diminished and depraved, which in Apoplectics most commonly remains entire: In short, the one is preceded, as well as accompany’d with diverse Symptoms; whereas the other assails the Patient suddenly, without any previous Notice or Signification.

AGAIN the Hystericks differ from a Lethargy; in that This is attended with a Fever; That not at all: In This the Pulse is raised higher and is stronger; in That it falls always lower, and is weaker.

MOREOVER, there are diverse Experiments, mentioned by Authors, to distinguish a Patient in the extreme Fit of this Passion, from a Person actually Dead: Such as Lint, Feathers, or burnt Paper being held to the Mouth; if moved, the Patient breathes. A Glass of Water being set upon the Breast; if stirred, there is some Motion and Dilatation still in the Breast. Or, in fine, a Looking-Glass well wiped, being held to their Mouths, if infected, the Patient is still and certainly alive.

HOWEVER, all These Things, I look upon to be merely trifling and uncertain in this Case; because, supposing the Woman not to breathe, as has been hinted; How then can she expire so much from her Lungs, as to move a Feather, or infect a Glass? Or, how can her Breast have any such a Motion, as to move Water in a Glass? Considering well, what has been already said, that it is only by internal Transpiration, that she draws the Breath of Life; which is neither effected by the Motion of the Breast, nor the Lungs; but rather by a certain obscure and latent Motion of the Heart, and the internal Arteries: In such manner, as some Animals, living in Cells of Obscurity, seem to be refrigerated, or benumb’d and Dead the whole Winter-Season.

BUT in this Case, the more certain Method is, to try the Patient with proper Sternutatories, such as are otherways useful in all such Paroxysms, for if alive, she will be quickly mov’d by Sternutation: As when the Body begins to send forth a Cadaverous Smell, it is a certain Sign that the innate Heat is extinct with the Life, and that the Body is no more supported by the Soul. Wherefore the safest and surest way is, not to bury such Persons, before the Expiration of 72 Hours, reckoning from the beginning of the Fit: Because, if in this Time, which is the Crisis, or Term of the Circuit of all the Humours in the Body, they do not revive, there is no more Room left for Hopes.

IN the next place, I come to mark the Diagnosticks, whereby it may be best distinguished, which of the before-mentioned immediate Causes, gives Rise to the HYSTERICK PASSION in any Woman labouring under the same Malady. And, I. IF it proceeds from the Menstruous Blood, in this Condition, the Natural Course must needs be suppress’d, either in whole or in part: And the Difference of the Quality of this BLOOD, is evident from the foregoing Symptoms.

II. IF from too long retain’d SEED; the Patient is to be suppos’d regular in her natural Flux, as she is Calid and Sanguine, either from high Living, or want of Exercise: In this the Symptoms are all more severe and dangerous, than in the other Case, and upon the declension of the Paroxysm, or the Fits going off, a certain Humour flows from the Pudendum, occasion’d by the Constriction made in the Womb.

III. IF from corrupted Humours, the Patient not only Purges regularly, but also enjoys her Husband: Hence in this Case, I would conclude that she either labours, or has labour’d under some Uterine Distemper, such as a Satyriasis, Pruritus, Furor, Gonorrhæa, Fluor Muliebris, Ulcers, Impostumes, a former Suppression, or Irregularity of the Menstrua, or the like: As also many Learned Men agree that a Præternatural Situation[241], namely, the Womb’s ascending to the superior Parts, compressing the Liver and Diaphragma, and consequently the Lungs, Heart, or Stomach, may induce various Suffocations; Which, I think, is also confirm’d by Reason and Experience. For——

WHO knows not that the Ligaments of the Womb, may be so relaxed and extended, that it may fall down to the very Knees, as I have seen it? And who may not thence conceive that in the same Laxity of the Ligaments, the Womb may be as well driven upwards by Winds, Vapours, or too much gross Blood in the Ligaments; or by ungrateful Odours approaching the Womb, as it may also be attracted by pleasant and grateful Smells at the Nose? Not that I mean here, by the by, that the Womb is capable of Smelling, and therefore shuns disagreeable Fœtors; but only that its Spirits and Heat, especially in Those, who abound with deprav’d Humours, are attracted either way by agreeable Odours, or fragrant Smells.

NOW in this Case, the Womb may be plainly found by the Touch, ascended in the Form of a round Ball; Which however may be easily brought down, and replaced in its natural Posture, by any skilful experienced Hand, previously well anointed with the Oil of Spike, Spikenard, White Lillies, or the like. Again farther, to prevent its Return, some nauseous Smells, may be apply’d to the Nose, or the Reverse to the Pudendum; as also the superiour Parts of the Body may be tyed strait with proper Bands or Ligaments.

BUT more particularly, as to the proper Diagnosticks of the imminent Paroxysm, or approaching Fit of Suffocation, these are, Grumblings in the Abdomen, a Distention and Pulsation in the Back and Hypochondriacks, a Weariness of the whole Body, an Imbecillity of the Legs, Belching, Nauseating, Gaping, a pale Face, and a sad Countenance; attended at last with the aforesaid Sense of Strangulation, as if the Patient was a-swallowing a Ball, &c. As also I have known some Women to have been taken with a long Fit of Laughter upon this occasion, others with that of Crying; as probably some may confusely act both at once.

HOWEVER, It is to be observ’d in this place, that, as the Distemper is not equally violent in All, nor always attended by the same, or the same number of Symptoms; so neither are the Fits equally long or frequent, but invade and seize the Patient according to the quick or slow gathering of the Morbifick Humours, which are also sooner or later discussed: Which Humorous Particles in our Bodies, like as in intermitting Fevers, have their due Times of Digestion, Accumulation, and Exaltation; which Height as soon as they have arrived to, they suddenly, and as it were in a Moment, break out into Action: Or else These Humours may lye dormant in the Body, until by some Procatarctick, or External Cause, they are exagitated, and set at Work.

NOW this Agitation of Humours depends not only upon the Course of the Sun and Moon, but also sometimes more particularly upon the Change of the Air, and the Motion of the Sea. As to the Solar and Lunar Influences upon the Animal Machine, they are already abundantly set forth[242], wherefore I shall resume Nothing of them in this place: And as to the Efficiency of the Air, I would observe it to be always most considerable about the Two Equinoxes; as at these Seasons the most impetuous Winds and violent Storms happen; and that continually the most severe at Noon and Midnight; that is to say, when the Sun is in our Zenith, or in the Nadir, viz. in the vertical Point over our Heads, or the quite opposite under[243] our Feet. These Changes however come a little before the Vernal Equinox, but follow the Autumnal; because of the various Distances of the Moon in its Perigæum and Apogæum.

MOREOVER, at these Seasons, and indeed at all Times, the Air swells or rises highest, at New and Full Moon, from the conjunct Power of both the Planets: Hence the diligent Mariners and Husbandmen always observe the Weather to change, and Winds to rise upon these Occasions; and, not only so, but also, a constant and certain Recourse of Winds and Weather to happen at certain Seasons of the Year; and that from some certain necessary Natural Cause, which always acts in the same manner.

As to the Motion of the Sea, its Efficacy upon the Animal Fabrick, may be easily comprehended, considering only what is said; together with this Truth, that, at all Seasons, the Air is highest, and the Winds strongest, when the Tide of the Flood is at its highest Ascent. For as the Sea swells, so the Ambient Air in 25 Hours, is twice raised to a considerable great Height, from the Attraction of the Moon approaching the Meridian: And the same swelling of the Air must necessarily follow, as often as the Sun comes to the Meridian of any place, either above or below the Horizon; tho’ (as aforesaid) it is always highest at New and Full Moon: And lowest of all, when the Moon is but half Full; the Planets then drawing each a contrary way: As it is middling, during the Time between the dimidiated Orbs of the Moon, and the New and Full Moon[244].

CONSIDERING then that the Ambient Air and the surrounding Sea are both fluid Bodies, and that the Changes of the One agree so exactly with the Tide of the Other, we may rationally conclude, that they are both (in a great measure) subject to the same Laws of Motion[245]. Hence it is, that, the great Physician[246] says, that the Fluxes and Refluxes of both these Elements are so ordain’d, by the Wise Councell of the Almighty Creator, to keep them from Stagnations and Corruptions, which would be noxious to all Creatures, that by these means are preferred in a better Condition. Which is also confirm’d by Experience, from that, in clear and open places such Valetudinarians as are ready to Die, recover their Health, and the Soundest Constitution in moist close places, grows Sick.

FROM the whole, it is evident, that the Motions of the Air at the flowing of the Sea, upon the New and Full Moon, and in the Æquinoxes, change the Fabrick of the Animal Bodies: But these Changes are always most remarkable in those of weak and sickly Constitutions; whereas those of Strong and Healthy Bodies more readily repel or evade their Influences. Hence it is that our Bodies so much Sympathize, and so manifestly correspond with the Cœlestials, as the Experience of a great many Ingenious Authors testify[247]: And hence again it is that the Hysterick, no less than any other Patient, keeps Time strictly with these Superiour Bodies, as the Register of a vast many Examples, and even daily Experience it self teaches for Truth. Now having thus far prosecuted the Diagnosticks, as well with respect to the Times and Seasons of the Paroxysms, as to the Signs and Symptoms of the Distemper, I come at length to——

THE Prognosticks of this Uterine SuffocatioN, which I shall but briefly hint upon; and First, observe, that where the Humours overcharge the Body, and are implicated among themselves; in this Case the Fits do not always keep their Legitimate Times, nor their proper Insults, but are sometimes more frequent, more sharp, and more diuturnal; in like manner, as a Concourse of Winds excites the most violent Storms, according to the Poet[248],

“Unà Eurusque Notusque ruunt, creberque procellis

“Africus, & vastos volvunt ad Littora Fluctus:

So a Concourse and Confluxion of Humours, must needs aggravate the Distemper; but more especially, when the afflicted PATIENT is taken with a Complication of Distempers, such as when the HYSTERICK FIT is join’d with a Syncope, or severe Convulsions, &c. then the Case is most dangerous.[249]

—— —— —— “Nam corpore in Uno

“Frigida cum Calidis Pugnant, Humentia Siccis,

“Mollia cum duris, Sine pondere habentia pondus.

These Things, consisting in the Corruption and Inflammation, or in the Quantity and Quality of the peccant HUMOURS, concur with the other Causes, above defin’d, that the Circulations of the Distemper are either shorter or longer, more frequent or more rare, or more safe or more dangerous in the Event.

SECONDLY, I observe in this place, that, if the Distemper does not carry off the PATIENT, as often happens in the foregoing Condition, it commonly degenerates at last into an Apoplexy, or Palsy, Stupidity, or deep Melancholy, &c. Wherefore I come now finally to treat of the Method of its Cure; which is twofold, One in the Access or FIT, and another in the Interval. Then as to the First——

IN the FIT, Revulsive and Repressing Remedies are most apposite, together with Corroboratives for the HEART and VENTRICLE, as well as for the Womb it self. But because Revulsives are of many and different kinds, they are to be discreetly us’d, according to the Nature of the Cause from whence the Evil proceeds: For if suppressed Blood be the Cause, in that Case, Galen agrees with Hippocrates that an Inferiour Vene-Section is convenient, and that even tho’ a Syncope join the SUFFOCATION, because the One is but the Effect of the Other[250]: Remembring always that such Bleedings must be done with great Prudence and Caution, because of the present Prostration of the Strength and Spirits, and Refrigeration of the PATIENT’s whole Body.

WHEREAS if the PAROXYSM proceeds from venenated SEED, or depraved Humours, no VEIN is to be open’d; but instead of That, I would lay the Woman supine in her BED, for breathing the freer, and loose all her Laces, Garters, &c. Then if Strong Sternutatories, Fœtid Smells, Vellication of her Ears, Nostrils, Pilorumve Pudendi, did not help her Condition; I would use dolorifick Ligatures, and Frictions of THIGHS, LEGS, and FEET; or apply Cupping Glasses without Scarification to the THIGHS and GROIN it self: As also proper Liniments, Clysters, Suppositories, Pessaries, &c. are convenient Means: And sometimes Suffumigations of GALBANUM, ASSAFOETIDA, Old Leather, Cloth, Sulphur, Partridge Feathers, Horse-Tetters or Warts, &c. Or (which is reckon’d Best of all) a few of the PATIENT’s Hairs of her Head, burnt, and held to her NOSE. Or, while I should often tickle the NOSTRILS with a Feather, or my Finger dipp’d in the sharpest Vinegar, Oleum Succini, or the like, I would anoint the PALLET with Triacle, Mithridate, or such other Things dissolv’d in pleasant WINE.

HOWEVER, in such Cases, as well as in all others, à mitioribus adhibitis, progrediendum est ad valentiora; I say, we are to begin with the more gentle, and proceed gradually to the more strong and powerful REMEDIES; using all proper Means with the utmost Prudence and Discretion, and that only according to the absolute Necessity and imminent Danger of the incident Case. Now moreover, I would add for such as lose both PULSE and BREATH, that some of the above REMEDIES are not only requisite; but also, according to the excellent Horatius Augenius, a little generous WINE with Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Cloves, adding five Grains of MUSK, is altogether proper for this PATIENT[251]: Tho’ for others, who have not quite lost all Sense and Motion, nothing is perhaps more pernicious than the USE of such Odoriferous Matters, since I have known several Women to have been immediately suffocated, even by the very Smell of MUSK, CIVET, AMBER, &c. But when the Sick PATIENT lies (as above) for dead, if such Odours can excite the WOMB, they can likewise move the Arteries, and give Hopes of Recovery; upon which occasion also, I would apply hot Sear-Cloths to the Regions of the HEART and WOMB: Or, if I suspected the HEAD to abound with frigid Humours, I would moreover apply Vesicatories behind the EARS, or an Issue, or drawing Plaister to the NAPE of the Neck, always cherishing the STOMACH with proper Fomentations: As also according to some, the Hoof of an ELK, is a present REMEDY in all such Suffocations or FITS of the Mother[252].

BY the above-mentioned, which are all the most prevalent Means in the ACCESS, we will now suppose the PATIENT to be recover’d; in which Case, the next step needful, is to guard against, and prevent the Return of the FIT, and consequently to Cure the DISEASE; which can only be effected by removing the Cause, whatever it may be: And This, in my Opinion, may be most effectually perform’d in manner following, viz.——

IF the Distemper proceeds from the suppressed BLOOD or MENSTRUA, This is by proper Means to be reduced to its Natural Course and Condition. If from a retain’d Seminal Matter in the Uterine Vessels, the Cure depends chiefly upon a proper Regimen of Diet and Exercise; frequent gentle Purges, and repeated inferiour Venæ-Sections: Whereas if already collected and venenated in the WOMB, and the Body consequently refrigerated, no VEIN may properly be touch’d or open’d; but in this Case, as if the Evil proceeded from vitious putrid HUMOURS, it is to be evacuated in the same manner, as in other Conditions of the humid Intemperature of the WOMB; always corroborating and fortifying the more affected or debilitated Parts.

NOW this Method of Cure, in short, being taken from the wisest of the Ancients[253], I shall farther add one singular and essential Step towards the perfecting of it; namely, if it be so, that the most severe and dangerous Symptoms of this DISTEMPER proceed from the Retention of the vitiated SEED; then of Course and without Controversy, the HYSTERICK PASSION must needs be most familiar to WIDOWS and marriageable VIRGINS; to whom I must finally say, Let them Marry.

Si tales etenim pruriginosas, Connubio destinari contingat, ac Semen subdito virili Pessulo elici, in usumq, procreandæ Sobolis depromi, protinus illas efflorescere videas, ac faciem roseo, nitidóq; colore perfundi, blandas denique atque Amabiles, minúsq; tetricas ac morosas. Quod etiam docet GALENUS, Exemplo viduæ cujusdam, quæ multo Semine effuso, à Symptomatibus integrè est liberata[254]. Itaq; dico, tales dissuetæ maturæve viro sunt tempestive elocandæ. In fine, MARRIAGE will very much help such indisposed Persons, according to the Wise Judgment, Advice and Direction of the best Antient WRITERS.

CONCLUSION.

BEFORE I close this finishing Chapter, I must entreat the READER’s Patience, and finally observe (by way of Recapitulation upon it, which will also serve to Answer the same End upon divers places interspers’d throughout this whole Book) that I am very Sensible before hand, that some considerate Readers, even among the Learned themselves, will be ready to stop or cavil at some of my Sentiments, and say, Quo te Mœri Pedes? Et quæ te Dementia cepit?

I know that they deny, with the Peripatetick Aristotle[255], the Existence of the Muliebrian SEED. Nay, I farther know, that, this is not all, which they will object against; for the Four Galenick HUMOURS will be as hard to digest. But as I leave all Men to think and judge for themselves, without differing with any for dissenting from me in Opinion, so I know that Men of Probity and Ingenuity will allow me the same Privilege and act in a suitable Manner: Whereas I doubt not but some Momus, or Zoilus, or some Member of the Body of the Sophistical Sciolists will rise up, and pronounce me either altogether Ignorant, or an unjust Vilifier of the reigning Modern Opinions, by laying down some Authentick Positions of the Antients,

THIS cannot more certainly befall me, than I expect it; wherefore, I am not only in some measure upon my Guard; but also otherways resolved to hear, and even bear such Controversial Wranglings with Patience: Which I need think the less of doing, or suffering with Pleasure, considering the many Glorious Examples already set before my Eyes of Those who have deserved the greatest Applause, and the Best of Mankind in all Ages. To pass by some living MONUMENTS of Detraction, who are at this Day universally acknowledged to be Eminent and Excellent Men; have not some of the best Authors that ever wrote been unjustly scourged by the black Tongues, and even scandaliz’d by the Satyrick Pens, of their Cotemporaries? And are not the same Sufferers, I mean their Names and Memories immortaliz’d at this Time, through all Nations? Besides, in short, will they not continue to be so through out all succeeding Generations for their essential Helps and ingenious Discoveries in the Noble and Heavenly Art of Physick? Moreover, have we not too many Instances of This, to go no farther, in England, even too well known to require a Repetition?

HOW vain then would it be in me to hope to escape the Common Fate of all Writers in general? No, before ever I put Pen to Paper, I plainly foresaw, that, in this degenerate Age, no honest Man could safely subscribe to the genuine truth of Things, without suffering by publick Malice, under the Character of being reckon’d either an Ignorant or an obsolete Singularist.

HOWEVER, yet, as I would willingly avoid being ranked among litigious Disputants, so I have taken Care (if it be possible) to mitigate the Censure, by not insisting too stiffly upon any Topick, which may be suppos’d to tend more to curious Speculation, than to real Practice in our Art: Neither have I set off any Hypothesis with recommendatory Glosses, nor other fine Embellishments, serving more for Ornament than Use.

BUT that I may not seem at last altogether to give up, what I have been advancing, however in modest Terms and upon authentick Authorities, I ingenuously answer and confess, that, I have in diverse respects and in sundry places in this Book, spoke my Mind freely, and impartially, however without Prejudice, and that sometimes also contrary to the Opinions of many famous Writers in Vogue, as well Ancient as Modern; by which means, I may perhaps have disgusted some, otherways, most Judicious Readers: However, considering the different Grounds upon which Men commonly form their Judgment of Authors, if I have but the Happiness to please in some Things, I have all that I am ambitious of.

WHEREFORE, as it was neither for Applause nor Reputation-sake, but merely for the Common Good of Mankind, that I undertook to write modestly, so I resolved at the Beginning, that, neither Malice nor Envy should deter me from publishing what is True, and, to my certain Knowledge, confirmed by Experience. I have carefully perus’d other Men’s Works, Moderns as well as Ancients, to gain the Knowledge and discover the Truth of Things, and I gratefully acknowledge what Benefit soever I have reaped from them, whose Names I am not asham’d to affix to this Book, by the Help of their elaborate and ingenious Writings: Desiring thereby to convince the Revolver, that I neither reject the hard Labours of the Ancients, nor despise the laudable Endeavours of the Moderns, much less would I be thought to decry or find Fault with any particular Performance; especially considering that I meet with none so empty, but that I get something by, which I emprove to my own Advantage.

BUT as far as I have found them mistaken, since Mortal Eyes cannot see beyond their Horizon, nor the best of Men exceed the natural Limits of human Frailty, I have thought it my Duty to forewarn Posterity of their Mistakes, not only according to the laudable Custom of the Ancients, but also according to my plain Notion of the genuine Nature or true Charity; which I think consists not in contemning, detracting and calumniating one another, but rather in cleansing Sciences from the Dross of Errors, that so the Right Way may be pav’d to our Successors by a continued Series of Time, which may be effectually done by Many, that cannot possibly be accomplished by One; because of the Brevity of Life.

UPON the whole, it is most certain that Truth is known but of a few; whereas false Opinions go current in the Stream with the rest of the World: Nay, Truth scarce yet ever carried it by Vote in any respect, insomuch, that the most evident Testimonies of Sense, too often yield place to imbib’d Opinions, and Men blindly reject the manifest Evidence of their own Faculties, by which Truth in many Cases is only to be discover’d: And indeed I know how hard it is otherways to enquire exactly into the common Truth of Things, so as to give a Satisfactory Demonstration, or a general Satisfaction to All: Which notwithstanding, I verily believe that the Sons of Art, who know the Principles and Power of Nature, and understand her various Operations upon all Bodies, by the means of her inferiour Agents, the four ELEMENTS; and such as have attain’d any competent Knowledge in the SPAGYRICK ANATOMY of Things, especially of Fluids, Water, Wine, &c. will be at no great Loss to conceive the Probability of both the one and the other above-mentioned Hypothesis.

ACCEPT then, in fine, Benevolent Reader, This short and plain Performance of Physick and Midwifery; which, if it should not happily answer to your Expectation, I would fain have you believe, that it will far less correspond with my Wish. If then any Thing be found useful or acceptable in it, you are to ascribe that to God, the Author of all Wisdom; you may impute what is otherways perform’d, to Man’s Understanding and Practice blessed by God: Therefore being every where mindful of Humanity, read, revolve, enjoy, and correct; reflecting in the Interim, not so much upon the little that I have done, as upon that which others have not hitherto perform’d concerning the same Subject.

I could with Pleasure have continued The Performance, and, according to my Design at the Beginning, have added two SECTIONS more, viz. One upon the Symptoms and Diseases of the Womb and the Passages; the other upon the various Symptoms or Accidents, relating to the MENSTRUOUS and other Uterine Fluxes: But as the Work has already by far exceeded the Limits, which I design’d it at first, I shall here for the present Time fix my Pen.

I Pray God, in short, the Fountain of Life, and Source of all Science, that He may enable others to conceive what has been said, better than I have been capable to explain; and grant that the Fruit of my Labour may conduce to the Health and Preservation of all good Women and their Children: All finally, upon the whole Work, redounding to the eternal Glory of his own most Holy Name.

FINIS.

Authors Names quoted in this Work, disposed Alphabetically.

A.
Ægineta
Aetius
Agrippa Corn.
Albertus Magnus
Alcinous
Alexandrinus Jul.
Anaxagoras
Antony St.
Apollonius
Apuleius
Aquinas Thom.
Areteus
Aristotle
Arnoldus de villa Nova
Augenius
Augustin St.
Aurelianus Cæl.
Averroes
Avicenna
B.
Baglivius
Bartholinus
Bellini
Benedictus Alex.
Blancard
Boerhaave
Boetius
Bonaciolus
Bottonus
Brassavolus
Burnet Thom.
C.
Cardanus
Cato
Catullus
Celsus
De Chales
Chamberlain
Cicero
Claudianus
Cordcæus
Cyprian St.
D.
Daventer
Democritus
Diocles
Diodorus
Diogenes
Donatus Marcel.
E.
Empedocles
Etmullerus
Eustachius
F.
Fabricius Gul.
Fab. d’ Aquap.
Fallopius
Favorinus
Fernelius
Florentinus Nichol.
Floyer Sir John
Forestus
G.
Galen
Gamma
Garofanzzo
Gaffendus
Gellius
Goad
Guillaume de Paris
H.
Harris Dr.
Harvey
Heister
Helmontius
Heraclides
Hercules Saxon.
Heurnius
Hippocrates
Hoffman
Hollerius
Homer
Horace
Horstius
Howel
J.
Jerome St.
Johannes Anglicus
L.
Lactantius
Langius
Laurentius And.
Levin. Lemnius.
Licetus
Linus
Lucilius
Lucretius
Lusitanus
M.
Macrobius
Manilius
Marcellus
Marcus Marci
Mauriceau
Mead Dr.
Menabeus
Mercatus
Mercurialis
Montanus
Moor Sir Thomas
Morgagnus
N.
Newton Sir Isaac
O.
Ovid
P.
Palladius
Panarolus
Paræus
Paschal
Paulus Jurisconsult.
Persius
Pfizerus
Pindar
Pinæus
Plato
Platerus
Plautus
Pliny
Plutarch
Pontanus
Proclus
Pythagoras
R.
Rabanus
Ranchinus
Rhases
Riolanus
Riverius
Rocheus
Rodericus à Castro
Ronssæus
Rufus
Ruffius
Ruysch
S.
Schenckius
Senertus
Solomon King
Soranus
Spigelius
Sprengell Dr.
Sydenham
T.
Terentius
Thuringius
Trincavellius
Tulpius
U.
Ulmus Marc. Ant.
Valeriola
Vallesius
Velthuysius
Vesalius
Virgil
Vives
W.
Wierus
Z.
Zebizius
Zacch. Paulus

Courteous Reader, having been sometimes call’d from the Inspection of the Press, there may be some literal and a few verbal Mistakes; which as the Sense is not perverted, I hope you will candidly pass by.

Adieu.

1. De Partib. Anim. lib. 1. cap. 5.

2. Lib. 2. Sat. 1.

3. Sat. 5.

4. Book of Wisdom, 8, 19 and 20.

5. Prov. 4. 23.

6. Book of Wisdom, 9. 15.

7. Prov. viii. from 22, to 32.

8. Gal. 4. 6,

9. Rom. viii. 17.

10. Psalm 8. 24. 104, 139, &c.

11. Lib. 15. do part. Us. Sect. 1.

12. Matt. xxvi. 38.

13. Bonacciol. Mercat.

14. De Natur. Puer.

15. Galen Ruf. Mercat.

16. Hippoc. de Natur. Puer. Fortun. Licet. de perfect. Constitut. Homin. in Uter. Rod. à Cast. de Nat. Mul.

17. Eccles. xi. 5.

18. Book of Wisdom, ix. 13, 14.

19. Psal. cxxxix. 13, 14, 15, & 16.

20. De perfect. Constitut. Homin. in Utero.

21. Hippoc. de Natur. Fœtus.

22. Aristot. 7. de Hist. Animal. 3.

23. Harv. in Exercit. Ettmul. Prax. cap. 25.

24. Heister. in Compend. Anatom.

25. Marc. Ant. Ulm. de Utero Mul. S. 1. c. 7. Amb. Paræus, L. 23. c. 42. Ranchin. de Morb. Virg. S. 1. c. 4. And. Laurent. Horat. Augen. &c.

26. Avicen, Vesal. Fallop. Wier. Plater. Spigel. Heister. Morgag. &c.

27. Sect. 5. Aph. 39.

28. De Muliebrib. lib. 1. Comm. 4 & 6.

29. Hippoc. Lib. de Glandulis.

30. De Hist. Animal. Cap. 12 & 3.

31. Sever. Pin. in Opusc. Physiol. & Anat. cap. 5. Pet. Forest. Schol. 28. Observat. 55. Plin. lib. 36. cap. 19. Anselm. Boet. lib. 2. de Lapid. & Gemm. cap. 165. Melch. Sebiz. de Not. Virg. Thuring. &c.

32. Hipp. Lib. de Morb. Virgin.

33. Lib. de Morb. Virgin.

34. Joh. Lang. Lib. 1. Epist. 2.

35. Sect. 3. Epist. 19.

36. Georg. 3.

37. Lib. 3. Fen 21. Tract. 1. cap. 12.

38. De occult. Nat. Mir. lib. 1. cap. 9.

39. Gal. lib. Art. Med. Hipp. ac Gal. 5. in Sextum vulg. Morb. Hipp. lib. de Sterilib.

40. Hercul. Saxon. Oper. pract. p. 3. c. 28. Rod. à Cast. de Nat. Mul. lib. 3. c. 13.

41. Lib. de Opific. Dei, pag. 823.

42. Pag. 65.

43. Pontan. l. 10. de reb. Cœlest. Jul. Alexandrin. de Salubrib. c. 14. Amat. Lusitan. Cent. 3. Cur. 39. &c.

44. Herc. Sax. Prælect. pract. part 3. cap. 30.

45. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 8. cap. 21.

46. Genes. xxx.

47. Thom. Aquin. contra. Gentil. lib. 3. Hen. Cornel. Agrip. lib. de Occult. Philosoph. &c.

48. Lib. 7. Cap. 12.

49. Lib. 4, Od. 4.

50. 1 Cor. 7. 5.

51. Marcus Marci de Ideis Operatric. Horstius Tract. de Caus. Similitud. Fœt. cum Parent.

52. Lib. 3. de Morb. Mul. cap. 6.

53. Hipp. lib. de Genit.

54. Aristot. lib. 3. de Histor. Animal. cap. 3.

55. Quæst. Medic. Legal. lib. 1. tit. 3. quæst. 1.

56. Hipp. 4. Aph. 1.

57. Hipp. 5. Aph. 31. Forest. l. 16. Obs. 38.

58. Rod. à Cast. de Morb. Mul. lib. 3. cap. 22.

59. Trincavel. lib. 3. de curand. partic. hum. Corp. Affect. cap. 5. Forest. lib. 8. Obs. 7. Ludov. Vives in Comm. ad lib. 27. August. de civit. Dei, cap. 25. Lang. lib. 2. Epist. 12. Florent. Serm. 5. tract. 4. cap. 36. Brasavol. Comm. ad lib. 5. Aph. 24. Hippoc. &c.

60. Rod. à Cast. de Morb. Mul. lib. 3. cap. 11.

61. Florent. Serm. 5. tract. 4. cap. 36. Brasavol. 5. Aph. 24. in Comm. &c.

62. 5 Aph. 34. Diemerbroek lib. 1. Anatom. cap. 24. Lang. de Valetud. Gravid. Disp. 41. Bagliv. Prax. chap. 13. lib. 1.

63. Galen 4. Aph. 17.

64. Galen. 3. de Loc. Aff. c. 8. Avicen. l. 3. Tr. 5. cap. 1.

65. Gal. 3. de Loc. Aff. c. 8.

66. Hipp. 3. Aph. 17, 23, 31.

67. Lib. 1. de Loc. c. 2.

68. Hipp. 4. Aph. 17. Zacut. Lusit. Prax. Histor. l. ult. c. 1. Num. 4.

69. Aret. 1. de Caus. Chronicor. c. 3.

70. Galen. 3. Aph. 17.

71. De Morb. Chron. lib. 1. cap. 2.

72. Prælect. Pract. Par. 1. cap. 11.

73. Hipp. 2. Aph. 3, 7. Aph. 18. Bellini de Morb. Capit. pag. 535.

74. Hipp. 5. Aph. 60. Brassavol. in hunc Aphor.

75. Hipp. 6. Aph. 20. Cels. l. 2. c. 8. p. 70.

76. Hipp. 5. Aph. 60. Brassavol. in hunc Aphor.

77. Hipp. 7. Aph. 48. Heurnius in hunc Aphor.

78. Alex. Bened. lib. 19. de curandi Morb. rat. cap. 36. Fernel. lib. 6. de part. Morb. & Sympt. cap. 10. &c.

79. Observ. 1. Pentecost. 1.

80. Hipp. 7. Aph. 27.

81. Aet. lib. 16. cap. 12.

82. Observ. cap. 5. de intermittent Feb.

83. Sect. 4. Aph. 59.

84. Galen. de Crisib. lib. 2. cap. 6. &c in Comment. in 4 Aph. 59.

85. In Comment. in Aph. Hipp. 23. lib. 2.

86. De diebus decretor. lib. 3.

87. Valleriol. lib. 1. Observ. 1. & lib. 6. Observ. 6. Hipp. 5. Aph. 30. Forest. lib. 2. Observ. 27. & lib. 6. Observ. 6. Hollerius in hunc Aphor. &c.

88. Rod. à Cast. de Morb. Mul. lib. 3. cap. 21.

89. Ibidem.

90. Lib. 4. Pract. Med. de Mul. Morb. Part 2. Sect. 5. cap. 3.

91. Hipp. 5. Aph. 37. Cardan. in hunc Aphor. Lang. disput. 41. c. 3.

92. 5. Aph. 52. Holler. in hunc Aphor. River. Prax. l. 15. c. 17.

93. Senert. I. 4. p. 2. S. 6. c. 2.

94. 3. De Fac. Nat. cap. 12.

95. Senert. lib. 4. p. 2. S. 6. c. 2. de Mul. Morb.

96. Hipp. 5. Aph. 45. Etmuller. de Convulf. c. 9.

97. Guliel. Fabric. Cent. 2. Obs. 50, & 51.

98. Hipp. 3. Aph. 12. Heurn. in hunc Aph.

99. Lib. 7. Hist. Nat. cap. 7.

100. Chap. ix.

101. Hip. 5. Aph. 37, 38. Cardan. & Brassavol. in hunc Aphor.

102. 5. Aph. 52. River. Prax. l. 15. c. 17.

103. Sydenh. Prax. Med. lib. 3. cap. 13.

104. Senert. de Morb. Mul. lib. 4. p. 2.

105. R. à Cast. de Morb. Mul. l. 3. c. 21.

106. Hipp. Lib. de Octimest. Part. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 7. cap. 5.

107. 2 Aph. 22. Hoffman. Method. Medend. l. 1. cap. 13.

108. Plato 5. de Repub. Aristot. 7. de Hist. Animal. cap. 4. &c. 4 de Gen. Anim. cap. 6. Sect. 10. Problemat. 30. Gellius, lib. 3. Noct. Attic. cap. 16. Plin. lib. 7. Nat. Hist. cap. 5.

109. Sect. I. Chap. 7, 8.

110. in Com. 2. de Generatione.

111. R. à Cast. de Nat. Mul. l. 4. c. 2.

112. R. à Cast lib. 4. cap. 4.

113. De Sacra Philos. cap. 18.

114. Lib. 1. Tract. 3. Contrad. S.

115. Sprengell in Sect. 10. Aphor. Celsi 9.

116. Lib. de Carnibus

117. Corn. Agrip.

118. Chap. 4, 5, 6, & 7.

119. Chap. 8.—18.

120. Chap. 18. to the end.

121. R. à Cast. de Nat. Mul.

122. Plin. lib. 7. cap. 5.

123. Lib. de Octimest. Part.

124. Lib. de Alimento.

125. Chap. xxviii. 13.

126. Plat. 5. de Republ. Aristot. 7. de Hist. Animal. c. 4. Phavor. apud Gell. lib. 13. c. 16.

127. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 22. cap. 21.

128. Revel. xiii. 18.

129. Plin. lib. 7. cap. 5. Gell. Noct. Attic. lib. 3. cap. 16. Cardan. lib. 1. tract. 3. cont. 8. Amat. Lusitan. Cent. 1. curat. 27.

130. Aristot. 7. de Nat. Animal. 4.

131. Senert. lib. 4. p. 2. S. 6. cap. 1.

132. Lib. de Carnib.

133. Lib. de Alimento.

134. Lib. de Imper. Solis & Lunæ, cap. 1.

135. Cap. 3.

136. Apud Aul. Gell. lib. 20. cap. 8.

137. Astronomic, lib. 2.

138. De Dieb. Decretor. lib. 3.

139. Cap. 2.

140. Lib. de Septimest. Part.

141. Lib. de Septimest. Part.

142. Nat. Hist. lib. 2. cap. 98.

143. Cap. 2.

144. Philos. Transact. Numb. 202.

145. Cap. 2. de Imper.

146. 3 Crit. 9.

147. Lib. de Alimento.

148. Genes. iii. 16.

149. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 7. cap. 5.

150. R. à Cast. de Nat. Mul. lib. 4. cap. 2.

151. Lib. 7. Nat. Hist. cap. 5.

152. Lib. de Octimest. Partu.

153. Heist. Anat.

154. Vid. Sect. II. Chap. 2.

155. Vid. Sect. I. Chap. 12.

156. Metamorph. lib. 1.

157. Chap. 7.

158. Chap. xiv. 5.

159. Lib. 3. Fen. 21. Tract. 1. cap. 1.

160. Hipp. de Nat. Puer.

161. Sect. IV. Chap. 9.

162. Sect. III. Chap. 31, 32, &c.

163. De Nat. Puer.

164. Præf. L. 1. P. 4.

165. Vid. Sect. iii. Chap. 19.

166. Sect. IV. Chap. ult.

167. Vid. Sect. IV. Chap. 7, 8.

168. Vid. Sect. IV. Chap. 17.

169. Lib. de Nat. Puer.

170. Cels. l. 11. c. 10. p. 79.

171. Vid. Sect. IV. Chap. 12, & 13.

172. Vid. Sect. IV. Chap. 13.

173. Vid. Chap. 22.

174. Sect. IV. Chap. ult. & Sect. vi. Chap. 7.

175. Vid. Chap. 16.

176. Vid. Sect. 4. Chap. 13. & Sect. 5. Chap. 19.

177. Vid. Chap. 19, 20, & 21.

178. Vid. Chap. 19.

179. Vid. Chap. 14, 15, & 16.

180. Vid. Sect. III. Chap. 19. & Sect. V. Chap. 5.

181. Vid. Sect. 3. Chap. 28.

182. Plutarch. in Vit. Romuli.

183. Vid. lib. 2.

184. Apud Aul. Gell. lib. 12. cap. 1.

185. Plato in Phed.

186. Vid. Lev. Lemn. lib. 4. cap. 18.

187. Lib. 4. cap. 6.

188. Vid. Chap. 7.

189. Senert. de Dentit. Part. 2. cap. 14.

190. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 7. cap. 16. Ronssæus de vitæ hum. Primord. cap. de Dentit.

191. Sect. 3. Aph. 24, & 25.

192. Lib. de Morb. Acut. Infant.

193. Lib. de Flat.

194. De Morb. Acut. Infant.

195. De Superfæt.

196. Avicen, Rhases, &c.

197. Marcel. Donat. lib. 4. de Historiar. Mirabil. cap. 16.

198. Lib. 7. de Histor. Animal. cap. 14. & lib. 4. de gener. Animal. cap. 5.

199. Sect. 4. Chap. ult.

200. Parens in Sua Orirurg. &c.

201. Johan Schenck. Lib. 4. Observat.

202. Vid. Sect. 5. Chap. 17.

203. 1. & 2. De Morb. Mul. & lib. de Steril.

204. Vid. Sect. 4. Chap. 18.

205. Senert. lib. 4. Part. 2. Sect. 4. Chap. 10. Herc. Saxon. P. 3. cap. 29.

206. Vid. Sect. 2. Chap. 7.

207. Lib. 4. Cap. 7.

208. Loc. cit.

209. Herc, Sax. P. 3. C. 29.

210. Contra Pindarum lib. 3. de Us. part. cap. 1.

211. Homel. 7. super. caput 3. Epistolar. Pauli.

212. In vitâ suâ.

213. Loc. cit.

214. Levit. 15 24, &c.

215. Lib. 1. Cap. 8.

216. Lib. 3. Cap. 4.

217. Thes. Med. pract. lib. II. Sect. 19. Sub-Sect. 3.

218. Georg. 3.

219. Genes. 16, &c.

220. Hos. Chap. 8, and 9.

221. Lib. 3. Part. 9. Sect. 1, and 2.

222. L. 1. de Sem. cap. 4.

223. Hipp. 5. Aph. 46.

224. Hipp. 5. Aph. 62.

225. Cap. de Sterilit.

226. Senert. L. 4. P. 2. S. 4. C. 2.

227. Loc. Cit.

228. Galen. 5. Aph. 61.

229. Herc. Sax. Prælec. Pract. P. 3.

230. Hipp. 5. Aph. 37, 38, and 50. Vesal. L. 5. C. 5.

231. Tulpius Observ. Medic. lib. 1. cap. 12. and lib. 2. cap. 43.

232. De Imper. Sol. & Lun. Cap. 2.

233. Ibidem.

234. Lib. 6. de loc. aff. c. 5.

235. Lib. 6. de loc. aff. cap. 5.

236. Alex. Bened. Pract. lib. 10. cap. 10. Paræus lib. 24. cap. 19. &c.

237. Lib. 6. de loc. aff. cap. 5.

238. Nic. Rocheus lib. de morb. mulieb. cap. 4. Mercurialis lib. 4. de morb. mul. cap. ult. Albertin Bottonus lib. de morb. Mul. cap. 43, &c.

239. Senert. lib. 4. P. 2. S. 3. C. 4. Rod. a Castro. lib. 2. S. 1. C. 1. Herc. Sax. P. 3. Cap. 27.

240. Gal. lib. 6. de loc. aff. c. 5.

241. Hipp. lib. 1. de morb. mul. Paulus lib. 3. c. 7. Fernel. lib. 6. pathol, c. 16, &c.

242. Vid. Sect. III. Chap. 28. 38. Sect. VIII. Chap. 2.

243. Goad’s Astrometeorologica, De Chales de Art. Navigandi.

244. Gassendus’s Philosoph.

245. Newton’s Princip. lib. 3.

246. Mead de Imper. Sol. & Lun. Cap. 1.

247. Bagl. de Experiment. circa Sanguin, Apul. de virtut. Herbar. c. 9. & 65. Helmont. de Asthm. & Tuff. Sect. 22. Floyer, de Asthma, pag. 17, &c.

248. Æneid. 1.

249. Ovid. Met. Lib. 1.

250. Hipp. com. 4. Acut. tex. 23. 24. 25. & 82. Galen. in Comm.

251. Lib. 12, Tom. 1.

252. Apol. Menab. de Alce C. 10. Senert. l. 4. P. 2. S. 3. C. 4.

253. Hipp. Aet. Paul, Avic, Gal. Herc. Sax. Rod. Cast. Senert. &c.

254. Lib. 6. Loc. Aff. cap. 5.

255. L. 1. de Gen. Animal. Cap 20.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.

2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.

3. Footnotes were re-indexed using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter.

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Table of Contents

THE FEMALE PHYSICIAN, Containing all the Diseases incident to that Sex, IN Virgins, Wives, and Widows; TOGETHER With their Causes and Symptoms, their Degrees of Danger, and respective Methods of Prevention and Cure: To which is added, The Whole ART of New improv’d Midwifery; COMPREHENDING The necessary Qualifications of a Midwife, and particular Directions for laying Women, in all Cases of Difficult and Preternatural Births; together with the Diet and Regimen of both the Mother and Child.

To all Learned and Judicious Professors of Physick, as well as Ingenuous and Experienced Practisers of Midwifery.

THE PREFACE TO THE READER.

THE CONTENTS.

SECT. I.

- CHAP. I. Of GOD.

- CHAP. II. Of NATURE.

- CHAP. III. Of MAN.

- CHAP. IV. Of the SOUL.

- CHAP. V. Of the Faculties of the SOUL.

- CHAP. VI. Of the Humane Body.

- CHAP. VII. Of the Formation of the EMBRYO.

- CHAP. VIII. Of the Animation of the FOETUS.

- CHAP. IX Of the MATURATION of the INFANT.

- CHAP. X. Of the NUTRITION and POSTURE of the INFANT.

- CHAP. XI. Of the Membranes and Waters.

- CHAP. XII. Of the SECUNDINE, or AFTER-BIRTH.

- CHAP. XIII. Of the UMBILICAL VESSELS, or NAVEL-STRING.

SECT. II.

- CHAP. I. Of the SYMPTOMS peculiar to the State of MAIDEN-HOOD.

- CHAP. II. Of VIRGINITY.

- CHAP. III. Of the Virgin-Disease, commonly called the GREEN-SICKNESS.

- CHAP. IV. Of LOVE.

- CHAP. V. Of COPULATION.

- CHAP. VI. Remarks upon COPULATION.

- CHAP. VII. Of the Power of the IMAGINATIVE FACULTY.

- CHAP. VIII. Of the SIMILITUDE of Children.

SECT. III.

- CHAP. I. Of CONCEPTION.

- CHAP. II. Of the Signs of CONCEPTION.

- CHAP. III. Of the DIET and REGIMEN of the Pregnant Woman.

- CHAP. IV. Of the SYMPTOMS of the first three Months.

- CHAP. V. Of VOMITING, or NAUSEATING.

- CHAP. VI. Of FASTIDY, or LOATHING.

- CHAP. VII. Of the PICA or LONGING.

- CHAP. VIII. Of CHOLICKS and GRIPES.

- CHAP. IX. Of a DIARRHEA, or LOOSENESS.

- CHAP. X. Of the TOOTH-ACH.

- CHAP. XI. Of the HEAD-ACH.

- CHAP. XII. Of the MEGRIM, or VERTIGO.

- CHAP. XIII. Of the SYMPTOMS of the middle Three Months.

- CHAP. XIV. Of COUGHS.

- CHAP. XV. Of HEART-BEATINGS and SWOONING-FITS.

- CHAP. XVI. Of WATCHINGS.

- CHAP. XVII. Of PAINS in the Hips, Loins, &c.

- CHAP. XVIII. Of HÆMORRHAGIES, or BLEEDINGS.

- CHAP. XIX. Of FLUXES of BLOOD.

- CHAP. XX. Of the SYMPTOMS of the last three Months.

- CHAP. XXI. Of DYSURIES, ISCHURIES, and STRANGURIES.

- CHAP. XXII. Of COSTIVENESS.

- CHAP. XXIII. Of TENESMS.

- CHAP. XXIV. Of the VARICES, or Vein-Tumours.

- CHAP. XXV. Of the INFLATIONS and TUMOURS of the LEGS.

- CHAP. XXVI. Of FISSURES or CHOPS of the BELLY.

- CHAP. XXVII. Of WATER-FLUXES.

- CHAP. XXVIII. Of Acute DISEASES incident to the CHILD-BEARING WOMAN.

- CHAP. XXIX. Of the DEBILITY and WEAKNESS of the Fœtus.

- CHAP. XXX. Of ABORTION.

- CHAP. XXXI. Of a LEGITIMATE BIRTH.

- CHAP. XXXII. Of an ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH.

- CHAP. XXXIII. Of a Seven-Months BIRTH.

- CHAP. XXXIV. Of an Eight-Months BIRTH.

- CHAP. XXXV. Of a Nine-Months BIRTH.

- CHAP. XXXVI. Of a Ten-Months BIRTH.

- CHAP. XXXVII. Of an Eleven-Months, and all posteriour BIRTHS.

- CHAP. XXXVIII. Of the Reasons why ONE Number of Months, Weeks, and Days, is more Auspicious to BIRTH, than ANOTHER.

- CHAP. XXXIX. Of the DIET and REGIMEN of the Woman, before and about the Time of BIRTH.

- CHAP. XL. Of the Natural Causes of BIRTH, and Pains of LABOUR.

- CHAP. XLI. Of the CAUSES of a sooner, or later BIRTH.

SECT. IV.

- CHAP. I. Of MIDWIFERY.

- CHAP. II. Of the Qualifications of the Ordinary MIDWIFE.

- CHAP. III. Of the THEORETICAL and PRACTICAL Knowledge of the MIDWIFE.

- CHAP. IV. Of the QUALIFICATIONS of the Extraordinary MIDWIFE.

- CHAP. V. Of the External Parts of GENERATION.

- CHAP. VI. Of the Internal Parts of GENERATION.

- CHAP. VII. Of the PELVIS.

- CHAP. VIII. Of the BONES of the PELVIS.

- CHAP. IX. Of the WOMB.

- CHAP. X. Of the Extensive Faculty of the WOMB.

- CHAP. XI. Of the Substantial Density of the WOMB.

- CHAP. XII. Of the various Local Motion of the WOMB.

- CHAP. XIII. Of the Oblique Situation of the WOMB.

- CHAP. XIV. Of TOUCHING or HANDLING the Woman.

- CHAP. XV. Of the various Uses and Advantages of the TOUCH.

- CHAP. XVI. Of the Genuine and Spurious LABOUR-PAINS.

- CHAP. XVII. Of the True Method of LAYING the Woman.

- CHAP. XVIII. Of the Method of Extracting the SECUNDINE,

SECT. V.

- CHAP. I. Of BIRTH.

- CHAP. II. Of Natural BIRTHS.

- CHAP. III. Of Natural Difficult BIRTHS.

- CHAP. IV. Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from External Causes.

- CHAP. V. Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the MOTHER.

- CHAP. VI. Of Difficult BIRTHS proceeding from Causes of the INFANT.

- CHAP. VII. Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the MEMBRANES.

- CHAP. VIII. Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from the Causes of the PELVIS.

- CHAP. IX. Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the Bones of the PELVIS.

- CHAP. X. Of Difficult BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the BLADDER and RECTUM.

- CHAP. XI. Of Difficult BIRTHS proceeding from the Causes of the VAGINA.

- CHAP. XII. Of Preternatural BIRTHS.

- CHAP. XIII. Of Præternatural BIRTHS, by the FACE’s being turn’d upwards; or bent forwards, and the CROWN backwards.

- CHAP. XIV. Of Præternatural BIRTHS, by the Hand, Elbow, Shoulder, Knees, or Buttocks presenting first.

- CHAP. XV. Of Preternatural BIRTHS, by the Breast, Belly, or Back, presenting first; and the INFANT’s lying transverse.

- CHAP. XVI. Of Preternatural BIRTHS, by the Feet presenting first.

- CHAP. XVII. Of Preternatural BIRTHS, by Two, or more INFANTS presenting themselves ill-Turn’d.

- CHAP. XVIII. Of Preternatural BIRTHS, proceeding from Causes of the WOMB.

- CHAP. XIX. Of Preternatural BIRTHS, from the WOMB’s inclining Forwards.

- CHAP. XX. Of Preternatural BIRTHS, from the WOMB’s inclining backwards.

- CHAP. XXI. Of Præternatural BIRTHS, from the WOMB’s inclining to either Side.

- CHAP. XXII. Of Præternatural BIRTHS, proceeding from the Median oblique Situations of the WOMB.

- CHAP. XXIII. Of Preternatural BIRTHS, proceeding from complicated Causes, of both the INFANT and the WOMB.

- CHAP. XXIV. Of Preternatural BIRTHS, proceeding from the NAVEL-STRING’s coming first, and that either alone, or with some other Member.

- CHAP. XXV. Of Preternatural BIRTHS, from the AFTER-BIRTH’s coming first into the PASSAGE.

- CHAP. XXVI. Of Preternatural BIRTHS, proceeding from the Death of the INFANT.

SECT. VI.

- CHAP. I. Of the DIET and REGIMEN of the Puerperial or Child-Bed-Woman.

- CHAP. II. Of the AFTER-PAINS.

- CHAP. III. Of the Suppression of the LOCHIA, or Child-Bed-Purgations.

- CHAP. IV. Of the immoderate Flux of the LOCHIA.

- CHAP. V. Of the Acute Distempers incident to CHILD-BED-WOMEN.

- CHAP. VI. Of the various other Accidents incident to the CHILD-BED-WOMAN.

- CHAP. VII. Of the Constriction of the NAVEL-STRING, and the Swaddling of the Infant.

- CHAP. VIII. Of the NURSE and her Regimen, together with the requisite Qualities of her MILK.

- CHAP. IX. Of the Diet and Ablactation, together with the farther Regimen of the CHILD.

- CHAP. X. Of the various Symptoms and Indispositions wherewith the Child may be Born.

- CHAP. XI. Of the Sundry Symptoms and Diseases, peculiarly incident to the Infant after its Birth.

- CHAP. XII. Of the Acute Diseases of Infants.

SECT. VII.

- CHAP. I. Of Præternatural Conceptions.

- CHAP. II. Of SUPERFÆTATIONS.

- CHAP. III. Of a Numerous Conception.

- CHAP. IV. Of False Conceptions.

- CHAP. V. Of Moles.

- CHAP. VI. Of Monsters.

- CHAP. VII. Of various deformed Conceptions.

- CHAP. VIII. Of Imaginary Conceptions.

- CHAP. IX. Of the Sterility or Barrenness of Women.

SECT. VIII.

- CHAP. I. Of the Symptoms incident to the State of WIDOW-HOOD.

- CHAP. II. Of the Hysterick Passion.

- CHAP. III. Of the Strangulation of the Womb.

- CONCLUSION.

Authors Names quoted in this Work, disposed Alphabetically.

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