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
[Illustration]
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_.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration]
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——
[Illustration]
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——
[Illustration]
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_.