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.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
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.