OF CONCEPTION, AND HOW A WOMAN MAY KNOW WHETHER SHE HAS CONCEIVED OR
NOT, AND WHETHER MALE OR FEMALE.
The natural instinct that nature has implanted in men and women to
propagate their own species, puts them upon making use of those ways
that nature has ordained for that end, which, afterwards, the woman many
times, through ignorance of having conceived, is little better than a
murderer of her child: for, after conception, finding herself not well,
and not knowing what is the matter with her, goes to a doctor; and he,
not thinking of her being enceinte, gives cathartical potions, which
destroy conception. And some, out of a foolish coyness, though they know
they have conceived, will not confess it, that they might be instructed
how to order themselves.
_Signs._—If under the eye the vein be swelled, the veins in the eyes
appearing clearly, and the eyes sometimes discoloured, if the woman has
not the terms upon her, nor watched the night before, you may certainly
conclude her to be with child; the first two months I never knew this
sign to fail.
Keep the urine of the woman close in a glass three days, and then strain
it through a fine linen cloth; if you find small living creatures in it
she hath conceived.
A coldness and chillness of the outward parts, the heat being retired to
make conception. The veins of the breast are more clearly seen than
usual. The body is weakened, and the face discoloured. The belly waxeth
very flat, because the womb closeth itself together to nourish and
cherish the seed. If cold water be drank, a coldness is left in the
breasts. Loss of appetite to victuals, sour belchings, and exceeding
weakness of the stomach. The breasts swell and wax hard, not without
pain and soreness. Griping pains, like the cramp, in the belly about the
navel. Divers appetites and longings. The veins of the eyes are clearly
seen, and the eyes discoloured. The excrements of the guts are voided
painfully, because the womb swelling thrusteth the guts together. Take a
handsome green nettle, put it into the urine of the woman; cover it
close, and let it remain a whole night; if the woman be with child, it
will be full of red spots on the morrow; if she be not, it will be
blackish.
_Signs of a Male Child._—The woman breeds a boy easier and with less
pain than a girl, and is more nimble. The child is first felt by her on
the right side; for male children lie on the right side of the womb. The
woman, when she riseth up from a chair doth sooner stay herself upon her
right hand than her left. The belly lies rounder and higher than when it
is a female. The right breast is more hard and plump than the left, and
the right nipple redder. The colour of a woman is not so swarthy as when
she conceives a girl. The contrary to these are signs of the conception
of a female.
If the circle under the eye is of a wan blue colour, be more apparent
and most discoloured, she is enceinte of a boy; if the marks be most
apparent in her left eye, of a girl.
Again, let a drop of her milk fall into a basin of fair water; if it
sinks to the bottom, as it drops in, round in a drop, it is a girl; but
if it be a boy, it will spread and swim on the top.