amorous Adventure with _Isabella_, before he had thoroughly examin'd the
Secrets of Nature; and after a short Space, finding an Uneasiness in his
amorous Struggles, he put down his Hand to discover what it was, and
feeling something like the Testicles of a Man, he rose from her in the
greatest Confusion, and calling to his Servant for a Candle, in his
passion he pull'd out a sharp Pen-knife and cut off the external Members
of _Isabella_, highly resenting the Affront, and very much displeas'd
with himself, that he should embrace a Monster. _Isabella_ made a
hideous Outcry, which disturb'd the whole Neighbourhood, but the Count
sending for an experienc'd Surgeon, to prevent the Effusion of too great
a Quantity of Blood, it issuing out with great violence, kept her at his
House all Night, and sent her the next Morning in a Chair to her
Companion.
_Isabella_ was a considerable Time before she recover'd of this great
Wound, but at length growing well, and _Diana_ having very much suffer'd
by her extravagant Frolicks, they liv'd together as Man and Wife (being
now better qualified for it) a considerable Space, 'till on a Time they
had a very great Quarrel, which occasion'd a Separation; and _Diana_
reviving her former Diversions, met at last with the same Fate as
_Isabella_, her masculine Instrument being likewise sever'd from her
Privities, after which, both of them liv'd to be harmless old Women.
These Intrigues being very remarkable, I thought fit to insert them for
the Entertainment of the curious Reader; I now proceed to the Nature and
Generation of Hermaphrodites.
* * * * *
_Of the material Cause and Generation of_ Hermaphrodites
There are several Reasons assign'd by Naturalists for the Cause and
Production of Hermaphrodites. Some are of Opinion that Hermaphrodites
are form'd whilst the Terms are upon Women, which being always impure,
they can produce nothing but Monsters; but to this it may be answer'd,
that when Children are conceived during the Sowing of the Terms, there
is a greater probability of their being born with the Itch, or other
scorbutick Distempers, than of their being Hermaphrodites.
Others believe, that the Man and the Woman having equally contributed
to Generation, the forming Power which endeavours to render the Matter
whereon it works like unto those it came from, imprints the Characters
of Man and Woman upon it: And that some have been able to engender in a
double Capacity, as to have a Child with one Breast resembling that of a
Woman, and the other that of a Man; but this Opinion is very fabulous,
for the uniting Faculty, which is the Effect of the Soul, is not capable
of making such very great Differences; and Generation being
accomplish'd, thro' the Fermentation of the Seed only, it cannot
separate their Actions after they are mix'd.
Some Naturalists tell us, that where Nature design'd Seed in the Womb
for a Male only, (as working up for the best, and aiming at the highest
Perfection of its Workmanship) too much Cold and Moisture accidentally
falling into the Work, before it is perfected in the Womb, at the same
time there being too great a quantity of Seed and menstrous Blood, what
was intended for Man in part degenerates, and renders the Infant of a
double Sex or Nature, placing it in the middle of both Sexes, as seeming
to participate of Male and Female.
Others say. That Nature having always a particular care of the
Propagation of Mankind, endeavours for the most part to produce Females:
And thus we may observe, the Number of Men Hermaphrodites to exceed the
Women ones, Nature having chalk'd out to the first the Lines of a
Woman's privy Parts. To this Opinion it is objected, that Nature being
nothing but the Power of God in the production of Creatures, it never
works but according to his Orders upon the Matter that is given the
Female; and of consequence Hermaphrodites depend more upon the
Disposition of the Matter for Generation, than upon any previous Design
of Nature.
Some are of Opinion, that God having created Man and Woman, we have
essentially within us a Faculty to become either the one Sex or the
other; for which Reason it is no wonder if an Hermaphrodite is sometimes
produc'd, since we are potentially so. This Notion is drawn from
_Plato_; and though some part of the Scripture may at first seem to
favour it, yet, strictly consider'd, one may find a quite different
Sense; and this Opinion was condemn'd by Pope _Innocent_ III.
The Ancients were of Opinion, that there is a certain Cell in the Womb
of some Women, into which the Seed falling, when _Mercury_ and _Venus_,
or _Mercury_ and _Luna_ are in Conjunction, an Hermaphrodite is
engender'd; or that the Conjunction of _Mars_ and _Venus_ disposes the
Matter that serves for the forming of the Child so confusedly in the
Mother's Womb, that it becomes the Cause of the Birth of an
Hermaphrodite. In answer to this, those Planets are too remote from us
to be the proximate Causes, and to have an absolute Influence on the
Body of the Child that is forming in its Mother's Womb; and admitting
such a Conjunction might cause a Deformity, it would not appear however
in two Hermaphrodites born at different Seasons: But in _Turkey_, and
other Eastern Countries, where these Planets have the greatest
Influence, Hermaphrodites are more numerous than in the Western Parts of
the World, and they are oblig'd to go in different Habits from other
People (_viz_. with Cloaths partly belonging to Men and partly Women) to
prevent their lying with any; and if they go without these Habits they
are punish'd severely.
These are the various Opinions of curious Naturalists; but to proceed to
other Particulars which are more probable, we must more nicely examine
the Nature of the Seed to find out the cause of the Confusion of Sexes.
The Seed is for the most part indifferent as to the two Sexes, and if it
happens to meet with a Ball or Egg in the Horns of the Womb that is full
of Spirits, and includes a hot, dry, and close Matter, it will
impregnate so as to produce a Boy; but if the Seed meets with a Ball or
Egg, not hot nor dry or fill'd with Spirits, tho' it will animate it,
yet 'tis with less strength, so as a Girl will be produc'd. And if the
Matter contain'd in another Ball, is exactly temper'd in its Quantities,
and equal in its parts, so as there is no Predominancy, the Seed of the
Man by its superior Power will determine this matter for a Boy or a
Girl: But if a Man's Seed dispos'd to determine the temperate Seed of a
Woman to one of the two Sexes has not a sufficient quantity of Spirits
to effect it, and the Seed of the Woman prevails for the contrary Sex,
then an Hermaphrodite is form'd, who has relation to one and the other
according to the different Endeavours of the animated Seed of the Man or
Woman.
The Intelligence whose Business it is to compose the little Body of
Hermaphrodites, is very much disturb'd to meet with a Matter that is
intractable for the regular forming of the Genital Parts. On one side
the Matter is moist and loose, on the other close and dry; here 'tis hot
and there 'tis cold. This Matter is so different and consists of such
rebellious Particles, that 'tis impossible to manage it, and the
quantity of Matter is so small that it is destitute of Heat, without
which the Intelligence cannot perfectly form all parts of the Body. If
the Matter turns to a Male, he will be too dull and too cold to
Engender, and will be imperfect in his privy Parts; if it proves a
Female, she will in time be of too hot and dry a Nature, and will be
Deficient of Organs for the Seed and menstruous Blood, in order to Form
and Nourish a Child.
This Intelligence, or the immortal Soul that works from the Beginning,
in all probability about the thirty fifth Day begins to be employ'd in
making the privy Parts of a Boy, for which purpose it lays hold on the
Matter at first Elected for that end, and which it put in the first
place, where the privy Parts ought to be. This being done, it works
continually, but wanting Matter to perfect the privy Parts, it borrows
of the Neighbouring Parts, chusing rather to render others Disfigur'd,
than to be wanting in the compleat Forming of the Parts that must serve
for Generation.
But when there is not Matter enough to Form the genital Parts of a Boy,
the oeconomy of the Intelligence Husbands it and places and disposes
all things so well for the perfect forming of the Parts that 'tis not to
be express'd, but the situation is inward, as wanting Heat and Strength
of Matter to push them out, after this the Intelligence proceeds in the
Forming of the privy Parts of those Hermaphrodites who are counted
Girls, but are really Boys. These seem to Change Sexes, and in time come
to be Men, and Marry, and get Children. The natural and genital Heat
increasing daily, pushes out the privy Parts about the Age of fifteen,
twenty, or twenty five, 'till which time they lie hidden. These must be
at full Age before they are able to Caress a Woman; and where after the
coming out or the privy Parts they Copulate, it will be a hard matter
for them to Engender, being in their Nature Cold.
As the Intelligence wants Matter for the Forming of the privy Parts of
the three first sorts of Hermaphrodites, so there is more than there is
occasion for in the fourth. About the forty fifth Day, the Intelligence
being at a loss how to place the Matter it has receiv'd for the Amorous
Parts, determines at last to make the _Clotoris_ bigger and longer than
ordinary, and to leave to the inward genital Parts of a Girl a natural
Figure, that they may one Day serve for Generation. These sorts of
Hermaphrodites as I have already observ'd, have frequently pass'd for
Men, being in reality nothing but Women.
But in short, the Intelligence must accomplish its Work, of what Matter
soever it be; it begins to work, and will without doubt make Parts in
some measure determin'd to either Sex, provided the matter be not so
unequal, and of such a different Complexion as to make it impossible to
effect it, when it Forms an Hermaphrodite, and sometimes a Monster that
is neither Man nor Woman, as having no privy Parts, either of the one or
the other.
* * * * *
_Of unnatural Births; Monsters, and extraordinary Conceptions._
Hermaphrodites being Monsters in Nature, it is no more than what may be
reasonably expected that my Account of their Generation, should be
follow'd with some very extraordinary unnatural Births, monstrous
Productions of another Kind, and wonderful Conceptions.
The Heathen Philosophers, were so prejudic'd to the Opinion of Woman's
being an imperfect Animal, (alledging that Nature always propos'd to
herself the Generation of Males as being the most accomplish'd piece of
Workmanship;) that they look'd upon Woman as a Monster in Nature; but
the Scriptures teach us, that Man and Woman are equally perfect in their
Kind, and Nature cannot be suppos'd to produce more Monsters than
perfect Beings, which must be the Case, if this Opinion were allow'd,
Women being more numerous than the Men.
Monsters are deprav'd Conceptions, defin'd by the Ancients to be
excursions of Nature, and are always Vicious, either in Figure,
Situation, Magnitude, or Number. When they bear the resemblance of a
Beast, they are said to be vicious in Figure; when the Parts are
disproportion'd, as that one Part is too big for the other; (which is a
thing very common by reason of some Excrescence) they are vicious in
Magnitude; if the Ears were on the Face, or the Eyes on the Breast, &c.
as was seen in a Monster born at _Revanna_ in _Italy_, in the Year 1570,
They are vicious in Situation, and when having two Heads or four Hands,
and two Bodies join'd, as had a Monster born at _Zarzara_ in the Year
1540, they are vicious in Number.
In the Reign of _Henry_ the 3d, there was a Woman deliver'd of a Child,
having two Heads, four Arms, and two Bodies which were join'd down to
the Navel. The Heads were so plac'd that they look'd contrary ways. It
was the Female Sex, and both Heads would speak, laugh and cry; and both
Eat and be Hungry together, but there was but one Fundament to disburden
Nature; sometimes one would Speak, and the other would keep silence, and
sometimes both speak at the same time. It liv'd several Years, but one
of them surviving the other, it carried the Dead one so long, that at
last it fainted with the Burden. And at a Village call'd _Ubaten_ in
_Flanders_, a Child was Born which had two Heads and four Arms,
appearing like two Maids joyn'd together, having two Arms lifted up
between and above the Heads, the Thighs being plac'd as it were cross
one another.
In the Year 1579, A Monster was Born in _France_, cover'd all over with
Hair like a Beast, its Navel being in the place where his Nose should
have been, his Eyes plac'd in the Situation of the Mouth; and its Mouth
was in the Chin. It was of the Male-kind, and liv'd but a few Days,
affrighting all that beheld it. And near _Elselling_ in _Germany_, in
the Year 1529, there was a Boy Born with one Head and one Body, having
four Ears, four Arms, and four Feet, and but two Thighs, and two Legs:
This Birth, in the Opinion of the Learned, proceeded from a Redundancy
of Seed beyond what was sufficient for one Child, but not enough for
Twins, wherefore Nature Form'd what she could. There might be many other
particular Instances given of Monstrous Births, as some sticking
together by the Bellies, others by the Breech; some Born without Arms or
Legs others without Heads, yet have they liv'd for some time, till want
of Sustenance made them pine away and Die, as having no place to receive
it, and others with Heads like Dogs, Wolves, Bears, and other Beasts.
But I shall proceed to the cause of their Generation.
The Natural Cause of Generation of Monsters, according to the Ancients,
is either in the Matter, or in the Agent; in the Seed or in the Womb:
The Matter may be unable to perform its Office two ways; by Defect, or
by Excess: By Defect, when a Child hath but one Arm, or one Leg, &c.
and by Excess, when it hath three Hands or two Heads. The Agent or Womb
may be in Fault several ways, as in the forming Faculty, which may be
too strong or too weak, by which a deprav'd Figure is oftentimes
produc'd, the ill Conformation of the place of Conception will cause a
Monstrous Birth; and the imaginative Power at the time of Conception, is
so forcible, that it stamps a Character of the thing upon the Child; so
that the Child of an Adulteress, by the strength of Imagination may have
a nearer resemblance of her Husband, than of the Person who begat it.
And some Histories mention, that through this Imaginative Faculty, a
Woman at the time of Conception, beholding the Picture of a Blackamoor,
produc'd a Child resembling an Æthiopian.
Monsters are sometimes Engender'd by unseasonable amorous Embraces, as
when a Man enters on the Pleasures of Venus at a time as the monthly
Flowings are upon his Wife; For this being against Nature, it is no
wonder that it should produce an unnatural Offspring. If therefore a
Man's desire be never so great for Copulation at such a time, yet the
Woman ought not to admit of his Embraces; the issue of those unclean
Embraces proving often Monstrous, or dull and heavy, and Defective in
their Understandings.
Sometimes by a corruption of Seed, Monstrous Shapes are form'd, which by
some is ascrib'd to the bad Influence of the Planets, that were
predominant at the time of Conception; and sometimes the straightness of
the Womb is attended with many Inconveniencies, for Nature not having
sufficient room to frame her Work in, the Child is rumpled up, which
occasions some to have hump'd Backs, crooked Arms, and Legs, round
Shoulders, Wry Necks, and the like.
The divine Cause of these Monstrous Generations, proceeds from the
permissive Will of our Great Creator, who many times suffers Parents to
bring forth such Deform'd Creatures as a Punishment for their Lust: And
some Authors are of Opinion, that outward deformity of Body is generally
a Sign of the Pollution of the Heart, as a Curse upon the Child for the
Incontinency of the Parents.
In the Writings of some Authors mention is made of Monsters engender'd
by infernal Spirits; and as the Scriptures give us to understand that
the Angels being taken with the Beauty of the Daughters of Men, went in
unto them, and that from such a Conjunction, Giants were Born, so we may
infer that if Angels can mix Amorously with Women, and engender
Children, the Devils who only differ from Angels by their Fall, may also
draw Women into immodest Pleasures, and Defile them with their Embraces:
But it is highly inconsistent to suppose that our Creator who is all
Purity, would permit the worst of Spirits to propogate his diabolical
Offspring.
Devils assuming to themselves Human Shapes, in the opinion of Ancient
Writers, may abuse both Men and Women, and with wicked People use carnal
Copulation. St. _Austin_ yields to this Notion, and that Generation may
thereby be effected; but his Opinion was grounded more upon the
depositions of Melancholly superstitious Persons, than from any
demonstrable Proofs; and 'tis impossible that such an unnatural
Conjunction can produce a humane Creature, though some will have it that
it may, and that his Malice shall be a Sign of his Extraction.
The _Rabbins_ beleived that the _Silvani_, _Pans_ and _Fauni_, call'd
_Incubus's_ and the _Tutelar_ Gods, were Creatures left imperfect the
first _Friday_ Evening, and not finish'd by God, as being prevented by
the ensuing Sabbath; for this reason they alledg'd, these Spirits love
Mountains and dark Places only, and never appear but in the Night time:
And the _Incubus's_ not only Court and desire to Caress Women, but have
actually Caress'd them.
_Hierenimus Cardanus_ writes of a Maid which was got with Child by a
Devil, she thinking it had been a fair young Man who had Enjoy'd her;
and some Witches fancy they have been at the Sabbath, and Caress'd by
the Devil, whose Privy Parts were full of Bristles, Scaly, and the Seed
cold as Ice; but this has proceeded only from a distracted Brain:
Besides we learn from Scripture that Devils being pure Spirits, are
quite different Substances from those of Men. That they have neither
Flesh nor Blood, nor Privities, and consequently no Seed for Generation.
That though they sometimes assume Bodies, these Bodies are only form'd
of Air, and do not Live, neither can they exercise the Operations of
Life: That having no occasion to hope for Posterity, as being Eternal
and Unhappy, they cannot be suppos'd to be desirous of perpetuating
their Species or to take pleasure in the Embraces of Women.
The Stories of Women having Commerce with Devils, are very Fabulous, and
proceed chiefly from Dreams and Nocturnal Illusions; a Lecherous and
Melancholly Woman seiz'd with the Night Mare, may verily beleive that
the Devil Caresses her; especially if her Fancy is taken up with Tales
of Witches. _Leo Africanus_ tells us, That what is attributed to
Devils, is committed by Lascivious Men, and Lecherous Women, who
perswade others, that they are Caress'd by Devils. The Witches of the
Kingdom of _Fez_, according to History, are very desirous that People
should beleive them to be familiar with Devils, and for that Reason
endeavour to tell surprizing Stories to those that consult them; they do
not require any Fees from handsome Women that come to see them, but only
intimate the Desire their Master has to Caress them for a Night. The
Husbands take these Impostures for Truth, and surrender their Wives to
the Gods and the Winds. Night being come, the brawny Sorcerer (who
Employs the Persons abovemention'd, to ensnare fine Women to his
Caresses) Embraces the fair one closely, and Enjoys her instead of the
Devil. If this Ignorance and Superstition prevail'd in this Kingdom, I
doubt not but it would very much Pleasure the frolicking Libertines.
* * * * *
_Extraordinary Conceptions_.
Before I begin to trace any Particulars of extraordinary Conceptions, I
shall insert a surprizing Account of a Woman that went Twenty five Years
with Child, from the Writings of Monsieur _Baile_, which contains a
great deal of Variety relating to untimely Generations.
_Margaret Matthieu_ a _Cloth-worker_'s Wife at _Tholouse_ in _France_,
in the Year 1653, and towards the Ninth Month of her Reckoning, had the
Pains of Woman's Labour upon her at Church; and some part of the Waters
being already voided, she acquainted the People about her, that she
fear'd she should be Deliver'd in the Church. Immediately she was
carried to a Neighbouring House, and her Pains abating upon the Relief
she there met with, she was afterwards convey'd Home, where her Pains
return'd with more Violence than before. Upon this, Doctor _Cartier_,
and Doctor _Mulatier_ two famous Physicians, and Mr. _Cortade_ a very
skilful Surgeon were sent for, and endeavour'd, tho' in vain, to give
her Relief. She continued for two Months under the torture of these
violent Pains, and voided Clots of Blood without Fibres or any carnous
Matter. Afterwards she voided a white Humour, that was sometimes
tinctur'd with Blood; and her Breasts were fill'd with an extraordinary
quantity of Milk. About the Fifth Month the Flux of the Blood ceas'd,
and she recover'd her Strength by Degrees, being still incommoded with a
troublesome Load in Her Belly, and never easy but when she lay upon her
Reins.
From the Year 1653 till the Year 1678, she suffer'd now and then as
violent Pains as those of Child-birth. When they attack'd her most
severely, she entreated the Surgeon to rip up her Belly, and so put an
end to her Misery. She was troubled with frequent Swoonings, and
unaccountable Longings for certain sorts of Aliment. Some of the Women
about her affirm'd, that they saw the Child move several times; but the
Surgeon and the Apothecary, who observ'd her very narrowly, and were
frequently call'd, could never perceive any other Motion than that which
attended the Mother's turning from one side to the other; for then the
Lump fell to the side upon which she lay.
During this space of time, which was Twenty five Years and some Months,
this Woman had several fits of Sickness, and at last died of a
continual Fever, in _January_ 1678, being in the Sixty second Year of
her Age.
The next Day after she was Dead, Mr. _Cortade_, open'd her Corps, in the
presence of Monsieurs _Gaillart_, _Baile_, _Laborde_ and _Grangeron_ all
famous Physicians; and of Mr. _Labat_ and _Corboneau_, two noted
Anatomists. Having cut up the Muscles, and the _Peritonæum_, they found
the Cawl schirous, and somewhat carnous, and about two Fingers breadth
thick. 'Twas stretched over the Mass they sought for and adher'd to it.
When they lifted it up, they turn'd over the whole Heap, towards the
Breast of the Deceas'd Person, and then they had some Apprehension that
the shapeless Mass was a Child: At first View they doubted it, because
'twas found out of the Womb, but their Doubts were quickly dispell'd,
when they put a Knife into it and felt the Bones, and saw Nails and
Toes upon one of the Feet, that they separated from the Mass.
Before they meddled further with the Mass, they had a mind to see what
Condition the parts of the _Abdomen_ were in, and particularly the Womb,
upon which they found a Body, which being hard like a Stone, enclos'd a
great Ulcer that spread its self over the Bottom of the Womb. Upon the
Womb side it had a Cavity full of white and thick _Pus_, without any
noisome Smell. On the Opposite Side 'twas hollow, and resembled the
convex Side of an Oister. The rest of the Womb was in its Natural State,
and they met with no considerable Accident in the Neighbouring parts.
They cut out the Mass, and carried it to the Surgeon's House, to be
view'd at their leisure. The whole Mass was encompass'd with a callous
Matter, under which they found all the Parts of a Child harden'd and
half putrified; and these weigh'd Eight Pound. They cut up all the
_Viscera_ in the three Cavities, the particulars whereof may be read in
Mr. _Baile_'s Book of Anatomy. This is the Account given by Mr. _Baile_.
I come now to extraordinary Conceptions.