SECT. III. (continued 2)

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, 130by 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.

131FINALLY, 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]; 132it 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.

133HOWEVER 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.

134AND, 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 135they 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 136Latter 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, 137determines 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 138principal 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 139self 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 140likewise (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.

141BE 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.

142MOREOVER, 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 143heard 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 144figures 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 145positively 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 146Parts 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) 147who 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) 148to 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 149whose 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 150Days 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.

151II. 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.

152FOR 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.

153THESE 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 154To-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.

155THESE 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.

156MOREOVER 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 157will 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 158the 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 159the 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 160and 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

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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 162Woman; 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

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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 164BIRTH, 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 165Virtue 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.

166IN fine, I shall attempt now to perform This Undertaking in the plainest and most succinct Terms following.

167