Mikrokosmographia a description of the body of man. Together vvith the controuersies thereto belonging. Collected and translated out of all the best authors of anatomy, especially out of Gasper Bauhinus and Andreas Laurentius. By Helkiah Crooke Doctor of Physicke, physitian to His Maiestie, and his Highnesse professor in anatomy and chyrurgerie. Published by the Kings Maiesties especiall direction and warrant according to the first integrity, as it was originally written by the author.

QVEST. XXXI. What are the vniuersall and particular Causes of the Birth.

DEmocritus a great Philosopher of his time, complaineth that the truth is drow∣ned in a deepe well. The Pyrronij or Scepticke Philosophers thinke that all * 1.1 things are vncertaine and that nothing can be determinately knowne. Aristo∣tle the Father of the Schoole of Philosophers saith, that the certaine and Na∣turall causes of all things naturall are onely knowne to Philosophers; which before Philosophy it selfe was borne our admired maister Hippocrates, in his Booke de Aere aquis, & locis hath thus expressed, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Nothing in Nature is done vvithout * 1.2 Nature, that is, without a naturall cause. These causes if any man with Heraclitus shal deny, he shall not onely entangle himselfe in a thousand Labyrinths of absurdities, but also for feite * 1.3 all knowledge and assured demonstration; for to know, saith the Philosopher, is to vn∣derstand the Causes of things; Seeing therefore the birth is a naturall action, and that the times therof are very different, it shal not be amisse a little in this place to enlarge our selues in the disquisition of the causes thereof.

The Causes therefore of the birth are some of them vniuersall, others particular. The vniuersall causes are common not onely to man but also to al creatures; and some of then * 1.4 are on the part of the birth; others on the part of the Matrix or woombe; because the byrth proceedeth from an equall contention of the birth, and the bearer. The Cause on the part of the birth Hippocrates in his Booke de Natura pueri, elegantly expresseth to be the defect of both sorts of aliment: Spirituous and Solid on this manner; When the Infant becommeth larger and stronger, the Mother cannot supply it with fit and sufficient Aliment, which while it seeketh with often kicking it breaketh the Membranes, and being vnloosed from those bandes ys∣sueth foorth. * 1.5

The Mola or Moone calfe may be carried in the womb many yeares, because it is nei∣ther

nourished nor doth transpire; wherefore desiring neither Aliment nor ayre, it is stil re∣tayned. * 1.6 There are ingendred oftentimes in the wombes of women, Monsters and Crea∣tures of diuers kindes, as Serpents and Mould-warps which because they haue little bloud haue also little heate and being contented with transpiration alone doe lurke many yeares in the corners of the wombe, neither would euer issue of their owne accorde vnlesse they were driuen forth either by the contention of the wombe or by the helpe of the Physitian. The want therefore of nourishment is the first cause of the birth.

There is also another vniuersall cause on the part of the wombe: for the wombe ha∣uing * 1.7 a determinate quantity & magnitude beyond which it cannot be extended, when once vpon the increase of the Infant it is come to that extent, it laboureth to lay downe the bur∣then wherby it is oppressed: and according hereto Hippocrates saith in his first book de mor∣bis mulierum that abortments do happen when the wombe is too little, that is, when the In∣fant is so encreased that it can be no longer contayned in the wombe. The wombe saith hee hath peculiar dispositions bred with it which cause abortment, and among those dispositions he accounteth the narrownesse thereof: wherefore the Infant seeking nourishment and the wombe not admitting further distention, do make the birth.

The particular causes doe belong onely to the birth of a man, because man onely a∣mong all creatures hath the times and spaces of gestation and birth very diuerse and diffe∣rent, * 1.8 of which differences the causes also are as different. First it is manifest that all bruite beastes are at certaine times prouoked to Generation: as therefore the times of their coiti∣on are certaine: so also are the times wherein they bring foorth; mankinde because at all times and seasons hee is fitte for Generation, doeth at all seasons also bring foorth his bur∣then.

Now the limits of gestation and birth of the Infant are manifold and diuers; not on the part of the vniuersall agent, that is of Nature; for the power of Nature is the same in man and in beast; the motion one and one established Law: but the variety comes from the di∣uersity * 1.9 of matter, which in a man vndergoeth manifould alterations more then in a beast: for bruite beastes vse alwayes the same simple dyet, a man doth not onely vary in the mat∣ter but in the times of his repast. The other creatures after they haue conceiued will no * 1.10 more admit the Male, which is not so with a woman, whence comes no small alteration in * 1.11 the body of the Infant. The other creatures are not transported with passions, which how hurtfull they are vnto men euery man hath too much experience in himselfe and Plato in * 1.12 Charmide elegantly recorded, writing That all the mischiefes that happen to mens bodies proceed from the affections of the minde.

Some there are who referre the causes of the variety of the birth to the different Na∣ture of the seede, some ripening sooner some later. To these we will adde the singular pro∣uidence * 1.13 of Nature for the conseruation of mankinde, which is the Final cause: For being more carefull of man (whome Pliny calleth Natures darling) then of bruite beastes, shee * 1.14 hath granted vnto him more times and limits both of gestation and birth. The times of of birth are the 7. 8. 9. 10. and eleuenth monethes: but why the seuenth and ninth moneths are vital, that is, why children suruiue who are borne in those moneths and not in the eight * 1.15 this indeed is hard to be knowne.

The Pythogorians, Geomitricians, Astrologians, and Phisitians are of diuerse minds concer∣ning this matter, and because it is an elegant controuersie and full of variety wee will take liberty in this place to discusse them all.

The Pythagorians and Arethmeticians referre all thinges to number; for they make and ordaine a threefould order in things; of formes, figures and numbers, among which, numbers are the chiefe: for in the whole Scripture wee reade that all things are disposed in number, waigth and measure.

Of Numbers some are equall some are vnequall; the equal numbers they call foeminine, * 1.16 the vnequall masculine; the first imperfect, diuisible and vnfruitfull; the latter perfect, fruit∣full and indiuisible; and therefore say they these numbers haue the nature of a principle; for the equall number is generated of two vnequals; but an equall neuer generateth an vne∣quall. Furthermore among the vnequall numbers the seauenth hath the first place, whose maiesty and diuinitie is so great, that the antients tearmed it sacred and venerable. The Ma∣gi * 1.17 of the Indians and the wise Priests of the Egyptians called the seuenth, the number of the greater and the lesser world.

Phylo the Iew in his Booke de mandi opificio attributeth this prerogatiue to the seuenth

that it alone can neither generate nor bee generated: of other numbers which are within tenne, some doe generate but are not generated as the number of one or the vnity; some are begoten but doe not beget as the number of eight; some both beget and are begotten as the number of foure: only seuen neither begetteth nor is begotten, and hence commeth the perfection and dignity thereof; for whatsoeuer neither begetteth nor is begotten that remayneth vnmouable. Againe, the Pythagorians call the septenary number the tye or knotte of mans life, which Tully in Scipio his dreame acknowledgeth, where he sayth, That seauen is the knot of all things. * 1.18

There is also in this number most harmony, as being the fountain of a pleasant Diagram∣ma, because it contayneth all the harmonies, Diatesseron, Diapente, Diapason; as also all pro∣portions Arithmeticall, Geometricall and Musicall.

The Diuines call it the number of Perfection, because all things were perfected the se∣uenth * 1.19 day. The number of Rest, because the seauenth day God rested from all his workes. The number of Sanctification, because it was commaunded to bee sanctified or kept holy. Finally, the number of Reuenge, of Repentance and of Beatitude: whence it was that the Po∣et sayde, ô terque, quaterque beati, O thrice and foure times happy.

Phylo Iudaeus and Linus an old Poet haue written many things in the commendation of this number of seauen. To omit that which some haue obserued, that there are seauen wonders of the world, seauen wise men among the auntients, seauen greater and lesser Tri∣ones in heauen, seauen circles wherewith the heauens is ingirt, seauen wandring starres, se∣uen starres in the Beare, seauen starres of the Pleiades, seauen changes of the voyce, seauen physicall and naturall motions, seuen vowels among the Greekes, seauen ages; that the sea∣uenth age shall be a golden age, seauen mouthes of Nilus, seauen mettalles, seauen liberall Arts, seauen windowes in the head, seauen causes of all humaine actions, seauen Citties that stroue for Homer, that the seauenth Sonne is able to cure the Kings Euill, and a seuenth Daughter if she be present quickeneth a womans trauell, the hearbe Tormentill which hath seauen leaues resisteth all poysons. All these things I say we wittingly and willingly passe ouer, for it must bee confessed that vnder the name of numbers there are many friuolous and superstitious toyes thrust vppon the world: I come to Philosophicall and Physicall de∣monstrations.

It is to bee marked that the Physitians and Philosophers haue obserued how our life is dispensed by seauens.

Hippocrates in his Booke de principiis, sayeth that the age of Man consisteth of the septe∣narie * 1.20 number of dayes: For many of them who in seauen dayes space doe neuer eate nor drinke, doe dye one of those dayes, aswell because the Gut called Ieiunum is contracted, as also because the stomack in so long cessation of his office becommeth forgetfull afterward to do his duty.

The Seede of the man which within seauen houres after eiaculation returneth not backe, wee may bouldly pronounce is Conceiued: so the seauenth day after Conception, the first rudiments of all the spermaticall partes doe appeare, and the Geniture sayth Hippo∣crates hath the seuenth day whatsoeuer the body ought to haue.

The seauenth-moneth birthes are vitall not the eight, and the seauenth day after the birth the Infant casts the remaynder of his Nauell: after twice seauen dayes hee beginnes to mooue his eyes towardes the light, after seauen times seauen hee is able to mooue his head and eyes euery way. The seauenth moneth hee beginnes to breede his teeth, after twice seauen hee is able to sit without feare of falling, after thrice seauen hee beginnes to speake, after foure times seauen to goe, and after fiue times seauen to leaue sucking.

The seauenth yeare hee changeth his teeth, their third Generation beeing then made of most solide Aliments as Hippocrates writeth in his Booke de principiis; at that time also his speech growes perfect, whence the Grecians doe make seauen vowelles. After twice seauen yeares the signes of youth beginne to breake out, in maydens the courses flowe, breastes swell, and they are fitte for husbands. In men the voyce changeth, and they grow petulant by reason of the vigour of their naturall heate. After thrice seauen yeares they grow towards their strength which remayneth constant the fourth, fift and the sixt seuens, and that age is called virilis and constans aetas, that is, Man-hood. The seauenth septenarie is called Quadratus, because then a man is euery way accomplished both in bodye and in mind.

The ninth is esteemed Clymactericall and very dangerous, for it hath beene alwayes ob∣serued (as Aulus Gellius noteth) that this time of a mans life is for the most part accompa∣nied with some notable danger of the life, or greefe of the mind. And therefore we read in the same Author, that Augustus Caesar congratulateth his Nephewe Caius concerning this * 1.21 Climactericall yeare on this manner. All hayle my pleasant Nephew Caius, whom beleeue me, I do alwayes desire when thou art absent from me, but especially at such times as these my eyes do e∣uen faile with looking for my Caius, yet wheresoeuer thou art this day I hope that with good health and good cheare thou doest celebrate this my 64. birth-day. For as thou seest wee haue ouercome the 63. yeare, the common Clymacterical and dangerous yeare for old men.

The tenth Septenary which fulfilleth the seauentith yeare, is esteemed to be the limit of life, and so the Kingly Prophet singeth in the Psalme, The dayes of a man are seauenty yeares, * 1.22 beyond which all is labor and sorrow. Wherefore all Septinary dayes and moneths and yeares are especially to bee considered, because in them there happen notable mutations.

Hence it is that Ficinus the Platonist giueth him Counsell that desireth to prolong his life, euery seuenth yeare to take counsell of an Astrologian and a Physitian. Of the Astro∣logian, that he may vnderstand what dangers and where do hang ouer his head; and of a Physitian, that by a prescript rule of dyet he may auoide the threatnings of the Starres and their maleficall influence.

Aristotle in his seauenth Booke De Historia Animalium doth also acknowledge this pre∣rogatiue of the number of seauen, because in euery Septinary the greatest changes do vse to happen. Galen deliuering the precepts of health, maketh the distinction of Ages accor∣ding to seauens. It is not therefore without good warrant, that the Pythagorians call the sep∣tinary * 1.23 number the beginning or principle of all things. Tully the tye or knot of all thinges; and Physitians warranted by certaine experience, the King or prince of the Decretorie or Criticall dayes. Wherefore the Pythagorians and Arithmetitians do therefore conclude, that the seauen-month birth is vitall because it consisteth of an vnequall and most perfect number.

And this Hippocrates in his Booke De Principijs doth also acknowledge, for therefore hee thinketh that Infants borne the seauenth-month do suruiue, because they haue attayned a * 1.24 iust and full number of seauens. And that the eight-month birth is not Vital, because it hath not fulfilled the full Decades of weekes. Moreouer in his Booke de Septim. partu he writeth, that the Conceptions, Abortments and Births of Infants are iudged, as wee speake, in the same times in which diseases haue their iudgement or Crisis. Now we know that all disea∣ses are most whot iudged on vnequall dayes, and that the Septinary number is onely truly Criticall.

If it be obiected, that the tenth month although it be equall and foeminine is yet for the * 1.25 birth Vitall and legitimate the Pythagorians will make answere, that ten is the perfection of all Numbers and conteineth in it selfe all numbers of perfection. And this is the opini∣on of the Pythagorians and Arithmetitians of the causes of the seauen-moneth and eight-month birthes, who conceite that all things are to bee referred vnto the force of Num∣bers.

For my owne part I thinke with Aristotle in his Metaphysickes, that Number of it selfe * 1.26 hath no operatiue power, for so it is a quantity; but the nature of Number as it is the form of time concluding all the workes of Nature hath a strong efficacy. And this Nature & ne∣cessity as it were of Nature it selfe, Hippocrates in the end of his Book De principijs promiseth to explaine.

The Astrologians and Figure-flingers do referre the causes of the seuenth-month, eight-month, * 1.27 and nine-month births to the diuerse Aspects of the Planets, for ouer euery mon∣eth they thinke each Planet hath predominance. Saturne ouer the first, who with his cold∣nes & drought reteyneth the liquid and moyst seed, and congealeth it as it were into a con∣ception. Ouer the second Iupiter, who by his warmth and Vitall heat causeth it to increase. * 1.28 Ouer the thirde Mars, who with his heate and drought maketh the members beginne to mooue. Ouer the fourth the Sun, who by the power of his woonderfull heate enlargeth all * 1.29 the passages. Ouer the fift Venus, who addeth grace and beauty to the infant. Ouer the sixt Mercury, who pollisheth & absolueth the Organs of motion. Ouer the seuenth the Moon; * 1.30 who filleth the empty spaces and distances of the Fibres with flesh & fat, and with hir moy∣sture relaxeth the orifice of the wombe that the birth may be the more easie. If therefore the infant do the seauenth-moneth yssue furnished with all these endowments of the Pla∣nets,

then is he Vital and is likely to suruiue; but if being weak he be not able to loosen him selfe from the sides of the wombe, then Saturne that maleficall Planet and aduersarie to the principles of our life, returneth againe vppon him and so like a Tyrant holdeth the Infant prisoner; or if in that month he come into the world he presently perisheth, as hauing his Vitall heate nipped by the cold of that churlish Planet. Add heereto, that the weake infant is not able to beare or endure so sudden an alteration from the Moone to Saturne, as if it were from the lowest staffe to the top of the Ladder, because all sudden mutations are ene∣mies to Nature.

But if he ouercome the eight month, then to Saturne succeedeth Iupiter that benefical Planet, by whose prosperous and healthfull aspect all the ill disposition that came by Sa∣turne is frustrated and auoyded; wherefore the ninth moneth the infant is borne vitall and liuely, as also the tenth and the eleauenth, because of the familiarity of Mars and Sol with the Principles of our life. And this is the opinion of the Astrologers concerning the Cau∣ses of our birth, which is indeed elegant and maketh a faire shewe but is in the meane time full of Error as picus Mirandula hath prooued in a Booke which he hath written against A∣strologers. * 1.31 For how may it be, that Saturne should alwayes beare sway the first and the 8. months, when as a women may conceiue in anie months of the yeare any day in the month or any houre in the day? Why do Hindes calue the eight month and their yong suruine, as Aristotle writeth in his sixt Booke De Natura Animalium. Pliny is of opinion in the fifte * 1.32 chapter of his seuenth Book De Naturali Historia. That only those children are Vital if they be borne the seauenth month, who were conceyued the day before or after the Full of the Moone, or in the New Moone. But all these are idle and addle immaginations of vvanton braines.

The Geometricians referre the Causes of the birth vnto the proportion of the Confor∣mation and motion of the Infant. For (say they) there is a double proportion of the con∣formation to the motion, and a trebble proportion of the motion to the birth, which pro∣portion * 1.33 if the Infant holde, then shall hee arriue aliue and liuely into the worlde. So the seauenth month birth is vitall, because it is formed the fiue and thirtith, mooued the seuen∣tith, and borne the two hundred and tenth day.

And this opinion may be confirmed by the authority of Hippocrates, for in the third Se∣ction of his second Book Epidemiωn he saith: whatsoeuer is mooued in the seuentith day is per∣fected * 1.34 in the triplicities. But Auicen confuteth this opinion. For if onely the proportion be∣twixt the conformation and the motion of the infant were the cause that he suruiued; thē should he aswell suruiue the eight as the seuenth moneth, because they keepe the same pro∣portion. For instance; Say that an infant be formed the fortith day, then shall hee mooue the eightith, and be borne the two hundred and fortith. And in this birth the proportion is exquisitly held, because twice forty make eighty, and thrice eighty two hundred and fortie dayes. Now Hippocrates in his Booke De Alimento saith, that an infant borne at 240. daies (which all men vnderstand to be the eight-month birth) is and is not. But the authority of Hippocrates may well stand with this opinion, for it is not his meaning that this proportion * 1.35 is the cause of the life of the infant, but simply and absolutely hee sayth, that there is a cer∣taine proportion betwixt the conformation, Motion and Birth of the infant, which no man will deny.

It remaineth now, that wee acquaint you with the Philosophers and Physitians reasons * 1.36 why the seuenth-month birth is Vitall and not the eight? Nature although she be illiterate and vntaught, yet hath she constant Lawes which her selfe hath imposed vppon her selfe; definite also and limited motions which she alwayes keepeth without inconstancy or mu∣tability, vnlesse she be hindred by some internall or externall principle. As therefore shee * 1.37 neuer endeauoureth any perfect Criticall euacuation vnlesse the humor bee before boyled and prepared: So she neuer vndertaketh a Legitimate birth till the infant bee perfected and absolued in all his numbers. And as in crudity no good Crisis is to be hoped for according to Hippocrates: so before the infant be perfected, the birth cannot bee ligitimate or Vitall. For the birth saith Galen is a kinde of Crisis. Now before the seuenth moneth the infant is * 1.38 not perfected, and therefore before the seauenth month he cannot be borne aliue. But the seauen-month if he be strong he breaketh the Membranes, maketh way for himselfe and suruiueth because he is perfect, especially if it be a male child. * 1.39

The eight month although he be perfect hee cannot survive, because hee is not able to beare two afflictions, one immediately succeeding in the necke of another. For in the se∣uenth

moneth he laboreth sore, and repeateth his contention the eight, before his strength is refreshed.

And this is Hippocrates opinion in the very beginning of his Booke de octimestri partu, Concerning the eight-moneth birth I am of this iudgement, that it is impossible that the Infant * 1.40 should beare two succeeding afflictions, and therefore those Infants doe not suruiue. For they are twice afflicted, because to the euils they suffered in the wombe are added also the payne in the birth.

Again, the eight-month birth is not vital, because it commeth after the birth day, which * 1.41 should haue beene the seauenth moneth, and before the birth day which is to bee the ninth moneth. Whence we may gather that some ill accident hath betided the Infant or the mo∣ther which hindred the birth the 7. month and preuented the ninth.

And hitherto belongeth that golden sentence of our admired maister Hippocrates in the eight Section of his sixt Booke Epidemiωn. If nothing happen within the prescript time of the birth, whatsoeuer is borne shall suruiue.

But now why a woman doth not beare her burthen beyond the tenth and the eleauenth * 1.42 months. Hippocrates in his Booke de Natura pueri referreth the cause to the want of Ali∣ment. Now the Aliment fayleth as well because a great part of the bloud flowes back vn∣to the Pappes for the generation of Milke, as also because the Infant is nourished only with pure and sweete bloud which the mother can no longer in sufficient quantity supply vnto him. Neither is that to bee passed ouer with silence which Hippocrates obserued in the Booke before named, to wit, that in some women the Aliment fayleth sooner, in some la∣ter. Those which are not accustomed to bring foorth haue lesse Aliment then others for * 1.43 their Infants, because the bloud is not accustomed to turne his course toward the wombe. Againe, those women who haue lesse store of their courses and of Milke their Aliment fai∣leth the soonest.

It is also worth our obseruation that large and great creatures do carry their burthens * 1.44 the longest, because they doe not so soone attaine the perfection of their increment or growth: So an Elephant bringeth not forth before the second yeare after her conception, but house-doues breed euery month.

Man being of all Creatures the most perfect, the most wise, the most temperate and as it were the measure of all others, hath also moderate times of gestation, that is, the 7. and the 9. months if Nature be not interrupted or preuented.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Democritus. The Septickes. Aristotle.
• * 1.2

  Hippocrates.
• * 1.3

  Heraclitus.
• * 1.4

  The vniuersal causes of the birth.
• * 1.5

  On the partof the infant.
• * 1.6

  Why the Mo∣la and many monsters lie long in the womb.
• * 1.7

  The vniuer∣sal cause of the birth on the part of the wombe. Hippocratci.
• * 1.8

  The particu∣lar causes of the birth.
• * 1.9

  The diuersity is from the matter.
• * 1.10

  The 1. cause
• * 1.11

  The second.
• * 1.12

  The third. Plato.
• * 1.13

  The fourth.
• * 1.14

  The fift.
• * 1.15

  Why the in∣fant suruiueth at 7. months and not at 8. The opinion of the Pythago∣ians.
• * 1.16

  Differences of numbers.
• * 1.17

  The excellen¦cy of the num¦ber of 7.
• * 1.18

  Harmony.
• * 1.19

  What the di¦uines say of the number seauen.
• * 1.20

  The life of man cōsisteth of seauens.
• * 1.21

  August Caesar to Caius.
• * 1.22

  Psal. 90, 10.
• * 1.23

  Pythagoras and Tully.
• * 1.24

  Hippocrates ac¦knowledgeth the power of the septinary number.
• * 1.25

  That the 10. number is perfect,
• * 1.26

  What wee thinke of Nū∣bers.
• * 1.27

  The opinion of the Astro∣logians. Saturne.
• * 1.28

  Iupiter.
• * 1.29

  Mars Sol. Venus.
• * 1.30

  Mercury. Luna.
• * 1.31

  The opinion of the Astro∣logians con¦futed.
• * 1.32

  Pliny his idle opinion.
• * 1.33

  The Geome∣tritians pro∣portions
• * 1.34

  Hip. authority Auicen,
• * 1.35

  Hip. explained
• * 1.36

  The 5. opiniō of the Phylo∣sophers and Physitians.
• * 1.37

  The Lawes of of Nature are certaine.
• * 1.38

  No vital birth before per∣fection
• * 1.39

  The eight month birth why not vital. 1. Reason.
• * 1.40

  Hippocrates authority.
• * 1.41

  The 2. reason
• * 1.42

  Why a womā goeth not a∣boue 11. mo∣neths.
• * 1.43

  What women destaud their Infants soo∣nest.
• * 1.44

  Why great creatures car∣ry their yong long.