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HAving thus finish'd the History of the Seed and Conception, toge∣ther with that of the Formation of the Birth; now let us proceed to the History of the Birth when form'd, and contain'd in the Womb.
I. Upon opening the Womb of a Big-bellied Woman, there presently appears a fleshie Substance, which Fal∣lopius from some resemblance which it
has to a Cheescake, calls the Uterine Cheescake, or Placenta; others from its resemblance in use, colour, and substance, call it the Uterine Liver.
II. This Liver is a Bowel after its own manner fleshie, soft, consisting of innumerable Fibres and small little Ves∣sels, and Blood between, condens'd in dead People, by means whereof the Birth adheres to the Womb, but more especially to the bottom of it.
III. At first the Seed of the Man being injected into the Womb (if Con∣ception happen) is every way enclos'd by the whole Circumference of the Womb, and is found contiguous to it. Then by the nourishing heat of the Womb it is melted and dissolv'd, and so the prolific spirituous part being se∣parated out of it, it retires forth∣with through the Uterine Tubes toward the Ovaries, there to imprint upon the ripe Egg the Seal of Fertility. This Egg in the Ovary is surrounded with two little Pellicles, of which the one is thicker and stronger; the other thinner and weaker, as in Birds an outer∣most hard shell, and an inner thin Mem∣brane grows in the Egg out of the Seed of the Hen. To the outermost of these Membranes, at the very first beginning certain downy Lineaments form'd out of the Female Seed are seen to adhere: to which also, at the very same first begin∣ning, a certain ruddy soft substance joyns it self, which seems to arise from the substance it self of the womb, in the same place where the Egg slips through the Tube into the Womb, by means where∣of it adheres by and by to the Womb, and is furnish'd by the Womb with some Blood-conveighing Vessels, which it imparts to the Chorion, as being those Vessels which are discern'd in the Chori∣on, before any Formation of the Birth, nor can be derived thence from any o∣ther part. These downy beginnings of the Placenta, or Uterine Liver, increase by little and little through the affusion of that same Blood to this very Bowel, whose substance at the end of the third Month is notably conspicuous. Within the inner Membrane is included the whole Colliquation of the Seed, toge∣ther with the Crystalline Bubble, where∣in the Birth is form'd out of the prolific Principle infus'd into it; which being form'd swims upon the Colliquation, free and adhering no where to any Mem∣branes, and for some time is nourish'd with that alone.
IV. Afterwards, when the increa∣sing Embryo begins to want a more plentiful Nourishment, the Extremi∣ties of the Umbilical Vessels grow out more and more, and are extended to∣ward this Liver (which from that time begins to be more manifestly con∣spicuous, to the end they may draw a firmer Alimentary Iuice from thence, and carry it to the Birth, as the Plants by means, of their Roots suck nutritive Iuice from the Earth. But how these Vessels cross the Membranes, and come to this Liver, see Chap. 32.
V. Harvey, in an Abortion cast forth about the bigness of a Hen-egg, observ'd withal in the outward and upper part of the Chorion, as it were a thin Slime, or a certain Down, de∣noting the first Rudiments of the growing Placenta; and in the inner part of the same several Roots and Branches of the Umbilical Vessels, but never the Chorion sticking to the womb. But the reason why he never saw the Chorion slicking to the womb, perhaps might be, either because the Matter to be pour'd forth out of the womb for the increase of the Placenta, was not yet increas'd to a sufficient quan∣tity; or because the fleshic Particle, which we have seen sticking to the Chorion, in the Expulsion of that Conception, was not torn from the womb, but from the Chorion; and so the Chorion coming forth together with it, was not by Harvey seen to stick to the womb. But those Roots of the Vessels which Harvey took for the Umbilical Productions, seem not to have been the little Branches of the Umbilical Vessels, in regard the Navel could not be grown out to that length in that time, nor reach so far, but were rather little Vessels extending themselves from that same fleshie substance sticking above to the Chorion, with which the Umbilical Vessels are wont to intermix themselves. See the Abortions in the preceding Chap∣ter.
VI. By what has been said, it is sufficiently apparent, that the beginning of the Placenta, or Uterine Liver, is not generated out of the impurer part of the menstruous Blood flowing from the womb, the more pure part in the mean season passing to the Birth through the Umbilical Vein, (as ma∣ny have erroneonsly asserted:) seeing
that the first threads of it are delinea∣ted out of the Womans Seed as well as the Chorion and Amnion; to which afterwards the nourishment is brought, not from the more impure, but from good Blood pouring in. And therefore they were grosly mistaken, who judg'd it not to be any Bowel, but only a heap of menstruous Blood collected and coa∣gulated without the Vessels, and preserv'd in that place for the nourishment of the Birth, whereas both in respect of its be∣ginning, its fibrous substance, and its use, it appears no less to be a Bowel than the other Liver seated in the right Hypochon∣drion. Besides that, the upholders of this Opinion do not consider, that the Blood cannot subsist without Corruption nine Months together out of the Ves∣sels in the womb, or any other hot and moist place; and daily Experience teaches us, what terrible Mischiefs follow upon the Extravasation of the Blood tho' it be good, if it stay in the place but a few Months.
VII. Fabricius ab Aquapendente calls this Liver a Fleshie Substance, and a Fleshie Mole; not that it is simply flesh, but a Bowel that has a pe∣culiar and proper fibrous Contexture, and a flesh convenient for it self, whose first threads are delineated out of the Womans Seed; and afterwards a pe∣culiar fleshie Substance thicken'd out of the Vital Blood, which first flows from the Mother more plentifully thither through the Uterine Vessels, and after∣wards is forc'd thither from the Heart of the Birth through the Umbilical Arteries. For when the Umbilical Vessels are come to the Uterine Liver, a certain spirituous Nectar, or Vital Spi∣rit, flows out together with Arterious Blood from the heart of the Birth, which as it increases, nourishes, enlivens, and excites to action all the Parts of the Birth, and its Membranes, the spirituous Blood of the Mother assisting and afford∣ing the greatest part of the Matter, so does it enlarge and nourish this Placenta or Uterine Liver.
VIII. This Liver in a single Con∣ception is alway single; and in the Conception of Twins, both Births have one common Liver containing the Na∣vels of both; but sometimes each Birth has a distinct and proper Uterine Li∣ver. However, Wharton believes that both Twins have a peculiar Placenta, but so contiguous; that they seem to be but one. But that the Opinion of Whar∣ton express'd by the word always, is not generally true, Experience teaches us; by which it appears, that sometimes the contrary happens. And therefore we are certainly to conclude, That in the Conception of Twins there is sometimes one Liver, sometimes two. But for what reason, and in what cases there happens sometimes one, and sometimes two, is a Mystery hitherto unreveal'd, and un∣known to all Practisers; which never∣theless we shall endeavour to unfold in the next Chapter, when we come to discourse of the State of the Membranes in Twins.
IX. The Substance of it is peculiar to it self, soft, loose, brittle, thin, fur∣row'd with several furrows, and as it were here and there slightly divided; yet in the mean time altogether fibrous, being a Contexture of innumerable Threads and diminutive Fibres, and infinite little Branches of diminutive Vessels, and swelling with coagulated Blood pour'd in, not much unlike the looser Parenchyma of the Liver, tho' less firm, and easily dissolv'd and mangled by a slight attrition. And such a sort of Substance, as well at other times, as particularly in December 1665. we shewed to several Doctors of Physic and Students, in a Woman that dy'd af∣ter she had been six Months gone. And lately in the Placenta's of two live Wo∣men, from whom we extracted the Births when they could not be deliver'd of themselves: which Placenta's, after the Extraction of the Birth, were sepa∣rated whole from the Womb, and drawn forth together with the Mem∣branes.
X. It is of a dark ruddy Colour, not unlike the Colour of the Spleen; somewhat more ruddy, seldom pa∣ler.
XI. The Shape of the whole Uterine Liver is for the most part Circular, sometimes Long, or Quadrangular, seldom Triangular; but unequal in its Circumference. But the bigness and thickness various, according to the Condition of the Body and the Birth, and the Time of the Womans going. For in Abortions of thirty and forty Days it hardly appears about the Roots of the Navel, hardly then extended thither. But after that the spirituous
Blood flowing thither in greater Quanti∣ty, it grows and enlarges every day, till at length it comes to its Perfection, about a Foot in Breadth, or so much as may be extended between the two Thumbs and fore-Fingers extended in Compass: About two or three Fingers thick in the Middle, but thinner in the Extremities. Nicolaus Hoboken, an accurate Inspector into these Placenta's, writes that he never saw any one thicker than a Thumbs breadth, or very little more. Never∣theless we are to observe that there is some variety in the breadth and thick∣ness, being found sometimes to be thick∣er, and sometimes thinner in all Secun∣dines.
XII. In the hollow Part next the Birth, the Superficies of it is equal and concave like a small Platter. Up∣on the gibbous Side unequal with se∣veral Excrescencies, with which it fastens it self to the inside of the Womb, no other Substance interceed∣ing, the fungous or spungy parts here and there slightly swelling out at the time of Impregnation, and rests up∣on it with its open Pores. And the Womb also, at that time more spungy, opening its Pores and the Extremities of its Arteries, joyns immediately to the Placenta, yet without any mutual Ana∣stomoses of the Veins or Arteries either of the one or the other (concerning which several Anatomists have written several Fancies contrary to Truth, meerly up∣on the Score of Conjecture) and so it transfuses the Alimentary Blood and milky Juice into this Placenta, which after Delivery, the said Placenta being torn away and separated, for many days together flows from those Openings or little Holes.
XIII. In the Middle, or about the Middle, and sometimes toward one or the other Side a diminutive lit∣tle umbilical Gut is sasten'd to it, with its Vessels included, by means whereof there is a necessary Communi∣cation between the Placenta, and the Birth; of which more c. 32.
XIV. A Vein, and two umbilical Arteries are inserted into it, which are intermix'd with Roots in the Substance of it, with a wonderful Fold∣ing, and are thought to joyn together with some Anastomoses. But the Ra∣misications of the Arteries are gene∣rally more numerous, more serpentine and knotty, but less and more ruddy: The Ramifications of the Vein less in number, but larger and thicker, less contorted, and of a darker Colour. However the bigger part of the Roots is not joyn'd by Anastomoses; but the Arteries pour forth the Blood which is brought from the Heart of the Birth into the Parenchyma of the Placenta; which together with a good part of the Blood flowing through the small Vessels of the Womb, being altered by the Ute∣rine Liver, and endu'd with a slight fer∣mentaceous Quality, the gaping Roots of the Vein assume and convey to the Birth.
XV. It has been the common O∣pinion, according to the Sentence of Galen, That the diminutive Branches of these small Arteries and Veins are not only joyn'd together by Anasto∣moses between themselves, but also with the Extremities of the Vessels of the Womb; and hence, after Delive∣ry, by their being broken off from the falling Uterine Liver, there happens a great Flux of Blood. But we ob∣serve in Brutes, That certain Vessels at∣tracting Nourishment out of the little Placenta's of the Chorion, are manifestly extended into the Pores of the little pieces of Flesh swelling out from the Womb, but that no Anastomoses descend from the Womb or its Protuberances into the Placentulae of the Chorion, nor that there are any Placentulae between the Vessels of these Placentulae and the Womb. Which it is probable to be no less true in human Conception, and that no blood-bearing Vessels run out from the Womb into the Placenta, but less that they joyn together by Anasto∣moses with the Umbilicals; seeing that the blood descends like Dew, only by de∣grees from the Ends of the Uterine Ar∣teries, gaping at the time of the wo∣mans being ingravidated, where it is prepared for the Nourishment of the Birth, as we shall shew hereafter.
XVI. Wharton seems to assert, that several Vasa Sanguifera are ex∣tended from the Womb it self no less than from the Navel of the Birth, into the Placenta, however that they are intermix'd with 'em. For he says that the Placenta is divided in∣to two Halves, easily separable one from the other. Of which two Halves, the one manifestly looks toward the
parts of the Womb, and the other to∣wards the parts of the Embryo. And that all the Uterine Vessels, distri∣buted toward the Placenta, terminate in that same half which looks toward the womb, and there are consumed into little hairy Strings, and do not at all pass thorough the other half. Also that the umbilical Vessels which run forward toward that half of the Placenta which is fixed to the Chorion, are all exhausted into small Hair in the same half; nei∣ther do they pass into the opposite Me∣dietie contiguous to the womb. But this most famous Person presupposes a Division of the Placenta, never to be found, and never demonstrable; and thence erroneously concludes, that the diminutive Vessels running from one place to another, reach no farther than the one half; whereas there are no Va∣sa Sanguifera that descend from the womb to the Placenta, and for that it is most certain that the umbilical Ves∣sels penetrate through the whole. But as for those diminutive Vessels that are derived from the little piece of Flesh af∣fixed to the Chorion at the beginning of the Conception, they are distributed through the whole Chorion, before the Formation of the Birth, and seem to have none or very little Communicati∣on with the Placenta: Concerning which, 'tis very much to be doubted whether they proceed from any Continuation of the Vessels of the womb. To which Obscurity the most accurate Inspection of the famous Nicolaus Hoboken, have given us a very great Light, who never could observe any Productions of the blood-bearing Vessels from the womb in∣to the Placenta, whenas he has inquir'd into, and laid open, with great Study and Industry above other men, all the Mysteries of the Placenta and the whole Secundine; published in a Treatise, de Secundin Human. adorn'd with Cuts de∣lineated with his own Hand, and ex∣posed to the View and Judgment of all Men.
XVII. The same Wharton believes, that there are also lymphatic Vessels in∣termix'd with the Veins and Arteries in the uterine Liver, and that then enters together with them the Navel of the Birth. But he adds, that tho∣rough those the milkie Iuice poured forth from the Womb toward the Placenta, is conveighed to the Birth. But we have prov'd it already that there are no such conspicuous Vessels extended from the Womb to the Birth; and that if Wharton by accident saw any lit∣tle whitish Vessels carried from the Pla∣centa to the Womb, through the um∣bilical diminutive Gut, 'tis very pro∣bable he might be deceived and mistake the milkie Vessels for Lymphatics; as differing very little either in shape or thinness. Unless we should say, that the lymphatic Vessels do not only and always carry the Lymphatic Iuice, but the Chylus also in various places, where the Chylus is offered, and so that the same thing may likewise happen in the Placenta, as it often happens in that large pectoral Vessel, called the Thora∣cick Chyliductus. In the mean time Hoboken, a most accurate observer of these things never could find any lym∣phatic Vessels in the Liver, neither did they ever occur to me, tho' I have dili∣gently sought after them.
XVIII. Some there are who assert, that there are also certain small dimi∣nutive Nerves, and that there is a certain nutritive Iuice conveighed through those for the benefit of the Birth. But I would fain know of those People, whence those Nerves have their Original, from the Father or the Mother, or from the Birth? The first cannot be, by what we have said already, in regard there are no Vessels that extend themselves out of the Placenta into the Womb. And that the latter cannot be true, is apparent from hence, because it is contrary to Reason and all Belief, that any Nerves should be extended so far from the most soft Substance of the brain of the birth, and that they should run from the bo∣dy of the Womb it self, through the whole length of the Navel to the Pla∣centa: Besides that in the Delivery, by the breaking of those Nerves the birth it self would be greatly endangered. Lastly, Because there are no nutritious Juices carried through the Nerves, nei∣ther can be carried through 'em, as we shall shew more at large l. 8. c. 1.
We have said a little before, that the Vessels and Pores of the Womb, do gape a little toward the Placenta, and empty their Juices into it like a kind of Dew. This many strenuously deny in Women: And yet at the same time they grant that the Vessels of the Womb are opened into the Uterine Caruncles of Beasts, and pour forth their alimenta∣ry Juice into their little Caverns, which is again suck'd up out of them by the
little branches of the umbilical Vessels, and out of those Cotyledons is carried to the Womb, as we find true by ocu∣lar Testimony. But it is not worth while to use many words in refuting the Opinion of these Men, as contradicting not only the Sight it self, but one ano∣ther, seeing that they allow alimentary Juice to the Placenta's or Cotyledons of Beasts, and yet deny them to the Pla∣centa's in Women; whereas there is the same use and necessity of the same part in both, and for that it is apparent by what has been already said that the ali∣mentary Juice is no less in the Cotyledons of Women than of Beasts.
XIX. The Place where the Pla∣centa sticks to the Womb cannot be certainly assign'd; for sometimes it is joyn'd and firmly adheres to it in the right side▪ sometimes in the left, and sometimes at the hinder part of the bottom of the Womb; and where it is fastened within to the Chorion, there it admits the Entrance of the umbilical Vessels. But when it begins to increase, in the first Months it sticks as closely to it, as the unripe Fruit to the Tree. But the bigger the Birth grows, and the nearer to Delivery, so it still parts the more easily from the Womb, and at length, when the Fruit is quite ripe, after the Expulsion of the birth, falls off from the Womb.
XX. By the general Vogue of the Ancients it is said to adhere to the Womb by Acetables, concerning which Acetables however there is a very great dispute.
In such a Dissention of learned Men, tho' it be hard to assert any thing of certainty, yet the Truth is to be inqui∣red into, in regard it seems a thing not to be doubted, but that women have A∣cetables, in regard that Hippocrates, who neither could deceive nor be deceived, as Macrobius testifies, makes mention of 'em; which he would not do to no pur∣pose nor by mistake. First then let us consider what these Cotyledons are, and next, whether they are in women with Child?
XXI. Certain Parts appearing in the Womb of a woman with Child, are called by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and that from a two fold Resemblance. First from the Likeness which they have to the Herb Cotyledon, which the Latins call Venus-Navel, in English Wall-Pennywort, an Herb, whose Leaves are somewhat thick, smooth, full of Iuice, round, unequal in Compass, and a little hollow in
the middle. Secondly, From the likeness which they have to the Cavity of the Hip-bone, which is call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and contains the head of the Thigh-bone. From which Resemblance, they are also call'd by the Latins Accep∣tabuld, because they receive something into their hollowness; but more fre∣quently Acetabula, because they are like to little Sawcers, wherein they use to bring Vinegar to the Table.
XXII. From this Derivation of the Name it manifestly appears, That Hip∣pocrates and the rest of the Ancients, by Cotyledons never meant any Protu∣berancies of the Vessels, or any other fleshie or mamillary Excrescencies, or fibrous Ligaments, but some certain things that were hollow, or else their Cavities themselves: And therefore they were all under a gross mistake that took those Protuberancies for Cotyle∣dons.
XXIII. We are now to enquire in what Creatures they are to be found? I answer; That they are to be found as well in Women, as in any other Creatures that produce living Births, only different in figure and shape. For in Women, if we do but accurate∣ly consider the Matter, there are not many, but one Cotyledon, and sometimes two in Women that have conceived Twins. For indeed the whole Uterine Placenta, which is convex toward the Womb, hollow toward the Chorion, is all together, somewhat thick, full of Juice, round, unequal in the circumfe∣rence, exactly resembling the Herb Wall-Pennimort, or else the figure of a little Sawcer. Of this Womans Cotyle∣don, Hippocrates makes mention Sect. 5. Aph. 45. Those Women, who being mode∣rately corpulent, miscarry at the end of two or three Months, without any manifest oc∣casion, their Cotyledons are full of slime, and therefore by reason of their ponderosity, are not able to contain the Birth, but are broken. For if great store of flegmatic slimy Humours lye heavy upon the Pla∣centa, being soften'd and becoming lank in the gibbous part of it, where it sticks to the inner spunginess of the womb, of necessity it must be unloosned, together with the Birth, which by its means, sticks also to the Womb. Now Hippocrates speaks of Cotyledons in the Plural Num∣ber, not that he would have one Wo∣man, that has conceiv'd but one Birth, have more Cotyledons or Placentae; but because he is discoursing in the Plural Number of Women in general, who tho' singly, they have but one, yet ma∣ny together have several Cotyledons. This, if many famous Anatomists had more attentively consider'd, and among the rest our most quick-sighted Harvey, they had not so unwarily deny'd Cotyledons in Women, nor rejected so easily the Au∣thority of Hippocrates in that particular. And therefore, according to the first Re∣semblance, Cotyledons are in Wo∣men.
XXIV. But according to the latter Resemblance, they are to be found in most Beasts that bring forth living Productions, who during their Im∣pregnation, have several little pieces of flesh, somewhat thick and hard, spun∣gy and prominent, rising from the Womb in time of Impregnation toward the inner Cavity, and sticking close to it, and like a Honycomb, hollow'd into several little conspicuous Cells, contain∣ing a certain Alimentary Iuice, as is to be seen in Ews, Cows, and several o∣ther Creatures. And some there were that took these little fleshinesses of the womb▪ others those little diminutive holes before mention'd for real Cotyle∣dons: when as neither the one nor the other have any resemblance with the Ca∣vity of the Hip-bone. But those single fleshinesses of the Womb are encom∣pass'd by another thin ruddy soft piece of flesh adhering to the Chorion, and furnish'd with the innumerable small Ex∣tremities of the Umbilical Vessels, entring the little diminutive holes of the protuberant Caruncles of the Womb, and hollow toward the little fleshiness of the womb: Which thin hollow fleshi∣nesses adhering to the Chorion, and em∣bracing the thick protuberant fleshinesses of the womb, are the true Cotyledons, having a hollowness like the Cavity of the Hip-bone: and as the one compre∣hends the head of the Thigh-bone, so these in like manner comprehend the protuberant fleshinesses of the womb: and hence they are called Loculamenta, or Pigeon-holes, that is, distinct Places, each one of which receives a Caruncle of the womb. But these fleshinesses of the Chorion in those Beasts that have 'em, supply the place of the Placenta, and receive the Juices received by the Carun∣cles of the womb, and conveigh them through the Umbilical Vessels to the Birth. For that every one of the thin
Extremities of the Umbilical Vessels ad∣hering to them, are inserted into the se∣veral diminutive holes of the Caruncles of the womb, fill'd with a certain nutri∣tive slimy Juice, as a Honycomb is fill'd with Honey, wherewith several Beasts seem to be nourish'd in the womb. Which little Vessels, when they are drawn forth out of the diminutive holes of the Ca∣runcles of the womb, the said slimy Juice is to be seen sticking to their Roots, and is extended out of the holes, like small white Threads. Nevertheless 'tis very probable, that that same Juice being con∣dens'd by the Cold in dead Animals be∣comes so thick, as the Lymphatic Juice is congeal'd into a Gelly, but that in li∣ving and warm Creatures it is not so thick or viscous, but thin and fluid, to the end it may the more easily glide through the most narrow Vessels into the Cavity of the Amnion, and so reach to the Birth. But we must observe by the way, that those little fleshinesses of the Chorion at the beginning of the Im∣pregnation, are difficultly to be separa∣ted from the Caruncles of the womb: but the Embryo increasing, as it were come to maturity, are dissolv'd and loosen'd by degrees, and at length fall off of themselves, and in the delivery are expell'd, together with the Birth; and the Protuberancies swelling from the womb, decrease again by degrees, and contract themselves.
XXV. The use of the Uterine Li∣ver in a Woman is, partly to support the milkie Umbilical Vessels, which attract the milkie watery Iuice out of the Pores or diminutive holes of the womb: partly after a peculiar manner to concoct and prepare the Blood, flow∣ing as well from the Mother, through the Uterine Arteries; partly from the Birth, through the Umbilicals, to render it more serviceable for the nou∣rishment of the Birth. This was Har∣vey's meaning, where he says, More∣over the Placenta concocts the nutritive Iuice coming from the Mother for the nou∣rishment of the Birth. But what altera∣tion or concoction the Blood undergoes in Human concoction, that has hitherto not been so clearly understood, neither has any one written concerning it. For our part, we think it very probable, that the Uterine Liver dissolves the thicker and salt Particles of the Blood, and inter∣mixes it with the sulphury, and so makes the necessary bloody ferment for the Blood of the Embryo, without which the Blood in the heart of it cannot be well dilated, and performs that function a∣lone, which in Men born the Liver and Spleen perform together. For as in Man born, the Arterial Blood is forc'd through the Splenetic Artery into the Spleen, and therein concocted, after a particular man∣ner, is conveigh'd through the Splenetic Branch and the Vena Porta to the Liver, to the end it may be mixed with the venal Blood coming from the Mesa∣raic Veins, there to be concocted again after a new Manner, and to acquire the perfection of a Fermentaceous Liquor, and that obtain'd immediately imbibes the venal Blood flowing from all parts, as also the Chylus gliding through the Subclavial Vein, with it's fermenta∣ceous quality, so that coming to the Heart, it may be there dilated and turn'd into Spirituous Blood; In like man∣ner, in the Birth, the Blood is forc'd out of the Iliac Arteries through the Umbilical Veins into the Placenta, to the end it may be mingled with the Blood flowing from the Womb, be digested and acquire some slight kind of Fermen∣taceous power: and so it is carryed through the Umbilical Vein, to the Li∣ver of the Embryo, and flowing through that into the Vena Cava, is there mix'd with the Blood and the Chylus, (gene∣rated out of the Liquor of the Amnion suck't in at the Mouth of the Birth) flowing from the Vena Cava: and so all that mixture being prepar'd and imbib'd with a slight Fermentaceous Quality, pas∣ses gradatim to the Heart, and is there∣in dilated and made Spirituous. Proba∣ble therefore it is, that as in the Embryo, the Lungs are quiet, so that the Liver and Spleen do not as yet officiate, as in a Man born, which is manifest, 1. From the bulk of the Liver, too bigg for the Body of the Embryo; 2. From the Co∣lour of the Embryo, too bright, and perfectly ruddy, which in Men born, when it officiates, is black and blue.
XXVI. Those Bowels therefore, not being able as yet sufficiently to dissolve, and prepare them to a fermentaceous height, in the Birth, by reason of their weak and tender Constitution, provi∣dent Nature therefore has substituted in their place for the time a Uterine Liver, which supplies the Office of both from the time that the Blood begins to flow from the Birth, through the Um∣bilical Arteries into the Uterine Li∣ver, till the Delivery. For as in the Birth it is requisite the Blood should be
less sharp, and consequently ought to be concocted not in both, but in one Ven∣tricle of the Heart; so likewise the Fer∣mentaceous Liquor that is to be mixed with it, ought to be less acrimonious, and by the same consequence ought not to be prepared and concocted in the Li∣ver and Spleen as in Man born, but only in the Uterine Placenta, to the end it may be more mild and temperate when it enters the Birth.
XXVII. Now there are four Reasons to be given, wherefore the Placenta sticks to the Womb. 1. That thereby the Birth may be more firmly contained in the womb. 2. That the watry milkie juices de∣scending from the Womb of the Mother, may be conveniently conveyed through the proper Milkiy Umbilical Vessels, passing through the Uterine Liver into the Umbilical Diminutive Gutt, and thence into the concavity of the Amni∣on. 3. That the Placenta it self may not be nourished only by the Blood of the Birth, flowing through the Umbili∣cal Arteries, which is very small at the Beginning, but also and that chief∣ly with the Mothers Blood, and so may grow the faster, and be made fit for the performance of its duty; there being a necessity for some dissolution at the beginning, of the Salt or Tarta∣rous Particles in the Blood, by means of a certain slight formentaceous Li∣quor, to promote more swiftly the In∣crease of the solid parts. Vid. l. 2. c. 12. 4. To the end there may be a more copious Contribution of the Mo∣thers Blood, flowing out of the little Vessels of the Womb, into the Uterin Liver, that that same larger quantity of Blood may be mixed in the Placenta with the lesser Quantity of Arterious Blood, flowing thither from the Iliac Arteries of the Birth, through the Um∣bilical Arteries: and being there conco∣cted may be endued with a slight fer∣mentaceous Quality, and so falling in∣to the Heart, may be presently dilated and altered into spirituous Blood. For as in Man born, to the end the Blood may be made right and good, twenty or more parts of the venal Blood are mix'd in the Vena Cava, with one part of the Chylus flowing through the Thoracic Ductus Chyliferus, before they come together to the Heart: So ought it to be done in the Birth: Which not ha∣ving so much Blood of it self to mix with a convenient portion of the Chylus, necessarily for the supply of that defect, there is required a portion of the Mo∣thers Blood, which together with the Arterious Blood of the Embryo, flowing thither from the Iliac Arteries, being conveniently prepared, is communica∣ted continually to the Birth, through the Umbilical Vein.
XXVIII. Here it may be objected, that that same Blood will flow either into the Umbilical Vessels, or into the substance of the Uterine Liver. That the first is not true, is apparent from hence, that there is no Communion by Anastomoses between the Vessels of the Womb, and the Umbilicals. If the latter should be true, then the Extrava∣sated Blood would grow corrupt, which would occasion Inflammations, Apostemes and other Mischiefs; therefore, &c. Now the former being granted I answer to the latter, That the Concoctions of the other Bowels, and many other parts, instructs us, that it cannot be true by a∣ny means: For the Chylus being pour'd forth into the Glandules of the Breasts is not there corrupted, but concocted in∣to Milk: the venal Blood pour'd forth into the substance of the Liver, acquires a Fermentaceous Quality without any cor∣ruption, and is carryed to the Vena Cava; the Blood also pour'd forth into the Kid∣neys, despoyl'd of a good part of its Serum, without any corruption, is con∣vey'd to the Vena Cava: So also the Blood which flows into the Uterine Li∣ver, is not therein corrupted, but is concocted after a peculiar manner, and undergoes some necessary Alteration, which having suffered, it enters the Roots of the Umbilical Vein.
XXIX. Beyond all Controversy there∣fore it is, that the Blood flows from the Womb into the Uterine Liver. Which we find by the flux of Blood that hap∣pens for many days in time of Travail by the tearing away of the Uterine Liver from those open'd extremities of the Vessels of the Womb, which before gaped into it.
XXX. But besides the Blood, there is a watery, Viscous, Milkie Liquor which flows from the Womb to the hol∣lowness of the Amnion, which is seen to flow forth at the time of Delivery and presently afterwards. So Andrew Laurentius relates, Anat. l. 1. quest. 10. that he had seen several Women in
Travail emit a great quantity of milk from the womb. Schenkius also reports out of Bauhinus, that Capellus, the Phy∣sician, saw a Woman who discharg'd half a Cup full of milk out of her womb and bladder. And hence Deusingius con∣cludes, that the milkie Juice flows from the womb into the Uterine Liver, that is into the milkie Umbilical Vessels passing through that Liver. Which Opinion is confirm'd by this, for that often in Women in travail about the end of the Flux, the Secundines grow whitish, and become as it were of a milkie colour; which presently ceases through the suck∣ing of the Breasts. But whether that milkie Juice flows from the womb into the substance it self of the Placenta, is much question'd by some. Others say, that partly through the ruddy and bloo∣dy colour of the Parenchyma of the Pla∣centa; partly, for that never in the whole Placenta that milky Humour, or any thing like it, was to be found by any A∣natomists, the contrary is to be asserted. In this Obscurity the more accurate Dis∣section of Brutes gives us some light, by which we find a certain whitish viscous Humour settled in their Uterine Carun∣cles, into which the Roots of the milky Umbilical Vessels, adhering to the little Vessels of the Chorion, are inserted, and receive that Juice, and convey it to the Birth. So it seems also probable, that some such like milky Iuice, in Women, flows through some peculiar milky Ves∣sels to the womb into some proper Ca∣runcles riveted into the inner porous sub∣stance of the womb it self: and that the milky Umbilical Vessels passing through the Placenta, are inserted into 'em, which receive that Liquor, and carry it to the Amnion. For as in Brutes certain spun∣gy Excrescencies grow out from the womb receiving that Juice, so likewise it is probable that in a Womans womb, there are certain little spungy Caverns for the same use, tho' not conspicuous as in Brutes. For if there be a milky Li∣quor to be found in the Uterine Carun∣cles of Brutes, which in dead Creatures becomes thick and viscous through the Cold, and thence sufficiently to be seen, without doubt also, within the porous substance of a Womans womb, there must be some little Caverns by which that milky Juice flowing from the womb is particularly collected and re∣ceiv'd. And as from the Veins of the womb, and the Arteries gaping toward the Placenta, the blood is pour'd into the bloody parts of the Uterine Liver, and carried from them through the Umbilical Vein to the Liver of the Birth, so it is likely that the milky Juice is car∣ried from the little milk-bearing Cells of the womb into the Umbilical milky Vessels. But because those Uterine Cells of the milky Juice have not hitherto been observ'd by any Person, this is no proof that they are not there; for the Lymphatic Vessels themselves, the milky Mesenteries and Pectoral Vessels lay con∣ceal'd for many Ages; and yet it can∣not be said but that they were there. So likewise at this day the Production of the Urinary Passage in the Birth without the Navel, and the milky Vessels running toward the Breasts, are not conspicuous, tho' it be most certain that the Urine of the Birth flows through that passage into the Allantoides, seated between the Cho∣rion and the Amnion; through this, the milky Chylus is carried to the breasts. Moreover, Anatomists have seldom an opportunity in a breeding Woman to ob∣serve the substance or constitution of the womb, or of narrowly surveying the Uterine Placenta when whole; or if any such opportunity were offer'd, no body has hitherto thought of looking after those milky Uterine Cells: And besides the Passage of the milky Vessels through the Placenta, being broken by reason of the softness of the substance, and the flow∣ing forth of the blood, cannot be seen. To which we may add, that in Women, for some time dead, those milky Cells of the Womb, and milk-bearing Vessels of the Womb are impossible to be dis∣cern'd, as they might be discover'd in the bodies of such as come to a suddain end, and presently open'd. We must conclude therefore, that as in Brutes the Maternal milky Iuice is collected in the little Cells of the Caruncles of the Womb; so also in Women that Juice is receiv'd by cer∣tain little Caverns of the womb, fix'd into its inner substance, which is porous in certain places while the Woman is breeding, tho' they do not swell out in that manner, nor are so manifest as in Brutes. For if there were no such things as those little milky Cells, to what use should those milky Vessels be, as well those of the Mother extended to the womb, as the Umbilical Vessels of the birth? Which nevertheless that they are both there, I do not think is at all to be que∣stion'd: For that there are Uterine milky Vessels, has been found by the more quick∣sighted Anatomist sometimes since; as we shall shew more at large in the next Chapter. So likewise that there are Um∣bilical milk-bearing Vessels, is apparent from hence, that there is a milky Juice
contain'd in the little Gut, flowing from thence to the hollowness of the Amnion, which when the whitish Colour suffici∣ently declares that it is not carried through the Vasa Sanguifera, of necessity it must come thither through the milky Vessels extended from the Navel of the birth toward the womb. But because this Juice is not so white as the milk of the breasts, but of a more watery Co∣lour, Wharton therefore will have it to be call'd rather Gelly, and that, because it is somewhat clammy and clear, and being cold congeals like Gelly, and that not only in the Amnion, but in the little Gut; for it is found in both.
But Gualter Needham will oppose both what has been said, and what is to be said in the next Chapter, who labours altoge∣ther to perswade us, that this same mil∣kie or chylous Juice is carried not through any milkie Vessels, but through the Arteries, together with the blood to∣ward the Womb; and there again being separated pure from the blood, is emptied into the hollowness of the Amnion. As if there were any understanding or pro∣vident separating faculty in the Arteries, by whose instinct they knew how to car∣ry that milky Juice forc'd into 'em by the heart, together with the blood, after∣wards, in the time of Child-bearing, and at no other time, pure and unmix'd, without any other blood, directly to the womb, and perhaps to the breasts, but no where else: and there to separate it with so much prudence from the blood, and send it from the ends of the Arteries to∣ward the hollowness of the Amnion, to the end this thicker and more slimy Juice should flow from those ends, but the ar∣terious blood which is much thinner and fluid, out of a particular favour, should be detain'd in its own Vessels. Most stu∣pendious Miracle of Nature! But per∣haps it may be objected, Choler in the Liver, Serum, Matter, Tartar in the Kidneys, in spontaneous and procured Loosnesses, as vicious Humours are se∣parated from the blood, and ejected forth, what wonder then that the same should happen to the Chylus, as to the womb? I answer, that those separations of the said Humours from the blood in the Liver, Kidneys, and other parts, are made by the force of the Bowels fram'd to that end; of which, the whole consti∣tution of the Substance and the Pores is such; as likewise the peculiar fermenta∣tion proceeding from thence, that those Bowels being sound and well, of necessity must make those separations, and cannot act otherwise: in like manner as the pe∣culiar fermentaceous Iuice generated in the Duodenum by the power of the Liver and Sweetbread, separates the whitish Chylus from the Alimentary Mass concocted in the Stomach. But if the Chylus were to be separated from the arterious blood near the womb, it must be done without the help of any Bowel, or without any peculiar fermentaceous Iuice generated in any Bowel particular ordained for that use; for no such Bowel is there at any time to be found. Add to this, that not any such separation whatever could bring it to pass, that that same milky Juice should be determin'd to certain particular parts, as the womb and breasts, and that at particular times, of breeding and giving suck, and at no other time. For the heart is the one and only general thruster forth of the arterious blood, and that continually, without any di∣stinction of parts or times, but to all parts and at all times. Lastly, this is al∣so to be consider'd, that those said Chylous and milky Humours before that separati∣on from the blood; really and actually ought to have been in the arterious blood, and to have been mix'd with it: whereas on the contrary, never any true Chylus either actually or potential∣ly is contain'd in the blood that passes through the heart, nor there dilated▪ and so thrust forward into the Arteries, as we shall shew L. 2. c. 12.
The Ute∣rine Liver.
The Defi∣nition.
Its Origi∣nal.
When the Umbili∣cal Vessels begin to grow.
Harvey's Observati∣ons of the beginning of the Pla∣centa in 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Abortive.
Whether coagulated Blood?
Aquapen∣deat's O∣pinion.
The num∣ber of Placenta's.
Its Sub∣stance.
Its Colour.
Shape and bigness.
The Super∣ficies.
The Ingress of the Na∣vel.
Its Vessels.
Whether any Ana∣stomoses between the Vessels of the Womb and Cheese∣cake.
Whar∣ton's Opi∣nion.
Whether a∣ny Veins and Arte∣ries in the 〈◊〉〈◊〉?
Whether a∣ny Nerves in the Cheescake?
The Place of Adhesi∣on.
The Opini∣ons of the Ancients.
Opinion.
The Name deriv'd.
What the Cotyle∣dons are.
In what Creatures to be seen.
Cotyle∣dons in Brutes.
The use of the Placen∣ta in Wo∣men.
The Pla∣centa sup∣plies the Office of some other Bowels.
Why the Placenta sticks to the Womb.
An Objecti∣on.
The Blood flows from the Womb into the Uterine Liver.
A Watery Milky juice flows from the Womb to the Amni∣on.